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Your search for the best vegan chocolate chip cookies ends here. These easy vegan chocolate chip cookies are made with spelt flour, vegan butter, and loads of dark chocolate chunks, for the perfect nutty cookie with crisp edges and a chewy gooey middle.
Why These Are The Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever
I don’t use the word “best” lightly, so when I say these are the best vegan chocolate chip cookies ever, I mean it!
I spent over two months recipe-testing these cookies, to the point that I felt like a mad cookie scientist haha. It was worth the countless failed cookie batches, because this final version is as close to perfection as a vegan cookie can get.
They’re crisp and golden-brown on the edges, and chewy and gooey in the middle. Which, in my opinion, is the perfect vegan chocolate chip cookie.
Plus, these cookies come together in one bowl, use pantry-staple ingredients, and take 1 hour from start to finish.
Ingredients For These Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
When it comes to chocolate chip cookies, the ingredients you use matter SO much! So, leaving you a list of everything you’ll need to make these chewy vegan chocolate chip cookies, along with ingredient recommendations.
- Spelt flour: You’ve heard me go on and on about their flour before, but One Degree Organics Sprouted Spelt Flour is truly the best (no this isn’t an ad, I just love their flour). Their flour uses sprouted spelt, which means the nutrients are more bioavailable and it’s easier on your digestion.
- Vegan butter: My favorite vegan butter is Miyoko’s unsalted vegan butter; it has wonderful ingredients. Plus, when the butter is unsalted, you have full control over the amount of salt going into your cookies.
- Coconut sugar
- Cashew milk: Baking is super finicky, so using a different milk than I do could skew how the cookie tastes/the texture. So I highly recommend using my homemade cashew milk for best results.
- Vanilla paste: Vanilla paste is just so much better than vanilla extract. The extract is just flavor from the vanilla bean, but vanilla paste is the whole ground beans. Which means you’ll get loads more vanilla flavor in your cookies. And yes, almost all vanilla paste will have cane sugar in it. But since we’re using such a small amount in this recipe, I feel like it’s negligible.
- Dark chocolate: I love Hu Chocolate a lot, but other wonderful brands are Blue Stripes Cacao and Evolved Chocolate (both brands use coconut sugar as a sweetener).
- Baking powder and baking soda
- Kosher salt + flaky salt for presentation
Baking Equipment
Ok, so not only do ingredients matter, but the baking tools you use also matter. For instance, the type of cookie sheet you use can make or break how your cookies bake.
I’ve linked everything I think is essential to making these cookies below.
- Digital food scale: Because gram measurements are the only way to accurately bake!
- Metal whisk: I like using a metal whisk for the wet ingredients to get a silky smooth syrup that you can’t achieve with a spatula.
- Flexible rubber spatula: I love these mini rubber spatulas; they’re super flexible and fit in your hand nicely.
- Cookie scoop: A cookie scoop is essential for evenly sized cookies. My favorite is a 3 tbsp #40 scoop for large bakery-style chocolate chip cookies.
- Cookie sheets: I love Nordic Ware cookie sheets so much, but I love these cookie sheets just as much, if not more, because they’re super aesthetic.
- Parchment paper: That’s cut to size!
Tips & Tricks
- Measure the ingredients carefully. I highly recommend using the gram measurements for best results, because something as improperly measuring the flour can skew this recipe. And speaking of grams, linking the kitchen scale I use all the time here (it’s so chic).
- Don’t overmix the dough. The more you mix the dough, the more gluten will develop, making your cookie gummy, tough and dry.
- When in doubt, underbake. Nothing is worse than a dry cookie that’s burnt on the bottom. I like baking these cookies for 12 minutes at 350°F, but if they already look done at the 11-minute mark, take the cookies out.
- Bang the cookies on the counter 5-6x. When the cookies are done baking, I like to bang the baking sheet on the counter 5-6 times (this gives the cookies that signature tortoiseshell look and crackle).
How To Store Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Can you make chocolate chip cookies ahead? How to freeze these chocolate chip cookies? Answering all your questions below!
These plant-based chocolate chip cookies are best freshly baked. I would not try to bake these in advance, as they tend to taste a little stale within two days. That said, you can prepare the cookies ahead of time, and bake them off when you want a few cookies.
Simply scoop out the cookie dough into balls as directed in the recipe, and freeze for up to 1 month in a glass Tupperware. Make sure to let the dough come to room temperature on the counter before baking the cookies. Otherwise, you’ll have super puffy and tall cookies, instead of thin and chewy.
Even More Vegan Cookie Recipes
- Single-Serve Chocolate Chip Cookie – technically it makes two cookies, not one, because who just eats one cookie?
- Chewy Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
The Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 15
- Chill Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 52 minutes
- Yield: 8 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
These vegan chocolate chip cookies are made with spelt flour, vegan butter, and loads of dark chocolate chunks, for the perfect nutty cookie with crisp edges and a chewy gooey middle.
Ingredients
- ½ cup (100g) vegan butter, melted
- 1 cup (150g) coconut sugar
- 3 tbsp (36g) cashew milk
- 2 tsp vanilla paste
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 ½ cups (180g) spelt flour
- ½ cup (75g) roughly chopped dark chocolate (use as much as you like)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Begin by adding the melted vegan butter and coconut sugar into a large mixing bowl. Whisk together. It’ll look clumpy, that’s totally normal. Next, pour in the cashew milk, vanilla paste, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Whisk well until it forms a creamy and smooth syrup. You’ll see it transform before your eyes!
- Sprinkle in the spelt flour and fold together until there are a few streaks of flour remaining. Finally, add in the chocolate and fold into the dough.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze for 25 minutes exactly.
- Using a 3 tbsp cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough out into balls, placing them evenly spaced apart on the cookie sheet (I usually do 6-8 cookies to a large baking sheet so they have room to spread).
- Bake the cookies in the oven for 12 minutes or until the edges are golden-brown and the middle is still gooey. Remove from the oven and bang the pan on the counter 5-6 times; this will give you that signature tortoiseshell cookie look. Let cool for 10 minutes and sprinkle with flaky salt for presentation.
Notes
Measure the ingredients carefully. I highly recommend using the gram measurements for best results, because something as improperly measuring the flour can skew this recipe. And speaking of grams, linking the kitchen scale I use all the time here (it’s so chic).
Hi Mariyah!
Can you sub the date syrup for maple syrup? If not, where did you buy your date syrup? Excited to make these! Thanks!
Hi Sarah! I believe I already answered your DM, but yes you can definitely use maple syrup or even honey instead. Also, I typically will buy date syrup from either Whole Foods or Sprouts, but Amazon also sells it as well!
Can I sub the spelt and almond flour entirely for all purpose or even whole wheat flour as I do not have access to those flours where I live?
Hi Lola! I haven’t tested the recipe so I can’t say for sure that it would work, but I’d recommend using 1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour. Excited for you to make these cookies!!
My daughter is allergic to cashews. Is there a sub for this milk instead, i.e. coconut milk?
Hi Donnna! Yes, any milk works well in this recipe (almond milk, oat milk, coconut milk, even regular dairy milk if you’re not vegan).