Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Name: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 16 min
Total time: 31 min
Yield: 22 2 1/2-inch cookies
Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour ((or whole wheat pastry flour makes a great, and healthier, substitute. You can also swap out half a cup of the all purpose flour for almond flour for a slightly nuttier variation)); 1 1/2 tsp baking powder; 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1/4 tsp salt; 1/4 cup vegetable oil; 3/4 cup applesauce; 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract; 1 1/3 cup turbinado sugar (or vegan cane sugar); 1 tbsp molasses ((optional)); 1 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

By Vaishali | Updated on February 7, 2020 | Posted on November 30, 2019 | 29 Comments

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Here’s a recipe for the perfect vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies: they are slightly crispy around the edges and soft and chewy on the inside, and they’re so easy to make with just eight ingredients. A soy-free, nut-free recipe.

Your eyeballs won’t pop all the way out of their sockets and you certainly won’t sprout blue fuzz all over your body, but you’ll know just what goes through the Cookie Monster’s brain when you sample one of these vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies.

They are barely crispy around the edges but mostly soft and chewy, and they are studded with enough chocolate chips to make you go om nom nom nom.

A white plate with vegan chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk beside it

I shared this recipe with you a few years back and so many of you have loved it and tried it. I’ve updated the post for you with more detailed instructions and also added a few new photos, including some taken by Jay who’s turning out to be quite the food photographer.

Is chocolate vegan (and where can you find vegan chocolate chips):

Lucky for us vegans, the answer to that question is a resounding yes.

The chocolate chips you’ll find on store shelves is usually not vegan because many contain milkfat. But there are many varieties of vegan chocolate chips that are now available (white chocolate chips are harder to find though).

Usually you have a better chance of finding dark chocolate chips that are vegan, although semisweet chips are quite easily found too.

I usually buy my vegan chocolate chips from Whole Foods or Amazon, which has a wide variety. Costco, for a while, offered big bags of Kirkland semisweet chocolate chips that were not labeled as vegan but were so accidentally, although I haven’t been able to find them at the store for a couple of years now.

Here are some other brands that offer vegan chocolate chips: Enjoy Life, King David, California Gourmet, Nestle’s Simply Delicious and Chatfield’s. These can change — Ghirardelli, for instance, offered semisweet chocolate chips in the past that were vegan, but then went and added milk to them — so be sure to read labels when you buy.

A hand picking up a vegan chocolate chip cookie from a silver serving plate

How to make the best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies:

These cookies require just eight ingredients, and molasses, which is optional. And they’re so easy to make, a kid could do it. They are drop cookies, so you just need an ice cream scoop of a spoon to drop them on the baking sheet. Or, for a nicer shape, you can roll them up into balls. They’ll spread nicely while baking into perfect rounds.
These cookies are perfect with unbleached flour or with whole wheat pastry flour — I make them with both — and for some added complexity and even more flavor you can sub out a half a cup of the flour with almond flour.
I use avocado oil in these cookies, because it’s a healthy fat and flavorless. But I’ve also made these with olive oil and with coconut oil. Olive oil is great, but coconut oil tends to add a stronger flavor I am not crazy about. You can also just use an equal quantity of vegan butter.
The applesauce subs for some of the fat you might have added to the recipe, and it gives the cookies even more flavor and tenderness.
These cookies, like I said above, are crispy and golden around the edges and soft and chewy at the center. But the texture of chocolate chip cookies is a matter of much debate and preference. I found this great NPR article that talks about the science behind baking your chocolate chip cookie to the exact texture you like: it’s an informative — and delicious — read.

Close up shot of a chocolate chip cookie studded with vegan chocolate chips

Ingredients:

Flour, all purpose or whole wheat pastry flour
Almond flour (you can simply replace with unbleached all purpose flour or whole wheat flour if you don’t want to use this)
Baking powder
Baking soda
Coconut or olive oil or any vegetable oil
Applesauce
Vanilla extract
Cane or turbinado sugar
Molasses (optional, but nice)
Chocolate chips.

A heap of vegan chocolate chip cookies on a silver server

Looking for more tasty vegan cookies?