Vegan chocolate chip cookies that are soft, chewy, slightly-crunchy, sweet and satisfying. They’re also super easy to make!
These vegan chocolate chip cookies are soft and chewy with just enough ‘crunch’ to be satisfying as you bite into them.
Jaye has officially declared these his favorite! Which is very high praise, considering the fabulous desserts we make on the regular.
But these were polished off at speed I tell you – I barely got a look in!
No wonder people eat cookie dough as is, I mean look how awesome this cookie dough looks!
But I managed to resist eating it so that this batch of cookies could get made!
How to make vegan chocolate chip cookies
These cookies are soo easy to make.
Add some vegan butter and sugar to the bowl of an electric mixer and cream them together.
Then add in some soy milk and vanilla and mix that in.
Then add in some flour, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch and salt to a mixing bowl and mix it together and then add the dry ingredients in with the wet and mix in by hand (not by actual hand, just using a wooden spoon for this part instead of the electric mixer) into a thick cookie dough.
Add in the chocolate chunks or chocolate chips and mix in.
Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Roll the cookie dough into balls and place evenly onto the parchment lined baking tray.
Place into the oven and bake for 15 minutes until the edges are set and the tops are very slightly browned.
When they come out of the oven, take a few chocolate chips and press them down into the tops of the still warm cookies.
They’re still very soft when they come out of the oven, but they firm up significantly as they cool.
Vegan Chocolate Chunks vs Chocolate Chips
I used chocolate chunks in these cookies (regular slabs of vegan chocolate chopped into chunks). It works just as well as vegan chocolate chips, if you struggle to get hold of them, or if they’re quite pricey.
Of course you don’t quite have the symmetry of perfect little chocolate chips but whatevs.
What I actually did here was use chocolate chunks for the cookie dough, but when the cookies came out of the oven all warm and soft, I took a few chocolate chips (the perfectly symmetrical ones) and pushed a few of those into the tops of the cookies.
So we have a mix of chocolate chunks with a few chocolate chips, I thought that was pretty much perfect here!
Served warm these cookies are fantastic as the chocolate is all gooey and melty.
Troubleshooting these vegan chocolate chip cookies
The cookie dough is too dry to roll into balls. Depending on the brand of vegan butter that you use, your cookie dough could be the perfect consistency (as mine was) or a little dry.
If the brand of vegan butter you use has a lower water content (a firmer brick of vegan butter vs a very soft spread for example) then your resulting cookie dough may be too dry to easily roll into balls. If this happens, just add in a little more non-dairy milk.
You may also have accidentally used too much flour – I recommend weighing it for the best accuracy or, if you don’t want to weigh it, then make sure to use the spoon and level method.
An easy fix for dough that is too dry is to compensate by adding in extra non-dairy milk. Just use only as much as needed to get you a cookie dough that will easily roll into balls.
The cookies didn’t spread. When you cream the vegan butter and sugar together it is supposed to warm it up enough so that when you add the other ingredients you end up with a cookie dough that is fairly warm and pliable.
If your butter/sugar mix didn’t cream together for long enough and your vegan butter was very cold, or even if the weather is just very cold, it can end up that your cookie dough is too chilled and your cookies don’t spread.
If you know this is something that has happened for you before you can definitely just flatten your cookies with a fork before they go into the oven.
But if they have already baked and have come out like round balls, you can quickly flatten them with a fork when they come out the oven too when they are warm and easy to work with. And then just put them back in and let them bake an extra couple of minutes if needed.
15 minutes was too long for my cookies. Ovens do differ, so keep an eye on them. You will know they are done when they are nicely golden brown on top. They should not be over-browned.
Q&A
Can I use coconut oil instead of vegan butter? Some have done it and reported good results in the comments! You can also make your own homemade vegan butter which has coconut oil as the base ingredient.
Can I use white sugar instead of brown? Yes you definitely can. It’s great either way or you can use a mix of both.
Can I use a different non-dairy milk? Any non-dairy milk should do fine here. I used soy milk but almond milk should work great too as should pretty much any non-dairy milk.
Can I make these gluten-free? Yes! We have done it, check out our recipe for vegan gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.
Can I freeze these cookies? Yes, they are freezer friendly for up to 3 months!
Can I make the cookie dough ahead of time? Yes you can, keep it in the fridge for up to 4 days and then let it come to room temperature before rolling into balls and baking them as usual.
You’ll love these vegan chocolate chip cookies! They are:
- Soft and chewy
- Slightly-crunchy
- Perfectly sweet
- Satisfying
- Packed with chocolate chunks!
Keep them stored in an airtight container at room temperature and they’ll stay fresh for up to a week.
More vegan cookies!
- Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Cookies
- Vegan Sugar Cookies
- Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
- Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
We’d love to know what you think of these vegan chocolate chip cookies, let me know in the comments and please rate the recipe too. Thanks so much.
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Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 35 mins
- Yield: 16
Description
Vegan chocolate chip cookies that are soft, chewy, slightly-crunchy, sweet and satisfying. Also – super easy to make! Perfect as a snack or dessert.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (112g) Vegan Butter
- 1 cup (200g) Brown Sugar
- 1/4 cup (60ml) Soy Milk (or other non-dairy milk)
- 1 Tbsp (15ml) Vanilla Extract
- 2 cups (250g) All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 2 tsp Cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 cup (175g) Vegan Chocolate Chips or Chunks + more to press into the tops when they come out the oven)*
Instructions
- In an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together.
- Then add the soy milk and vanilla and mix in.
- Add your flour, baking soda, baking powder, corn starch and salt to a mixing bowl and mix together.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix in by hand until properly mixed into a thick cookie dough.
- Add the chocolate chips or chunks and mix in to distribute as evenly as possible.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Roll into balls and place evenly on a baking tray covered with parchment paper.
- Place into the oven and bake for 15 minutes until the edges are set and they are very slightly browned on top.
- When they come out of the oven, press a few more chocolate chips or chunks into the tops of the cookies (optional)
- Allow to cool and firm up before transferring to a wire cooling rack.
- Once properly cooled store in an airtight container.
Notes
*I used chocolate chunks (vegan chocolate cut into chunks) for the cookie dough and then a few chocolate chips to press into the tops when they came out of the oven.
*Weigh your flour for the most accurate results.
*Adapted from Daily Rebecca, with inspiration from Gimme Some Oven.
- Category: Baking, Cookies, Dessert
- Cuisine: Vegan
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Large Cookie (of 16)
- Calories: 203
- Sugar: 15.4g
- Sodium: 240mg
- Fat: 8g
- Saturated Fat: 3.2g
- Carbohydrates: 30g
- Fiber: 1.7g
- Protein: 2.7g
Keywords: vegan chocolate chip cookies
Hola
My family likes Large cookies so I was wondering as to the weight vs baking time of this recipe? Normally the balls of dough are roughly 100g prior to going into the oven at my house so I feel that 15 min won’t cut it. Can you please advise!?!
Hi Maria, I’m really not sure about the weight of each cookie, I would just keep an eye on them as they bake.
This was fabulous! Followed the directions exactly. Will def make again!
★★★★★
Thanks Constance!
Love Love Love, first time ever making cookies. Will be my go to from now on. Thank you so much.
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed them Vanessa! Thanks for posting.
Hi! I have made your recipe and loved it! Quick question, what vegan brown sugar do you use? Thanks!
★★★★★
Hi Sophia, we’re in South Africa so I’m not sure the brands we use will be relevant to you. Glad you liked the recipe! 🙂
What is the purpose of cornstarch? (Just wondering) I plan on making these this weekend. 🙂🙂🙂
Softening. 🙂
Hello, I just messaged to ask if I could double to recipe for the chocolate chip cookies. I did and the dough seemed perfect. My only comment is they didn’t flatten into a cookie like I had hoped, they kind of stayed on the little balls. Not sure what I did wrong? I also out a little bit less chocolate chips than what was called for. Not sure if that made a difference.
Thank you so much 😊
Theresa
Hi Theresa, it can sometimes happen if the dough is quite cold going in that they don’t flatten that much. You can flatten them with a fork to solve that issue. 🙂
These were the best cookies I’ve ever had/made! They turned out perfectly plump and delicious. I was seriously so proud to serve them to people.
★★★★★
Awesome Karla! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Just waiting for mine to come out the oven! They are expanding to nearly triple the size haha. My dough was rather sticky, even when I added a bit more flour… So I floured my hands to be able to roll it into balls. The vegan margarine I used was very soft, and I’m wondering if this is the cause for the stickiness of the dough?
Thanks!
★★★★
Hi Boudica, yes that is likely the reason. It might be a good idea to let the cookies chill in the freezer for 10 minutes before baking if you make them again, that will prevent them from spreading too much while baking.
Mine are in the oven right now… I forgot to add the cornstarch (uh oh) so we will see how they come out! Luckily I only baked half of the batter, so I just added half 1 tsp of cornstarch to the rest of my batter!
Great cookies. I just made them, but used less than half the sugar. Plenty sweet for me. 🙂
Can I use white sugar instead of brown?
Sure!
I made these last night. Didn’t have much brown sugar left so I substituted the rest with white and they still tasted great! Good recipe 🙂 xx
★★★★
hey i made these two times, i love them. They’re the perfect cookie, perfectly crunchy but soft inside! i made them about half the size so i got 32 cookies out of the recipe, without changing the temperature or cooking time.I also froze the unbaked cookies, 6 cookies per log to bake up when i want some!
Hey, this recipe looks great! Do you think I could substitute the all purpose flour for oat flour?
Hi Angelica, you could replace some of the all purpose with oat flour but not all of it. If you want a gluten free version, then a gluten-free all purpose flour blend is the best bet.
I made these with gluten-free flour and they turned out great! A new favourite recipe 🙂
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks Ingrid!
These chocolate chip cookies are great! My husband said they’re the best chocolate chip cookies he’s ever had!
So happy to hear that! Thanks so much!
I have a dilemma so it’s my birthday next week and I have to bake my own cake 🙁 so what I’m thinking is making a cookie cake like at millie’s cookies, so do you reckon ur recipe would work if I just put all the dough together to make a big cookie, or will I have to add more ingredients?
I haven’t tried it like this but I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work.
Would this cookie dough be ok if frozen? Would it be best if already shaped in the balls or not? Recommendations?
Hi Kathy, yes it’s fine to freeze the cookie dough but definitely best if you roll them into balls first. That way you can either thaw first before baking or just bake directly from frozen. Just allow a few extra minutes cooking time.
I am so glad I found this recipe. I never thought to weigh the flour. These are the best vegan chocolate chip cookies. This is my new go to recipe and I love how it makes a few over a dozen so I can have leftover cookie dough to eat!
★★★★★
So happy to hear that Brittany! Thanks for sharing!
One of the best vegan recipes I’ve tried!
I substituted arrowroot powder for cornstarch and they turned out great! Everyone in my family loved them and couldn’t even tell that they were vegan.
★★★★★
Awesome! Thanks Olivia!
Hi. Thanks for the recipe. I would like to know if I can replace corn starch with something else or can it be omitted, Thank you.
You can omit it.
I don’t have an electric mixer. Can I still make these?
You can probably mix the vegan butter and sugar together by hand with a bit of arm power, it won’t be the same as ‘creaming them together’ but I don’t think that will be a deal breaker for this recipe. Let your vegan butter soften at room temperature first to make it as easy as possible.
My grand babies and families love, love, love, this recipe. It is the only one I use when making chocolate chip cookies. 🤩
★★★★★
Thanks so much Deborah!
I made these recently and they were PERFECT, exactly like fresh bakery cookies you buy from the shops. I loved how soft and chewy they were. My question is how could i adapt this recipe to make the cookies double chocolate? How would i incorporate the cocoa powder? I know you have a separate recipe for those but these were the perfect chewy consistency i want. Many thanks
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed them Emma! I do highly recommend you try our vegan chocolate cookies, they are super good too! But to adapt this recipe, I would just replace half a cup of flour with half a cup of unsweetened cocoa powder. I can’t vouch for it though as I haven’t tried it, but this is where I would start if I were adapting this recipe. All the best! 🙂