The BEST vegan chocolate chip cookies recipe! These easy cookies are soft, chewy, and packed with chocolate chips. Everyone will love them!
Everyone who tries these vegan chocolate chip cookies loves them. It’s not hard to see why. They’re lightly crisp on the outside, soft and chewy in the middle, and packed with gooey chocolate chips. I think they’re the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve tasted, vegan or otherwise!
And these cookies aren’t just delicious—they’re also easy. You can whip them up with basic ingredients in less than 30 minutes (no chilling required!).
I’ve been making this vegan chocolate chip cookies recipe for years, and it’s still one of my favorite treats. I hope it becomes one of yours too!
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this vegan chocolate chip cookies recipe:
- All-purpose flour – Spoon and level it to avoid packing too much into your measuring cup.
- Baking powder and baking soda – They help the cookies puff up as they bake.
- Brown sugar – Light brown sugar and dark brown sugar both work well here.
- Coconut oil – Virgin coconut oil will give the cookies a light coconut flavor, whereas refined coconut oil will have a neutral taste. If you prefer not to use coconut oil, you can substitute melted vegan butter. Because vegan butter is generally salted, you should then reduce the salt in the recipe by half.
- Tahini – The secret ingredient in these vegan chocolate chip cookies! Similar to eggs (or flax eggs), it helps bind the cookie dough together. But as a bonus, it adds rich flavor too.
- Water – For moisture.
- Vanilla extract – For warm depth of flavor.
- Chocolate chips – I love dark chocolate chips here, but feel free to use semi-sweet if you prefer! And if you don’t have chocolate chips handy, a chopped chocolate bar or chocolate chunks will work instead. See my favorite brands of vegan chocolate below.
- And sea salt – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Where to Find Vegan Chocolate Chips
Heads up: not all chocolate chips are vegan. Check package labels when you shop to make sure you buy ones that are 100% dairy-free.
Thankfully, high-quality vegan chocolate chips are becoming more and more widely available. Enjoy Life Dark Chocolate Morsels are my favorites. You can find them online, at Whole Foods, and in many other major grocery stores.
Another great option is to use chopped vegan chocolate instead of vegan chocolate chips. Tony’s Chocolonely, Divine, and Endangered Species are just a few major brands that make excellent vegan chocolate bars.
How to Make Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Making this recipe is easy! Here’s what you need to do:
First, make the cookie dough. Whisk together the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet ingredients in another. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, and use a rubber spatula to mix until they’re just combined.
Then, fold in the chocolate chips!
Next, shape the cookies. Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop dough balls onto two parchment-lined baking sheets. Leave about 2 inches between cookies. They’ll spread a little as they bake!
Then, bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, in a 350°F oven for 12 to 14 minutes, or until they’re lightly brown around the edges.
Remove the cookies from the oven. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy!
- Tip:Â These cookies are extra-tasty dipped in a cold glass of oat milk or almond milk!
Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies Tips
- Smooth/runny tahini is key. This recipe works best with runny tahini that will easily mix with the other ingredients. Tahini brands vary widely in consistency, so look for one with a smooth, pourable texture. (I like Cedar’s, Trader Joe’s, and Seed+Mill.) If your tahini is too thick, add 2 to 3 additional tablespoons of water to get the dough to come together.
- Chill the dough if you need to. If your dough is too thin to scoop into balls, stick it in the fridge! Various factors can affect the dough’s consistency (the thickness of your tahini, the temperature of your kitchen, etc.), so don’t worry if the dough is too soft. Whenever this has happened to me, I’ve chilled the dough for just 20 minutes, and the cookies have turned out perfect every time.
- Let them cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet. These vegan chocolate chip cookies will be very delicate when you take them out of the oven. It’s tempting to reach for one right away, but if you let them rest for 10 minutes on the baking sheet, their texture will be better and their flavor will be richer. After 10 minutes, try one (or two), and transfer the rest to a cooling rack.
Storage
These vegan chocolate chip cookies keep well in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
They also freeze perfectly. Let frozen cookies thaw at room temperature for about an hour, or quickly defrost them in the microwave.
How to Freeze Cookie Dough
You can also freeze the raw cookie dough balls! Bake off a few at a time so that you can enjoy a freshly baked cookie whenever you’re craving one.
Here’s how to do it:
- Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Freeze the cookie dough on the baking sheet for 2 hours, or until firm.
- Transfer to an airtight container or bag and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Bake the frozen cookie dough balls according to the recipe. No need to thaw first!
More Vegan Cookie Recipes
If you love these vegan chocolate chip cookies, try one of these vegan cookie recipes next:
- Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies
- Almond Butter Cookies
- Vegan Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate No-Bake Cookies
- Or any of these 15 Vegan Cookie Recipes!
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup melted coconut oil
- â…“ cup tahini* (see note)
- 6 tablespoons water
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 heaping cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt until combined.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, coconut oil, tahini, water, and vanilla until smooth.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients and use a spatula to combine. Fold in the chocolate chips. Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the dough onto the baking sheets. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 12 to 14 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheet for at least 10 minutes.
Notes
Adapted from Weeknight Baking by Michelle Lopez
This recipe looks super nice. I am starting to take a closer look into vegan recipes as I currently found out that some of them are even better tasting than the non vegan one. I made some experiments with adding coconut fat instead of butter in my pastry and the result was awesome. I posted some recipes on my blog, so if you are interested you can take a look.
I looove these cookies! I’ve made them so many times and they are a big crowd pleaser! Is it possible to substitute the all purpose flour with almond flour for my gluten-free friends? and if so, do you know what the ratio would be?
I think it would be safe to use the same amount of almond flour, but you might need to add a binding agent. I would add more coconut oil if I were you. I hope this helps!
Hi Kesha, I’d choose a GF baking blend (like Bob’s or Pamela’s) over almond flour for this recipe. Regular flour and almond flour are so different that they’re rarely a 1:1 swap. If you have Love & Lemons Every Day there’s a chocolate chip cookie recipe that uses 100% almond flour and it’s delish. Hope that helps!
Excellent recipe, chewy and delicious, thank you!
Possible to sub coconut sugar for the brown sugar? If so, what’s your thoughts on the taste? Will the coconut flavor be really enhanced?
Hi AJ, I’m so glad you loved them. I think you could swap in coconut sugar. I don’t think it’ll taste very coconut-ty, the flavor should be similar.
Thank you. I tried with coconut sugar and sub’ed whole wheat pastry flour for the all purpose and was just as delicious.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
The look fabulous! Do you think I could add in some shredded coconut? Or would that mess with the texture and make them too dry?
I think it would taste good, but it might make these more crumbly. Let me know if you give it a go!
I tried it with the coconut and they were spectacular! I can’t comment on a change in texture since I hadn’t made them before, but I don’t think it affected it.
What is we don’t have tahini?
You can use natural almond butter (or cashew or peanut butter), just make sure it’s well-stirred and smooth.
These cookies are AMAZING! Seriously I can’t believe how tasty they are!
I used peanut butter instead of tahini and rapeseed oil instead of coconut oil and it worked so well. Thank you very much for this recipe, this will be my to go from now on.
Hi Klara, I’m so glad you loved them!
These are fantastic! Thank you very much for this wonderful, easy and vegan recipe! Made these and shared with multiple friends and will share this link with other friends!!
So good! I subbed vegan butter for the coconut oil and it was delicious!
Hi Renee, I’m so glad you loved them!
This recipe is fantastic! We’ve made them twice in the last two days. We used olive oil for the first batch and a plant based butter stick for the second and both times they were excellent. We like them on the softer side, so I only cooked them for 10 minutes, but they held their shape perfectly after the 10 minutes of cooling. As far as we’re concerned, they’re a perfect substitute for the Tollhouse recipe (our usual favorite). The uncooked batter is not the same, but once it’s cooked, it really is as good as or better. Thank you for sharing this recipe !! 🙂
Hi Jennifer, I’m so glad you’ve loved the cookies!
WOW! The best vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe I have had! Even the dough is tasty! Thank you!
These are delicious and we will most definitely be making them again! Learn from my mistake – I left my first baking sheet in the oven longer than the recommended 12-14 minutes expecting them to brown a bit more which left them somewhat dry. I followed the time directions for my second batch and they were perfection! First batch was still good, just not as good the second. Thanks for the delicious recipe!!
Hi! these cookies look amazing! do you have any recommendations for a replacement for chocolate chips? Thanks!
If you’re trying to avoid chocolate, any type of dried fruit would be delicious. If you just don’t have chocolate chips, you could chop up a dark chocolate bar. Hope that helps!
Thank you I am going to try it with a seed mix.
My husband just ate a half dozen as soon as they passed 10 minutes cooling lol so I think it’s safe to say these were a HIT!
These cookies are DELICIOUS and CHEWY!
I’ve never made cookies using tahini but I’m glad I did 🙂
I followed the recipe to a T except for 1 cheat — I used Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips
I would recommend this recipe to anyone, vegan or otherwise!
Can I use coconut sugar for the brown sugar?
I did and they came out great!
My son is allergic to sesame. Any sub for the tahini?
You could use almond butter – just make sure it’s pretty smooth.
Super and beautiful
These cookies are amazing!! My favorite vegan chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever made ?
Hi Amanda, I’m so glad you loved them!
Love these! They go quick – great to bring for beach trips and picnics- but wondering if I can make a huge batch and freeze?
I like freezing the baked goods and just defrosting the individual portions. Helps cut down on extra snacking. Can these be frozen ?
Hi Jane, I’m so glad you loved them… yep, they freeze really well!
Thanks for the great recipe. My family loved them. We also made several times your no-knead bread which turned out perfect.
I’m so glad you loved the cookies and the bread! Thanks for coming back to let me know 🙂
These look amazing! Any thoughts on subbing the coconut oil? We do use coconut oil, but due to the high saturated fat, we try not to use a ton of it (due to high cholesterol for someone in my family). Thanks!
I did half coconut and half olive oil and these. are. phenomenal. Hands down the best vegan cookie recipe I have found to date. Thank you!
I’m so glad you loved them!!
Hi Maggie, I’ve made these with olive oil – hope that helps!