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If you’ve been looking for the best vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe, your search is over! These egg free chocolate chip cookies bake up thick, chewy, and golden brown. You don’t have to chill the dough, so you can just roll the room temperature chocolate chip cookie dough into balls and bake.
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Like most people, I love homemade chocolate chip cookies! They’re one of my favorite things to bake, eat and gift! What’s better than seeing the look on someone’s face when you give them a fresh batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies. Warm, sweet, and so gooey… what’s not to love?
Many of my good friends live a vegan lifestyle, which was my inspiration for creating this recipe! I was determined to create a a vegan recipe that tastes just like my classic everyday chocolate chip cookies. And guess what… after exactly 7 recipes fails, I finally created the ultimate vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe!
And it was worth the work, because these are the most wonderful vegan chocolate chip cookies ever. These cookies taste so much like traditional chocolate chip cookies, no one even knows they’re vegan. In fact many of my friends have told me these are the best cookies I’ve ever baked. And I bake a TON of cookies.
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
- Coconut Oil: For less coconut flavor, use refined coconut oil.
- Sugar: Light brown sugar adds sweetness and moisture to the cookie dough. And gives the cookies a golden brown color. Feel free to use equal parts granulated sugar and brown sugar instead.
- Vanilla Extract: Use pure vanilla extract, not the imitation stuff.
- Coconut Milk: I like to use the thicker Thai variety, but any coconut milk will work.
- Unsweetened Applesauce: In a pinch, ripe mashed banana will work as a sub. But it will give the cookies a subtle banana flavor.
- All-Purpose Flour: For best results, use all-purpose flour. For gluten free chocolate chip cookies, 1-for-1 gluten free flour may work.
- Baking Soda: Flour, baking soda, and salt make up our dry ingredients. Be sure to use baking soda, not baking powder!
- Salt: I use fine kosher salt in the chocolate chip cookie dough and flaky sea salt on top of the baked cookies.
- Chocolate Chips: Enjoy life makes a great vegan chocolate chip! Or, if you’re not strictly vegan, you can use whatever chocolate chip variety you enjoy!
Let’s Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Instead of vegan butter, this recipe is made with coconut oil. It gives the cookies a delightful taste and texture.
- Instead of beating butter and granulated sugar like traditional cookies, you’ll beat the brown sugar with the coconut oil.
- And if you REALLY love coconut, try adding a 1/2 cup of toasted coconut flakes to the cookie dough. It’s a coconut lovers dream!!!
- I have not tested this recipe with vegan butter or any other alternative, so I cannot advise on substitutions.
- Because coconut oil turns into a liquid state when warm, you’ll want to make sure your coconut oil is solidified before incorporating it in this recipe. It doesn’t need to be rock hard, but it should be solid and easily scoop-able.
- If your coconut oil is too runny, simply stick it in the fridge for a little while. It will firm up.The consistency of the coconut oil is so important because we’re not chilling the dough before baking the cookies. So if the consistency is off, the cookies will spread too much, or not enough.
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
I could seriously eat a large bowl of this cookie dough because it tastes so good! And doesn’t have any yucky raw egg in it. But I resist (most of the time) because the baked cookies are even better.
And because eating raw flour isn’t the smartest thing to do. But I digress. Visually, the raw cookie dough should look like this ↓
How to Fix Sticky Dough
- If the cookie dough appears too sticky, add in a little more flour. And if your cookie dough appears too firm, add in a little more non-dairy milk.
- It should be soft but not mushy, and firm but not hard. Basically it should look like traditional cookie dough.
- Unfortunately, I don’t suggest freezing this cookie dough. I’ve done it a few times in the past with not great results. But the vegan cookies will “keep”, stored in an airtight container at room temperature for a few days. And you can definitely freeze the baked cookies!
Where to find Vegan Chocolate Chips?
There are a ton of vegan and dairy free chocolate brands out there these days! Some are great, and others aren’t… so I suggest trying out a few and finding a brand that you really enjoy. And of course, you don’t have to use chocolate chips. Chocolate chunks would also be delicious in these cookies! And if your not 100% vegan, you can use any chocolate brand you want. I’m not vegan, so I often use my favorite Lindt dark chocolate to make (almost) vegan chocolate chunk cookies. We also love the enjoy life brand!
If you can’t find vegan chocolate chips or chocolate chunks in your local grocery store, search online. I know amazon sells vegan chocolate chips and chocolate bars.
How to Bake Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Unlike most cookie recipes that instruct you to preheat oven to 350, these cookies call for a slightly higher oven temperature of 375. The higher temperature yields cookies that are crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside.
- I like to make these cookies BIG. And use a large cookie scoop to create the monster sized cookies you see in my photos. Of course you may make them smaller or even larger, but will need to adjust the baking time. Small cookies will bake quite fast (I suggest you start checking them around 6 minutes) and larger ones take longer to bake (I suggest you check them around 9 minutes).
- Finally, be sure you don’t over bake these cookies! They only need 9 to 12 minutes in the oven, and will firm up quite a bit as they cool. Over baked cookies will be dry and crumbly… not chewy like we want!
- Place the cookies on a wire rack to cool completely! These cookies taste SO good once they’ve firmed up a bit. So let them cool at least 20 minutes before digging in.
I like to press a few extra chocolate chips on top of the warm vegan chocolate chip cookies right when they come out of the oven. This step is optional. Personally I can never have too much chocolate in, ON, or around my cookies lolol. But I’m a chocoholic… so that shouldn’t come as a surprise. You can also sprinkle the cookies with flaky sea salt, which adds a nice flavor contrast. And if you really want to go over the top, pick up some vegan ice cream and use these cookies to make homemade vegan ice cream cookie sandwiches. You’ll thank me for that little tip this Summer haha.
The hardest part of this recipe? WAITING FOR THE COOKIES TO COOL!!! I suggest cooling these cookies at least 15 minutes before moving them from the baking sheet. But they taste the best when you wait at least 30 minutes before eating them, so I suggest placing them on a cooling rack to firm up for a bit. This brief cooling period allows the cookies to firm up a bit, but they’ll still be warm and gooey when you bite in.
Vegan chocolate chip cookies that don’t taste one bit vegan. Bake now, thank me later 😉
More Vegan Cookie Recipes:
- Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chewy Chocolate Fudge Cookies (Vegan)
- Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Most Wonderful Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, solid but scoop-able
- 1 and 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup coconut milk (I like to use the thicker Thai variety, but any coconut milk will work)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 and 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (be sure not to pack your flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups chocolate chips (use vegan chocolate chips if vegan), divided
- Flaky sea salt, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F). Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
- In a large bowl whisk together the coconut oil, brown sugar, and vanilla, beating until well combined. Add in the coconut milk and applesauce and whisk until well combined; set aside. In a separate bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; whisk well to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet mixture and, using a wooden spoon or very sturdy spatula, stir until ingredients are combined. The batter will be very thick! Fold in 1 and 3/4 cups of the chocolate chips.
- Scoop three tablespoon sized mounds of dough onto the prepared cookie sheet, leaving a few inches between each cookies for spreading. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the centers have set. Press remaining chocolate chips on top of warm cookies, and sprinkle with sea salt, if using. Cool cookies on the baking sheet for 15 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
So so so good! Just made a batch and took a bite and I’m in love. Crunchy on the outside, gooey on the inside. Tastes like a light chocolate chip cookie without an overbearing chocolate flavor with just a hint of the applesauce under the sweet chocolate.
These are delightful! Not vegan, but I always enjoy desserts with coconut flavor and chocolate, so this recipe satisfies my craving perfectly.
So glad you enjoyed them, Emma 🙂
Why do you say NOT VEGAN??
Thank you, me too like this.
These are the best chocolate chip cookies ever, period.
I did have to make a few minor ingredient replacements but they turned out perfect. (One flax egg instead of applesauce, full fat creamy oat milk instead of coconut milk, only one cup instead of two cups of choc chips because I was low on them, greased foil because I was out of parchment paper.)
Chewy gooey on the inside and a slight golden crisp on the outside. The dough is delicious so I took that as a good sign. I baked for 8.5 minutes and although a little puffy right out of the oven, they looked perfect after cooling. I’m obsessed and I’m kind of a cookie snob. Way to go.
These are, hands down, the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made from scratch. Not just the best vegan chocolate chip cookies–the best chocolate chip cookies, period. Perfectly chewy with crisp edges and just the right amount of sweetness. Tried these because I was so impressed with the double chocolate vegan cookies, and definitely was not let down. Please consider posting more vegan recipes!
Pretty good recipe! Although, these didn’t spread out and appear like the picture for me. Still chewy though. Tasted strongly of coconuts fresh out of the oven but tasted even better the next day 🙂
Make sure you use refined coconut oil for no coconut taste!
Could I sub the coconut oil for vegan butter. And the coconut milk for almond milk?
I just saw your recommendation about no substitutions, lol
Hi Isha. Yes, with this recipe I really do not recommend substitutions as I had a lot of fails before finding the perfect combination of ingredients. That said, if you give those subs a try, I’d love to hear how the cookies turn out 😉 Happy baking!
I did not have the coconut milk, so I upped the applesauce by 1/4 cup. Turned out Great! Will try with the milk next time!
Hey just piggybacking,
What would you suggest for the gluten free folks our here ? They look absolutely amazing can’t wait to try it out
Hi Mae. I’ve never tried baking these GF, so I can’t say for sure, however I think using a 1 for 1 GF flour in place of the all purpose flour might work 🙂
It depends on the gluten free flour blend – I like the one by Namaste foods, which has always worked reliably for me at a 1:1 ratio, and doesn’t give baked goods an odd taste like many others I’ve tried. This brand can be found on Amazon for around $17-18 for a 5lb bag.
I substitued coconut milk for cashew milk and used homemade apple sauce : turned delicious!
Sorry but I did use coconut oil (not solid) and organic coconut sugar and organic coconut milk (in can)- that’s a must! They are great and I am vegan and have tried other recipes! Mine turned out darker (because of the sugar and genuine vanilla extract but the taste is great)!
WHERE CAN I PURCHASE VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIPS? JUST LOOKING AT THE COOKIES, MAKES ME WANT TO TRY THAT RECIPE RIGHT AWAY! FOR YEARS EVER SINCE A LITTLE BOY,ALWAYS LOVE CHOCOLATE CHIPS COOKIES. NOTHING BEATS HOMEMADE FRESH COOKIES OF ANY VARIETY.
on amazon! this brand is the best: https://www.amazon.com/Enjoy-Life-Semi-Sweet-Mini-Chips-Gluten-Free/dp/B00UHCJYW6/ref=sr_1_4_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1520185108&sr=8-4&keywords=vegan+chocolate+chips&dpID=41Oy7rGUVeL&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch
I do like the enjoy life brand but they are expensive. I get mine at Trader Joe’s and they are only 1.99 a bag!
Do you Live near a Wegman’s? They have a store brand that is vegan
Can you try a ccc recipe with coconut flour ?? I’ve been experimenting and haven’t had any luck perfecting it 🙁
My daughter has severe food allergies to dairy and eggs so we love finding recipes like this that we can all enjoy. Thank you so much ! I can’t wait to try these!
Hi! I’m from Brazil and we don’t have applesauce here… Can I substitute for other ingredient or there’s a way to make it? Thanks (:
I used a banana rather than apple sauce. They still turned out great and very moist! Just a hint of banana taste however.
Do you have apples in Brazil? If so, peel off the skin. Cut the flesh into small pieces. Place in pout with a little bit of water. Cook on a low -medium heat until soft. Mash with a potato masher or fork to make the applesauce. Look on Google for an applesauce recipe.
You can make applesauce quite easily from scratch using 1 tsp lemon juice and 1/2 cup of water per quart of quartered, cored apples. (I usually make about 3 quarts, so it would be: 3 tsp lemon juice, 1.5 cups water, 3 quarts cored and quartered apples. Add all to a pot and bring to a simmer. You want to stir the mixture pretty constantly as it begins to cook down. The apples should become very soft, the cooking time is typically around 30 minutes.
Once the apples have become soft and “mushy”, remove from heat. At this point, you can use a potato ricer or blender to create a viscous consistency.
Sugar is optional in this recipe, I prefer without. I like to either add cinnamon sticks to the pot before cooking, or ground cinnamon after to the finished product (to taste).
That’s amazing thank you!! ❤️❤️❤️ Have been wondering the same, but in Scotland – don’t think we have apple sauce either – so will make my own too! Thanks for the recipe as well sounds amazing – can’t wait to try it and so happy to have found your site!
You can also just stick an apple in a high speed blender or food processor. That’s what I did and my cookies came out great.
You can easily make applesauce. Just chopp apples and cook them with a little water until soft. Then blend until smooth. I do it all the time!
I used aquafaba (liquid from the chickpea can, 3tbsp) and turned out perfect!
I have read that this liquid d is an amazing binder. I would prefer not to buy cans- I imagine it would also work to use the water from boiled, fresh garbanzos.
No, I’ve read that aquafaba from fresh is not the same and that using that requires a lot of know-how about the subject.
You can just reduce it by heat to make it stickier. Cans are bad for yo health. I pressure cook my beans and freeze the rest in glass jars and still works
Peel, core and chop an apple and cook it on the stove top or microwave and it will become applesauce. There should be recipes on the internet if you want.
I used date syrup – equal parts pitted dates with water and a little squeeze of lemon. Run it all in a blender until smooth. I added the same amount, 1/4 cup, instead of apple sauce. Turned out just fine.
AMAZING! I’m pinning for if/when I ever need vegan ccc’s!
Seriously they’re so good I make them even when I’m not serving vegan friends 🙂
I’m so disappointed that this recipe calls for all purpose flour. The rest of the ingredients are great! I don’t eat wheat or gluten. Could you suggest a substitution?
I made with cassava and they were delicious!
I used bob’s red mill gluten free baking flour amd it turned out great!!
Why don’t yo I just use the gf all purpose flour. Bob’s mill hasn’t a good brand.
We are a gluten free house. I can modify almost any recipe by substituting the regular flour with a gluten free all purpose flour. I made these cookie with a flax egg instead of apple sauce…2 tbsp ground flax and 6 tbsp water. Mix and let sit for 2-3 minutes then add to your cookie dough wet ingredients. In doing that and substituting with 2 1/4 c gf flour they baked flat as can be. Ugh! So I added another 1/2 c of the gf flour to the remaining batter and they turned out much better. Good luck!
Try coconut flour. I use it in a lot of baking. It is delicious!
I used almond flour and they turned out great! I’m making them again tonight since my husband requested them!
My daughter and I use half buckwheat flour and half oat flour. I buy Bob’s Red Mill gluten free oats and we blend them into flour in the blender. I use a regular size cookie scoop and make them a little bigger. They turn out amazing.
I used gluten free flour and they turned out delicious.
Almond flour is a healthy alternative
I don’t think almond flour would work with this recipe, but if you try it, we’d love to hear your results 🙂
Agreed!! Definitely better quality and healthier options like coconut and almond flour!
I don’t really think of chocolate chip cookies as a health food… 🙂
I am not vegan, but these cookies are calling out to me. They look delicious – a MUST try!
They’re one of my favorite cookies! You can’t even tell they’re vegan 🙂
Made these tonight…boy not only easy but delicious!
Does it make a difference what kind of salt you use for baking?
No, I just use what I have
Can we make this cookie using curd instead of applesauce
I just finished baking these healthy delish cookies . Wow I am amazed !
I used to make it with butter and eggs prior to being vegan so I was sceptical.
Followed the recipe except I doubled the coconut butter (used miyokos) 1 cup instead of the 1/2 cup.
Added raisins coconut and oats , they have always been everyone’s fav family cookie but now healthy and I don’t feel guilty !
Thank you so much !
The recipe does not call for vegan butter, only coconut oil and milk. Did you substitute the oil for bitter?
Want to make these tonight but not sure if I should use semisweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate??
‘milk’ is not vegan. use semisweet chocolate.
Maybe he/she isn’t vegan!
also semi sweet isn’t vegan
Semi sweet also has milk in it.
The is vegan chocolate chips Cindy
Enjoy Life brand chocolate chips are dairy free 🙂
Nowadays they have amazing vegan rice milk chocolate, as well as other dairy free chocolates ranging from dark to white. Milk chocolate vegan chips can usually be found at target, Walmart, Kroger, Whole Foods, or lost anywhere else. They contain no milk, but are considered milk chocolate still.
It will be vegan milk chocolate thats used..
Nestle makes Simply Delicious chocolate chips that are Vegan. Only contain 3 ingredients. Made this recipe with these chocolate chips and they are delicious!
Nestle are one of the worst companies in the world, destroying the planet as well as ruining and taking advantage of some of the poorest human lives .. Boycott Nestle, if you are a vegan for ethical or environmental reasons you should definitely also avoid Nestle.
Never use milk chocolate for cookies! either semi sweet or dark!
Semisweet always tastes better to me.
Ok I did EVERYTHING in the recipe yet mine came out “ cake like” and puffy. Not flat. What did I do wrong?
mine did too! i can’t figure out why…
Any suggestions for freezing these cookies?
Miss you accidentally use self raising flour???
Cake like cookies are a result of overmixing and incorporating too much air
Mine too!
Mine too!
Mine too!.
Maybe trying cooking a little less so they will fall.
No one cares, Emily.
That’s usually caused by mixing the flour with the fat (coconut oil) then adding the liquid (coconut milk) but if you followed the instructions then it should have worked and I can’t be much help to you.
As far as spreading, you could flatten them before going in the oven.
She said, “The first ingredient called for in this recipe is coconut oil. It is very important your coconut oil is solid before you begin making the cookie dough. If you live in a considerably warm climate, you may need to place your coconut oil in the fridge to get it into a solid but scoop able state.” Perhaps the oil was not solid enough.
I have flattened some of my cookies prior to cooking. Also there are semi-chocolate chips vegan. Enjoy Life makes them. They are made with non dairy cocoa butter.
Omg amazing recipe!!! Best one I’ve tried so far. Also they DO* taste vegan and that’s absolutely a compliment. Nothing tasty about animal discharge 🙂
I think because the recipe doesn’t call for granulated sugar. It makes them very light and cake like. I am going to remake them again with less brown sugar and some granulated sugar and see if that solves the problem.
Any results to share?
me too
Did you use baking powder instead of baking soda?
Due to the baking soda, if you left the dough out for 5 or 10 minutes before putting it in the oven, it will cause the dough to rise into a cake like better.
mine came out puffy as well, but so tasty I don’t even care. My boyfriend is vegan, can’t wait to surprise him with them tomorrow!
I wish mine came out puffy and cake-like. mine spread WIDE ;( kinda disappointed, but they’re good. I followed everything, step by step.
Mine were thick, which I’d prefer, and the next day so moist! So delicious! Thank you for this awesome recipe!!!
Try using a little less flour
Press them down with a fork before baking.
How do you store these?
Which brand of chocolate are you using? Most chocolate chips are made with milk, making this vegetarian not vegan.
Trader Joe’s!!
Guittard semi-sweet chocolate chips are Vegan and pretty good.
Very true i had no idea they were vegan untill mu daighter in law told me I eat them as a snack, but fyi they are made in the same facility and on the same machinery that makes not vegan chips. If that doesn’t bother you well you’re all good. Just wanted to mention it’s for milk allergies.
You can find egan choc chipsin many places. I like the enjoy life brand.
As a working pastry chef I have to disagree. I haven’t been in the industry for very long(15 years) but most chocolate is vegan. A chef has to make a special effort to use milk chocolate to not accidentally use vegan.
All the standard brands of chocolate chips have milk in them, including nestle, Ghiradelli , and kirdkland brand. Read the labels, you’ll see.
Most *good* chocolate is vegan. Most crappy brands of chocolate will have added milk.
Hi! Can you make this gluten free and achieve the same (or closest) result? Thanks!
I haven’t tried, but some readers have said they’ve had good results!
Hi, I make these using 1 for 1 gluten free flour, and have had nothing but success.
You really can NOT tell they are vegan! They are so sooo good! I also can just enjoy the cookie dough without the guilt or risk of eating raw eggs. I might add some chopped toasted walnuts next time. 🙂
Yes but you are eating raw flour which can cause illness just as much if not more often than the raw eggs.
Hi
These look so delicious. I am planning on making them for Thanksgiving.
Can i use margarine butter if i don’t have coconut oil?
Thank you.
I haven’t tried that, so I can’t say! Let me know how it turns out if you try!
I made these today they were delicious
These cookies are delicious. I used regular mini choc chips and they were perfect. I baked 2 tbsp per cookie for 350 for 13 min. Yum!
did you use the same measurements for the mini choc chips? i just got all the ingredients but my store only had mini vegan semi-sweet and dark morsels so i went for the semi-sweet mini.
Very good.
The recipe seems delicious, will try and if it succeeds may post it also on my blog! Can we substitute the applause for which ingredient?
I had success with vegan yoghurt
My mom made me make these for her today, I don’t like to eat stuff that is unhealthy and my diet is completely plant based (unlike my somewhat nonsupporting family). BUT I JUST HAD TO TRY A NIBBLE! These cookies are really good especially with almond milk, i’ll just try not to get too addicted.
I mixed up flours quite a bit here, used olive oil, rice milk, and stevia powder. Granted, they didn’t spread, I had to press them down some minutes in but they were still the best cookies I’d ever made. Apart from using sugar I’ll definitely be experimenting more. This is the best and simplest This Kind of Cookie recipe I’ve ever encountered, thanks so much!
Can I use quinoa or almond flour ?
I dont think you should use Quinoa. This recipe is perfect. I love these cookies.
These cookies are AMAZING! I love the coconut flavor with the chocolate. My son who is a picky eater LOVED this recipe!
What do you mean by “be sure not to pack your flour”?
That means you should spoon the flour into your measuring cup until it’s full, then even it out. This is the more accurate way to measure flour. You can accidentally add extra flour by scooping directly with the measuring cup.
The *most* accurate way to measure flour is by weight. A kitchen scale is so easy to get and makes for much more precision. I can’t believe how many people are still using volume measurements for dry ingredients.
These are the BEST cookies ever. I’ve made them 5 times now for different occasions and I’ve got nothing but positive reactions. People beg me to make them for them now. Amazing.