These epic Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies are simply the best vegan cookies you will ever eat! Perfectly crispy on the outside, chewy in the middle, and filled with dark chocolate chips, they are simply irresistible.
I love making vegan version of all the classic baking recipes. I took the classic crepe to make Vegan Crepes, the classic pancake recipe to make Vegan Pancakes, and the traditional cinnamon roll recipe to make what I reckon is the very best Vegan Cinnamon Rolls.
You will love that I finally came up with a vegan cookie recipe that uses only simple ingredients and a very simple method that even a kid can follow. There’s nothing complicated about baking a batch of these cookies, and I can guarantee it’s a no-fail every time if you don’t swap ingredients.
Also, this recipe has been tested over and over on vegans and no vegans friends, and I can guarantee that the taste and texture are absolutely amazing. So if you are after a tasty, easy vegan cookie recipe try them now!
Ingredients and Substitutions
This paragraph gives you all my tips about picking the right ingredients. For the full recipe with measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post!Go to Full Recipe
All you need to make bakery-style vegan cookies are:
- Vegan Butter – You need softened vegan butter or an already soft vegan margarine for this cookie recipe. Don’t use softened coconut oil. I tried, and the results are not what you expect from a cookie. It creates hard, thin cookies with no chewiness.
- Brown Sugar – Light soft brown sugar decreases air pockets in cookies while creaming the sugar in softened vegan butter. Therefore, it prevents the cookies from spreading too much and keeps them compact.
- White Sugar – White sugar is the key to aerating the cookie dough and making creamy puffy cookies.
- Plant-Based Milk of choice – Any plant-based milk works as long as it’s room temperature not too cold. You can use any almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk, or soy milk.
- All-Purpose Flour – or white spelt flour, both work fine. If you prefer almond flour, try my Almond Flour Chocolate Chips Cookies.
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda are used as raising agents. Make sure you use a fresh batch, or the cookies won’t puff up.
- Flaxseed Meal – Make a fresh batch of flax meal from ground flax seeds then combine it with lukewarm water to activate the fiber. This forms a natural egg replacer that will add a true chewy cookie texture that we all love in bakery-style cookies.
- Vanilla Extract – To add an extra touch of flavor and make these cookies perfect.
- Salt – is optional but it does balance the sweetness of the cookie
- Dark Chocolate Chips – Not all dark chocolate is vegan, so pick vegan chocolate chips!
How To Make Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
There’s nothing difficult about baking a batch of vegan cookies, but, for the best result don’t swap ingredients.
- First, prepare the flaxseed egg. In a small mixing bowl whisk the flaxseed meal and water. Set it aside for about 10 minutes or until it looks like an eggy texture (photo 1).
- Combine the softened vegan butter, brown sugar, and white sugar in a large bowl or stand mixer (photo 2).
- Then, use an electric beater or the paddle attachment of your stand mixer, and beat the vegan butter and sugar (photo 3).
- Stop beating when it looks creamy and smooth (photo 4).
- Now, beat in, on low speed, the flaxseed egg from earlier, dairy-free milk, and vanilla extract. When they are well incorporated, it’s time to add the dry ingredients (photo 5).
- Stop the beater and add all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat again until the cookie dough looks super creamy, and buttery (photo 6).
- Finally, fold in the vegan chocolate chips, and beat again on low speed until incorporated evenly (photo 7).
- Chill the dough for 15 minutes, not more. Chilling the vegan cookie dough helps control the spread of the cookies and prevents them cookies from overspreading and ending up super thin. If you over-chill the dough, the cookies won’t spread as well on the baking sheet (photo 8).
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a large cookie sheet with lightly oiled parchment paper. Scoop out 2 to 3 tablespoons of vegan cookie dough. Roll it between your hands to form a ball or use a medium cookie scoop and release it on the baking sheet. You should be able to form 10 to 12 cookies.
- Leave at least 4 inches of space (10 cm) between each cookie and place them away from the edges of the pan by 2 inches (5 cm). Leave a thumb of space between each cookie dough ball because they expand in the oven.
- Lightly flatten the top of each cookie, but not too much because the cookies will expand. If you overly flatten them, they result in super-thin cookies. Bake in the center rack of the oven at 350°F (180°C) for about 12 to 14 minutes or until the sides and top are golden-brown.
- Cool the cookies on the baking sheet before using a flat tool to slide under each of them to transfer them onto a cooling rack. The cookies are still soft and fragile just after coming out of the oven. That’s normal. The cookies will firm up as they cool down. You can then sprinkle some flaky sea salt on top of the cookies.
Carine’s Baking Tips
Let’s flashback to 2017 when I learned how to bake vegan recipes. It took me months to test the best combination of ingredients to achieve the perfect vegan cookie texture. Removing eggs from cookies is the most challenging part, as eggs are the crucial cookie dough ingredient that controls spreading, texture, and puffiness.
- Oil Versus Vegan Butter – I tested all the possible combinations, like for a little science experiment but on cookies. First, I tested coconut oil instead of vegan butter as I thought it was a less processed option for my cookies. But it’s disappointing, the vegan cookies overspread with coconut oil and end up thin, too hard, and crispy. I then learned that coconut oil is 100% pure fat, while melted vegan butter contains a decent percentage of water that activates the gluten of the flour. So, to get the pillowy, soft cookie texture I wanted, a good quality vegan butter is the key ingredient.
- The Magic Of Flax Eggs – The next part was to replace the egg, which I thought wasn’t needed since most vegan cookie recipes work by simply changing the ratio of other ingredients. Believe me, after many trials, I can guarantee you won’t get a chewy chocolate cookie without a flax egg. Flax meal is almost pure fiber, and when combined with lukewarm water, it forms a gel-like mixture that adds chewiness to a cookie dough.
- Brown And White Sugar For Texture – After accepting that a true cookie is not about being healthy, but about texture and taste, I started learning about the importance of sugar types in cookies. This rule applies to vegan cookie too, and it comes out that an equal ratio of brown sugar and white sugar is actually the true secret of chewy, crispy edges in cookies without eggs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I turn these into vegan double chocolate cookies?
Yes, you can! Just add some cocoa powder to the batter and you’ll have vegan chocolate cookies with chocolate chips.
How long can I store them?
These vegan chocolate chip cookies can be stored for up to 5 days in a sealed cookie jar at room temperature. You can store the cookies in the fridge, too, if it’s hot where you live. However, chilled cookies lose a bit of chewy texture as they get harder.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes
Here’s some more vegan cookie recipes for you:
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Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
These Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies are easy chewy chocolate chip cookies made without eggs, butter, or dairy. They taste like classic, bakery-style cookies with a sweet and chewy texture.
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Servings: 12 cookies
Calories: 278.6 kcal
Ingredients
Flax Egg
- 1 tablespoon Flaxseed Meal
- 2 ½ tablespoons Water - lukewarm
Chocolate Chip Cookies
- ½ cup Soft Brown Sugar
- ½ cup Sugar
- ½ cup Dairy-Free Butter (Unsalted) - softened
- 1 tablespoon Almond Milk - or any non-dairy milk
- 1 ½ cups All-Purpose Flour
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ¼ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt - if vegan butter is unsalted
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Dairy-Free Dark Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Prepare the flaxseed egg in a small bowl by whisking the flaxseed meal and water. Set it aside for 10 minutes or until a gel-like texture forms.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set it aside.
- In another bowl, add vegan butter, brown sugar, sugar and using an electric beater or the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, whisk 1 minutes until creamy.
- Whisk in flax egg, almond milk, and vanilla extract for a few seconds until incorporated.
- Sift the dry ingredients into the bowl, then use a silicone spatula to combine the ingredients together and form a creamy cookie batter. Fold in the chocolate chips and stir to combine.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and store the cookie dough for 15 minutes in the fridge.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line one or two cookie sheets with parchment paper and lightly grease them with coconut oil or vegan butter. Set them aside.
- Scoop out two tablespoons of batter with a small cookie dough scoop and place it onto the prepared cookie sheet. Leave at least 4 inches of space (10 cm) between each cookie and place the cookies 2 inches away from the edges of the pan (5 cm). Don't hand-flatten cookies as they expand by themself.
- Bake the cookies on the center rack of the oven for 12-15 minutes at 350°F (180°C) or until golden brown and crispy on the edges.
- Cool down on the cookie sheet for 10 minutes. They are still soft and hot. That's normal. They firm up as they cool down. When easy to handle, slide a flat spatula under each cookie and transfer them to a wire rack before eating.
Notes
Gluten-Free – The best swap for all-purpose wheat flour is an all-purpose gluten-free blend that contains xanthan gum. I didn’t try this option, but I guess it could work. Use the same amount of wheat flour in this recipe.
Flax-Free – You can replace the flaxseed meal with ground chia seeds or swap the flaxseed egg for a commercial, store-bought egg replacer. Another option is to mix one tablespoon of cornstarch with two tablespoons of water.
Sugar-Free – Sugar-free crystal sweeteners like erythritol and brown erythritol should provide similar results but a less chewy texture.
Storage – These vegan chocolate chip cookies can be stored for up to 5 days in a sealed cookie jar at room temperature. You can store the cookies in the fridge, too, if it’s hot where you live. However, chilled cookies lose a bit of chewy texture as they get harder. You can also freeze the cookie dough, unbaked or baked. Chill the cookies in sealed silicone zip-lock bags or airtight containers after placing a piece of parchment paper between them to prevent the cookies from sticking to each other. Freeze the cookies for up to 3 months in the freezer and thaw them the day before at room temperature.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 278.6kcal | Carbohydrates: 39.2g | Protein: 1.7g | Fat: 13.7g | Saturated Fat: 10.2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.6g | Sodium: 106.2mg | Potassium: 77.2mg | Fiber: 0.6g | Sugar: 25.9g | Vitamin C: 0.003mg | Calcium: 27.4mg | Iron: 0.8mg | Magnesium: 6.6mg | Phosphorus: 22.8mg | Zinc: 0.1mg
How critical do you think it is to use gf all-purpose flour with anthem gum? My husband is sensitive to xantham gum as well as gluten, eggs and dairy.
I didn’t try this option yet, but it might work well !
These are lovely and came out perfectly for me! I can report that the recipe works flawlessly with Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer and their One to One gluten free flour mix. This will be my new go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. Thanks!
Great recipe. Can you use oat milk? Is it okay to not use brown sugar at all?