Perfect Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Tried and true, these are the most perfect vegan chocolate chip cookies ever! Made in 1 bowl and oh-so-soft, chewy and full of chocolate chips!
Everybody has their go-to, tried and true chocolate chip cookie recipe, right? Well, I used to before going vegan and since then it’s been hit or miss. I have tried countless recipes over the years, and some have been pretty good but I had yet to find the PERFECT recipe I was looking for. Until now.
What makes these cookies so perfect?
- They are SO soft, chewy and full of chocolate chips. They aren’t too flat, and they aren’t too puffy and cake-like. No one would guess they’re vegan, unlike some cookie recipes I’ve tried.
- They’re made in 1 bowl.
- No chilling time is required for the dough. So you can have cookies to eat FAST!
How to make vegan chocolate chip cookies
- In a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the softened vegan butter and brown sugar.
- Mix in the flax egg and vanilla.
- Add the flour, and then sprinkle the cornstarch, baking soda and salt on top of the flour. Mix on low to combine.
- Mix in the chocolate chips.
- Look at that cookie dough! Perfection.
- Roll the dough into 1-2 tablespoons sized balls. Bake for about 10 minutes for smaller cookies, or 12 for larger cookies, until puffy and just slightly golden on the sides. They will look underdone, but will firm up considerably as they cool. Do not over bake!
Are all chocolate chips vegan?
No, a lot of brands have milk fat or butter oil in them. Check the ingredients to ensure vegan friendliness. Trader Joe’s brand of semi-sweet chocolate chips happen to be vegan, as are Guittard. Costco sometimes carries the Kirkland brand of semi-sweet chocolate chips, which are also vegan and a great price if you can find them! There is also Enjoy Life, which you can find on Amazon or Whole Foods.
If you are really having trouble finding vegan chocolate chips, you can always look for dairy free chocolate bars, and chop them into chunks.
What should the cookie dough feel like?
The cookie dough should be soft and mushy, but not too wet or too dry. You should be able to easily roll it into balls. If it feels too wet, add a few tablespoons of flour at a time until it’s just right. If it’s too dry, add a tablespoon or two of almond milk.
This is important because the kind of vegan butter (or coconut oil) you use will affect the dough, as well as how you measure your flour, and just the temperature and altitude of where you live. If your dough is too wet, the cookies will spread; if too dry the cookies won’t spread enough.
That said, I never have to add extra flour or milk when I make them exactly as written.
How to freeze the dough
Roll the cookie dough into balls and freeze in a large ziplock type bag. When you want to bake cookies simply preheat the oven and bake, adding a few more minutes since the dough was frozen.
Baked cookies also freeze well and are wonderful straight from the freezer. I love having frozen cookies to throw in my kid’s lunch box on school days.
Want more vegan cookie recipes?
- Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Vegan Sugar Cookies
- Classic Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Vegan Ginger Cookies
Perfect Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 2.5 tablespoons water
- 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) vegan butter, slightly softened to room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups non-dairy chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or lightly spray with oil.
- Mix the ground flaxseed and water in a small bowl and set aside to make your flax egg.
- In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the softened vegan butter and brown sugar for 1-2 minutes until creamy.
- Add the vanilla and the flax egg and mix to combine.
- Next, stop the mixer and add the flour. Sprinkle the cornstarch, baking soda and salt on top of the flour. Turn the mixer on low speed, and mix until just combined.
- Add in the chocolate chips to incorporate, either by hand or using the mixer.
- Roll the dough into balls, about 1-2 tablespoons each. Place on the prepared pans and bake for 10 minutes (12 minutes for larger cookies), until they are barely golden around the edges. Do not over bake! They will be puffy and lightly colored.
- Let cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. The cookies will firm up as they cool, and become the most perfect chewy cookies ever! Enjoy.
Video
Notes
- Cookies will stay fresh for 3-4 days, if they last that long.
- TIP: Freeze cookie dough balls to have on hand to make just a few cookies at a time! Simply cook for 1-2 minutes more, no need to thaw.
- May substitute coconut oil for the vegan butter if desired. Just make sure it's not melted, you want it to be semi-firm.
- If you don't like salt in your cookies or your vegan butter is very salty already, you may omit the salt.
- Recipe inspired by Sally's Baking Addiction.
Nutrition
*Post last updated August 15th, 2019.
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984 Comments on “Perfect Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies”
Wow. These cookies are absolutely amazing! So easy and DELICIOUS! Printed and saved for the next time I need some cookies in my life. 100% my go to chocolate chip recipe from now on.
Hi Mal! I’m so these are your favorite cookies! My daughter loves to make these! Thank you for sharing your great review and comments, and happy cooking!
This recipe is excellent. Since I didn’t have ground flaxseed on hand, I found that I could use chia eggs with this recipe (1 tablespoon chia and 3 tablespoons water), and I put two of them in. Delicious!! Saving this recipe to make some more for vegan family members 🙂
Thank you for sharing! I’m so glad you love the cookies!
Hi Nora! This is the best vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe I have found! I was wondering, would it be possible to make these with Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free flour? Thanks!
Yes, they work well with a gluten free flour mix! I’ve used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 and King Arthur Measure for Measure and they both worked perfectly.
I don’t usually post on recipes but oh. My. Goodness. These cookies were perfect. The cookie was not overwhelmingly sweet and the perfect texture (as long as you reeeaaally listen to the note about them looking underbaked and don’t panic). If anything i think they were a little too chocolaty, the ratio of chips to dough didn’t seem quite right when i mixed them together. But overall, they put all the other recipes i have tried to shame and are ready almost as soon as the cookie craving hits.
I’m so glad you love the cookies! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback!
These are the best vegan cookies I have ever made, by far. They are better than any I’ve had at restaurant and are so fudgy, chewy, and slightly crunchy around the edges. I’ve tried a dozen chocolate chip cookie recipes, but these are best by far!!!
Costco’s Kirkland brand chocolate chips are no longer vegan.
How much water do i put in the flax seed?
2.5 tablespoons water
Best cookies ever! The dough freezes great and I love being able to bake a couple of cookies at a time whenever we feel like having them! Thanks for another great recipe.
Thanks for sharing your wonderful review and feedback. I’m glad you are enjoying the cookies!
Hi! These cookies are incredible!! I subbed GF King Arthur flour and tapioca starch and they turned out so amazing! Wondering if I could sub coconut sugar for the brown? And if it would be 1:1? I have an in-law who cannot do cane sugar. Thanks!
Thank you, Taylor! I’m glad you love the cookies! I myself was not pleased with the outcome of using coconut sugar. Brown sugar adds moisture as well as a caramel like flavor that will be missed. If you absolutely cannot use brown sugar though, I’d go for coconut sugar! Hope this helps! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
So delicious! I made another vegan cookie recipe by Tasty yesterday, which was a disaster! BUT Nora! Thank you so much this recipe was my redemtion! SO yummy!
Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback! Glad you love the cookies!
These cookies are the best ever. The first time I made a double batch and they raises nice and had great,taste and texture. The second time I made a single batch and they tasted good but were flat with very little texture. I only made them a week apart. Do you have any idea what I did wrong?
Thanks Dawn! I can offer some cookie advice. 🙂 Make sure when you start your vegan butter is softened but not melted, or too cold and hard. Be very careful when measuring. It’s easy to add too little or too much flour and end up with very different results! I spoon flour into a measuring cup, level it off with a knife. Don’t shake it or pat it down, and don’t scoop directly from the bag/container. Hope that helps!
At first I was nervous about the dough because it seemed kind of dry, but I trusted the process and they were literally the best cookies I’ve ever had. I used 1 cup of vegan white chocolate and half a cup of dark chocolate, they were delicious and I’ve already had three since making them an hour ago.
Thank you for your wonderful feedback and review! I’m so glad you loved the cookies! They never last long at our place!
My family loved this cookie recipe! I made a triple batch and they were all gone that day!
Thank you for sharing your wonderful review! Glad you guys loved the cookies!
I received these as a gift, and holy moly they were the best cookies I’ve ever had! I demanded to have the recipe!
Thank you so much! That brings me great joy! I appreciate you sharing your wonderful review and comments! Happy cooking!
How important is the cornstarch? I want to make these and have all the ingredients except that. Will they turn out ok?
Hi. You can leave out the cornstarch. Or you can substitute tapioca starch or arrowroot. Hope this helps!
I love this recipe and have for years but over time have noticed they sometimes turn out super grainy after the first day like gritty , any idea why? Or what I could do different
I’ve never had this happen, are you using gluten free flour? That tends to be gritty sometimes.
First time making these I love them I gave to a friend too. Looking Gor new recipes this is a keeper!
This recipe is a great one! That being said every time I make them the dough turns out being way too dry and I end up having to use a bit of plant milk. But when I make these cookies I tend to cut the recipe in half and I also use vegetable shortening instead of vegan butter, so that may have something to do with it. Either way they always turn out good and taste great! Thank you for the recipe! 🙂
Just book marked this as “best cookies” Thank you for this!!!
Thank you! I love it! I appreciate you sharing your fantastic report!
These truly were perfect and delicious! Definitely the yummiest chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve made! I do have one question for Nora – my cookies were quite stale and hard the next day, not nearly as soft and chewy as they were out of the oven. Do you know why that would be? I kept them in an airtight Pyrex. Thanks for any suggestions!
Thanks, Jamie! The cookies harden as they cool, so if they turned out hard the next day, you likely baked them a bit too long. They will seriously look underdone when you need to take them out. It’s amazing how much they firm up as they cool, so for soft cookies, do not over bake. Hope that helps!
Thank you, Nora. After years of disappointing vegan chocolate chip cookie recipes, I made these last night and they truly are PERFECT! (Now I better go hide them in the freezer.) Haha
LOL! I am so glad you love the cookies! Thank you your fantastic review and comments!
H! Could you sub all or part of the flour with Whole Wheat Flour? Also, could you sub the brown sugar for cane sugar? Thanks!
You could probably use some whole wheat flour (or all) but the cookies will taste like wheat. I like white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour, it’s lighter but still whole grain. Cane sugar works okay in place of brown sugar.
Has anyone tried adding chopped walnuts to these?
I add walnuts often as they are my favorite in chocolate chip cookies, so good!