These vegan chocolate chip cookies are everything you could ever want in a chocolate chip cookie recipe – soft, chewy, and melt-in-your-mouth delicious!
Vegan chocolate chip cookies that taste like regular chocolate chip cookies
No flaxmeal
No chia seeds
No chickpeas
No egg replacer
Just 9 ingredients
How is it possible that these secretly vegan cookies taste so much like traditional chocolate chip cookies? It’s because they are made with ONLY traditional chocolate chip cookie ingredients!
Try the recipe out on all your friends!
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Chocolate chip cookies have been one of my favorite desserts for as long as I can remember.
Give me a choice, and I’ll choose chocolate chip cookies over cake or candy any day of the week. Even before I was tall enough to see above the kitchen table, I earned the nickname Cookie Monster because any time there were cookies around, I would be sure to find them!
So it makes sense that, upon going vegan, they were one of the very first recipes I veganized—along with these equally delicious Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies.
This is my tried-and-true best vegan chocolate chip cookies recipe that both vegans AND meat eaters love. They’re easy to make (one bowl!), use basic ingredients (no almond flour or applesauce, and no coconut oil required), and they are great for lunchboxes or parties where someone else is hosting and you need a vegan dessert that you can take from point A to B without a mess.
No one can ever believe these soft and classic chocolate chip cookies are actually vegan!
*For a keto version, try these Keto Cookies
(Above – Watch the video how to make vegan chocolate chip cookies)
Is Chocolate Vegan?
And are chocolate chips vegan? I’m asked these questions quite often, and thankfully the answer is that yes, chocolate itself is vegan. While milk is sometimes added, there are many brands—even some generic grocery store brands—of vegan chocolate chips and chocolate bars that are becoming much easier to find.
If you want to seek out vegan chocolate chips at a regular grocery store, the best place to start is the natural food aisle. Most regular grocery stores should have a natural food section; just ask an employee if you’re not sure where it’s located.
Look for one of the following brands: Enjoy Life, Simple Truth Organic, Target Simply Balanced, Lily’s Sweet Stevia Sweetened, Kirkland semi sweet (Costco brand), Guittard semi sweet or extra dark, Equal Exchange, Scharffen Berger dark chocolate baking chunks, Trader Joe’s semi sweet, Sprouts semi sweet, or Pascha.
(Note: Some of these packages say “may contain milk” on the label because the chocolate chips are made in a facility where non-vegan products are also produced. Most vegans still consider such products to be vegan, but of course it’s a personal choice, especially if the reason to avoid milk is due to an allergy. At press time, Enjoy Life and Pascha brands are certified dairy free, gluten free, and soy free.)
Where Can I Buy Vegan Chocolate?
As mentioned above, you can find vegan chocolate chips at many regular grocery stores. Other good places to look include Whole Foods, local health food stores, Amazon, or iHerb. I like to buy Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips on Amazon because they offer a lower price than most stores. If nothing else, you can always chop up a chocolate bar to make your own chocolate chips!
There are too many vegan chocolate bar options to list them all here, but some of my favorite fair-trade options include Theo, Pacari, Taza, Loving Earth, and Endangered Species brands. And there are so many more.
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Chocolate Chip Cookie Baking Tricks
- If you’d like to freeze the dough to have on hand whenever a chocolate chip cookie craving hits, simply roll into balls and freeze in an airtight container for up to three months. When ready to bake, there’s no need to thaw the cookie dough first. Just add an additional 1-2 minutes to the cooking time.
- For softer cookies, store in an airtight plastic container, and add about 1/4 slice of bread if you have one, which helps keep the cookies soft. For crispier cookies, store in a glass container. Baked cookies will last for 2-3 days.
- Feel free to experiment with different types of sugar or sugar free alternatives such as xylitol, or you can also just use all of one type of sugar instead of two. The resulting cookies might be crunchy or spread more, or they might need more or less time in the oven, but edible baking experiments are the best kind of experiments!
- More vegan cookie recipes can be found by visiting the following link: Healthy Cookies Recipes
- I’ve made these cookies so many times, and climate can definitely affect the shape and texture of the results. But despite not always looking the same, each batch has always tasted ridiculously delicious… I’ve never made a bad batch yet!
Adapted from these Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup white, oat, or spelt flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup sugar, unrefined if desired (For a version with no sugar, try these breakfast cookies)
- 1/4 cup brown sugar or coconut sugar
- 1/3 cup chocolate chips
- 2 tbsp milk of choice, plus more if needed
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl, then stir in wet to form a dough – it will be dry at first, so keep stirring until a cookie-dough texture is achieved. If needed, add 1-2 tbsp extra milk of choice. Form into one big ball, then either refrigerate at least 2 hours or freeze until the dough is cold. Once dough is chilled, preheat oven to 325 F. Form dough balls, and place on a greased baking tray, leaving enough room between cookies for them to spread. Bake 11 minutes on the center rack. They’ll look underdone when you take them out. Let them cool on the baking tray 10 minutes before touching, during which time they will firm up. If for whatever reason the cookies don't spread enough (climate can play a huge role), just press down with a spoon after baking. You can also choose to make extra cookie dough balls and freeze them to bake at a later date. I can only vouch for the flours listed, but feel free to experiment!View Nutrition Facts
Have you made this recipe?
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More Vegan Recipes:
Here’s What I Eat In A Day As A Vegan
Kayla says
I LOVE your recipes, your cookbook, and your blog!
I have made so many of your recipes, some repeats, and plan to make more. They have not disappointed!
I did want to point out though, that Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet chocolate chips do contain milk in them now. 🙁 They started adding milk in them almost a year or so ago. So disappointing!
I LOVE the Enjoy Life chips though! I’ll have to try the others sometime. 🙂
Thank you again for such amazing recipes!
Jason Sanford says
Thanks so much for letting us know. The packaging we checked online must have not been updated. How disappointing, and a confusing step backwards, that they would add milk to a product that was fine without it.
Jason (media relations)
Aimie says
Whole Foods brand dark chocolate mini chunks did the SAME thing! WHYYYY
T.g. says
Trader Joe’s semi sweet chocolate chips are dairy free I believe! And they have several dark chocolate bars that are vegan for the same price or cheaper than chips!
Tina says
So I’m confused….are you suppose to use a 1/2cup of sugar or a 1/4cup of sugar????
Jason Sanford says
Nope, just 1/4 cup white sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar 🙂
Serena Palomba says
Isn’t brown sugar also processed with bone char? Is tbere an easy substitution or brand that you use?
Jason Sanford says
https://www.peta.org/living/food/is-sugar-vegan/ 🙂
RICHELLE MCCOWAN says
You can make brown sugar by using raw sugar and just a couple of drops of molasses. The more molasses the darker the sugar
Aimie says
These vegan chocolate chip cookies look AMAZING! I love your original healthy chocolate chip cookies recipe so will have to try these too. You can never have enough chocolate chip cookie recipes!
Paige Flamm says
Totally making these cookies tonight!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
Natasha @ Thoughts of Tradition says
These look very good and I really enjoy the fact that they are made with traditional ingredients. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a serious fan of your bean brownies and blondies, but sometimes you just want to stick with a recipe similar to your mother’s.
If I were to substitute almond flour, would the recipe work? I understand that the texture would be different.
Have a wonderful Monday night.
Jason Sanford says
You never know unless you try! If you do experiment, be sure to report back!
Brittany Audra @ Audra's Appetite says
Isn’t it the best when a vegan or healthy recipe tastes just as good (if not better!!) as the original AND nobody else can even tell?! You can simply never go wrong with chocolate chip cookies!
casey t says
Those look so gooey and delicious! And I LOVE Enjoy Life’s vegan chocolate chips (or chunks). They’d be perfect in this.
Heather Tisdale says
I live in rural Wales and cannot find any vegan chocolate chips near me. I just buy a dark chocolate bar that is vegan and carefully cut it into small chip sized chunks. I will definitely be making these soon!
Rachael says
Any chance there’s a Sainsbury’s anywhere within reach? Their dark chocolate chips are vegan. (I’m aware it’s a long shot but figured just in case it’s helpful!)
Marni says
Hi, is there any way you could put the actual recipe at the very top of the post? I realize there are people who love seeing 19 photos of the same thing from different angles lol but some of us just want the recipe! Thanks!
VV says
So some of you should just scroll down. :p
Ellen says
I feel the same. Don’t know why all food bloggers use this irritating format. Wastes my time scrolling through photos that don’t add anything to the story.
Joemama says
If its that frustrating come up with your own recipe and stay off these sites! Have a great day!
Missa says
She provides the recipes for free. ._. I think she’s earned her fun of waxing poetic and lots of pictures. It only takes two seconds to scroll through if you’re not interested in reading the post or looking at photos.
Maybe try saying ‘thankyou’ instead of complaining about getting something for free? @[email protected] I’m so baffled about your post, honestly. Not even mad. Just puzzled that it’s possible to have your attitude.
Marie-Eve says
Exactly! Thank you for your comment! I can’t believe how much irritating dôme people can be! Gratitude people.
Chloe says
I agree! @Missa
Tonya says
Exactly! I always read the entire blog! I enjoy reading about them! I respect and love the fact these amazing chefs post their recipes for us to enjoy free of charge! <3 NO complaints here!
d says
baffled? try saying thank you? your passive aggressive response is unnecessary. most bloggers welcome feedback – honest feedback – about everything. why do you feel a need to correct or shame honest feedback?
Nicole says
Agreed. I often load these pages on my phone and it takes a while and extra scrolling. I often just go back and try another site that has what I want- just the recipe and a picture (or a *few*). Thats what I came for. At least she doesn’t do that crazy food blogger “when I was a kid” bs
Circle Pasto says
It’s so they can make money on ads throughout the text. It’s worth it to support an entrepreneur and not have to come up with your own recipes. I think it’s annoying too, but most people aren’t going to make a food blog for everyone out of the goodness of their hearts. They are trying to provide for themselves and their families. Just look at it like cross marketing placement in a grocery store. Maybe click on some links that appeal to you and feel good supporting a woman’s business.
Jul says
It actually has to do with Google’s search algorithm. There wordiness makes it come up
JoJo says
It also helps with google’s “time on page” metric. If people spend more time on a web page, google assumes they have found the information they were searching for.
Cassie Thuvan Tran says
I am more of a chocolate chunk person, so what I like to do is to chop up a bar of 70% dark chocolate and just stir it in the dough. It works perfectly! This batch of chocolate chip cookies could not be more simple, and I love it. The dough probably tastes delicious too!
Marilyn Morrison says
I am a person who cannot follow a recipe. I always think of some ingredients not listed. In this case I used a little almond butter, medjool dates for sweetner along with Sukrin. I have been vegetarian 20 years and now vegan for 2 years. I don’t need much sweet for things to taste sweet.
Very tasty recipe. No refined sugar for years.
Ellen Lederman says
Kroger has organic chocolate chips that are accidently vegan, as well as 72% cacao chocolate chunks.
VV says
Do I have to refrigerate the dough? Don’t feel like waiting! 🙂
Jason Sanford says
They come out thinner and crispier if you don’t, but if that’s what you want then definitely go ahead!
Courtlynne says
I tried this recipe today and they turned out paper thin and not cooked all the way through. I put the dough in the fridge for 2 hours. Could it just not have been cold enough? They taste super gooey and delicious though.
Jason Sanford says
What specific ingredients (sugar, flour, oil, etc) did you use? Impossible to know without this info!
Lovelylynn says
Hello this recipe looks delicious. You stated you used oil, what kind of oil did you use?
Jason Sanford says
Melted coconut, canola, vegetable, or suflower oil all work!
Mia says
Has anyone tried using ALL coconut sugar (instead of part cs, part regular)? How did they come out?
Jason Sanford says
The texture will be different ad they might spread differently, but taste-wise it should work. Be sure to report back if you try!
Rose says
I make these with regular coconut sugar and brown coconut sugar and they come out perfect every time. I measure by weight (48grams of each) which I think makes it more consistent.
Sue Medeiros says
I made it with coconut sugar only and it came out great.
Jen @ sweetgreenkitchen.com says
I’ve made this recipe twice in the last week and doubled the recipe the second time around, they were that good! I used blended gluten free oats for my flour and coconut oil for the oil. I used Pascha 85% cocoa chocolate chips which are both gluten free and vegan. The first time I chilled the dough, second time I didn’t want to wait, and I did not notice any major difference in the outcome, so I’ll just skip the chilling from now on. I brought them to a party and everyone loved them and no one could believe they were vegan. I usually make oatmeal cookies, but these will definitely be added to my cookie rotation. They come out soft, chewy and gooey and so delicious, thank you for this amazing and super easy recipe!
Eleanor says
I live at 5,000 foot altitude and I want to make these rather badly!! Would I need to make any adjustments at all? Any advice would be most appreciated!!! XOX
Jason Sanford says
Unfortunately we don’t have any experience at all with high altitude baking, but please do report back if you experiment!
Jason (media relations)
Emi says
We live in the north Denver Metro area, and I’m an experienced baker. For most cookie recipes you shouldn’t need to alter the recipe much, in my experience cakes/cupcakes from scratch are the trickiest to get right at higher altitudes like ours. I’ve made many of Katie’s recipes on here and so far haven’t needed to make any changes for the altitude so you should be good to make these as-is.
Courtney says
So delicious as always! I literally was never able to make a healthy dessert successfully until I found your blog and now they turn out every time and are amazing xoxoxo
P.s. the cookie dough by itself is fantabulous
Lydia says
These were a hit at home and at work! I’ve never used coconut sugar in a baking recipe before, and I really like the flavor that it added. I also used So Delicious coconut milk creamer as my liquid, which added more sweetness. I followed everything in the recipe as it was stated. Thanks for another great one!
Melrin Dsilva says
The cookies turned out amazing. My husband is allergic to egg so your recipes really workout for me. Thanks for your vegan recipes ?
Jason Sanford says
Love the photo!
Youngbaker says
I didn’t have vegan chocolate chips on hand when I made these, but it was super easy to make my own vegan chocolate. I used half a cup of cocoa powder And coconut butter and a quarter cup honey, plus half a teaspoon vanilla and a pinch of salt. They turned out great!
Stacey says
Honey is not vegan!
Rach says
Golden syrup might work out to replace honey, thanks for the tip
Reyna says
Hi everyone!
I made this recipe with the below substitutions and they are DELICIOUS!! A huge hit!!!
-Almond flour
-Xreynaylitol instead of sugars
-Lily’s stevia choc chips
-Madagascar vanilla Ghee (dairy) instead of oil
Marty Embry says
This is my first time making vegan cookies and these came out perfectly! And they are absolutely delish! Even though I’m not vegan, I’m a chef and always try to prepare items that I think that my vegan eaters would enjoy. My son is vegan and he was floored by the flavor AND texture. Kudos to you. This is a keeper! And I’m keeping it! Lol. Thank you again for sharing. You rock!
Amy says
Marty…those look great! What flour and sugar did you use?
Ayson says
All Purpose Flour And Cane Sugar
Bavneet says
These cookies are just amazing for people who want to be fit in their lives. Thanks for sharing these cookies with us.
Patty K says
I must be missing an ingredient. 2 tbs of milk and 2 tbs of oil is not enough moisture.
Jason Sanford says
Hi Patti, did you see this line in the instructions? “If needed, add 1-2 tbsp extra milk of choice.” That definitely ought to help!
Sasha says
Even with four tbs of milk, the mixture was almost all powder. I double checked all other measurements. So confused.
Jason Sanford says
What specific ingredients did you use? Flour, sugar, etc.
Sarah says
I had this problem too, I don’t know how everyone else got it. I used everything in the recipe exactly (it’s a miracle I actually had everything) and I still had to use close to a cup of milk to get dough to form
Jason Sanford says
But what specific ingredients did you use? And how long did you stir before adding more milk? It will be dry at first but suddenly comes together (as shown in the video).
Jennifer says
Can i use almond flour for these?
Jason Sanford says
Unfortunately the only way to know for sure if a substitution will work is to try it out and see! Be sure to report back if you do, as edible experiments can be fun!
Sophia says
Wow. I was looking fo a good chewy, soft vegan chocolate chip recipe and hadn’t faound a truly good one. Until now. It was delicious, soft and chewy, the perfect texture. I thought it may be better if it were a tad less sweeter but that’s just personal preference. Really great recipe. Thank you!
Jason Sanford says
LOVE the picture!
Amanda says
I just made these cookies and they are pretty good! I forgot to add the vanilla, and I’m not sure how much difference that makes but I’ll remember next time. I used blended oats instead of flour, oat milk, and brown sugar. My son has several allergies so I’m always looking for decent recipes that are vegan and avoid his allergens. I’ll definitely make these again! Thanks!
Carolyn says
I made them because the black bean brownies were so amazing. However, are these cookies supposed to look like little balls? Mine barely spread at all in the oven or resting process.
Carolyn says
Just saw the comment about the spoon. Oy!
kenzie says
I looked so hard for vegan cookie recipes that didn’t need any special ingredients…and I’m so glad I found this one!
I wanted to bake some cookies for some vegan friends, and I didn’t have time for a trip to the grocery store.
Of course, I had to make a couple substitutions! Nothing crazy!
I didn’t have vegan chocolate. I used chopped dates.
The milk I used was actually Coconut Milk, from a can. Great choice I think! It’s all I had but I’d use it again next time.
I added a dash of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. You know, to go with the dates. Raisins would’ve been good too, and/or nuts. I didn’t have any of those either.
I used Canola Oil. Again, that’s what I had on hand. It was that or Olive.
I used plain old All Purpose Unbleached Flour.
I used a medium brown sugar, and an unrefined organic cane sugar, which I skimped on as I then added in a tablespoon of Maple Syrup, just for fun…I figured the flavour would be nice and with 3 TBSP of Coconut Milk my dough was still looking like it’d be pretty dry after a quick stir. I ended up with dough that was slightly firm, but very much like I would expect a non-vegan cookie dough to look and feel like.
I refrigerated for a little while, maybe twenty minutes in the freezer. I couldn’t wait very long – the dough did seem quite cool.
I flattened them a bit with a fork before baking, but followed the 11 mins at 325 of course.
I ended up with 11 beautiful soft tasty cookies! It could’ve been 12 if I’d made them a touch smaller. I couldn’t believe they were vegan. This recipe made me look like a superstar. I feel silly leaving a review saying that I made all these substitutions etc…but really I have never made vegan cookies and the base recipe was super, super helpful. I’m sure these would be just as amazing as a plain old chocolate chip cookie! I’m excited to try making them that way soon. Thanks for the awesome recipe.
Chocolate Covered Katie says
Aw thank YOU for making them!
Keeoni says
Those are a lot of substitutions, it’s not at al the recipe listed. Not sure I would want raisins in a chocolate chip cookie? Dates…this is a completely different recipe. A couple of pantry-based substitutions are expected but I find it so strange when someone completely changes the recipe.
Vegan says
If you are Vegan and you are eating anything that says “may contain milk etc” you are eating animal products. I have yet to find a packaged food that warns of “may contain” without having a serious allergic reaction to it.
It may be trace amounts, but you are eating animal products.
Jason Sanford says
If you live in this world, then honestly there is no way to not eat or use trace amounts of animal products, even if it’s just in the bugs in your organic broccoli and sitting in someone’s leather car seat, etc. We all just do the best we can.
Christine says
No, it actually doesn’t, and you shouldn’t make idiotic comments if you don’t know what you’re talking about. This is what companies do to cover themselves if they produce other items made with milk, eggs, nuts, etc. in the same facility and don’t want to get sued in case someone has an allaergic reaction. These products do not contain those items.
Teddy says
Hello! Should wheat OR white spelt flour brushed? I can’t tell the difference! Please advise. Thank you 🙂
Jason Sanford says
Both work!
Johnny says
The recipe says to cook these at 325 for 13 minutes, then let sit for another 11 minutes. My cookies were all under done. I turned it oven up to 425 and cooked then until they were lightly brown, and DONE! By the way raw cookies aren’t very good. Yuck!Johnny