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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 Chocolate Chip 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
How do I prevent my cookies from over-spreading?
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.
Why didn’t my vegan cookies rise?
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.
Can I freeze my vegan chocolate chip cookies?
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!
Can I make these chocolate chip cookies gluten-free?
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) 1x
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: Cookies, Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Vegan
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!
This is the best vegan cookie recipe that I’ve tried. I used Earth balance vegan butter instead of coconut oil and baked them a few minutes extra. I also froze them for 15 minutes before baking (I can’t wait 2 hours) which probably keeps them from spreading.
Honestly the best chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever had. Hands down-vegan or not! Mine did not flatten out during baking but were perfect nonetheless. Thank you!
Just made these. They are so quick and easy and SO delicious! This is my new go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Can I substitute almond flour?
Hi Pat! We have not tested these with almond flour so we cannot guarantee results.
Husband loved these (he recently became plant-based) so I have been looking for a recipe that meets his previous one. But… I froze a lot of them and when I thawed them out they still tasted good but they were not crispy at all. He is still eating them of course but any suggestions for keeping them crisp? They were totally cold when I packed them into ziplock bags and sucked the air out – which is what I used to do with other cookies.
These cookies are amazing. Thanks for the great recipe.
Hi! These look great. Id like to make these but I’m highly allergic to coconut. Is there another type of oil I can use instead?
Someone commented that they used sunflower oil and it worked well!
I love the look of these cookies but mine came out so sweet I can barely eat one! I will definitely try these again since I can tell they have the potential to be really good! It’s probably just a personal taste thing, so I’m going to try to reduce the sugar next time, most likely the brown sugar since it gave the cookies a really chewy texture I didn’t love. Also, I used the GF Bob’s flour as recommended, and I think I might try adding a bit more of that next time too.
Are you kidding me right now?? These are INCREDIBLE! I was laying around watching TV and found this recipe and only made it because I had the ingredients on hand. WOWZA the dough raw is so soft and tastes perfect. I had a bar of homemade vegan chocolate that I cut up and used and they give the cookies a gourmet look. Better than any dairy cookie I’ve ever had. Thank you for the perfect cookie recipe!!!!
6 STARS ,I cant seem to click on them.
Being vegan for 4 years now and having tried LOTS of vegan choc. chip recipes and I was never really satisfied. But WOW these are great and simple, I used unrefined coconut oil, but I really like the taste of coconut. My apple sauce is homemade without sugar, yummy. My only issue is I can only eat one tonight as I use a special coconut oil that I make for back pain, and well too many and I’m a bit loopy. That said my other half will be loopy tomorrow when he tastes his un medicated batch. I also halfed the recipe with great results. Thank you
Wow so yummy!
The first batch I messed up. I don’t know how but it was really wet so I added more flour and it was bad haha.
Second batch I was extra careful with following directions and they came out perfect!
I made these for Christmas, and my whole non-vegan family loved them!! They taste even better than regular chocolate chip cookies, and they stay chewy!
I used earth balance vegan butter instead of coconut oil and chocolate chunks instead of chocolate chips and the cookies turned out amazing! They were just as good or better than the non-vegan cookies I would make as a kid and my family couldn’t tell the difference.
These are the BEST vegan chocolate chip cookies ever! Such simple ingredients too!
Hi there,
I have a quick question. I want to make these cookies now and I don’t have any brown sugar at home. Do you think I can sub regular organic granulated sugar for the brown sugar?
Thanks
Yes you can! It will change in flavor a bit but will work. If you have coconut sugar that would work well too! 🙂
Hi, the cookies I made came out incredibly oily. I used the serving suggested and was wondering if I should have measure the oil after I was melted rather than before.
Oh no! We measured before it was melted. I think that if the oil was too warm this may occur. To fix this, chilling the dough will help!
Can you use a different oil instead of coconut ? Such as vegetable or corn oil?
Hi Annie!
We have not tested these with any other oil so we cannot guarantee results with them. sorry about that!
I’ve been on the hunt for a simple vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe and I’ve finally found it! I love that it’s all ingredients I always have on hand, and it comes together quickly. Always a hit with the non vegans too!
These were delicious and super easy to make. Everyone loved them and I will definitely be making them again
These cookies were AMAZING. I made them for my family who is very skeptical of anything vegan, and the entire batch was gone in 2 days and they couldn’t wait for me to make more. The second time I made them, they didn’t turn out quite as perfect, but they were still really good.