Chewy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Close up of a plate of vegan chocolate chip cookies on a blue striped tea towel with a glass a non-dairy milk on a marble countertop.

We have a list of classic recipes we want to veganize and post here on I Love Vegan. First up, chewy vegan chocolate chip cookies!

A plate of vegan chocolate chip cookies on a blue striped tea towel with a glass a non-dairy milk on a marble countertop.

We tested and tested these cookies until they were perfect. They’re crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and everything a chocolate chip cookie should be. I didn’t want these cookies to be good, considering they’re vegan. I wanted them to be awesome chocolate chip cookies. Period.

Prepared ingredients in bowls for making vegan chocolate chip cookies. Ingredients for making vegan chocolate chip cookies. Left to right: Vegan butter, dairy-free chocolate chips, flax "eggs" and vanilla, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt.

Ingredients for making vegan chocolate chip cookies. Left to right: Vegan butter (the image actually shows coconut oil, but you’ll want to use vegan butter), dairy-free chocolate chips, flax “eggs” + vanilla, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, and salt.

Vegan butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar.

We tried these many ways. I started out making them with coconut oil, but the resulting cookies weren’t perfect. They tasted pretty good but didn’t look like chocolate chip cookies. At least not appetizing ones. They also required a lot more time and effort to make. Eventually I admitted defeat and went with vegan butter instead. We used Earth Balance but other vegan butters like Melt will work too. Anything that’s really firm when refrigerated would be perfect. I’m not sure about vegan margarines like Becel Vegan.

Creamed granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegan butter in a stand mixer.

Creaming together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vegan butter until light and fluffy.

These chewy vegan chocolate chip cookies are great with a glass of non-dairy milk (Silk Vanilla Soymilk is my favourite) or a hot cup of tea or coffee. They’re great for lunches and after school snacks too! And don’t forget, since these vegan chocolate chip cookies don’t contain eggs, the cookie dough is fair play!

Adding the flax “eggs” to the creamed mixture of vegan butter and sugars.

I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer to make these cookies but you can use a hand mixer instead. I’m sure you can make them by hand, but it’s easier to cream the vegan butter and sugars together with a stand mixer.

The creamed mixture after beating in the flax “eggs”.

There’s some room for customization with these cookies. They’d be great with chopped pecans or walnuts added alongside the chocolate chips. Swap the chocolate chips for vegan candy-coated chocolate for vegan monster cookies.

Dry ingredients added to the wet ingredients in a stand mixer.

Adding the flour, baking soda, and salt to the wet ingredients.

Store these cookies in an airtight container and they’ll be soft and chewy after a day. These cookies are freezer-friendly.

Using a stand mixer to mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt into the wet ingredients.

Mixing the flour, baking soda, and salt into the wet ingredients.

Looking for more vegan cookie recipes? I Love Vegan readers love our Perfect Vegan Gingerbread Cookies, Vegan Molasses Cookies, and our Coconut Oil Sugar Cookies.

Dairy-free chocolate chips added to mixed cookie dough.

Adding the chocolate chips to the cookie dough.

Fully mixed vegan chocolate chip cookie dough in a large glass mixing bowl.

Mixed vegan chocolate chip cookie dough, ready to be dropped onto a baking sheet.

Recipe Notes:

Measuring the flour:

This recipe works best if you weigh out the flour using a kitchen scale. If you’re using measuring cups be sure to measure the flour accurately. I can’t stress this enough! Don’t scoop flour out of the bag/container using your measuring cup. This packs the flour down and you’ll end up using too much resulting in dry cookies. For best results when measuring the flour with cups, use a fork or whisk to fluff the flour before gently spooning it into your measuring cup. Here’s a helpful guide for measuring flour.

Vegan chocolate chip cookie dough portioned out on a baking sheet.

For large, uniform chocolate chip cookies:

I used a ¼ cup ice cream scoop, not completely full. I love using an ice cream or portion scoop for drop cookies. It’s easy and fast. This recipe reminded me that I need to buy a smaller portion scoop. ¼ cup scoops make for pretty big cookies!

Overhead view of freshly baked vegan chocolate chip cookies on a black wire cooling rack.

Freshly baked vegan chocolate chip cookies on a cooling rack.

For instagram-worthy chocolate chip cookies:

After dropping the cookie dough onto your baking sheet, add a few extra chocolate chips to the tops. If it doesn’t matter how your cookies look, you can skip this step. Your cookies will taste delicious, but most of the chocolate chips will be inside the cookies.

Freshly baked vegan chocolate chip cookies on a black wire cooling rack.

If you want to use coconut oil instead of vegan butter:

Please, I beg you, if you can, use vegan butter! I committed myself to making these with coconut oil for my first 3 or 4 recipe attempts. The dough is harder to work with and doesn’t taste as delicious. I prefer to use coconut oil in rolled cookies. (Check our our Coconut Oil Sugar Cookies or our Perfect Vegan Gingerbread Cookies.) If you must use coconut oil, increase the salt to ½ tsp (2.5ml). You may need to chill the cookie dough if it gets too warm during the mixing process (the dough will appear greasy.) Creaming together the fat and sugars will look much different. The mixture won’t get fluffy. Instead it will look greasy (appearing greasier as the coconut oil warms up.) The finished dough will be crumbly, not soft and fluffy like it will be with vegan butter. You’ll need to pack the dough to get it to stay together.

A plate of vegan chocolate chip cookies on a blue striped tea towel with a glass a non-dairy milk on a marble countertop.