Easy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Learn how to make easy vegan chocolate chip cookies with few ingredients! These cookies are simple, chewy, and delicious.
OVERVIEW
- Skill Level: Beginner
- Technique Used: Creaming Method for Cookies
This recipe couldn’t be more simple! It’s an adaptation of my Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I took this recipe and made a few tweaks to the ingredients to make it vegan.
There are no out-of-the-ordinary ingredients in these cookies. In fact, if you are already eating vegan then you most likely have all the ingredients on hand!
Vegan Ingredients in Cookies
Butter Replacer
In the Creaming Method for Cookies, the recipe starts with creaming sugar with solid fat. In the original recipe, the solid fat is butter. But to make it vegan, the solid fat can be vegetable shortening, margarine, or a dairy-free butter substitute such as Earth Balance. Just make sure that any fat you use is vegan.
Egg Replacer
The next step is to add something to help bind the cookie together. In the original recipe, this would be an egg. As a vegan alternative, I made a homemade egg replacer by mixing corn starch, baking powder, and water.
Dairy-free Chocolate
Milk chocolate is obviously not vegan but many dark and semi-sweet chocolates are naturally vegan. However, always check the packaging as some brands do in fact use dairy. To be sure, I like to use a specifically vegan brand of chocolate, like Enjoy Life brand of chocolate baking products.
This cookie recipe is so soft and chewy! You’ll make them over and over again. Enjoy!
Easy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Learn how to make easy vegan chocolate chip cookies with few ingredients! These cookies are simple, chewy, and delicious.
Ingredients
- 113 grams (½ cup, 1 stick) vegan butter, margarine, or shortening, softened
- 200 grams (1 cup) granulated sugar (dark brown, muscovado, or coconut sugar)
- 45 grams (3 tablespoons) water
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch (or arrowroot powder)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 135 grams (1 cup + 2 tablespoons) all-purpose flour
- 150 grams (1 cup) vegan chocolate chips or chunks
- coarse salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
PREP:
- At least 30 minutes before making, remove the vegan butter (113 grams, ½ cup) from the refrigerator to come to room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
To make the cookies:
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, or a large bowl with a hand mixer, cream together the softened butter and sugar (200 grams, 1 cup) until light and fluffy. About 2 minutes on medium-high speed.
- In a small bowl, mix together the water (45 grams, 3 tablespoons), cornstarch (1 teaspoon), and baking powder (½ teaspoon) until combined. Add to the creamed butter/sugar mixture and combine.
- Add the salt (¼ teaspoon) and flour (135 grams, 1 cup + 2 tablespoons) to the mixing bowl. Mix until incorporated. Scrape down the bowl and mix until to make sure the ingredients are evenly distributed.
- Add the chocolate chips (150 grams, 1 cup) into the mixing bowl and mix until evenly distributed.
- Scoop large rounded mounds of dough onto baking sheets, about 3 tablespoons in size.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the edges are set and the centers are still slightly underdone. Let the cookies sit on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes before removing to cool further.
- Sprinkle the warm cookies with coarse salt if desired.
- Store cooled cookies in an airtight container for 3-4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
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80 Comments on “Easy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies”
You got me at the 6 ingredients – everyone needs a good and easy chocolate cookie recipe, and this definitely looks like one, thanks for sharing!
HOW DID YOU KNOOOOW??! I was literally just wondering how to go about making a vegan cookie and BAM here it is! Thank you thank you thank youuuu
btw-your video is cute as all get out
oh and I’m quite familiar with the cookie dance. It’s like…just something that happens when you eat a cookie 😛
those look so good & easy!
Nice job, these look delish!
A gentle FYI: the regular (full fat) Smart Balance is *not* vegan, it has whey in it (or at least all of the ones I have seen have whey in them)! However, Smart Balance Light *is* vegan (but wouldn’t be appropriate in baking as it is low fat). If you’ve found a full fat, vegan Smart Balance, I’d love to know which one it is, it’s a great product.
Happy MoFo!
Thanks for the heads up Dawn! Good to know. I never use margarine but was reading labels the other day in the grocery store and picked up some smart balance and it said “vegan” in small print on the back. I might have been holding the “light” kind. That would make since. It would still work in baking but maybe wouldn’t taste as good.
I use the Earth Balance Soy Free and it is vegan, GMO-free, gluten free…has a buttery taste, Very good!
Wonderful, informative video. Thank you for the egg substitute tip that uses items I’ll always have on hand. The tip about making taller cookies was interesting, too. I actually like my cookies to spread but the freezing tip is good to know if I’m baking for someone who likes thick cookies. I’ll definitely be trying the salt on top, I love that salty-sweet combo!
Betty, these look fantastic! Sometimes vegan cookies can be a challenge but these look absolutely perfect. Thanks for sharing such a lovely recipe! 🙂
Thanks for the video and for taking time to explain the science behind baking. It really helps a lot to know what the different ingredients are for and what they do to the recipe. Great job!
I have heard about using applesauce as a substitute for butter. Will that work here? Please let us know. Also, what effects would this substitution have in baked goods? Thank you!
I’m coming over to join you in the cookie-eating dance 🙂 YOU ARE WAY TOO CUTE!
Can you also come over and bake some stuff for my blog? I’m so sad that I have so little time to do that right now. 🙁
I don’t recommend margarine. It contains trans fats that your body is unable to break down. You see, trans fats come from partially hydrogenated soybean oil. In the process of producing saturated fat from a cheap source such as soybean oil (called hydrogenation), the conformation of the lipid molecules takes a trans conformation.I’m not going to explain why saturated fats are necessary for baking, except that they have a linear structure. This trans conformation is not normally found in nature, thus our bodies do not contains enzymes necessary to break them down. They basically stay in your body indefinitely. This is a very bad thing!
Thank you Ashley. And I do personally agree. I don’t use margarine. But the purpose of this recipe is to educate about what you can use to make vegan baking work, not about the health reasons behind what you should and shouldn’t use. It is baking after all! I don’t claim to be a health food blog. I will let everyone make that own decision for themselves.
Thanks for the recipe. We made these tonight and I strayed from the recipe by microwaving the Earth Balance for 20 seconds. I did this simply to make it easier to scoop out but it may have been a fatal mistake since the cookie dough came out totally liquidy and the cookies totally, utterly flat without holding together. I am surprised if microwaving the butter could make such a drastic difference but that is the only thing I did differently than your recipe. I might try to make a small batch again without microwaving the Earth Balance.
Hi Chris,
You do want the butter cold. The solid fat is pretty important for the creaming of the butter and sugar. So, I do think that made a difference. However, if it was totally liquidy you may need to add a bit more flour. Flour is temperamental and if you live somewhere humid or at a lower elevation then you may need to add more flour. Add what the recipe calls for and then add another TBSP or two of flour at the end if it seems too thin again.
Hi Bettie, thanks! We are in Florida, so sounds like we might need more flour 🙂 We’ll try that as well as keeping the butter cold.
Update from Florida: We tried them again, this time using cold butter, an additional 3 TBSP flour, and baking for 15 minutes. They came out great! Thanks again.
I encountered the exact same problem without microwaving the butter…
A few questions. You wrote in your ingredient list that you could use “nut butter” instead of vegan butter/margarine. Does this mean you want that you could use vegan almond butter, vegan cashew butter, vegan pb, etc.? Also, there’s “vegan sugar” on the list? Excuse my ignorance, but is white sugar not vegan? I have regular dark brown sugar. I’m on a corset-tight budget and need to know what will still be vegan, but won’t cost an-arm-and-a-leg. Thanks!
Hi Halley,
Yes, nut butter would refer to peanut butter, cashew butter, almond butter, etc… The cookies will have a different texture and will not spread on their own as much so you will probably need to press the mounds of down down a bit before baking if you do use nut butter. I say “vegan sugar” because many granulated sugars are cane sugar and are processed through charcoal that is made from animal bones. So the sugar does not in fact have any animal product in it, but it is the process in which it is refined that some vegans are concerned with. There is natural sugar or unbleached cane sugar that does not go through this process. The regular dark brown sugar you have is most likely made from bleached cane sugar.
Thanks, Bettie! Last question: What brands of vegan chocolate chips do you prefer for this recipe?
Good but needed vanilla- I forgot to add my flavoring as not in recipe
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Made these today. 1st batch were flat & crispy baked for 15 min. I would add vanilla next time for more flavor. 2nd batch I added peanut butter & they came out fluffy yet crispy -baked for 15 min. Yum!
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Love the simplicity of this recipe – it seems that the fewer ingredients, the less effort needs to go into making the recipe! Going to make a double batch of these cookies now 🙂
I hope it worked out well for you Kyra! There is definitely a place for simple recipes, especially if you are intimidated by baking or don’t do it often.
SO YOUR RECOMMENDING CRISCO BUTTER SHORTENING THAT HAS ALL THIS JUNK IN IT,A RE YOU KIDDDING ME!!!!
IT HAS TBHQ IN EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW AND OTHER HARMFULL ITEMS.
*Ingredients:
SOYBEAN OIL, FULLY HYDROGENATED PALM OIL, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED PALM AND SOYBEAN OILS, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, TBHQ AND CITRIC ACID (ANTIOXIDANTS), BETA CAROTENE (PRO VITAMIN A) ADDED FOR COLOR.
AND THEN YOUR ALSO RECOMMENDING THAT PEOPLE BUY SMART BALANCE BUTTER THAT DOESNT HAVE THE WORD “VEGAN ON IT”.
THERE’S NOOOOO FINE PRINT ON BUTTERS, IT SAYS VEGAN OR NOT!
YOU NEEEEEED TO DO ANOTHER VIDEO OR DO SOME RESEARCHHHHHHH
I never claim that this recipe is healthy, only that it does not contain animal products. It is meant to be a guideline for those who do not eat animal products or need a dairy free option possibly due to an allergy. I gave suggestions for various fat options that will work in place of traditional butter. Smart Balance “Light” is vegan. It doesn’t state that on the main part of the label but on the back in fine print. (At least that it the way it was labeled at the time I made this video over a year ago) Please feel free to use the fat that you feel comfortable using! My blog is all about teaching baking science and what will and won’t work in baking, hopefully making it feel simple and approachable. As always, the freedom is yours for what you do and don’t consume 🙂
Your ignorance and bad manners show. Finding fault and shouting in capital letters shows the kind of mean person you are.
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Can i substitute the vegan butter with the earth balance coconut spread?
Yes absolutely! You can use any solid vegan butter.
Would you replace the flax egg for the combo cornstarch/arrowroot powder+baking powder+water or just for the cornstarch/arrowroot? This would be my first vegan recipe and I want to get it right.
Hi Shareese! Yes! So if you use a flax egg you are using that in place of the combo of cornstarch+baking powder + water, which is what is acting like the “egg” in this recipe.
I just made these for my Stay Home Sick And Watch Hulu day, and they turned out fantastic. This is the vegan cookie recipe I’ve been looking for all this time! Instant favorite. Hooray!
Thank you! These are now my go to cookies. I love them so much, this is my 3d time making them since I discovered the recipe a month ago 🙂 I have a batch in the oven right now that I added candied ginger to along with the chocolate chips……….. can’t wait to eat one!!!
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I tried these and they were really yummy but looked nothing like that photo haha! They were much more solid and sugary looking so I’d use less sugar next time- maybe it’s because I used brown sugar. Great recipe though thanks for sharing 🙂
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These were major failures for me. I followed the recent exactly except used a flax egg. The cookies did not hold and and flattened out into one big bubble sheet. They were way too greasy however they were very delicious as cookie crumbs. I used earth balance as my butter.
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Well done…that was a great video! I’m going to make those cookies right now.
do we have to use cornstarch or a flax egg?
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I was so excited about this recipe and followed it perfectly but also got a very runny batter that spread out into one flat biscuit sheet when baked – still edible but very very sweet (and I have a sweet tooth!).
I think maybe next time more flour and less sugar?
Thank you anyway, I think it just needs tweaking here and there!
Ellie x
Oh, wow, so good! Made a few modifications to the recipe. I used half peanut butter and half vegan butter because I wanted a peanut butter, chocolate cookie. Added a large dollop of blackstrap molasses and couple dashes of cinnamon. Because the peanut butter has salt, I didn’t include the salt on top. Used organic coconut sugar, whole wheat pastry flour, and Enjoy Life chocolate chunks. The batter was so good, I almost didn’t want to cook them. My 3 kids LOVED them. I might make these for Christmas :-). Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you for the great tips on getting good results with vegan baking! I really appreciate the help. And the cookie dance was cute!
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Made these cookies and almost lost my mind. I only used 2/3c mini chocolate chips and I made the fake egg with 2tbsp water, 1tbsp water and 1tsp baking powder instead of the cornstarch and the two ingredients that follow in the recipe. Sooooo good!
Aren’t they the best?! So glad you love them too, Ny 🙂
Hey, I had a quick question, why is it that mine come out dry? Do I need to add more vegan butter to it? I use coconut oil
Hi Genesis! It is possible that you maybe added too much flour into your dough. Make sure you are lightly spooning it into your measuring cups and leveling it off without packing it down. Also make sure that you don’t mix too much, it can cause a dry and tough cookie. Once the flour is absorbed into the dough, stop mixing. And make sure you aren’t over baking them! I hope that helps!
Perfect recipe! So much healthier than shop bought goods. Love this!
Thank you, Kay! So glad you love it!
Made these in a flash! Wow so quick and delicious! Perfect chewy cookies that are still crisp on the outside. I used Vitalite as my Vegan margarine and it turned out perfect. Thanks for s great recipe 🙂
That’s so great to hear Emily! So glad you enjoyed them!
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Can I use coconut butter?
Hi Crystal, I have not personally tried it with this recipe but I think it should work out okay!
The first time I made them with a little coconut butter and mostly vegan butter and they turned out perfect! They spread well too, but I think I used too much coconut butter this time. They look like cookie biscuits. But, they still taste awesome. Next time I’ll stick to the recipe because it’s perfect! Super quick too.
I’m so glad you enjoy these cookies Crystal! That makes me really happy! <3
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Hi! Bettie I try your chocolate chip cookie recipe it’s the best ever and very simple to make without all the added ingredients. Thanks for sharing.
Tried this recipe with almond butter and the batter is so dry and crumbly. Used the egg substitute you noted and everything else was the same. How can I remedy that dryness? The batter is very tasty but wanted the cookie. LOL!
I’m so sorry it didn’t work out for you! I suspect maybe there was a little too much flour used. If you run into that issue again with this recipe I would add a drop or two of water until it comes together.