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Tender and chewy, slightly crispy on the edges, these vegan cookies are loaded with melty dark chocolate chips and are so addictive! With just one bowl and 9 ingredients, these are simply the best and easiest vegan chocolate chip cookies!

Hand taking a chocolate chip cookie out of a plate.

While I have many cookie recipes on the blog, I didn’t have any for classic, old-fashioned chocolate chip cookies. Not anymore!

⭐️ Why You Should Try It

  • Crispy on the edges, dense and chewy on the inside. Say goodbye to cakey cookies. These soft-baked cookies have the perfect texture!
  • Not overly sweet, yet insanely addicting. This recipe is slightly less sweet than your basic cookie recipe without sacrificing flavor. You won’t stop at one cookie, I promise.
  • Simple ingredients. This recipe requires only 9 ingredients you most probably already have on hand. Plus, it requires no applesauce, no flax egg, no nut butter, and no aquafaba!

🍫 Ingredient Notes

The dough can be prepared in just one bowl and uses ingredients that are super easy to find. If you are cooking or baking regularly, you most probably already have everything on hand. Here is what you will need to prepare these delicious eggless cookies:

  • All-purpose flour – To keep things simple, I went with regular all-purpose flour. If you want to make the cookies gluten-free, feel free to use your favorite 1:1 gluten-free flour blend.
  • Vegan butter – You can use store-bought vegan butter or homemade. Want to learn how to make vegan butter? Check out this Cultured Vegan Butter recipe!
  • Brown sugar – Brown sugar brings tenderness and chewiness to the cookies. You can use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar. The latter will give your cookies a richer caramel flavor and a darker color.
  • Granulated sugar – White sugar does what brown sugar doesn’t. It brings crispiness to the edges.
  • Vanilla extract – I highly recommend using a high-quality vanilla extract. It will make a huge difference!
  • Dark chocolate chips – Regular chocolate chips or mini chips, that’s your choice. Personally, I prefer the larger chocolate chips for more deliciousness. You can definitely use dark chocolate chunks if you prefer!
  • Baking soda and baking powder – To help the cookies rise a little bit. Baking soda also helps with caramelization, adding more flavor.
Ingredients like chocolate chips, flour, sugar, and butter.

🥣 How to Make It

1. Make the dough

  1. Cream the butter with the wet ingredients. Start by creaming the butter with brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, and water until fully combined.
  2. Add the dry ingredients. Next, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until it forms a soft dough.
  1. Add the chocolate chips. Stir in the dark chocolate chips until the chips are evenly distributed into the dough.
  2. Chill the dough. Once your cookie dough is ready, cover it with plastic wrap and let it chill for at least 4 hours (preferably overnight). This step will 1) Allow the dough to harden a little bit so cookies won’t spread too much during baking and 2) Allow the flavors to merge.

2. Bake

  1. Preheat the oven. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Scoop the dough. Next, use a cookie scoop (or a regular spoon) to scoop out about 2 tbsp-size balls of dough. Arrange the balls on the baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each.
  3. Bake. Transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake for 12-14 minutes.

Note: Do not overbake the cookies. You want the edges to be crisp, but the inside is still slightly underbaked. Depending on your oven, you might have to adjust the baking time, so keep an eye on the cookies after 10-11 minutes.

📔 Tips

  • Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature, especially the butter.
  • Do not substitute the brown sugar: if you replace the brown sugar with granulated white sugar, your cookies won’t have the same texture and won’t be as chewy.
  • Feel free to add a pinch of cinnamon to the dough for that bakery-style flavor!
  • To get perfectly round cookies: as soon as you remove the cookies from the oven, place a glass or a mug over a cookie and give it a spin by making a circular motion. This will help smooth the edges and give you perfectly round cookies!
  • Right out of the oven, gently press extra chocolate chips into the dough. Your cookies will look even more delicious.
  • Wait until the cookies have cooled down for at least 20 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack or plate.
  • Sprinkle with coarse sea salt for a balance of sweet and salty!

🥜 Variations

You don’t have to stick to just chocolate chips! Feel free to be creative and add, for example:

  • Nuts like pecans, peanuts, almonds, or macadamia.
  • Dried fruits like cranberries, raisins, or dried cherries.
  • Different chocolate chips. You can also swap the dark chocolate chips for vegan white chocolate chips!
  • Spices. When it comes to flavoring, you can add spices like ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg, or infuse the cookie dough with finely chopped orange or lime zest!
Close up of a chocolate chip cookie bite.

Isn’t that soft baked texture dreamy?

❄️ Storing and Freezing

  • To store: Cookies are best kept in an airtight container at room temperature. They will keep for up to 5 days. You can also keep the cookies in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. Chilled cookies will be a bit less tender but still delicious!
  • To freeze: Scoop out balls of raw cookie dough and place them on a plate or baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze for at least 4 hours before transferring to a freezer bag or box. You can later bake the frozen dough directly. No need to thaw it. Simply bake for an additional 3 to 5 minutes.

💬 FAQ

Are all dark chocolate chips vegan?

Unfortunately no, there are still many brands of dark chocolate chips that include milk powder in the ingredients, so make sure to check the packaging.

Chocolate chip cookies with sea salt on a plate.

I hope you are going to love these vegan chocolate chip cookies! They are super chewy, dense, crispy on the edges, and loaded with gooey dark chocolate chips!

⭐️ Did you like this recipe? Let us know in the comments below, and tag us on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!

Close up of dark chocolate chip cookies topped with sea salt.
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Perfect Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

5 from 2 votes
Author: Thomas Pagot
Tender and chewy, slightly crispy on the edges, these vegan cookies are loaded with melty dark chocolate chips and are so addicting! With just one bowl and 9 ingredients!
Prep Time : 10 minutes
Cook Time : 12 minutes
Resting Time : 4 hours
Total Time : 4 hours 22 minutes
Servings 12 cookies
Calories 163 kcal

Ingredients
 

  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 6 tbsp vegan butter softened
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 2/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions
 

  • In a mixing bowl, cream together the softened butter with the granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and water. You can use a spatula or a hand-held mixer for this step.
  • Once fully combined and creamy, add the flour, salt, baking soda, baking, and powder. Use a spatula to fold in the mixture until it forms a soft dough.
  • Add the dark chocolate chips and mix again until the chocolate chips are evenly distributed. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.
  • To bake: Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it sit on the counter for 10 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Scoop out 2 tablespoons-size balls using a cookie scoop or a measuring spoon. Arrange the balls of cookie dough on the prepared baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each (as the cookies will spread).
  • Bake for 12-14 minutes or until just golden brown on the edges. Remove from the oven and press a few extra chocolate chips on each cookie (for decoration). Note: cookies will look a bit puffy right out of the oven but will deflate a bit as they cool down.
  • Let the cookies cool for at least 20 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack or serving plate.
  • Cookies will keep for up to 5 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature.

Notes

  • Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature, especially the butter.
  • Do not substitute the brown sugar: if you replace the brown sugar with granulated white sugar, your cookies won’t have the same texture and won’t be as chewy.
  • Feel free to add a pinch of cinnamon to the dough for that bakery-style flavor!
  • To get perfectly round cookies: as soon as you remove the cookies from the oven, place a glass or a mug over a cookie and give it a spin by making a circular motion. This will help smooth the edges and give you perfectly round cookies!
  • Right out of the oven, gently press extra chocolate chips into the dough. Your cookies will look even more delicious.
  • Wait until the cookies have cooled down for at least 20 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack or plate.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 cookie | Calories: 163 kcal | Carbohydrates: 22.3 g | Protein: 1.7 g | Fat: 8.1 g | Saturated Fat: 5.1 g | Cholesterol: 15 mg | Sodium: 119 mg | Potassium: 29 mg | Fiber: 0.3 g | Sugar: 13.1 g | Calcium: 11 mg | Iron: 1 mg
Course : Cookies, Sweets
Cuisine : American
Did you make this recipe? Tag @fullofplants on Instagram and hashtag it #fullofplants
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About the Author

Thomas Pagot is the founder, photographer, and recipe developer behind Full of Plants. He created the blog in 2016 as a personal cookbook for vegan recipes. Through years of recipe development, Thomas has successfully grown Full of Plants into a trusted resource for plant-based recipes.

Learn more ➜

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5 stars
This is such a great, versatile recipe! I only had a handful of choc chips, so added nuts and raisins to make up the difference. I reduced the sugar a bit for the raisins, and the cookies came out great.

5 stars
Amazing recipe! I’ll try it. Thank you for sharing.

HI Thomas, I’m in the USA & have a question: I’m unable to have gluten or “regular” sugars, so I typically use Bob’s Red Mill brand of 1-to-1 gluten free baking flour, & as subsitutes for sugar, I use the Lakanto brand of monkfruit+erythritol in both the white granulated & brown sugar-style granulated options.
Will these substitutions work in this recipe?
Thanks very much!

Thank you, Thomas! I’ll try using the GF flour. As for the monkfruit & erythritol, they are not classified as “artificial” (as in “chemical”) sweeteners but as “sugar alternatives” – monkfruit is a plant in the gourd family & erythritol is a sugar alcohol, a carbohydrate fractionated from sugar. I would never dream of using artificial “chemical” sweeteners in anything I consume, much less in any of your wonderful recipes! But since you haven’t used them in your recipe formulations, I’ll experiment & see how they turn out. Thanks very much again for your response & for these great recipes!