Unbelievably Easy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gluten free!)
These are honestly the best vegan chocolate chip cookies ever made with SIMPLE ingredients that you won’t even know are vegan! Just one bowl and easily gluten free, these crispy edge and gooey center vegan chocolate chip cookies are for all eaters!
Why these are the best vegan chocolate chip cookies:
This is quite literally the only vegan chocolate chip cookies recipe you ever need. Why? Because these vegan chocolate chip cookies truly taste like the best chocolate chip cookies, vegan or not. Much like the fan favorite vegan cookies (and one that made it into my first cookbook!), vegan double chocolate chip cookies, absolutely no one will know that these cookies are dairy free and eggless.
We’re talking gooey, chocolatey, melt-in-your mouth, chewy yet soft, downright irresistible chocolate chip cookies. Trust me, these vegan chocolate chip cookies taste just like traditional, making them perfect for any eater, vegan or not. You have the crispy edges with a molten center that make these chewy cookies taste just like classic chocolate chip cookies. You’ll never know this is a vegan recipe!
However, they’re undetectably:
- Eggless
- Dairy free
- Easily gluten-free
- Refined sugar free
- Nut free
- Soy free!
Plus these vegan cookies are so easy to make. We’re talking 1 bowl and ready in as little as 25 minutes.
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This post contains affiliate links. This means that when you make a purchase from these links, I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. All recommendations are based on my personal experience and preference! Thank you for supporting The Banana Diaries!
Table of contents
- Why these are the best vegan chocolate chip cookies:
- My latest video:
- Are vegan chocolate chip cookies easy?
- Simple Ingredients:
- Overview: How to make Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies from scratch
- How long to bake cookies:
- Are chocolate chips vegan?
- Tips for making the perfect vegan cookies:
- Is vegan cookie dough safe to eat?
- How to store these vegan cookies
- How to freeze cookie dough
- Watch how to make vegan chocolate chip cookies:
- More vegan cookie recipes that you’ll love
My latest video:
Are vegan chocolate chip cookies easy?
Short answer: YES, vegan chocolate chip cookies are honestly easier than regular.
Plus these vegan cookies are made with the simplest ingredients, including applesauce and coconut oil!
Simple Ingredients:
To make the best vegan chocolate chip cookies ever, you’re going to need a few specific ingredients:
- Organic flour (or a 1-to-1 gluten free blend): you can make these vegan gluten free chocolate chip cookies just classic vegan chocolate chip cookies! Or if you don’t like gluten free flour blends, you can also try my vegan oat flour chocolate chip cookies!
- Vegan butter or Coconut oil: this basically replaces butter in your classic cookie recipe.
- Unsweetened applesauce: the secret ingredient to making these vegan cookies irresistibly gooey and perfect! It might sound weird to make vegan chocolate chip cookies with applesauce, but trust me this is the key. Make sure there is no added sugar here because these cookies definitely are sweet! You can also use flax eggs here (just ground flaxseed mixed with water), but I personally don’t like the texture, and prefer the applesauce.
- Granulated sugar and brown sugar: You can also use coconut sugar here entirely for a refined sugar free vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe . It really reminds me of brown sugar in cookies.
- Chocolate chips: I use Pascha Chocolate stevia-sweetened chips for a low sugar chocolate chip that’s also dairy free. You can also use dairy free chocolate chunks, such as the ones by Enjoy Life! Alternatively, you can chop up a vegan dark chocolate bar instead of using chocolate chips.
- Dairy free milk: this is optional, but I find it helps to mix the dough together! You can use your favorite non-dairy milk here.
- Vanilla extract: Just a teaspoon goes a long way! You can also use vanilla powder for an alcohol free sugar free vanilla option!
Cookie baking equipment:
- Hand mixer: this ensures that the applesauce, coconut oil, and coconut sugar get mixed and combined properly
- Bowl: these are one bowl vegan chocolate chip cookies!
- Silpat or parchment paper: this ensures that the cookies don’t spread too much. We’re not chilling the dough, which makes cookies made with coconut oil spread easier (otherwise they just don’t!), but we don’t want them spreading too much!
Overview: How to make Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies from scratch
For the full written instructions and ingredient measurements, see the bottom of this post in the recipe card. You can also hit the “jump to recipe” button at the top of this post! Here, we’ll go over a brief overview of the steps, along with providing visuals for a better understanding of the recipe.
What I love about this vegan cookie recipe is that it’s not far off from making regular chocolate chip cookies, even the gluten free version.
So if you’re a home baker just transitioning to more vegan baking, this recipe will be a piece of cake for you!
- Whisk: In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. This will be the flour mixture.
- Cream: In a medium bowl, add in the vegan butter or coconut oil (not melted coconut oil!). Cream the butter until fluffy. Then add in the applesauce, coconut sugar, and vanilla extract, using a hand mixer again to mix together. You can use either a stand mixer or an electric mixer here.
- Fold: Then sift in the flour mixture (flour, baking soda, and sea salt), and use a rubber spatula the ingredients together until you get a thick batter, like below. You can also add in the optional tablespoons of dairy free milk, such as soy milk, almond milk, or oat milk, here to help with mixing.
- Mix in the chocolate chips: Then chill the dough for 30 minutes. If my kitchen isn’t humid at all (and quite cold-especially in the winter!) then I can actually just bake these cookies without chilling the dough. However, in the spring and summer months, I find I definitely need to chill the dough. The dough should be “scoop able” almost like ice cream from the freezer but not quite as hard.
- Use a cookie scoop: You’ll next scoop the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheets. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, you can also use a tablespoon or even a small ice cream scoop. I use a medium cookie scoop.
- Bake the cookies: Place the baking sheet into the oven, and bake! After the cookies are baked, let them sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes to set. This is because the vegan cookies are slightly delicate at first! Then you can transfer them to a wire rack to full cool and sprinkle with a little flaky sea salt!
It’s important to note that the baking time for these cookies will largely vary based on your kitchen and oven temperatures. Not every oven works the same, which is why it’s crucial you judge the readiness of the cookies based on how they look in your oven, and not necessarily by what the clock says.
My dough is really sticky- help!
Not a problem at all- you can simply chill the cookie dough for 30-45 minutes. This sometimes happens if we haven’t used truly room temperature vegan butter (you should aim for 65F in your butter!).
How long to bake cookies:
I find that baking these cookies at a 350F for just 10-12 minutes will give the cookie a nice crisp outer edge, and a soft and chewy center. However, I never follow cookie baking times in recipe cards. The reason being? You should always judge the cookies by how they’re baking in your own oven. So for me, 10-12 minutes is perfect. For your oven, it might be 13!
Baking times will vary based on your kitchen and oven temperatures. This is due to different oven fans and how they work, whether your oven is new or old (older ovens run cooler, so be sure to use an oven thermometer!).
Make sure you watch your cookies and bake according to your own oven. Look for the crisp slightly golden brown edges, and allow your cookies to rest after removing them from the oven.
Are chocolate chips vegan?
A common misconception is that chocolate is not vegan, when in reality, there are many chocolate brands out there that are vegan!
For the cookies in the photo, I used a mixture of a vegan chocolate bar that I roughly chopped, along with vegan chocolate chips that I placed into the cookie after baking.
You can go the 100% route, which I personally love because I just love the flavor and strength of 100% cacao, so try out Pascha Chocolate Chips if you’d like! They’re made with only cacao butter and cacao powder, making them vegan chocolate chips! Pascha also has a wonderful stevia-sweetened chocolate chip, which I just love.
Tips for making the perfect vegan cookies:
Make sure all ingredients are room temperature! If your applesauce is chilled and the coconut oil or vegan butter is room temperature, it will cause the oil to split and yield messy cookies.
Spoon and level the flour: too much flour will result in cake-y cookies. Be sure to spoon and level your flour, NOT scoop!
Make these gluten free: I’ve tried them using gluten free 1:1 baking flour, and they work perfectly!
Need lower sugar? No problem! Reduce the sugar content by 25% for an even healthier vegan chocolate chip cookie!
Look for crisp edges: don’t worry- they’ll still be safe to eat if the center is still soft in the middle! Leaving them slightly golden and soft in the middle directly after baking will allow for the perfect texture. Just allow the cookies to cool for 15 minutes so that they firm up!
Using regular sugar will yield a lighter looking cookie
Use a cookie scoop for perfectly shaped vegan chocolate chip cookies!
Is vegan cookie dough safe to eat?
Many people try not to eat regular cookie dough, as it contains raw eggs. However, vegan cookie dough is also tricky, as it contains raw flour. Flour can be a sneaky source for E. Coli so it’s best to not eat raw cookie dough, vegan or not!
That being said, if you’re by chance using heat-treated flour, then your vegan cookie dough can be safer to eat, much like edible cookie dough!
How to store these vegan cookies
For storage tips, you have a few options for both baked cookies and cookie dough: room temperature, fridge, and freezer:
Freezer: Store them in a plastic airtight bag or container for up to 3 months.
How to freeze cookie dough
If you decided to make the cookie dough but not bake the cookies just yet, you can store the cookie dough wrapped in plastic wrap for up to 4 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
I recommend pre-scooping them into cookie dough balls for an easy fridge-to-bake method. However, you can also store the whole cookie dough in the freezer.
Just let the cookie dough thaw for about 2 hours before scooping!
You are just going to LOVE these vegan chocolate chip cookies. They’re seriously just so easy to make, and an absolute crowd pleaser for both kids and adults.
Enjoy, and happy baking!
Watch how to make vegan chocolate chip cookies:
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If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
Print
BEST Ever Easy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever Made (Gluten free!)
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 18 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These vegan chocolate chip cookies taste just like classic chocolate chip cookies! Plus they’re so easy and easily made gluten free! Perfectly chewy center with crispy edges for the perfect vegan cookie recipe!
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup (180 g) all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour or oat flour mixed with 1 tbsp arrowroot starch, sifted and spoon & leveled
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 cup (113 g) vegan butter or coconut oil, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100 g) organic granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 g) light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup (85 g) unsweetened applesauce or dairy free yogurt, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2–3 tbsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk, room temperature, as needed
- 1 cup (170 g) vegan chocolate chips*
Instructions
- Prep: Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and measure out all ingredients.
- Whisk: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.
- Make the dough: In a large bowl, add in vegan butter or coconut oil and use a hand mixer to cream for 3-5 minutes, until whipped. Then add in the applesauce, sugars, and vanilla. Use a hand mixer to beat the wet ingredients together until completely combined. Sift in the flour mixture. Use a rubber spatula to fold together. Stop just before all of the flour is mixed in.
- Add in the chocolate chips: Fold in chocolate chips. Add in dairy free milk by the tablespoon if your dough needs a bit of help incorporating.
- Chill: Chill the dough for 30 minutes. While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 350F.
- Bake: Using a cookie scoop, and roll about 1.5 tablespoons of dough per cookie for regular sized cookies, or 3 tablespoons of dough for large cookies onto the sheet. Place into oven and bake for 10-12 minutes (my oven, I bake them exactly 11 minutes each time for large cookies) or until the edges are lightly golden and are “set.” The middles shouldn’t be dough-y looking, but if they’re still soft, that’s perfectly fine.
- Cool: Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. This allows the cookies to firm up to hold together.
- Enjoy: Sprinkle with extra sea salt and enjoy! Store these cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 days, a week in the fridge, or a month in the freezer.
Notes
Baking times: baking times will vary based on your kitchen and oven temperatures. Be sure to watch your cookies and bake according to your own oven. Here is an excellent post on how to tell if cookies are undercooked, done, or overcooked.
Refined sugar free: swap in coconut sugar for both the sugar and the brown sugar.
Vegan Chocolate Chips: I recommend Pascha Chocolate. They are my favorite vegan chocolate chip brand, and have a variety of chips: both stevia-sweetened, regular sugar, and 100%!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 167
- Sugar: 18.3 g
- Sodium: 160.7 mg
- Fat: 6.2 g
- Saturated Fat: 2.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 26.9 g
- Fiber: 1.2 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: vegan chocolate chip cookies, best vegan chocolate chip cookies ever, vegan cookie recipe, vegan gluten free chocolate chip cookies
Ok you are seriously some kind of magical baking fairy! 🙂 These look soooo gooey and delicious, and I love how simple the ingredients are!
★★★★★
You are so sweet!! I hope you love them!!
You do,know the Lily’s contains milk fat…
Hi Sally! Their vegan dark chocolate chips do not. They’re in the orange bag and are labeled baking chips. Some of their chips do contain milk fat, but many of their products are vegan. Just be sure to always read the label!
Duuuuh! Now I see the difference. My dough is chilling now…my husband and I both licked the beaters…soooooooooo yummy!
Hello! What do you think would be some of the best flours to use for this recipe! Dying to try! Thank you so much!
Hi Meg! Aw so wonderful to hear! So if you’re not GF, then just all-purpose flour works great! I love the organic AP flour by King Arthur 🙂 For GF, I highly recommend Bob’s Red Mill GF Baking 1-to-1 flour (different from their GF flour), and if you’re doing Paleo, cassava flour works great!! Enjoy!
Amaaaaaazing cookies 😍🤤
Second time I make this recipe, instead of using apple sauce (which I never have at home unless I make my own) I use vegan vanilla yogurt ! Soo good and soft and chewy, they are loved by all the family!
Definitely the best vegan cooky I’ve ever eat !!!!
★★★★★
These are the most delicious cookies EVER. I baked them for a housewarming party and everyone couldn’t get enough!! Insane flavor and texture. You are amazing, keep doing your thing because you rock! I can’t wait to bake more of your recipes. Thank you SO much!!
Oh my goodness! This just made my day! Thank you so much for your kind words! Truly, my heart skips a beat STILL when people say they love my recipes! It’s just the best feeling 🙂 Thank you for being a part of the community, and enjoy!! 🙂
These look amazing. Can I use almond flour?
Aw thank you! So I haven’t tried this combo personally, but someone did mention they tried 1 1/2 cups almond flour and 1/2 cup coconut flour. I can’t personally speak for this but others have said that it has worked for them!
These look absolutely amazing! What about substituting coconut sugar with maple syrup? Maybe adding less milk.
Thanks in adavance 🙂
Hi Valentina! Aw thank you! I can’t guarantee the texture of the cookies if you swap in maple syrup. If it were me, I would see if I could omit the milk, but I can’t guarantee the results!
I did a little less coconut sugar, added a big splash of maple syrup. Also used 1 cup oat flour 1/3 cup almond flour. less almond milk. turned out amazing!!
Aw this is wonderful!! Thank you so much!! Love to hear that the oat flour worked!
These are great thank you!! I used whole grain sorghum flour which made them soft like consistency but they melted in my mouth I love them:) do you think they would work with coconut flour too?
★★★★★
Aw my goodness thank you so much! That’s wonderful 🙂 I haven’t personally tried them with coconut flour, but if I were to try it, I’d try it with almond flour as well!
These are great thank you!! I used whole grain sorghum flour and they melted in my mouth, do you think they would work with coconut flour too? thank!
★★★★★
Literally just made these and they are sooo quick and easy to make…not to mention super tasty!
★★★★★
Aw this is wonderful to hear!! Thank you for the rating 🙂
Hello, I’ve been searching for a good vegan, low fructose, gluten free and refined sugar free chocolate chip cookie recipe and was so excited when I ran across this one! Until I realized that the recipe called for applesauce. I am fructose intolerant and can’t have apples. Would you possibly have any recommended alternatives?
Thank you! (:
Hi Hadleigh! Aw you are so sweet! I’m so sorry you can’t have apples but you can swap in 2 tbsp ground flaxseed with 3-4 tbsp of water! If the mixture is too thick to mix, add in the 4th tbsp of water 🙂 Enjoy!
Aww thank you so much, you’re a Cookie Monster life saver!
I’m going to try this out, so excited! (:
YAY!! Let me know how they come out! 🙂 Enjoy!
Totally making these !!!!
I’m not GF. I have oat flour, almond flour and whole wheat flour…which one you think will work best ????
Also, don’t have coconut sugar, can I sub brown sugar 1:1 ???
😬
Aw I hope you love!! You can sub in brown sugar 1:1! For the flour- so I’ve only tested this with all purpose flour, gluten free 1:1 baking flour and cassava flour! If it were me, I would use the oat flour between the three of the choices that you have but I unfortunately cannot guarantee the same results as the recipe is written for! Wheat flour can at times be finicky so I think the best results would be with oat flour, but again I just can’t guarantee that it will work completely!
What’s the total amount of flour in gram?
Hi there! 210 grams total!
Would brown sugar or granulated sugar work in place of coconut sugar? And is it a 1:1 ratio?
Yes absolutely! Either of those options works, and at a 1:1 ratio!
Hi, I was following your previous recipe where it was your old vegan chocolate chip recipe and seems like you updated it. Can I have the old one, please?? it was soo good
Hi Christina! Yes! So the old version, the only thing different was the flour was 1 3/4 cup, and it was just coconut oil (instead of the option of vegan butter)! You can use an extra tbsp of DF milk too if you need!
These are perfect!
★★★★★
Aw I’m so happy to hear!! Enjoy, and thank you for the review!!
I made half a batch of this recipe and it makes 11 cookies. I used the measurement in grams but I think my batter was too light, I don’t know if I overbeat my butter or with my flour I should add more (I didn’t use Bob’s because it’s hard to find). But I just went with it and baked them in 2 batches. The first one I was using light-coloured baking sheet and my cookies flatten a bit and was super soft. The 2nd batch I used dark-coloured baking sheet and my cookies rose and didn’t collapse even after cooling down, and they’re firmer. Both are delish and melts in my mouth. But I just wonder why the first one turned flatter than the 2nd??
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Hi Laras! What GF brand did you use? It sounds like it might have been the flour- I’ve tried this now with Bob’s and with King Arthur, but I know that GF 1:1 flours aren’t always 1:1! Also did you use a piece of parchment paper down on the baking sheet? I find that helps the cookies not spread SO much on a light colored baking sheet! You can also use a silpat! My guess is that it might have been the flour, but the darker colored baking sheet will definitely prevent them from spreading if they’re going straight onto the cookie sheet!
I’m in love!!! These are amazing, i had to stop myself from eating all of them. Best chocolate chip cookie recipe by far non-vegan and vegan.
★★★★★
Aw this is AWESOME!! So happy to hear it thank you for this review!! Enjoy! 🙂
This looks so good! What a great way to enjoy a treat while sticking to the good stuff!
Thank you!
These are fabulous! I made them exactly as written and they turned out perfect. Slightly harder on the outside and moist in the middle. They didn’t crumble at all. Delish!! Thank you!
★★★★★
This is just wonderful!! Thank you so much for leaving this review! So glad you enjoyed them 🙂
Would I be able to use an egg instead of the applesauce?
Hi Deborah! Theoretically, yes, as 1/3 cup applesauce replaces 1 egg to make a recipe eggless, but I haven’t personally tested this recipe with eggs so I can’t guarantee they’ll come out they way they’re intended!
These truly are the BEST chocolate chip cookies EVER – vegan or not! The whole family lovesssss them 🙂
★★★★★
Aw I’m so happy to hear it!! Enjoy 🙂
These are my go to chocolate chips cookies (vegan or not)! They are just perfect; taste and texture. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes! 🙂
★★★★★
This is so wonderful!! So happy to hear it, thank you so much for the review! Enjoy 🙂
I’ve probably already left a comment here before BUT I must comment again to tell you that these are my favourite choc chip cookies ever. I’ve basically tried every chocolate chip cookie recipe out there (vegan ones that is) and these are always a hit. I have a 5 month old but when I was pregnant with him I basically made these twice a week and there was never a crumb left!!
Thanks for your recipes!!
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Oh my goodness!! This so sweet! So so glad you loved them!! And also congrats on your newborn 🙂 Enjoy!!
Hi! Which brand of vegan chocolate chips do you use?
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I recommend using either Pascha Chocolate or Enjoy Life! Those are my fave!
I am new to baking in general and especially vegan and gluten-free. Theses cookies taste wonderful. Question though, they are flat and oily. What might be the culprits? While I have read up on possibilities, like I will be testing the actual temperature of the oven, I wanted your insight. Thank you.
Hi Mary Laura! It sounds like your baking powder could definitely be it- when was the last time that you got a new container? I find that’s the most common issue with many people, since we don’t think to change it out that often (especially through the summer, when the house is a bit warmer!). Another question- what baking sheet did you use? Did you use any parchment paper or a silicone baking mat? The darker the baking sheet, the less the cookies will spread, and a piece of parchment paper or silicone mat also helps with that. Lastly, it could be that your dough was simply not chilled enough! Depending on how warm your vegan butter was, your dough could have perhaps done with another 10-15 minutes chilled in the fridge! I hope this helps!
Can I use apple apple sauce for this recipe and reduce the coconut sugar
Yes, absolutely to both! As long as you don’t reduce the coconut sugar too much- you can safely reduce it by 1/4 cup without too much difference. I hope that helps!
I have many food allergies and finding desserts that suit my needs is very difficult. I have made your recipe twice, and I can say that apart from being easy to make, they are delicious. The first time I made them with buckwheat flour and the second time with GF oat flour and they were perfect in both cases. Thank you!
★★★★★
I am so so happy to hear this!! LOVE that you used buckwheat flour too! That’s one of my favorite gluten free flours! Enjoy, and thank you again 🙂