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These Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies are as classic and delicious as chocolate chip cookies get! They’re perfectly chocolatey, soft & chewy, easy to make, and require just 9 simple ingredients. Plus, they’re made in 1 bowl and require no chill time.
We don’t want to brag, but making the best vegan chocolate chip cookies is one of our specialties (just read the 60+ 5-star reviews!). In addition to these classic cookies, we’ve also got Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies, Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies, Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, and an ooey gooey Vegan Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie for you to dive into next!
Safe to say, we’ve got you covered when a chocolate chip cookie craving hits.
What You’ll Need to Make Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Coconut Oil – This will serve as the fat in this recipe. We use refined coconut oil because it doesn’t have a coconut flavor. So if you’re looking for good coconut oil to use, we recommend this one. If preferred, vegan butter is a good alternative.
- Sugar – We use two different types of sugar in this recipe—brown sugar and organic granulated sugar. Using both types of sugar helps create more depth in the flavor of the cookies. If you want to ensure that the sugar you are using is vegan-friendly, we recommend opting for organic sugar since it’s not processed through bone char.
- Applesauce – Believe it or not, apple sauce acts as a vegan egg replacer and helps bind everything together. Don’t worry – these cookies don’t taste like apples! To make sure your cookies aren’t overly sweet, we recommend using unsweetened applesauce. If you need suggestions on which applesauce to use, we like this one.
- Vanilla Extract – We use vanilla extract in this recipe, and most other baked goods, to enhance all of the different flavors in the recipe. The quality of vanilla extract is also a factor, so make sure you are using a high-quality one.
- All-Purpose Flour – We’ve found the best classic chocolate chip cookies are made with all-purpose flour. We like to use Bob’s Red Mill organic all-purpose flour, but any brand will do the trick! You can also use gluten-free flour for this recipe. We have more details on that in the notes of the recipe card.
- Baking Soda – When baking soda reacts with an acid, it produces carbon dioxide and bubbles, causing the cookie dough to rise. This will help give the cookies a chewy and coarse texture.
- Salt – Similar to vanilla extract, the salt in this recipe helps enhance the other flavors in the cookie. Optional: Try sprinkling flaky sea salt on top of your finished cookies if you enjoy the salty and sweet flavor combination.
- Baking Powder – The function of baking powder in this recipe is to encourage your cookies to spread up instead of out, making them more even and fluffy.
- Vegan Chocolate Chips – You may be wondering…what brands of chocolate chips are vegan? Good news, you’ve got plenty of options. We like to use Enjoy Life semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you can even use chocolate chunks if you prefer.
Equipment Needed:
- Medium Bowl
- Wire Rack for cooling your cookies
- Whisk
- Baking Tray
- Spatula
- Stand Mixer (Optional)
- Cookie Scoop
How to Make Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Cream the oil and sugars together. In a large bowl, cream the coconut oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes.
- Add the apple sauce and vanilla. Mix again until combined.
- Stir in the dry ingredients. In the same bowl, add the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until a cookie dough forms. Lastly, fold in the chocolate chips using a spatula until well incorporated.
- Preheat the oven. These cookies bake at 350°F and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper or a reusable baking mat. This recipe makes about 36 cookies, so you’ll likely need to bake in batches.
- Scoop your cookie dough. Using a 1 tablespoon-sized scooper, drop mounds of chocolate chip cookie dough onto the baking sheet, leaving about 2” between each cookie dough mound. No need to press them down – they’ll spread perfectly on their own!
- Bake. Bake these chocolate chip cookies for 13-14 minutes, or until the edges are slightly crisp and golden and the center is still soft. The cookies will seem under-baked, but they will firm up while they cool.
- Transfer to a cooling rack. We typically allow the cookies to cool completely on a cooling rack before digging in, but you can’t go wrong eating warm chocolate chip cookies either!
How to Make a Vegan Christmas Cookies in a Jar Gift Mix
If you’re baking these vegan chocolate chip cookies during the holiday season, you can’t go wrong with gifting these cute jarred cookie mixes! You can find the printable gift tag here! 🙂
It’s easy to put together, and our friends and family loved it when we gifted it to them. Just be sure only to put the dry ingredients in the jar.
Instructions
- Place 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons organic granulated sugar, 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons packed organic brown sugar, 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, and 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons vegan chocolate chips into a 32-ounce mason jar.
- Screw the lid tightly on the jar, then attach the gift tag that lists the wet ingredients. Download the exact one we use here!
Watch us make a variation of this recipe in our DIY Budget-Friendly Holiday Gifts Video on our Youtube Channel!
Vegan Cookie Recipe FAQs
Cookies spread as a result of the fat in the cookie dough melting. If your cookies tend to over-spread, two things could be happening. First, you may not have used enough flour. Or, the fat was too warm before baking. This is why we recommend using soft coconut oil or softened vegan butter over melted.
Since vegan cookie dough is naturally egg-free, you may think it’s automatically safe to eat the dough! Unfortunately, raw all-purpose flour can be just as dangerous to consume because it can contain unsafe bacteria. If you’d like to eat your cookie dough, make sure to heat treat the flour before adding it to the cookie dough batter. Learn how to heat treat flour here. Or, make our edible cookie dough bites instead!
If your cookies did not rise, it is possible your baking powder expired or the dough was overmixed. Baking powder is only fresh for about 6 months after opening. After this time, it loses its leavening power and can cause your cookies to fall flat. Similarly, whipping too much air into your vegan cookie dough will cause your cookies to collapse in the oven.
Yes! You can freeze these cookies before or after baking. If you’d like to freeze the raw cookie dough before baking, we recommend pre-scooping them into individual cookie dough balls and flash freeze them on a baking sheet, then transferring them to a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months.
Then, bake the cookies directly from frozen for 1 to 2 minutes longer!
Similarly, freeze baked chocolate chip cookies after cooling completely and flash freezing on a baking sheet until frozen. Transfer to a freezer-safe container or bag, then thaw the baked cookies at room temperature!
Absolutely. We’ve tested this vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe using Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour and had great results. You might like our Coconut Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies, Oat Flour Chocolate Chip Cookies, or Gluten-Free Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies too!
Storage Instructions
These vegan chocolate chip cookies store best in an airtight container at room temperature. When stored well, these cookies will last for up to 1 week.
For freezing instructions, read our above cookie FAQs or check the recipe card!
More Vegan Cookie Recipes You May Enjoy:
- The Best Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Vegan Sugar Cookies
- Pecan Cranberry Shortbread Cookies
- Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
- Vegan Pizelles
- No-Bake Peanut Butter Cookies (3-Ingredients + Gluten-Free)
Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you recreate any of our recipes, we love to see your photos!
Print
Classic Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Total Time: 2 hours 23 minutes
- Yield: 36 cookies (3 dozen)
Description
These Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies are as classic and delicious as chocolate chip cookies get! They’re perfectly chocolatey, soft & chewy, easy to make and require just 9 simple ingredients. Plus, they’re made in 1 bowl and require no chill time.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup refined coconut oil* (see notes)
- 3/4 cup organic granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup packed organic brown sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (see notes for gluten-free option)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/4 cups vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl, add the coconut oil, granulated sugar, and brown sugar. Using a hand mixer (or a whisk) cream the oil and sugars together until fluffy.
- Add in the applesauce and vanilla, and mix well.
- Stir in the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt until a dough forms. Lastly, fold in chocolate chips until well incorporated.
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Keep in mind that this recipe makes 3 dozen so you will need to bake multiple batches. See notes for freezing options.
- Using a 1 tablespoon-sized scooper, drop mounds of dough onto the baking sheet 2 inches apart (we fit 12 on each sheet and baked these in 3 batches). No need to press them down.
- Place into the oven and bake for 13-14 minutes, or until the edges brown. The cookies will seem soft but don’t worry, they will firm up while they cool. Allow the cookies to rest on the baking sheet for 1 minute after removing them from the oven and then carefully transfer them onto a cooling rack using a spatula.
- Cool until set and then dig in!
Notes
- We opted for refined coconut oil in order to avoid the coconut flavor. Unrefined coconut oil will have a coconut flavor so just keep that in mind!
- We originally made this recipe with melted coconut oil but from your feedback, we updated this recipe on 5/22/21 to use room temperature coconut oil instead. This way, there is no longer the need to chill the dough and it speeds up the prep time so you can eat your cookies much sooner!
- If you would like to make these gluten-free, we recommend the Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-free Baking Flour. We tested this recipe with it and it was successful!
- If you would like to save this dough for later, you can freeze it! Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and use a cookie scooper to evenly scoop mounds of the dough. You can line them up close together since you are not baking them. Once you have scooped out all of the dough, place the baking sheet into the freezer for 30-60 minutes (the longer the better). Remove the dough mounds from the trays and transfer them to a freezer safe bag. Be sure to keep note of when you freeze them + what time and temperature you need to bake them at! Since the dough is frozen, it might require 1 to 2 minutes or even longer for baking.
- Store in an airtight container for 1 week.
- Prep Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Category: Dessert, Cookies
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Vegan
Keywords: Chocolate Chip, Cookies, Classic, Vegan, Dessert
Nutrition facts label provided by Nutri Fox.
Disclaimer: The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional’s advice. This page may contain affiliate links, which simply means that we earn a commission if you purchase through those links, but your price remains the same. Thank you for supporting Sweet Simple Vegan!
I just made the cookies. It was delicious. Thank you very much!!
My son asked me to make it for his birthday. He wants it to be a cookie cake for 20 people. How can specify the cooking time for the large cookie?
Hi Iman! We are so sorry to have missed this comment. Unfortunately we have not tested the cookie dough as a giant cookie, but I think that using this recipe as a guide will help! https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/chocolate-chip-cookie-pizza/
Mine turned out like crap! Terrible recipe. Didnt rise, spread out everywhere
I don’t know how that could have happened! We have made these a dozen times and they are just fine :/ Did you change any of the ingredients?
It’s not the recipe….
Possibly not enough flour was used. Best to weigh flour for baking.
Baking Power could be expired, hence the spread & no rise.
Oven temp too low…..best to have a oven thermometer in oven. Most ovens aren’t calibrated to the temp set on dial.
More tips:
https://www.thespruceeats.com/why-do-cookies-spread-when-baked-995121
Also, it wouldn’t hurt to be a little nicer in your comment…..although if I was anticipating cookies and they didn’t work I’d be cranky too…lol 😉
I have made this at 4 times now and they are delicious each time. Even my picky eater and over-critical husband approve! Definitely my go-to recipe!
★★★★★
We only have coconut cooking oil at home (comes in a bottle as a liquid). Is that okay to use instead of melting regular coconut oil? Thanks!
Hi Brianna! We have not tested this recipe with a liquid vs. melted coconut oil but I would not advise for that swap. I think that the regular melted oil is a better option here and will yield the best results.
How much “vegan almond milk,” do you put to your recipe?
There is not almond milk in the recipe 🙂
The cookie dough is so good!! Do I have to bake them?! 🙂 This is a family favorite for sure!
You probably just have to toast the flour and/or rising agents before mixing 🙂
May I substitute the refined coconut oil for vegan butter?
We haven’t tried it ourselves, but we know other people who have used vegan butter and it worked for them!
These cookies were AMAZING! 10/10 all the way, oh my gosh these are so good… I definitely recommend these to anyone, you will not be disappointed!
★★★★★
Just made these. Halved the recipe and it worked great. They turned out AMAZING and everyone in my family loved them! Will definitely be making them again!
★★★★★
Yay we are so glad to hear that!! 🙂
Thank you! Is there a possibility that I could have added too much flour? Besides the fact that they didn’t rise at all, they had a great taste and texture to them. Best vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe thus far!
I’m glad that you liked them! There may have been too much flour, did they seem dry at all?
Here is a good resource for flour measuring, it might help! https://www.mybakingaddiction.com/how-to-measure-flour/
Best,
Jasmine
Hi my friend made me a batch of these and they were some of the best cookies I ever had. Can I sub in a flax egg instead of the apple sauce?
So glad you liked them! I have not tested them with flaxseed meal so I cannot guarantee if it will work but from my experience with other cookies, flax makes a great egg substitute! I think 2 flax eggs would be good.
Thanks! For some reason the batter came out super crumbly. I ended up substituting 1 mashed banana instead of the flax eggs. Do you think it could be not enough banana? Or too much flour? They tasted great but I’m hoping to get the consistency better the next time around.
It is just because the banana does not have as much moisture as the flax eggs/applesauce. If you add liquid to it (a tablespoon or two at a time) you will get the right consistency. I have not tried this substitution myself but that is what I would do.
I just baked a tray of these cookies and they didn’t rise at all. Any ideas?
Hi Kimberly,
We don’t know what could have gone wrong! These aren’t really supposed to rise, but they aren’t supposed to be flat either. The only thing I can think of is putting too much oil which can cause them to be very thin!
Best,
Jasmine
Possibly baking powder was expired?
Here are some great trouble shooting tips:
https://www.handletheheat.com/ultimate-cookie-troubleshooting-guide/
These were SO good! I made them for my lab and everyone gobbled them right up! I switched out the coconut oil for margarine and had to add maybe 1/4 more flour than the recipe called for (one of those fluke “all flour is different” types of situations), but other than that it was PERFECT. Definitely the best vegan chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. This is my new go-to recipe!
★★★★★
Yay!! We are so happy that you enjoyed these and that they were a hit at lab 🙂
Finally a vegan cookie I think I might like. Maybe gonna make them tomorrow ????????
Yay! Let us know what you think 🙂
Perfect cookie. I make them for my niece I prefer them over the regular chocolate chip cookie
Great recipe! Delicious! It was my first time making vegan cookies. The recipe was easy to follow. I couldn’t find parchment paper so I used aluminum foil and lightly coated it with coconut oil.
★★★★★
What ingredient does the protein come from?
from the flour 🙂