Classic Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
The Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies are made from scratch with pantry staples – no chilling time or weird ingredients – just perfectly soft, chewy cookies studded with gooey chocolate chips!
It’s about time these vegan chocolate chip cookies were added to the recipe collection. I’ve been making them forever and finally perfected the recipe!
They are in good company with other great cookies in the archives, like these Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies, Almond Flour Chocolate Chip Pecan Sandies, Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies, and 4 ingredient Almond Butter Cookies.
I’m sharing this recipe with you just in time for the weekend so you can have something to bake up and enjoy at your leisure. You’ll find it to be simple, straightforward and so easy to make. Plus, they make the best air freshener ever!
So let’s get to it – a batch of fresh-baked cookies is coming your way!
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Ingredient Notes
In this recipe, we’ll be creaming together butter, sugar, vanilla, and milk, then mixing in flour and chocolate chips all in one bowl creating the most amazing vegan chocolate chip cookies.
Here is everything you’ll need, plus ideas and tips for substituting as needed.
- Butter – I absolutely love Miyoko’s Cultured Vegan Butter. It tastes amazing, the ingredients are minimal and it works splendidly in this chocolate chip cookie recipe. You can find it at Target, Sprout’s, Whole Foods & various other grocery stores. Check the store finder to find it locally. You can sub the butter for coconut oil if you prefer.
- Sugar – This recipe calls for 2 types of sugar, but feel free to use just one type.
- Vanilla – I love Trader Joe’s or Ashlae’s Real Deal Vanilla.
- Unsweetened Cashew Milk – This will be our egg replacer and will bind with the flour, adding just the right amount of extra moisture. Use your favorite unsweetened plant milk.
- Flour – My favorite flours for this recipe are unbleached, all-purpose flour, or spelt flour. I’ve always had the best luck making cookies with Bob’s Red Mills Spelt Flour. The cookies with spelt will be slightly darker and denser, but will taste just as delicious!
- Baking Soda – If you don’t have baking soda on hand, use 1 teaspoon baking powder.
- Salt – Mineral salt is my favorite when baking and cooking. It contains essential minerals that other salts don’t. I purchase it in bulk or buy big bags of it on Amazon. Mineral salt is different from table salt, so test the recipe first with 1/4 tsp and then adjust to your taste! Sea salt measures the same as mineral salt.
- Chocolate Chips – My favorite vegan chocolate chips are these Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips. You can change it up using chocolate chunks, carob chips (which have a butterscotch flavor), or chopped vegan chocolate.
- Optional Add-Ins. Add nuts such as chopped pecans, walnuts, or pistachios. Dried fruits like cherries or cranberries would be delicious.
How To Make Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Here is a quick overview with step photos for reference (Note – The full printable recipe is at the bottom of this post).
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a small bowl or 2-cup measuring cup, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Next, in a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugars, beating for 1 minute by hand or using a hand beater (shown above).
- Add the almond milk and vanilla and beat for 1 – 2 minutes, or until the mixture becomes very creamy, whipped, and fluffy as shown in the left-hand picture below.
- Add 1/2 of the flour mixture to the creamed butter, and mix well (pictured above left).
- Add the remaining flour and mix to combine (above right).
- Add the chocolate chips and mix well as shown above.
- Drop tablespoonfuls of the cookie dough, 2 inches apart, onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or Silpat, as shown above. I like to add a few chips strategically on top of each cookie to ensure there are a few chips visible after baking.
- Bake in the oven for 10 – 12 minutes while enjoying the smell of your freshly baked cookies.
- Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
The recipe will yield about 2 dozen cookies and can easily be doubled if needed.
Now all you have to do is sit back and enjoy your homemade cookies!
Baking Tips
- Pull the butter out early so it has time to come to room temperature. It’s important that the butter is softened, but not melted so it will cream well with the sugars.
- Don’t overcook the cookies. They will look tender and slightly underdone but will firm up as they cool.
- If using all coconut sugar, your cookies will be darker in color. This will also happen if using heavier flour such as whole wheat. For lighter cookies, use a mix of white and brown sugars, and all-purpose or light spelt flour.
- Keep your cookies uniform. For uniformity, I like to use a trigger cookie scoop. Anywhere from 1 1/2 to 2-tablespoons scooper will work great.
- Substitute the butter with room temp coconut oil. When using room temp coconut oil, make sure all other wet ingredients are at room temp as well, or the coconut oil will seize up and harden.
Storing + Freezing
You can easily store your baked cookies and/or cookie dough in a variety of ways:
How To Store Baked Cookies
- Counter: Baked cookies can be stored in a covered container for 4 – 5 days. They also do well loosely covered.
- Refrigerator: Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks in a covered container.
- Freezer: Store in the freezer for up to 2 – 3 months. To freeze, let them cool completely and store in freezer-safe containers or baggies. Let thaw in the refrigerator, or on the counter for a few hours.
How To Store Cookie Dough
- Refrigerator: Unbaked cookie dough can be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 4 -5 days.
- Freezer: Chocolate chip cookie dough can be stored in the freezer for up to 2 months. My favorite way to freeze cookie dough is to roll it into 1 1/2-inch balls before freezing. Put the balls on a cookie sheet and place them in the freezer until they are solid. Place the frozen dough balls in a freezer bag or freezer-safe container. When ready to bake, no thawing is needed. Simply place the frozen dough balls on a lined baking sheet and bake for 2 – 4 minutes longer than the recipe time.
More Vegan Cookies Recipes!
- Vegan Snickerdoodles
- Chocolate Chip + Banana + Oatmeal Bites (4 Ingredients)
- 1 Bowl Peanut Butter Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
- Chocolate Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies
If you try this easy cookie recipe, please let me know! Leave a comment and rate it below. I love to hear what you think, or any changes you make.
PrintThe Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
The best vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe with no funny ingredients and no chilling time! Just a simple, straightforward, amazingly delicious chocolate chip cookies that bake up perfectly every single time!
- Prep Time: 10 min
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: Makes 24 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113g) vegan butter (I used Miyoko’s), at room temp*
- 1/2 cup (85g) coconut sugar
- 1/4 cup (43g) pure cane sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened cashew or almond milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups flour (light spelt (149g), all-purpose (180g) or gluten free flour blend)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon mineral salt
- 1 cup (175g) vegan chocolate chips (I used Enjoy Life)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or Silpat, or use baking sheet as is, un-greased.
Cookie Dough: Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl, set aside. Beat butter, coconut sugar and pure cane sugar in large mixing bowl until creamy. Add almond milk and vanilla extract, and beat until fluffy and creamy, about 1 – 2 minutes. Add 1/2 of the flour and mix to combine, add remaining flour and mix again. Stir in chocolate chips.
Scoop: Drop rounded 1 1/2 – 2 tablespoons full of cookie dough onto prepared baking sheet, keeping them about 2 inches apart.
Bake: Place in the oven and bake for 10 to 12 minutes (don’t overbake). Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes, move to wire racks to cool.
Makes 2 dozen cookies.
Storing:
- Already Baked Cookies: Baked cookies will stay fresh stored in a covered container for 4 – 5 days. To keep longer, let them cool completely and store them in the freezer for up to 2 months in freezer safe containers.
- Cookie Dough: Store cookie dough in an airtight container for up to 4 -5 days in the refrigerator. You can keep it longer in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Notes
*Substitute the butter with room temp coconut oil. When using room temp coconut oil, make sure all other wet ingredients are at room temp as well, or the coconut oil will seize up and harden.
Optional Add-Ins: Add nuts such as chopped pecans, walnuts, or pistachios. Dried fruits like cherries or cranberries would be delicious.
Pull the butter out early so it has time to come to room temperature. It’s important that the butter is softened, but not melted so it will cream well with the sugars.
Don’t overcook the cookies. They will look tender and slightly underdone but will firm up as they cool.
If using all coconut sugar, your cookies will be darker in color. This will also happen if using a heavier flour such as whole wheat. For lighter cookies, use a mix of white and brown sugars, and all-purpose or light spelt flour.
For flour measurements in grams see this Flour Weight Chart.
Recipe can easily be doubled.
RECOMMENDED EQUIPMENT: I love my Silpat or these parchment liners for lining the baking sheet, and this cookie scoop works great for making uniform cookies!
Nutrition information is calculated using 1/2 cup vegetable margarine (since there is no calculation for Miyoko’s butter).
Nutritional values are estimates only. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
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Perfect every time!!! I absolutely adore this recipe thank you! 1 thing to note is the “2x” option only edits the cups part, and not the exact measurements. I always get best results when I use my scale and go by exact measurements, I’m glad I double checked because it still stated 2cups were the same amount of gram as the 1 cup! Just a note.
I’ve baked these many times now for my vegan friends or for events where I’m unsure of everyone’s dietary restriction and people love them!! I find keeping the dough in the fridge overnight before baking them makes them even better. Thank you so much for this recipe!!
I’ve made these cookies twice now. I will never bake a different recipe ever again.
It’s the whipped butter and sugar blend that really does it!
Finally a GREAT recipe without coconut oil.
Hubby wanted cookies so I made this recipe. He ate them all so fast. He loves them and now it’s one of his top requests! Gotta say, these are also better than what I made in pastry school. Thanks Julie!
Could the almond milk be substituted with Coconut cream?
Yes, canned coconut cream or milk will work in place of the plant milk. Enjoy the cookies, Angela!
Made these many times ,foolproof and delicious …. important to take them out before they brown.
I can’t even count how many times I have made these cookies. They have become my go-to. Thank you!!
Thanks for this recipe! It is now my go-to easy cookie recipe. I have made them many times, and everyone loves them. Super yummy. Thank you
Glad you (and everyone) are enjoying the recipe, it makes my day! Thanks for sharing, Sarah!
Hi, We will try this today, but I needed to mention, the instructions are confusing:
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, coconut sugar and pure cane sugar in large mixing bowl until creamy.
Then it says: Add almond milk and vanilla extract, and beat until fluffy and creamy, about 1 – 2 minutes. ..
To which bowl? The small of the large one? I figured it out, but I wanted to ask you if you can make it clearer, thank you!
Great question, Paula! I added a note to set the small bowl aside, hopefully, that will make it clearer that you will not use it until called for. Thank you for pointing that out, I can see how it might have been confusing. Enjoy the cookies!
Best recipe and so simple. Thank you so very much for sharing, they turned out perfectly. Thumbs up from my 4 year old daughter too.