If you want the best-tasting classic vegan chocolate chip cookies, look no further! Everyone needs to have a great, no-fail chocolate chip cookie recipe that they can make for holidays, special occasions, or just any old day, and this recipe is it! They bake up perfectly with a slightly crunchy outside and soft and gooey inside.
There are a few key ingredients in a vegan chocolate chip cookie that turns it from a good cookie to a great cookie. The key to the best vegan chocolate chip cookies is to use good-quality vegan butter, a sugar that contains some molasses, and a little cornstarch to keep them soft. If you use these ingredients, I promise that your cookies will be amazing!
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❤️ You'll love this recipe because
- it uses simple ingredients that are easy to find.
- the cookies taste exactly like a classic chocolate chip cookie.
- it uses a vegan egg replacer that bakes up with a perfect taste and texture.
- chocolate chip cookies are everyone's favorite dessert!
🧾 Ingredients and substitutions
- Vegan Butter - A high-quality vegan butter that comes in a stick will give you the best results with your cookies. You can use the stick version of my homemade vegan butter, Earth Balance sticks, Country Crock plant-based sticks, or Miyoko. If you don't have any of these, you can use Earth Balance tub butter or even coconut oil. You want to avoid cheap brands of margarine that have too much water content in them.
- Organic Brown Sugar - (the organic sugar is vegan) You can also use coconut sugar or Sucanat. These sugars have molasses in them and give you a softer cookie and great flavor. You can also use white granulated sugar or half white and half brown.
- Vanilla Extract - for flavor.
- Vegan Egg Replacer - I like to use chickpea flour mixed with water to replace the egg. Simply mix 1 1/2 tablespoons of chickpea flour with 1 1/2 tablespoons of water and let it sit for a few minutes. You can also use a flax egg or any other commercially sold egg replacers, but I find that chickpea flour doesn't have a gritty texture like flax eggs, and hold the cookie together like a traditional egg. You can read more about each type of vegan egg replacer in my egg substitute guide.
- Note: I know that chickpea flour can leave a funny taste in baked goods, but it does not have that flavor if mixed with water and allowed to rehydrate before baking.
- Flour - all-purpose flour makes the most classic-tasting cookies, but whole wheat or spelt flour also gives a delicious texture. These cookies will work well with any gluten-free flour mixes, but they must be a grain-based mix, not almond flour.
- Corn Starch - this is the key to making soft cookies! Just a little cornstarch produces an amazing texture. You can use potato starch as well. If you want a crunchy cookie, swap out the cornstarch with flour.
- Baking Soda - This makes your cookies rise and give them a chewy texture. (There is no need for baking powder in this recipe.)
- Salt - you can reduce the amount, but don't leave it out completely or the cookies will taste very bland. You may also want to sprinkle the tops with some coarse salt or flaky sea salt.
- Vegan Chocolate Chips - you can use any brand of vegan chocolate chips that you want. You can find Enjoy Life brand at many major grocery stores or there are many other brands that are unexpectedly vegan like Trader Joe's semi-sweet chocolate chips or the Belgian dark chocolate chunks from Aldi.
🔪 Helpful tools
- Baking Sheet - a good quality cookie sheet that is heavy or an Airbake cookie sheet with help to ensure that the bottoms of your cookies don't burn.
- Mixing Bowl - to make the cookie batter. You can also use an electric mixer or stand mixer, but a simple large bowl and a wooden spoon will do the trick.
- Small Bowl - for mixing the vegan egg replacer.
🥄 How to make vegan chocolate chip cookies
- Take your butter out of the fridge about 1 hour before baking to allow it to come to room temperature or place it in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds to warm it a little.
- Preheat your oven to 375° F (190° C).
- In a small bowl, mix together 1 1/2 tablespoons of garbanzo bean flour with 1 1/2 tablespoons of water until smooth and set aside for at least 5 minutes. You can also use any other vegan egg replacement equal to 1 egg.
- With an electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar for 1 minute until fluffy. Then add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, and chickpea egg replacer mixture, and cream for an additional minute.
- Turn off the mixer and add the flour mixture (flour, corn starch, baking soda, and salt) and mix on low until a thick dough is formed.
- Add 1/2 cup of vegan chocolate chips and stir well. (At this point you can chill the dough and bake it up to 3 days later.)
- Use a 1-tablespoon cookie scoop to spoon balls of cookie dough onto an ungreased baking tray. (You can also place a piece of parchment paper on the baking sheet for easy clean-up.)
- Place a few more additional chocolate chips on the top of the dough ball to make your cookies look pretty.
- Bake at 375° F (190° C) for 8-10 minutes until they have flattened and are just slightly brown. They will still look pretty soft and doughy, but that's okay, they will firm up when cooled.
- Allow cooling for about 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before moving to a flat surface or a cookie rack.
- Sprinkle with some coarse salt after they are baked if desired.
👩🏻🍳 Pro Tips
- Slight changes in measurements or baking temperatures make big changes in the outcome of the cookies, so follow the measurements and baking times given to get the results shown in the images.
- Make sure your butter is soft before you start. You can also use melted butter if you wish, but it will give you a chewy fudgy texture like in my fudgy vegan chocolate cookies.
- Your dough should be very firm and hold its shape when spooned onto the cookie sheet.
- If you want a firmer, crispier cookie, replace the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour.
🍪 Troubleshooting your cookies
- Oven temperatures can range a lot especially if you have a gas oven. If your cookies tend to fail, you may want to get an oven thermometer to keep in your oven just to be sure.
- If your cookies are coming out undercooked, your oven temperature may be too low, if they are getting brown before 8 minutes, your oven is too hot.
- If you are having trouble achieving the perfect cookie, check out this cookie troubleshooting guide by Handle the Heat.
🍞 How to make them gluten-free
To make gluten-free vegan chocolate chip cookies, simply swap out the flour with a grain-based gluten-free flour mix. Any general all-purpose gluten-free flour mix works well or you can make your own with my gluten-free flour mix recipe.
🥡 Storing and freezing
- Countertop - Store the chocolate chip cookies in a sealed container for up to 3 days on the countertop or 1 week in the refrigerator.
- Freezer - freeze the cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw by keeping it at room temperature for a few hours.
🌟 Add-ins
- You can easily swap out part or all of the chocolate chips with things like raisins, craisins, or chopped nuts.
- Use vegan white chocolate chips or chop up a vegan white chocolate bar and add the chunks to your cookies.
- Add a 1/4 cup of rice crispies cereal to your dough at the end for a light crunchy texture.
- Leave out the chocolate chips and stir in some vegan sprinkles instead for funfetti cookies.
📌 Be sure to follow me on Pinterest for new vegan recipes!
📋 Vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
A simple recipe for delicious, classic tasting, chocolate chip cookies made dairy-free and egg-free.
Servings: 20
Calories: 129kcal
Ingredients
Egg replacer
- 1 1/2 tablespoons garbanzo bean flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoons water
Wet ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegan butter (one stick)
- 1/2 cup vegan brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Dry ingredients
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tablespoons corn starch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- Take your butter out of the fridge about 1 hour before baking to allow it to come to room temperature or place it in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds to warm it a little.
- Preheat your oven to 375° F (190° C).
- Mix together 1 1/2 tablespoon of garbanzo bean flour with 1 1/2 tablespoon of water until smooth and set aside for at least 5 minutes. You can also use any other vegan egg replacement equal to 1 egg.
- With an electric mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar for 1 minute until fluffy. Then add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, chickpea egg replacer mixture, and mixfor an additional minute.
- Turn off the mixer and add the flour, corn starch, baking soda, and salt and mix on low until a thick dough is formed.
- Add 1/2 cup of vegan chocolate chips and stir well. (At this point you can chill the doug and bake up to 3 days later.)
- Use a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop to spoon balls of cookie dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
- Place a few more additional chocolate chips on the top of the dough ball to make your cookies look pretty.
- Bake at 375° F (190° C) for 8-10 minutes until they have flattened and are just slightly brown. They will still look pretty soft and doughy, but that's okay, they will firm up when cooled.
- Allow cooling for about 5 minutes on the cookie sheet before moving to a flat surface or a cookie rack.
- Sprinkle with some coarse salt after they are baked if desired.
Notes
- Slight changes in measurements or baking temperatures make big changes in the outcome of the cookies, so follow the measurements and baking times given to get the results shown in the images.
- Make sure your butter is soft before you start. You can also use melted butter if you wish, but it will give you a chewy fudgy texture like in my fudgy vegan chocolate cookies.
- Your dough should be very firm and hold its shape when spooned onto the cookie sheet.
- If you want a firmer crispier cookie, replace the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour.
Nutrition
Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 129kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Sodium: 205mg | Potassium: 32mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 216IU | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 1mg
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Click the stars above or leave a comment! I'd love to hear from you!
Is there a substitute for cornstarch that will maintain the same texture? I need to avoid corn.
Potato starch will work to replace corn starch. Enjoy!
These were the best vegan chocolate chip cookies that I have ever tried. I made them for a party last weekend and even all the non vegans liked them and didn't realize that they were vegan!
This recipe never fails me! So happy that you all liked it too! 🙂
Can you use Crisco?
Yes, you can use crisco instead of vegan butter. Enjoy! 🙂
I just made these last night and they were delicious! The best vegan recipe that I've founds so far. I was worried about using chickpea flour, but it really did work like an egg. Thank you! This is my go-to recipe from now on.
I'm so happy that you liked them, Audry. The chickpea egg is pretty amazing! 🙂
Sound superb! Thank you!! What can I use if I don’t have a mixer?
They will still be great without using a mixer, just use a wooden spoon and stir the butter and sugar for about 2 minutes, then add the dry ingredients and stir again until it's all combined well. Enjoy! 🙂