PS A big thank you to all our recipe testers! Full feedback is listed in the comments section. These morsels are easy to make with simple ingredients, with nothing hard to find at the grocery store. Try them warm out of the oven and you will absolutely melt. They’re our house favorite chocolate cookies, and no one believes are vegan!
“I love these cookies! They have a great chewy texture with a nice crisp edge. They came together quickly and effortlessly. To taste these, you’d never think they were vegan!” -Lexi “Delicious! I’ve been trying to shift to a vegan diet but baked goods are one of the hardest things to substitute. These are amazing and taste just like my regular chocolate chip recipe, yum!!!! You can’t even tell there’s no butter!” -Natalie “All I can say is wow! These cookies blew me away. They are so delicious and I would never have guessed that they are vegan. I really like that they don’t call for any unusual ingredients. The directions were very easy to follow and the recipe came together really fast.” -Annika
We tested a few batches with vegan butter and found that it wasn’t as reliable at making a desirable cookie texture. So, we turned to a mix of oils (neutral oil and coconut oil), and used applesauce instead of eggs to bring the dough together. After tweaking and massaging the recipe, it worked even better than expected to get that chewy yet crispy cookie texture!
Neutral oil: You can use grapeseed, canola or vegetable oil; we use grapeseed. Refined coconut oil: Refined is important because it has a neutral flavor; unrefined coconut oil has more of a coconut flavor. Using coconut oil is important for the dough texture because it is a fat that is solid at room temperature, similar to butter. Granulated and light brown sugar: The mix of sugars is key for the flavor here, especially the brown sugar since it has hints of molasses in the flavor. Unsweetened applesauce: Applesauce works surprisingly well in place of the egg to hold the dough together and add moisture. You can substitute sweetened applesauce if desired. Vanilla extract and almond extract: Vanilla extract is key to cookie dough. Here we’ve added one more element: a hint of almond extract! It brings a toasty, complex nuance to the flavor without overpowering it. We found this was helpful for a vegan cookie since it doesn’t have the richness of egg or butter. All purpose flour, baking soda and salt: These are the traditional baking characters. The salt is important since there is no butter or egg to add flavor. Dark chocolate chips: Look for dark chocolate chips that are marked “dairy free.” We love the brand Guittard 63%. Flaky sea salt: This is optional, but there’s nothing better than a good salty-sweet bite.
Use a cookie scoop. If you have a 2 or 3 tablespoon cookie scoop, it’s helpful for portioning the dough: just overfill it slightly. You can also weigh out the batter at approximately 50 grams per cookie (or weigh the entire dough and divide by 18). Non stick cookie sheets are helpful. This has become our preferred method for cookies. We recommend using two of these non-stick cookie sheets for the most even bake. Bake each tray separately for the most even bake. Do not refrigerate the cookie dough while the first tray bakes. We found that the dough texture is even better if it’s room temperature. Add 3 to 4 chocolate chips and salt after baking. Adding chocolate chips to the top makes for that signature cookie look.
Here the mix of neutral oil and coconut oil is key to the texture. Coconut oil is important because it is solid at room temperature: do not try to substitute it! However, we had a few recipe testers that used avocado oil for the neutral oil with good results. We do not recommend substituting liquid sweeteners for the sugar in this recipe. Sugar is important to the texture of the cookies (using maple syrup has so much moisture that they become cake-like).
Store in a sealed container at room temperature for 1 week. The texture holds up well: no need to add anything to the container. Store refrigerated for 2 weeks. Allow to come to room temperature before serving. Store frozen for up to 3 months.
Try Vegan Cookie Dough (edible and not bakeable, so it’s different than below!) Make Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies or Vegan No Bake Cookies Bake a pan of Vegan Apple Crisp or mix up Vegan Chocolate Pudding Go for Vegan Ice Cream (Dairy Free!) Pick from our 30 Vegan Desserts Everyone Will Love
4.9 from 14 reviews
