This is the best vegan chocolate chip cookies recipe ever! Easy to make in 1 bowl, no chilling required and they turn out perfect every time. Soft, chewy and full of chocolate chips!
If you are in need of a simple, straightforward yet incredibly delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe, look no further. Tried and true, these are the most perfect vegan chocolate chip cookies in the world and everyone who tries them agrees!
This recipe is one of the most popular on my site with 350+ 5 star reviews! I hope they become your go-to vegan cookie.
If you love chocolate chips as much as I do, make sure to check out these Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, Chocolate Chip Muffins and Vegan Edible Cookie Dough!
What makes these vegan 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!
Ingredients needed (with substitutions)
- Flax egg – This is your egg substitute and is perfect for creating chewy, delicious cookies without eggs. JUST Egg works in place of flax/water, as well as other egg substitutes. Non-dairy milk, applesauce and yogurt work as well in a pinch. Use 4 tablespoons instead of the flax egg.
- Vegan butter – I’ve made these cookies with countless brands, including my homemade vegan butter, and they all work great. You can try substituting coconut oil, but it does change the texture quite a bit and the flavor won’t be the same. If you want to use coconut oil, try these Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies instead.
- Brown sugar – For the best flavor and texture, use brown sugar. If you must substitute it, granulated sugar works okay (though I’d add a tablespoon of molasses) as well as coconut sugar.
- Vanilla – For flavor, of course.
- All purpose flour – Most of the time I just use plain flour, but if you need them to be gluten free, you can substitute a gluten free flour blend. I’ve had good luck with Bob’s Red Mill, King Arthur and Better Batter. Don’t sub almond flour, but go make these Almond Flour Cookies instead.
- Cornstarch – This helps the cookies be extra soft and chewy. May substitute tapioca starch or arrowroot, or leave it out if needed.
- Baking soda
- Salt – I use salted vegan butter most of the time, but if you are using unsalted butter, increase the salt from 1/4 teaspoon to 3/4 teaspoon.
- Non-dairy chocolate chips – Check the ingredients list on the package for things like milk fat, butter oil, etc. I like Trader Joe’s brand which happen to be vegan, as well as Enjoy Life. Sometimes the store brand will be accidentally vegan and inexpensive. Chopped chocolate also works (I often use a mix).
How to make vegan chocolate chip cookies
Find the complete printable recipe with measurements below in the recipe card.
Beat the softened vegan butter and brown sugar, then 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, then mix in the chocolate chips/chunks. Mmmmm… cookie dough perfection!
Roll the dough into 1-2 tablespoon balls (I use this cookie scoop, then roll with my hands). Place on parchment lined or greased baking sheets.
Bake for about 10 minutes, until barely golden around the edges. The cookies will seems underdone, but they firm up as they cool and you want them to stay soft so be careful to not over bake.
For smaller cookies, bake for less time. For extra big cookies, add a few minutes of bake time.
Enjoy the cookies warm with a glass of almond milk or crumbled in vegan ice cream with a drizzle of caramel, perhaps. I usually sprinkle some coarse sea salt on top as well.
Frequently asked questions
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 non-dairy milk.
No, not all chocolate chips are vegan. They often contain dairy. Make sure to check the package list for things like butter oil, milk fat, and so on. Enjoy Life brand are always vegan, as are Trader Joe’s semi-sweet chips, Guittard, Kirkland Brand and some others. You can also use vegan chocolate bars and chop them up for chocolate chunk cookies.
No, I never chill this cookie dough. I’m much too impatient! It’s just not needed here, but if you want to chill it, I’m sure it will be fine. The cookies will come out much thicker.
They will keep for 3-4 days at room temperature, if you don’t eat them all before then! Store in a covered container. They also freeze well.
How to freeze cookie dough for later
Roll the cookie dough into balls and freeze in a freezer friendly container. When you want to bake cookies simply preheat the oven and bake, adding a few more minutes since the dough was frozen. No need to defrost the dough.
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.
Other cookie mix in combinations
This is a great cookie base recipe for all kinds of combinations! Try:
- Adding chopped walnuts and/or coarse sea salt on top
- Vegan white chocolate chips and dried cranberries
- Add dried blueberries and a little lemon zest
- White chocolate and macadamia nut
- Monster cookies – add a few tablespoons of rolled oats, vegan M&M type candy, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and a few tablespoons chocolate chips.
Want more incredible vegan cookie recipes?
Find all of my vegan cookie recipes here: Vegan Cookies. Here are just a few of my favorites:
- Vegan Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Cookies
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Vegan Sugar Cookies
- Classic Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
Perfect Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
- 2.5 tablespoons water
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups packed light 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 cup vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats (or 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
- You can use the amount of sugar as listed (1 1/4 cups lightly packed brown sugar), or less to your own taste. Some people seem to prefer only 3/4 cup, while others enjoy the 1 1/4 cups. I’ve tried both and they work well either way in my opinion!
- Cookies will stay fresh for 3-4 days, if they last that long. Store in a covered container. They also freeze well.
- Freezer cookie dough – 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.
- If using unsalted vegan butter, increase the salt to 3/4 teaspoon.
- Other mix ins – Feel free to add chopped walnuts, or use white chocolate chips instead, dried fruit, whatever you feel like. This is a great base recipe for all kinds of combinations.
- Recipe inspired by Sally’s Baking Addiction.
Nutrition
* August 2025: Several people commented that the recipe didn’t need as much brown sugar as originally listed ( 1 1/4 cups lightly packed brown sugar.) If desired, you can use less sugar. Sometimes I use just 3/4 of a cup of packed brown sugar and they work well.
Great recipe!! I used half the chocolate chips and added chopped hazelnuts and some dots of salted caramel peanut butter.
Thank you for sharing your recipe experience and stellar review! I’m so thrilled that you enjoyed the cookies! Your additions sound delicious!
Cookies were tasty but I messed up as I’m used to recipes that use metric for larger parts like sugar flour butter etc and tea/tablespoons for smaller parts. I switched back and forth between the US and metric here and seems they’re wildly different, have to stick to one or the other to keep ratios right? Cookies came out totally deflated but still chewy. Will try again and just do the is customary recipe
i made these a couple weeks ago and they were AMAZING! nobody knew they were vegan. could canned pumpkin be added to these? how much do you think?
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! I’d actually go make my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies instead for a pumpkin version. I just made them the other day and they’re so good!
I have a dairy allergy but I can consume eggs. I don’t have the flax seed powder. Can I replace it with egg? If so how many eggs would replace it in this recipe?
I haven’t tried it since I don’t eat eggs. The flax is equivalent to one egg. Enjoy!
Thank you so much for this recipe! These are deliciousssss. I have a three year old who is severely allergic to milk, eggs and nuts so I’ve been forced to cook/bake most of her meals. I’ve tried several recipes and this one is the best!
I’m so glad that your son is able to enjoy the cookies! Thank you for sharing your terrific review and feedback!
What would Soy milk instead of water do?
I love your recipes Nora! Thank you!
It would be fine, it’s just not necessary. I hope you love the cookies, thank you!
I made these for the 6th time tonight and they are amazing every time! I love that they go from bowl to oven!
Hi Mia. I love simple and delicious as well! I’m thrilled you are enjoying the cookies! Thank you for taking time to share your glowing review! Happy baking!
Made these twice. Second time I used coconut oil. Both times I only used one tablespoon of sugar. It was enough for me. These came out great!
I prefer the original recipe with the 1 1/4 cup of brown sugar. I tried making these cookies with the new recipe and they did not turn out very well at all. Thank you for the variation, but I’m going stick to the original. ☺️
We followed the instructions as written, but for some reason our cookies never settled down- they baked in the same ball shapes we’d formed them into before putting them into the oven. Any ideas on what went wrong? They are still very tasty!
Perhaps just a little too much flour, most likely! Make sure to measure carefully – spoon flour into a measuring cup, and level it off with a knife. Don’t pack it down or accidentally scoop too much. Hope that helps!
Ah, we’ll try to be more mindful of measuring flour next time. Thanks!
I made this with just egg , and Reese’s chips. Turned out delicious. Soft and fluffy little cookies, can’t wait to try again with actual chocolate chips !
Hi Nora, if I wanted to add vanilla protein powder for the protein hit, what would you recommend please?
It’s hard for me to recommend anything because I’ve never tried it, but I would think not too much, perhaps replace 1/4 or 1/2 cup of flour with the protein powder and see how it goes. Hope you enjoy them!
Hi Nora,
Is this dough okay to chill overnight before baking? I don’t have enough time to make them in one day, but I know for some recipes the dough shouldn’t be chilled at all. Thanks!
Hi Renn. Yes, you can prep the cookie dough and store it in the fridge 24 or 48 hours ahead of time. Let the chilled dough sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before rolling into balls so it softens a little bit. Enjoy!
Made them for a vegan friend, but had to taste test them of-course. my particular husband said he wouldn’t have known they were vegan if i didn’t tell him. we ate 5 in one sitting…. oops
Hi Allie. I’m thrilled that you and your husband love the cookies! They are very easy to eat! Thanks for sharing your stellar review and feedback!
Another 5 Star recipe from Nora! I didn’t realize I was nearly out of brown sugar, so I used 1/4 c brown sugar and 1/2 c regular. They still turned out amazing! I followed the instructions to take them out even though they were still light colored and was glad I did. So chewy and perfect!
Hi Ana. Thank you for taking time to share your glowing review and feedback! I’m thrilled that you love the cookies!
These cookies are great! I doubled the recipe and used a combination of chocolate chips and chopped up chocolate bars that needed to be used up. I was hestitant to remove them from the oven at 10 minutes as they appeared not done, but followed the directions of going up to 12 minutes for larger cookies. The cookies aren’t large but definitely were not over baked at 12 minutes. These are delicious and I’ll definitely make this recipe again. I plan to take the majority of them to work to share, although I’ve already eaten a few myself!
Made these but had to use half white sugar as I was low on brown. Turned out perfect.
Wow! This recipe is delicious and kid approved.
I did substitute BRM egg replacer and gluten free all purpose flour. I also eye balled chocolate chips so leas than the measured amount.
I liked that it came together quickly, not sticky on hands when rolling or didn’t melt in my hands either.
Hi Nora I made some cookie dough a week and a half ago and put it in the freezer is it still good?
Oh yeah, it will be just fine. I’d thaw it, then bake the cookies.
These are the best chocolate chip cookies ever! I love you Nora
Can you sub applesauce for vegan butter? Also will GF flour 1:1 work too?
Hi Christina. I have not tested this recipe using applesauce, however, 2 TB of applesauce should work. The cookie will be softer, but still delicious! Others have commented that one egg’s worth of Just Egg, or ground chia seeds also works. They also work well with a GF flour mix. I have used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 and King Arthur’s measure for measure, and they came out great! Enjoy!
Too sweet (as others have said, the sugar:flour ratio is high here) and WAY too many chocolate chips. My fault for following the recipe in a rush, instead of just eyeballing. It was about 5x too many chocolate chips for me, the cookies couldn’t be made into balls, they just crumbled.
Otherwise good though, honestly! And I still appreciate noracooks for all the free online recipes!
Hello Nora- I am not vegan but my son and I do have an egg allergy and am hoping these will work great for us. Will regular salted butter work well instead of the vegan butter?
Thanks so much!
Hi there! I do think regular butter works a bit differently, but it should work. You might want to chill the dough before baking, I’m pretty sure that regular butter will make the cookies spread more if you don’t. But I’m not an expert with regular butter baking as I haven’t used it in over a decade. 🙂 I hope you enjoy the cookies!
I was wondering which vegan butter you used for these. Mine did not turn out as yours did… they were flat and on the oily side… I noticed quite a lot of ‘oil’ on my baking sheet after I cooled them in the pans and then put them on cooling racks. I definitely did not overcook them… they were just flat. I used a Country Crock stick. Thanks for any help you can give me.
I use Country Crock brand often, and also Earth Balance. Did you use regular flour and measure everything accurately? Too little flour can make the cookies flat and greasy. Also, did you make sure your vegan butter stick was softened but not at all melted? If you still have trouble, you can always put the cookie dough in the fridge for 30 minutes or so before rolling into balls and baking. And always bake them in the center rack of your oven. Hope that helps!
Nora, Thank you so much for this recipe! It is the best chocolate chip recipe I have tried! My family loves it so much. It has become a weekly staple for them!
You bet, Stacey! I’m so glad you are all loving the cookie recipe! It’s a favorites in our home as well! Thanks for sharing your stellar review! Wishing you happy cooking!
These really are the best chocolate chip cookies we have ever had. It’s now my go-to cookie recipe, highly recommended.
Hi Christine. These are definitely a favorite in our home as well! I’m thrilled they are your go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback. Happy cooking!
These are actually the best cookies I have ever had.
I completely agree! I was looking for a recipe to make cookies for my friend who has an egg allergy and found this one. Best chocolate cookies ever!