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Make crowd-pleasing, melt-in-the-mouth, soft and slightly crumbly vegan chocolate chip cookies with just one bowl, 20 minutes, and 8 inexpensive pantry ingredients!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
In my house, you can NEVER go wrong with a batch of freshly baked vegan chocolate chip cookies. With variations like oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and even chocolate chip quinoa cookies or chickpea chocolate chip cookies, there’s no shortage of variations. This time, I’m sharing my go-to recipe for thick, soft vegan chocolate chip cookies. Think Chips Ahoy! without any eggs or dairy — no one will know they’re vegan.
Just like with brownies, my family has personal cookie texture preferences. I’ve already shared small, soft, chewy Keebler-style chocolate chip cookies and larger, thinner, dairy-free chocolate chip cookies. This recipe, though, is for those who prefer thick, soft, and crumbly vegan chocolate chip cookies – I’ve got you!
Looking for even more dairy-free choc chip goodness? Try cinnamon chocolate chip cookies or vegan peppermint chocolate chip cookies, or a large skillet chocolate chip cookie. I told you, I’m obsessed!
Ingredient Notes
Refer to the recipe card for the full list of ingredients, quantities, and substitutes.
Water: I use a small amount of water, but higher-fat dairy-free milk will add even more moisture/softness to these egg-free chocolate chip cookies.
Soft Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe Add-Ins
- Orange zest: Add a tablespoon for subtle, bright depth.
- Chopped nuts: Like walnuts, pecans, almonds, or pistachios – for crunch.
- Dried fruit: Like raisins, chopped dates, cranberries, apricots, etc., for sweet chew.
- Shredded coconut: Add a few tablespoons for texture.
- Flaky sea salt: Sprinkle over the top before baking.
How To Make Soft Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 375F/190C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Then, in a large bowl, use a hand-held mixer (or whisk) to mix the wet ingredients (vegan butter, oil, water/plant-milk, vanilla, and brown sugar).
Step 2: Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt) and combine into a dough, then carefully fold in the vegan chocolate chips.
For even softer cookies, cream the vegan butter and sugar until light and fluffy first.
Step 3: Use a small cookie scoop (tablespoon-sized or 1 ½ tbsp) to scoop the dough onto the baking sheet, lightly flattening them with the back of a spatula. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cookies are golden, with crispy edges. Finally, leave them to cool on a wire cooling rack, then enjoy!
FAQs
You can prepare this cookie dough up to 3 days in advance and keep it stored in the refrigerator (or rolled into balls and frozen for up to 3 months). Add an extra 1-3 minutes to the baking when baking from chilled/frozen.
Yes, just remove the baking soda and heat-treat the flour by spreading it across a tray and baking for 10 minutes at 300F/150C, stirring occasionally.
Once prepared, store the vegan edible cookie dough for up to 5 days in the refrigerator or 2 months in the freezer.
These are naturally soft and crumbly vegan chocolate chip cookies, but if they’re overly dry/crumbly, you may have used too much flour, over-mixed the dough, or over-baked them.
Pro Recipe Tips
- Measure the flour properly: Too much can lead to dense, dry, crumbly cookies. For the best results, fluff it in its bag, spoon it into the measuring cup, and level with a knife.
- Don’t over-mix the dough: If you overwork the gluten in the cookie dough, it can become dense and gummy. It also affects spread.
- For even softer cookies: Cream the vegan butter and sugar and optionally reduce the baking time by a minute or two.
Storage Instructions
Once baked and cooled, store the soft vegan chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.
You can also freeze leftover cookies by flash-freezing them (not touching) on a tray until solid, then storing them in a Ziplock/Stasher for up to 3 months.
Vegan Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
Video
Ingredients
- ½ cup of granulated sugar
- ¼ cup of brown sugar
- ½ cup of vegan butter
- ¼ cup of vegetable or canola oil
- ¼ cup of water
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- ½ teaspoon of salt
- 1 cup of vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, vegan butter, oil, water, and vanilla extract. We recommend mixing with a handheld electric mixer if you have one. If not, old-fashioned whisking will do the trick.
- Add flour, baking soda, and salt to the vegan butter mixture and thoroughly combine.
- Stir in chocolate chips, and pecans (if using).
- Scoop tablespoonfuls of the dough onto the prepared baking sheet and lightly flatten them out with a spatula.
- Bake for 10 minutes or until the cookies are golden and crispy around the edges. Allow to cool before eating.
Notes
- Measure the flour properly: Too much can lead to dense, dry, crumbly cookies. For the best results, fluff it in its bag, spoon it into the measuring cup, and level with a knife.
- Don’t over-mix the dough: If you overwork the gluten in the cookie dough, it can become dense and gummy. It also affects spread.
- For even softer cookies: Cream the vegan butter and sugar and optionally reduce the baking time by a minute or two.
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So soft and delicious!