These vegan chocolate chip cookies are the best ever! They are soft, chewy, slightly-crunchy, perfectly sweet and totally 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.
And these cookies were polished off at speed in our house! They’re always very popular.
And when you look at the cookie dough that these cookies make, then you really understand why people eat cookie dough as is. I just about managed to resist eating the cookie dough so that this batch of cookies could get made! But if you do just want to eat straight cookie dough then check out our divine edible vegan cookie dough.
If you love cookies as much as we do (and oh we really do love them!) then check out our vegan peanut butter cookies and our super popular vegan chocolate cookies too.
Ingredients You’ll Need For These Cookies:
Ingredient Notes
- Vegan butter – is the best option for these cookies in terms of flavor and texture. Some readers have made it with coconut oil and reported good results but the best option is going to be vegan butter. You can also make your own homemade vegan butter which has coconut oil as the base ingredient.
- Vegan chocolate chips – you can use either vegan chocolate chips or chocolate chunks which is just a chopped up bar of vegan chocolate. We have made these cookies both ways or using a mix of chocolate chips and chunks. It works perfectly no matter how you do them. In some countries it can be a struggle to find vegan chocolate chips so in that case just chop up a bar of dark chocolate or vegan chocolate. Of course you don’t quite have the symmetry of perfect little chocolate chips but that’s okay.
- Soy milk – can be replaced with a different non-dairy milk.
How To Make Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
You will find full instructions and measurements in the recipe card at the bottom of the post. This is a summary of the process to go along with the process photos.
- These cookies are soo easy to make.
- Add vegan butter and brown sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer and cream them together.
- Then add soy milk and vanilla and mix that in.
- Add all purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch and salt to a mixing bowl and mix it together.
- Then add the dry ingredients in with the wet and mix in by hand (not by actual hand, just using a spoon for this part instead of the electric mixer) into a thick cookie dough.
- Add in the chocolate chips and mix them into the batter.
- Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Roll the cookie dough into balls and place them evenly onto the parchment lined baking tray. Aim for 20 cookies.
- Place into the oven and bake for 10-12 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.
Recipe Tips
Measure your flour correctly. I recommend weighing your flour on a food scale for the best accuracy or, if you don’t want to weigh it, then make sure to use the spoon and level method. Spoon the flour into a measuring cup and level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop the flour and don’t pack it into the cup.
If the cookie dough is too dry to roll into balls then simply add in a tablespoon of non-dairy milk and try again. 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 firm brick or stick style of vegan butter vs a 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, a tablespoon at a time until you have the right consistency.
If the cookies didn’t spread then simply flatten them with a fork immediately as they come out of the oven.
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.
Baking Time. Ovens do differ, so keep an eye on them. Soft and chewy is around 10-12 minutes. If you want them nice and crunchy you can leave them baking for up to 15 minutes.
Recipe Q&A
Yes! We have done it, check out our recipe for vegan gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.
Keep them stored in an airtight container at room temperature and they’ll stay fresh for up to a week.
Yes, they are freezer friendly for up to 3 months.
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.
More Vegan Cookies
- Vegan Coconut Cookies
- Vegan Lemon Cookies
- Vegan Sugar Cookies
- Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
- Vegan Pumpkin Cookies
- Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
Did you make this recipe? Be sure to leave a comment and rating below!
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup Vegan Butter (112g)
- 1 cup Light Brown Sugar (200g)
- ¼ cup Soy Milk (60ml) or other non-dairy milk
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour (250g)
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 2 teaspoons Cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Vegan Chocolate Chips (175g) + more to press into the tops when they come out the oven*
Instructions
- Add vegan butter and brown sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer and cream them together.
- Then add the soy milk and vanilla and mix in.
- Add your flour, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch and salt to a mixing bowl and mix together.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix in by hand (don't use your electric mixer for this part) into a thick cookie dough.
- Add the chocolate chips and mix in to distribute as evenly as possible.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
- Roll into balls and place them evenly on a baking tray covered with parchment paper. Aim for 20 cookies.
- Place into the oven and bake for 10-12 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 into the tops of the warm cookies.
- Allow to cool and firm up directly on the tray.
- Once properly cooled store in an airtight container.
Video
Notes
- Measure your flour correctly using the spoon and level method (spoon the flour into a measuring cup and then level off the top with a knife. Don’t scoop it and don’t pack it into the cup). Alternatively weigh it on a food scale.
- Cornstarch has a softening effect on baked goods and this contributes to these cookies being very soft and chewy.
- If you can’t get vegan chocolate chips then just chop up a bar of vegan chocolate and use chocolate chunks instead.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes for a soft cookie. If you prefer them more on the crunchy side then you can bake them for up to 15 minutes. Ovens do vary though so keep a close eye on them.
- If your cookies didn’t flatten in the oven then just flatten them with a fork as soon as they come out of the oven when they’re still hot.
- This recipe was first published in 2016. It has been updated with new photos and clearer instructions but the recipe itself is unchanged.
Lizzie says
Made these last night, delicious and gobbled by all!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome! Thanks for posting! 🙂
Alexis says
Thanks so much for this recipe. I used almond milk instead and baked only 12 minutes. They turned out great!
Alison Andrews says
Awesome, so glad you enjoyed them, thanks for posting. 🙂
marty says
hi, could I use only regular white sugar? I don’t have any brown sugar… does is influence the consistency?
Alison Andrews says
That should be okay, the flavor will be (very slightly) altered and brown sugar is a little denser/heavier than white, but on the whole the differences are small, and the switch should be totally fine. 🙂
Davina says
I made these once and they turned out fluffy! strange but good! I think i overdid the flour.
Could you substitute the sugar out with something else to lower the sugar content? Would stevia work? If so do you know how much would be the equivalent?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Davina, you could try just reducing the sugar amount, and see how it goes. I have not tried using something like stevia so can’t advise. 🙂
Elizabeth says
Oh Alison, these were delicious. I told my son to try a vegan cookie. He didn’t even get two chews in before he said “these are good!” They are absolutely delicious. I made them and I started to wonder if they were vegan they were so delicious!! Best cookie recipe ever. Even better than non vegan cookies! Thank you for sharing!
Alison Andrews says
That is too awesome Elizabeth, thanks so much for your great comment! Love it! 🙂
Tash says
Hey, do you think I could make these with vegan ‘smarties’ instead? Love your recipes 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Hi Tash! Thank you! So glad you like the recipes! By smarties do you mean the candy shell and chocolate on the inside? I had no idea you could get vegan ones, how cool! I think those would be amazing in these cookies! In terms of quantity I would use about a cup of smarties to replace the chocolate chips. Let us know how they turn out! 🙂
ann says
Step 2 states add cream. Step 3 is add milk. Where is the cream coming from? It is not on the ingredient list.
Alison Andrews says
‘Cream’ is to ‘cream’ the butter and sugar together. It’s not an ingredient, it’s an action.
Reese says
Ingredient list doesnt mention cream but directions do. I’m confused. What kind of cream and how much? Maybe I’m overlooking something.
Alison Andrews says
There’s no cream, it just means to cream the butter and sugar together. If you mix them in an electric mixer together it ‘creams’ them together. It’s just standard baking terminology. 🙂
MIRANDA says
Hi Alison, I am reading the recipe and in the description it says ‘add the butter, sugar and cream’, but it says nothing about cream in the ingredients list?
Alison Andrews says
Hi Miranda, I mean to add the vegan butter and sugar and cream together, so basically, add the butter and sugar and then using the electric mixer, ‘cream’ them together before adding the other ingredients. Hope this clarifies! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Ashley says
Hi! Just found this blog post and would love to try it! If I used margarine would it be considered as vegan?
Alison Andrews says
Margarine is fine – some are vegan and some aren’t though, you just have to read the ingredients list, the ingredients to watch out for are usually buttermilk and whey. But usually you can find one that doesn’t contain those ingredients. Just also check that it is good for baking as well, as some are just meant for spreading.
Caroline says
Best cookies ever ! I chilled the dough for 30 minutes before putting them in the oven and came out puffy! Not like the picture at all, but they were indeed “soft, chewy, slightly-crunchy”. Thanks!
Caroline from France
Alison Andrews says
This would be from chilling the dough – they hold their shape more if the dough is cold when going in. So glad you liked them! ?
Roma says
Just made these cookies, and they are so so good! Thanks for posting this because cookies are hands down one of the things that are hard to perfect. The only thing is that they tasted a bit more on the chewy side which isn’t REALLY a bad thing but I couldn’t tell if it was a bit raw or not. Maybe I took them out a bit too early, though the bottoms and tops were perfectly cooked. Whatever – they’re still damn good and will make them again 🙂
Alison Andrews says
Hi Roma, so glad you liked them! If they seemed a bit too chewy just leave them a couple of minutes longer next time. The longer they stay in the oven, the more crunch they will have.
Melissa Del Giudice says
Hi ! Can I substitute coconut oil in for the Vegan butter? Also I do not have corn starch is it 100 percent needed ? Thanks <3
Alison Andrews says
Hi Melissa, omitting the corn starch should be fine. I don’t know about using coconut oil instead of vegan butter though. It could work okay, but I did get a comment on my shortbread cookies saying that someone had tried this and it didn’t work out. So it might work and it might not. Definitely let us know if you do try it and how it turns out! All the best!
Roma says
I just made these cookies and I used coconut oil instead of vegan butter because I ran out, and they came out perfectly fine! I believe coconut oil can normally be used as a 1:1 for vegan butter in most cases 🙂 Although my cookies did harden up a bit, I don’t think it was due to the coconut oil, cause I did leave them in the oven for a little bit too long by accident. Otherwise they should be perfectly good to go 😉
Alison Andrews says
Thanks Roma! 🙂
Cecilia says
I baked these today and they taste amazing! However, they didn’t spread as much as the ones you’ve made in the picture, and stayed roundish, any idea of what I did wrong? (I measured out all the ingredients accurately with electronic weights as well)
Alison Andrews says
Hi Cecilia! I don’t think you did anything wrong, I’m wondering if it’s cold where you are currently? The reason I say that is some recipes call for chilling the dough before baking and this is precisely to avoid the ‘spread’ of the cookies. I quite like the spread so I generally don’t chill my dough. However, if you’re in a cold climate or let’s say your butter is very hard to start off with, then it could have the same effect. To counteract this you could just bake for a minute or two longer. All the best! 🙂
Renee says
Wow!! Wow!! Wow!! Made your cookies on December 8, 2016. Gave some to two neighbors. They LOVED them.they said the cookies were very filling and filled with flavor. They were speechless when I told them the cookies were totally egg and butter free. I want to make recipes from the dinner section now.
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!
Renee
Alison Andrews says
Yay! So happy to read your comment Renee! Thanks for posting! 🙂