Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
These are the BEST Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies! They’re ooey gooey and made with a few secret ingredients to give them a rich texture and flavor. Whether you’re vegan or not, you have to try this recipe. It’s unlike any other chocolate chip cookie you’ve had and it’s bound to be your new favorite!
Why these are the BEST vegan chocolate chip cookies
What makes this recipe the BEST? After testing this recipe 10 times to get the flavor and texture JUST right, after receiving rave reviews from my friends, I can attest that this is a tried and true recipe.
The flavor is deep and rich, giving it a taste that’s much more sophisticated than a regular chocolate chip cookie. The texture is dense and gooey, making each bite irresistible. Trust me, if you have these cookies sitting around you’ll find they are very hard to resist.
What you’ll need to make these vegan chocolate chip cookies
Any cookie recipe is only as good as its ingredients. Here is what makes these cookies so special:
- Granulated sugar – This is what gives these cookies a crispy golden edge.
- Dark brown sugar – Dark brown sugar is essential so don’t swap with light brown sugar! Dark brown is what gives these cookies a really rich and chewy texture.
- Molasses – Just one tablespoon of molasses helps boost that dark brown sugar flavor. After all, dark brown sugar is just a combination of granulated sugar and molasses. The extra molasses adds richness and moisture to these cookies.
- Tahini – This acts as the binder for these cookies, much like eggs would. I prefer tahini because it’s a subtle but savory flavor that goes completely unnoticed in these cookies, helping to balance out the sweetness and provide a well rounded cookie.
- Vegan butter – Vegan butter is now widely available at most grocery stores. It gives these cookies that signature butter flavor that you would get from a regular chocolate chip cookie, minus the dairy!
- Water – Due to the high fat content of tahini and the vegan butter, water is added to help these cookies spread in the oven.
- Salt – Adding a bit of flaky sea salt on top of these warm cookies will help bring out all of its flavors, giving you a rich cookie.
Now that you know the reason for these ingredients, it’s important to understand that these are what make up the perfect vegan chocolate chip cookie. Any substitutions will stray you farther and farther from the original recipe, as each ingredient plays a very specific and important role in the final result.
Tips for making perfect vegan cookies
Now that we’ve nailed down the ingredients, here’s exactly how to use them to get the most out of this vegan cookie recipe:
- Properly measure the flour – I say this in every post, and for good reason. It’s the number one reason why most recipes fail, especially for cookies. If there’s too much flour, the cookies will not spread properly. If you can, measure the flour with a food scale. Otherwise, to ensure you use the exact amount needed, gently spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level if off with a flat edge. If you scoop directly into the flour container, it packs it down into the cup which could leave you with 1/4 cup or more of added flour.
- Melted butter – Melt the butter in the microwave for 30-45 seconds. If it’s too hot, allow it to cool before use. If you mix it in to the batter when it’s hot, it will dissolve the sugar more rapidly giving you a flatter cookie.
- Stir the tahini – If you’re working with a fresh jar of tahini, make sure you give it a really good mix before measuring it out. Otherwise, you’ll pour out a pool of oil before you even get to the tahini portion.
- Chocolate – Make sure you use chocolate chips that are completely dairy free. I prefer the dark chocolate chips from Trader Joe’s and the Enjoy Life semisweet chocolate chips. Top the cookies with a few extra dark chocolate chips before baking to get pools of chocolate on top.
Vegan chocolate chip cookie ingredient substitutions
I hesitate to share this because for the best outcome you must follow the recipe to a T, but I know some of you may not be able to access certain ingredients. If that’s the case, here are some swaps you can make:
- Dark brown sugar – You CAN sub light brown sugar, but just know that your cookies won’t turn out as chewy or as dark in color.
- Molasses – I haven’t tested it, but you can try subbing with pure maple syrup. It may make your cookies a tad bit sweeter.
- Tahini – Again, tahini is your best option. Otherwise you can use cashew butter or almond butter. Just make sure that whatever nut butter you use, it’s only made up of one ingredient.
- Vegan butter – I haven’t tested it, but you can try subbing with melted coconut oil. If you don’t want the coconut flavor, use a refined coconut oil.
- Flour – I haven’t tested it, but you can try swapping the flour with a good all purpose one for one gluten free baking flour. I recommend this one by Bob’s Red Mill as I use it all the time in my gluten free recipes (if they don’t need to be plant based, try my Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe).
If any of these substitutions work for you, let me know in the comments so other that readers can learn!
Frequently Asked Questions: Vegan Cookies
Store these cookies in an air tight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. You can enjoy them as is or heat them back up in the microwave for about 5 seconds for a more melty cookie.
I haven’t tested this myself, but you can try freezing the dough. After the dough has chilled for 30 minutes, scoop out each cookie ball on to a small rimmed tray. Wrap the tray tightly in plastic wrap and freeze. If you don’t have a tray, chill the dough balls for about an hour or until they are firm, then toss into a ziplock freezer back and then freeze.
To bake, lower the oven temperature to 340F to prevent the edges from browning too quickly. Let the cookie dough thaw for about 1 hour before baking.
For more vegan dessert recipes, check out my:
- Vegan Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- BEST Monster Cookies (Vegan Option)
- Easy Peanut Butter Chocolate Cookie Cups (V)
- No Bake Sweet and Salty Crunch Bars
- BEST Fudgy Vegan Brownies Recipe (GF)
- Fudgy Vegan Chocolate Cake
Make sure to tag me @butternutbakery on Instagram and comment below if you make these Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies. To pin this recipe and save it for later, you can use the button on the recipe card or on any of the photos above. Happy baking!
Watch how to make these vegan chocolate chip cookies:
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Total Time: 1 hour 2 minutes
- Yield: 12 cookies
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This is the BEST vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe! They’re ooey gooey and made with a few secret ingredients to give these cookies a really rich flavor and texture. These cookies are also loaded with both dark and semisweet chocolate and topped with a sprinkle of flaky sea salt.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (100g) dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (105g) vegan butter*, melted
- 1 tbsp molasses*
- 1/4 cup (60g) tahini or natural almond butter (made with just almonds)
- 1/4 cup (60ml) water
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cup (225g) all purpose flour*
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup (120g) vegan semisweet chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup (120g) vegan dark chocolate chips
- Flaky sea salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dark brown sugar, sugar, melted butter, molasses, and tahini. Whisk vigorously for 1-2 minutes or until the mixture begins to thicken and clump together.
- Whisk in the water and vanilla.
- Pour in the dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to fold the dough together. Just before the flour is completely mixed in, pour in the chocolate chips and fold to fully combine.
- Place the bowl uncovered in the refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.
- After 20 minutes, preheat the oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- When the 30 minutes are up, scoop the dough out on to your baking sheet using a large 2 oz scoop or 1/4 measuring cup. Bake 3-4 cookies at a time as they spread quite a bit.
- Bake for 11-14 minutes or until the edges are a very light golden brown and the centers still look a bit underdone. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for about 3 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
- They’re best when cooled, but the chocolate on top still looks a bit melty. Store in an air tight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. When you want a cookie, heat in the microwave for about 5 seconds and enjoy!
Notes
VEGAN BUTTER – I used both Country Crock plant-based butter and Earth Balance butter and they both worked perfectly. Just make sure you’re using a vegan butter STICK and not butter from a tub. If you can’t get ahold of vegan butter, you can try using melted refined coconut oil although I have not tested this myself.
MOLASSES – For the best flavor and texture, I highly recommend sticking with molasses as it helps boost the richness of the dark brown sugar. Otherwise, you can try subbing pure maple syrup.
FLOUR – I haven’t tested it, but you can try subbing with a good all-purpose one to one gluten free baking flour. I recommend this one by Bob’s Red Mill. Either way, I highly recommend weighing the flour to ensure accuracy. Otherwise, spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off with a flat edge. Don’t scoop directly into the flour as this compacts it into the cup, leaving you with way too much flour and a very dry dough.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Chilling Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
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Meet Jenna
I’m the creator, baker, and photographer behind Butternut Bakery. Here I share desserts for every diet because I believe everyone should have a chance to indulge!
Just made these with vegan brown butter and they are a dream! My favorite vegan cc cookies ever, thanks for the great recipe Jenna!
They came out soo perfectly chewy and crispy on the edges, the best recipe ever!
This recipe is incredible. I highly recommend the Enjoy Life chocolate chips (the dark chips & semi-sweet minis). I subbed the molasses for maple syrup and they still came out perfect. Everyone enjoyed them at my holiday party and no one knew they were vegan. My new go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. Excited to scope out other cookie recipes of yours!
Amazing vegan recipe. Since I’m a baking beginner, I didn’t know how hard it was to do vegan baking until after I tried a different vegan recipe and wow this one is easy and delicious in comparison! You can’t even tell they’re vegan. If you enjoy chocolate chip cookies with a hint of peanut butter, the tahini achieves just that. Very happy with how they turned out!!