Don’t get me wrong, I loveeeee brownies. Brownie sundae? All about it. But when it comes to these vegan double chocolate chip cookies that are basically a brownie in cookie form, I’ll gladly choose the latter!
I’m not even joking, these cookies are the epitome of soft, gooey, and fudgy, yet maintain their form so well so that you’re not getting a chocolate mess everywhere (unless you’re 5, then I can’t help you there!).
But what’s more, you’d never know that these Christmas cookies are vegan, and can be made gluten free undetectably as well!
I mean, that’s a win in my book if there ever was one! Plus these cookies are hassle free and perfect for kids to help along with!
One of my favorite vegan Christmas cookies
I absolutely love all types of cookies, especially this time of year. But there’s just something so classic about a double chocolate chip cookie!
First of all, it’s easy to love chocolate, but these cookies just wow me because it looks and tastes like a brownie in cookie form.
All while being completely dairy free, egg free, low in sugar (and refined sugar free!), and easily made gluten free. I mean, that’s quite a feat, little cookie!
Plus these double chocolate chip cookies make for the absolute best vegan Christmas cookies at a cookie exchange because a) it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t enjoy chocolate, and b) I guarantee you no one will have an A+ recipe like this one.
I mean, it’s just hard to find a fault in these cookies!
Unless you’re the Grinch. Or Scrooge.
How to make vegan double chocolate chip cookies
What I love most about these chocolate brownie cookies is how dang simple and easy they are. Seriously! With everything else going on during the holidays, the last thing you need to stress over is cookies.
Before we get into just how easy these vegan double chocolate chip cookies are to put together, let’s go over the ingredients.
For these cookies, you’ll need:
- Flour (or gluten free 1-to-1 baking flour): I love Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur’s for gluten free and regular flour. You can also use cassava flour here, but I would reduce the amount of flour by 1/4 cup.
- Cacao powder: because we need these to be extra chocolatey for vegan double chocolate chip cookies!
- Coconut oil: this is in place of butter, and it works absolutely perfectly because the applesauce will help add moisture back into the cookies.
- Coconut sugar: though we’re still using sugar in these cookies, there’s not as much as normal cookies! Actually about half the sugar content, which isn’t bad at all!
- Applesauce: go for the unsweetened version for just apples! The applesauce will act as eggs in the cookies while also adding a bit of moisture back to these brownie cookies.
- Vanilla (trust me on this one!)
- Chocolate chips (but of course!): I love using Lily’s or Pascha Organics for a vegan chocolate chip, but you can also use Enjoy life or your favorite chocolate chip brand!
A note on properly measuring ingredients:
Like with all recipes, it’s really crucial that you properly measuring your ingredients. Weighing your ingredients will give you the most accurate results.
A slight difference in method can drastically change how much of an ingredient you’re using and ultimately the result of your cookies. Take for instance the below photo.
The top cookie is properly measured ingredients. The second cookie below (smaller), uses actually MORE flour here. This is because the flour has been scooped. I highly recommend you weigh your ingredients, but if you’re using cups, please spoon and level rather than scoop.
Now that we’ve gone over ingredients, let’s get to actually baking these cookies!
So to start, you’ll just need to make sure that your work space is set up. Preheat the oven and make sure your cookie sheet is lined with parchment paper.
Next, you’ll need to:
- Beat together the coconut oil (or vegan butter), applesauce, coconut sugar and vanilla extract using a hand mixer.
- Sift in the dry ingredients and either beat the dough with a hand mixer or mix it in with a spoon.
- Fold in the chocolate chips, then scoop the dough and roll it into dough balls to place onto your baking sheet, at least 2 inches apart.
- Chill the cookie sheet in the fridge for 10 minutes, then place the cookie sheet into the oven to bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Pan-banging method: once baked, remove the cookies from the oven and tap the pan onto the countertop about 3-4 times. This will help flatten the cookies to be more like brownie cookies.
- Let the cookies cool before serving onto a plate.
What is the pan-banging method?
So for these double chocolate chip cookies, we’ll be using the pan-banging method, but slightly modified.
Essentially, once the cookies have fully baked, remove the pan from the oven and tap the pan onto the countertop a few times (I do about 3 or 4 times) to flatten the cookies.
This will help create that brownie-look to these chocolate cookies.
Then you’re done! How easy is that?! The hardest part is probably letting them cool, I’ll be honest!
The perfect Christmas cookies for a cookie exchange
These are one of my favorite Christmas cookies for cookie exchanges for a few reasons.
- They’re classic without being overdone. Don’t get me wrong, I love gingerbread cookies, especially my vegan gingerbread cookies, as much as the next person, but chances are, there will be a few gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies, and thumbprint cookies at the exchange. These vegan brownie cookies are perfectly classic and chances are no one will make them like this!
- Everyone loves chocolate. Except for maybe someone who’s allergic to chocolate, which I’ve come across a few so far, but for the most part, chocolate is a safe bet for a happy tummy!
- These vegan double chocolate chip cookies are completely dairy free, egg free, refined sugar free, and can easily be made 100% gluten free, making them a great allergy-friendly Christmas cookie.
- Making these vegan chocolate brownie cookies doesn’t take much effort. Like at all! All you need to do is make the dough, bake the cookies, and wait for them to cool! No decorating, no fancy lattice, no secondary component that just made these a whole lot more difficult…these are some of my favorite easy Christmas cookies!
I hope you love these vegan double chocolate chip cookies as much as I do! Seriously, they taste like a brownie in cookie form. It’s unreal!
If you make these cookies, let me know down below in the comments section! And as always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations, so make sure to tag me on Instagram and Pinterest so that I can see!
Happy baking and exchanging!
More healthy Christmas cookies you’ll love!
Vegan Gluten Free Snickerdoodle Cookies
Almost Paleo Peanut Butter Blossoms
Paleo Vegan Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies
Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies (made vegan!)
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Ooey gooey vegan double chocolate chip cookies that taste like a brownie in cookie form! Stress-free baking and easy to make gluten free, these are the best vegan Christmas cookies!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (125 grams) organic flour or gluten free 1-to-1 flour
- 1/2 cup (50 grams) cacao powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp espresso powder (optional, but highly recommended)
- 1/2 cup (108 grams) vegan butter or coconut oil, softened but not melted
- 1/3 cup (83 grams) applesauce, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (95 grams) coconut sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1–2 tbsp dairy free milk, if needed for mixing batter
- 3/4 cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, beat together the coconut oil, applesauce, coconut sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Sift in the cacao powder, flour, espresso powder, baking soda, and sea salt, and mix until it’s a thick batter. If the dry ingredients are still not fully incorporating, you can add in 1-2 tbsp dairy free milk to help.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Scoop about 1 tbsp of dough and roll it into a ball. Place it onto the baking sheet and repeat for the remaining dough, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart.
- If you find your cookie dough is sticky, you can place the baking sheet into the oven to chill for 10 minutes. Otherwise, you can directly place the baking sheet into the oven to bake for 10-12 minutes.
- Once the cookies have fully baked, remove the pan from the oven and tap the pan onto the countertop a few times (I do about 3 or 4 times) to flatten the cookies.
- Let cool for 10 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Keywords: brownie cookie, vegan double chocolate chip cookies, vegan Christmas cookies
Brownie + cookie = perfection.
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Aw thank you!! I appreciate it!
These look awesome! But do they need baking powder or baking soda?
Hi Hannah! No baking powder nor soda required 🙂 Enjoy!
I noticed your recipe calls for baking soda… Anyway, I followed this recipe pretty closely and they were quite dry. Nothing gooey about them 🙁 They crumbled after cooling. No almond milk? Maybe that would have helped. Next time I may add a couple tablespoons to see and give the recipe another try.
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Hi I’m so sorry to hear this! So I ended up adding the baking soda back in, as I found that yielded the most consistent results. But from the sounds of it, you might have added too much flour? Did you happen to scoop your flour?
Yummy cookies!! 🙂 It wasn’t said in the recipe, but are you supposed to flatten them first??
Hi Gabby! Aw thank you! I personally didn’t but you can if you’d like! They don’t spread much, so if you would like them to spread more, you can definitely flatten them 🙂
I had to stop myself & my husband from eating all the batter!!! Gee wizz, fav vegan cookie recipe ever!! Thank you for sharing
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Oh my goodness!!! I am so beyond happy and grateful to hear that!! That’s amazing 🙂 Honestly my boyfriend and I have the same issue HA! Enjoy!
Looks yum. What about rye flour or buckwheat? All I have 🙁 thanks
Hi Jess! They should work with buckwheat at a 1:1 ratio (I’ve tested buckwheat in other cookie recipes with similar results but I haven’t tested it here!) but unfortunately I can’t guarantee the same results! If you try it please let me know!
Definitely satisfied my cookie / brownie craving all at once. Delicious! I didn’t add the espresso powder because I’m caffeine-free… when I make these again I may use a little more vanilla.
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Aw I am so happy to hear this!! Enjoy and thank you for the rating! 🙂
Hi Brit, it’s Anna! Just made these for my family (and soon for Lauren…) and I’ve gotten rave reviews! Thank you for the recipe 🙂
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Oh my goodness hi Anna!!! This makes me so happy to hear, thank you so much and enjoy!!! Hope you’re doing well!
These didn’t spread or flatten at all. The flour also tasted a bit raw after baking. I’m wondering if adding baking soda would help this. At the least, it would allow them to spread out a bit.
Hi Courtney- I’m so sorry to hear this! They should have spread slightly, like in the photo, but they won’t spread all the way. If you want your cookies to spread a bit more, you can definitely add in 1/2 tsp of baking soda. They idea was to get them to be a bit like a Levain Bakery cookie 🙂 I’m so sorry it didn’t turn out for you though!
Thanks for sharing! Do you think adding a flax egg or two would moisten and fluff them up some?
The applesauce will do the trick! But if you’d like them to spread more, you can add in 1/2 tsp baking soda to the dry mixture 🙂
Hi! I was just wondering if I can use vegan butter instead of coconut oil. Thank you!
Absolutely!! 🙂
Hi!
I’m super excited to try your recipe! They look soo yummy and chocolatey 🥰
What could I use instead of applesauce without changing the texture?
Thanksss
Hi Ana!! Aw that’s wonderful, thank you!! So for this recipe, I really recommend sticking with the applesauce if you can- it will help achieve that soft cookie texture (I haven’t successfully gotten it with a ground flaxseed egg). You can also use mashed banana here, but they will taste more like a banana cookie then. The applesauce is subtle enough that you don’t even taste it!
Can I use flax egg instead of applesauce?
Hi Kaitlyn! They won’t be as soft, but they will still work! 🙂
Hi! Can I use almond flour instead? That’s all I have 🙁
Aw no! Unfortunately, it won’t work with almond flour (I’ve tested it once, and it didn’t turn out!). I’m so sorry!
can i use banana instead of applesauce?
Hi Melissa! I haven’t tried this recipe with banana so I can’t guarantee results! The applesauce definitely provides a lot of needed moisture, since coconut oil is 100% fat and doesn’t have the same fat:water ratio that even vegan butter has!
Hmm, I’m reading the comments and read back over the recipe and not sure as to why mine didn’t turn out right. They completely flattened into a thin crisp. They did not turn out as cookies at all.
Oh no I’m so sorry to hear that! It might have been the vegan butter/coconut oil- was it completely melted when using it? It should be just room temperature!
Hello…
Can I use oat flour or whole wheat flour?? It’s all I have….which will be better ??
Thanks !!!
Hi Monica! So I actually haven’t tried these with either- only with GF 1:1 baking flour (Bob’s Red Mill to be exact!). My guess is that they might work with oat flour but I *cannot* guarantee results. Whole wheat flour I’ve really not worked with so I can’t speak to that! Of course, you can try the oat flour, but I just can’t promise they’ll turn out just like this!
Which other flour would you recommend? Oat or whole wheat maybe? Another thing is i live in a tropical country so my coconut oil is always liquid, what should i do in that regard?
Hi Alida!! So I haven’t tested these with oat flour myself, but one reader did say that they worked, although I don’t think they spread as much. Wheat flour might be a bit trickier, so I would use oat flour if it were me, but I can’t guarantee it will be the same results, I’m so sorry!! For coconut oil, you can pop it into the fridge to help solidify it!!
This was good but not quite as fudgy as I would have liked, plus they didn’t flatten when I did the tapping thing. Why would that be? Also I think next time I will put a bit less cocoa powder
Hi Lehava! Thanks for writing in! You have to give it a good tap- like a little harder than you’d think (but not too much that the cookies go flying!). I would check out this video for specifics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1bUPTutPkQ skip to minute 4:40 for the technique!
Made these today. Had to sub a few ingredients cause some things are hard to find where I live. Subbed half a banana for the applesauce plus a shot of espresso instead of powder. Also subbed about half of the coconut oil with tahini. Also brown sugar instead of coconut sugar. Despite all these adjustments I made they look a lot like the ones you made.
And they turned out yummy, almost like brownie cookies. I think this recipe can be really versatile…thinking of subbing white choc chips, or adding some nuts
Thanks for the recipe, Britt! Where I am atm we’re under lockdown again so I’ll be looking into making some more of your recipes. Thinking a good banana bread or something with pumpkin…any recs?
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Aw this is so lovely to hear!! Glad all of the subs worked out 🙂 and absolutely!! This is my go-to banana bread recipe: https://thebananadiaries.com/best-vegan-banana-bread-recipe/ and this is my fave pumpkin bread: https://thebananadiaries.com/vegan-pumpkin-bread-recipe/ Enjoy!! And sending lots of love!
Hii… I used the Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour from Bob’s Red Mill, and every else kept the same, and my cookies turned out very dry 🙁 … They didn’t flatten, so I tried to do it with the fork and started to fall apart!
Any advice?? It was the four? Or should I try to add more apple sauce/coconut oil next time???…
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Hi Nailea! Question: did you happen to scoop the flour instead of measure it with a spoon? If so, scooping the flour yields too much flour in the recipe (it’s like having 1 cup of PACKED flour vs 1 cup flour). This would have yielded a more dry cookie! Did you make any other swaps to the recipe?
made them with oat flour, a little bit less because i added orgain chocolate protein powder, half a shot of espresso and let me tell you that the batter by itself was AMAZING loved them!
Aw my goodness I’m so happy to hear!! Sounds absolutely brilliant 🙂 Love orgain as well! Enjoy and thanks for the review!
I just made these cookies last night and my boyfriend and I absolutely loved them! I used cocoa powder instead of cacao and skipped the espresso powder, but they still turned out delicious! I probably should have waited to tell my boyfriend that they were vegan until after he tried one because he was a bit skeptical about them at first, but after a few bites even he had to admit that they were good!
Aw this is so wonderful! Thank you so much for the review!! So glad you both loved 🙂
Can these be frozen to eat at a later date? Thank you!!
Yes absolutely! Make sure to store them in an airtight container!