The Best Easy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies: Crispy Edges, Chewy Centers, Pure Indulgence
Discover the ultimate vegan chocolate chip cookies – a delightful treat with perfectly crispy edges, a wonderfully chewy middle, and an abundance of rich chocolate chips. This incredibly easy-to-make recipe is destined to become your new go-to for plant-based baking!
There are some days when the to-do list seems endless, but your motivation is nowhere to be found. Last weekend was one of those days for me. Instead of tackling chores, I found myself in a state of delightful procrastination, unsure of what to do next. To shift my mood and find some joy, I turned to the kitchen – a place where creativity and comfort often merge. My mission: to perfect a batch of vegan chocolate chip cookies. What started as a simple desire to bake quickly evolved into a dedicated testing session, all aimed at creating the most satisfying egg-free and dairy-free chocolate chip cookie experience.
The result of that weekend experiment? These utterly perfect vegan chocolate chip cookies! They strike an ideal balance: golden, crisp edges giving way to a soft, gooey, and supremely chewy center, all generously studded with melty pockets of chocolate. What makes them even better is their incredible simplicity and speed. You’re truly no more than twenty minutes away from warm, freshly baked cookies that will tantalize your taste buds and brighten any day. Whether you’re a seasoned vegan baker or just starting your plant-based culinary journey, this recipe is designed for effortless success and maximum deliciousness.
Crafting the Perfect Vegan Cookie: Essential Ingredients and Substitutions
Achieving the ideal texture and flavor in vegan baking often comes down to understanding the role of each ingredient. For these chocolate chip cookies, I’ve carefully selected components that mimic the magic of traditional cookies while remaining entirely plant-based. The secret to their incredible depth of flavor lies in a generous use of mostly brown sugar, which contributes to that signature chewy texture and rich, caramel-like notes. Paired with a good quality vanilla bean paste (or a reliable vanilla extract if paste isn’t available), the foundational flavor profile is simply irresistible.
The Dairy-Free Butter Dilemma: Stick vs. Tub
One of the most crucial elements in this recipe, and indeed in most vegan baking, is the choice of dairy-free butter. This is where many home bakers might go wrong if not properly informed. For optimal results, you absolutely must use a **solid block vegan butter or margarine** rather than the spreadable kind that typically comes in a tub. Why is this so important? Spreadable vegan margarines often have a much higher water content, which can dramatically alter the consistency of your cookie dough, leading to cookies that spread too much, become overly thin, or fail to achieve that desired chewy-crispy balance. The solid block varieties are formulated to behave more like traditional dairy butter in baking, providing the necessary fat content and structure for perfect cookies.
In the UK, I highly recommend using Stork block or Naturli Vegan Block. These brands consistently deliver excellent results. While Vitalite also offers a solid block option, I haven’t personally tested it yet, but it’s worth exploring. For those baking in the US, Earth Balance buttery sticks are widely available and are generally considered the perfect equivalent for this type of recipe. Always check the packaging to ensure you’re getting the solid stick format.
The Egg Replacement Secret: Cornflour Power
Replacing eggs in baking can sometimes be a challenge, but for these cookies, a simple spoonful of cornflour (also known as cornstarch in North America) works wonders. This humble ingredient acts as a fantastic binder, helping to hold the cookies together and providing a slight chewiness. Coupled with just a little bit of non-dairy milk – I typically use soy milk for its neutral flavor and creamy texture, but almond or oat milk would also work – it adds the necessary moisture to the dough, ensuring the cookies don’t turn out dry or crumbly. This combination effectively replaces the binding and moistening properties of an egg, allowing the other ingredients to shine.
Chocolate Choices: Chips vs. Chunks
When it comes to the star of the show – the chocolate – you have options. While chocolate chips are perfectly fine and convenient, I personally prefer to use chopped dairy-free dark chocolate in my cookies. Chopping a good quality bar of chocolate allows for a more varied distribution of chocolate chunks and shards throughout the dough, creating those delightful pockets of melted chocolate that ooze with every bite. It also gives you more control over the size of the chocolate pieces. Whichever you choose, ensure it’s a high-quality vegan dark chocolate for the best flavor experience. Many dark chocolates are naturally dairy-free, but always double-check the ingredients list for milk solids or other animal-derived products.
Batch Size Flexibility: Bake for One or Many
This recipe is designed to yield a small batch of eight delicious cookies, which is often perfect for a cozy evening or a small gathering. However, life often calls for more cookies, and this recipe is incredibly adaptable! Because it doesn’t rely on eggs, which can sometimes complicate scaling, it’s remarkably easy to double the recipe to make a generous sixteen cookies without any fuss. Simply multiply all the ingredient quantities by two. On the other hand, if you’re baking for just yourself or a very small household and want a quick treat, you can even halve the recipe to make four perfect cookies. This flexibility makes it an ideal recipe for any occasion and any number of cravings.
Storage and Freezing: Enjoying Your Vegan Cookies Longer
These vegan chocolate chip cookies are undoubtedly at their peak when devoured warm, straight from the oven, with the chocolate still gooey and the aroma filling your kitchen. However, should you miraculously manage to resist eating them all in one sitting, they store exceptionally well, maintaining much of their deliciousness for a few days.
How Long Will They Keep?
Once completely cooled, store your freshly baked vegan chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. This will help them retain their delightful texture and flavor for up to three days. To revive that “fresh from the oven” experience, you can pop them into the microwave for 10-15 seconds, or warm them gently in a preheated oven (around 150°C/300°F) for a few minutes. This is particularly lovely when serving them with a scoop of vegan ice cream or a glass of plant-based milk.
Can They Be Frozen? Yes, Both Dough and Baked Cookies!
One of the fantastic advantages of this recipe is its freezer-friendliness, allowing you to have freshly baked cookies on demand whenever a craving strikes! You can freeze the unbaked cookie dough or the fully baked cookies.
Freezing Unbaked Cookie Dough:
Once you’ve prepared the dough and divided it into eight portions, roll each portion into a neat ball. Arrange these dough balls spaced apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place them in the freezer until solid (this usually takes about 1-2 hours). Once frozen solid, transfer the dough balls to a freezer-safe ziplock bag or airtight container. This prevents them from sticking together and makes it easy to grab just a few when you’re ready to bake. When you’re ready for fresh cookies, simply bake them straight from frozen, adding an extra minute or two to the baking time to ensure they cook through evenly. This method is perfect for impromptu cookie sessions!
Freezing Baked Cookies:
Allow the baked cookies to cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool, place them in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze until solid. Then, transfer them to a freezer-safe container or bag, separating layers with parchment paper to prevent sticking. They can be stored in the freezer for up to 2-3 months. To enjoy, simply thaw them at room temperature for an hour or two, or warm them in the oven for a few minutes until soft and warm.
Tips for Vegan Cookie Success
To ensure your vegan chocolate chip cookies turn out perfectly every time, keep these essential tips in mind:
- Precision is Key: For the most consistent and best results, I cannot stress enough the importance of using gram measurements with a digital kitchen scale, rather than cup conversions. Baking is a science, and cup measurements can vary wildly depending on how ingredients are packed, leading to inconsistent outcomes.
- Block Butter is Non-Negotiable: As mentioned, always use a solid block vegan butter or margarine, not the spreadable kind from a tub. The high water content in spreadable varieties can cause your cookies to spread too much and not achieve the desired texture.
- Salt for Flavor: If your chosen vegan butter is unsalted or lightly salted, consider adding a good pinch (about ¼ to ½ teaspoon) of fine sea salt to the dough. Salt helps balance the sweetness and enhances the overall flavor of the chocolate.
- Choose Your Baking Surface Wisely: Metal baking sheets are recommended over glass or ceramic. Metal heats up more quickly and evenly, contributing to the perfect spread and crisp edges of your cookies.
- Don’t Overbake: Vegan cookies, much like their traditional counterparts, will continue to firm up as they cool. They should appear pale golden around the edges and still look slightly soft in the center when you remove them from the oven. If they haven’t spread as much as you’d like, gently tap the hot baking sheet on the countertop a couple of times right after removing it from the oven – this often encourages them to flatten slightly.
Explore More Vegan Cookie Delights
If you’re a fan of these crispy-edged, chewy-centered vegan chocolate chip cookies, you’ll be thrilled to know there’s a whole world of plant-based cookie goodness to explore! For those who prefer a softer, more cakey cookie texture, I highly recommend giving my vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookies a try. They offer a delightful autumnal twist and a wonderfully tender crumb.
And for all the peanut butter enthusiasts out there, prepare to fall in love with my vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookies! They combine the rich, nutty flavor of peanut butter with decadent chocolate for an utterly addictive treat that’s impossible to resist.
If you tried this recipe and loved it, why not share your creation? Tag @domestic_gothess on Instagram and use the hashtag #domesticgothess to let me see your delicious bakes!
*All images and content on Domestic Gothess are copyright protected. If you wish to share this recipe, please do so using the provided share buttons or by linking directly to this page. Do not screenshot, copy, or post the recipe or content in full without explicit permission.*
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe:
Print
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 55 g (¼ cup) vegan butter/margarine (The solid block kind NOT spreadable – I use Stork block or Naturli Vegan Block) softened
- 75 g (⅓ cup + 1 rounded Tbsp) light brown soft sugar
- 30 g (2 rounded Tbsp) caster sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste/extract
- 1 Tbsp non-dairy milk
- 100 g (¾ cup + 1 Tbsp) plain (all-purpose) flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 5 g (½ Tbsp) cornflour (cornstarch)
- 80 g (3 oz) dairy free dark chocolate chopped (or use chocolate chips)
Instructions
-
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4 and line a couple of metal baking sheets with baking paper.
-
Place the vegan butter, brown sugar and caster sugar in a bowl and whisk with an electric mixer until fluffy. Whisk in the vanilla bean paste and milk.
-
Sift together the flour, baking powder and cornflour and add to the bowl. Mix in until well combined then add the chocolate and stir through. The dough should be fairly stiff.
-
Divide the dough into eight portions and roll each into a ball. Place them well spaced apart on the baking trays and flatten very slightly.
-
Bake for 10-15 minutes until pale golden, be careful not to overbake them, they will firm up as they cool. If they haven’t spread much during baking, give the tray a hard tap on the countertop.
-
Leave to cool on the tray for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Enjoy straight away or store in an airtight container once cool.
Notes
- For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly, HIGHLY recommend using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them.
- Please use a BLOCK butter/margarine, NOT the spreadable kind in a tub. It has too high a water content and therefore your cookies may not spread properly.
- If your butter is not very salted you can add a good pinch of salt to the dough.
- Use a metal baking sheet, not glass or ceramic.
How Long Will They Keep?
The cookies are incredible when eaten warm from the oven, but will also keep well for a couple of days in an airtight container (if you manage not to scoff them all straight away that is!).
Can They Be Frozen?
Yes, the unbaked cookies can be frozen. Once you have made the dough, divide it up and shape into balls. Place them spaced apart on a tray in the freezer then transfer to a ziplock bag once frozen. They can be baked straight from frozen but may need a minute or two longer in the oven.
