This easy vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe creates soft, chewy and decadent cookies that taste like childhood memories. No one will know these are dairy-free cookies!
Chocolate chip cookies are perfect to make anytime you want a mouth-watering and irresistible treat; plus, they’ll make your house smell amazing!
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Ingredients for Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe is simple to make and uses basic ingredients that should be easy to find at any grocery store. To keep these cookies dairy free and vegan, you’ll need a few substitutes to classic cookie ingredients.
- Vegan margarine: For rich and delicious cookies, start this recipe by creaming sugars with margarine. I haven’t tested this recipe with vegan butter alternatives; since margarine and butter typically have different moisture contents, I’d stick to margarine if you can.
- Brown sugar and granulated sugar: Combining brown and white sugar makes for a moist cookie that’s perfectly sweet.
- Vanilla extract: This enhances the flavor of the cookie dough and the chocolate chips! I use 2 teaspoons which gives a strong vanilla flavor to the cookie dough. If you have a high-quality extract and/or don’t want such a strong vanilla flavor, use 1 teaspoon of vanilla (plus an extra 1 teaspoon of plant-based milk to make up for the liquid).
- Plant-based milk: For some added liquid, use plant-based milk. I use soy milk, but any plant-based milk should work.
- All-purpose flour: Use basic all-purpose flour to create soft and delicious cookies!
- Baking powder and soda: These ingredients help the cookies to stay fluffy while also spreading out slightly as they bake.
- Salt: Salt adds flavor to the cookie dough and can also be sprinkled on top of the cookies for a delicious salty-sweet treat.
- Vegan chocolate chips: Any vegan chocolate chips should work for this recipe. I use semi-sweet chocolate chips, but dark chocolate can work as well. Use what you like!
How to Make Dairy-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe uses a few simple steps to create the ultimate cookies! Just prepare a bowl with your wet ingredients, stir in dry ingredients, chill your dough, then bake and serve!
Step 1: Prepare Wet Ingredients
Start by creaming together vegan margarine with brown and granulated sugars. Using a hand-held beater, whip the margarine and sugar until it’s light in color and fluffy.
You’ll need to scrape down the edges of the bowl a few times while working.
Then add the plant-based milk and vanilla. Whip these ingredients into the margarine and sugar until evenly combined.
Step 2: Stir in Dry Ingredients
Next, add your dry ingredients to the mixing bowl. This includes flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Stir in the dry ingredients until your dough is well-combined (and there are no bits of dry flour).
Then fold in chocolate chips until they’re evenly distributed through the dough.
Step 3: Chill
Chill your cookie dough for 30 minutes to 1 hour. You can refrigerate the dough for up to 2 days, just make sure to cover it with plastic wrap (or a similar seal) to keep it from drying out.
Step 4: Form Cookies, Bake and Serve
When the cookie dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350 °F.
Prep a baking tray by covering it with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper for easy cleaning.
Scoop cookie dough balls that are 1 ½ - 2 tablespoons onto your baking tray.
Gently pat down each cookie to flatten it slightly. The cookies expand slightly while cooking but need to be flattened slightly.
It’s optional to top each cookie with a pinch of flaky salt before baking. This adds a delicious, irresistible salty-sweet flavor to the cookies that I love!
Bake the cookies for 11-14 minutes. They don’t brown on top much at all, but the bottom should be lightly golden brown when done.
The lower end of the cook time leaves a soft, chewy cookie. The higher end of the cook time gets the cookies a nice crisp edge while still being chewy inside, so make whatever you prefer!
Once out of the oven, let sit for 1-2 minutes before carefully transferring the cookies to a wire cooling rack.
Make sure the cookies cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Vegan Cookie Variations
Chocolate chip cookies are a classic for a reason – they’re amazingly delicious, nostalgic and perfect anytime you want a sweet treat.
However, there’s plenty of other delicious ways to spice up a chocolate chip cookie. You can literally add spices, like cinnamon, or change the recipe completely and use other add-ins besides chocolate chips.
Other flavored chips like white chocolate or peanut butter would be great, if you can find vegan options. Nuts and seeds are also tasty, especially when paired with dry fruit for a trail-mix-style cookie.
Chopped up chocolate bars (candy bars) are also a fun way to enhance your cookies.
For this recipe, up to 1 cup of mix-ins should work well.
I also have a recipe for vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, if you'd rather a softer cookie with the taste of peanuts in it!
How to Refrigerate and Freeze Cookies
Store your leftover cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days, or in the fridge for up to a week (maybe longer but I don’t think they’d last that long!).
You can also freeze cookies from this recipe in a freezer safe bag or container for up to 4 months. Then thaw frozen cookies on the counter as needed. They’re quick to thaw and it only takes a few minutes, but you could also use a microwave if you like.
If you make this recipe, please rate and comment below to help others benefit from your experience!
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Hand mixer
- Measuring cups
- Measuring spoons
Ingredients
- ½ cup vegan margarine (100 grams)
- ¾ cup brown sugar , packed (155 grams)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (55 grams)
- 3 tablespoons plant-based milk (45 milliliters)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (10 milliliters)*
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (230 grams)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips (190 grams)
For Topping (Optional)
- flaky salt
Instructions
Step 1: Prepare Wet Ingredients
- Add vegan margarine, brown sugar and granulated sugar to a large mixing bowl. Beat with a hand mixer until fluffy (scraping the edges of the bowl down a few times as you go).½ cup vegan margarine, ¾ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup granulated sugar
- Then, add the vanilla extract and plant-based milk. Whip the mixture again until smooth.3 tablespoons plant-based milk, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Step 2: Stir in Dry Ingredients
- Add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to the mixing bowl. Stir until combined, making sure all the flour is incorporated.1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt
- Fold in chocolate chips.1 cup vegan chocolate chips
Step 3: Chill
- Chill the dough for 30 minutes to 1 hour in your fridge. It’s best to cover the dough with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel.
Step 4: Form Cookies, Bake and Serve
- When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 °F.
- Prep a baking tray with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
- Scoop the cookie dough and form into balls that are about 1 ½ - 2 tablespoons in size. Flatten each cookie slightly on the baking tray - this is important or they won’t flatten out properly.
- Optional to top each cookie with a pinch of flaky salt.flaky salt
- Bake cookies on a center rack for 11-14 min (13 was perfect for me).
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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About Nicole Stevens
Nicole is a vegan Registered Dietitian (RD) and founder of Lettuce Veg Out.
She helps people thrive on a vegan diet with balanced recipes and easy-to-understand nutrition science.
Karen
Nicole,
Your Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe is outstanding. The ingredients are few, and the taste is delectable.
Nicole
So happy you enjoyed!