Made with simple gluten free ingredients and so easy to make, these Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies are the best you’ll ever taste! Crispy on the outside, light and chewy on the inside, and loaded with sweet chocolate chips in every bite, they turn out perfect every time.
The Best Ever Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Is there anything better than a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie? Especially when it’s paired with a cold glass of oat milk. Growing up, they were one of my favorite treats and honestly still are today. However, unfortunately, I can no longer tolerate the most common ingredients found in your standard chocolate chip cookies recipe. So, not willing to give up such a nostalgic dessert, I decided to create my own…using allergy friendly, gluten free ingredients, of course!
And you guys, this is the best gluten free vegan chocolate chip cookies recipe you’ll ever make! It’s a bold claim, but one bite, and I’m sure you’ll agree. Made with a crisp outer layer, a soft center, and rich dairy free chocolate they’re pure perfection in every bite. As if that’s not enough to have you drooling on your screen, these vegan chocolate chip cookies are also:
- Made with just 10 pantry staple ingredients.
- Made with real food and are rich in antioxidants and minerals.
- Paleo-friendly, vegan, and gluten free to suit a wide variety of dietary needs.
- Ready in just 15 minutes or less and make your house smell aaaamazing!
- Perfect for serving at holiday parties, bake sales, and giving away as gifts.
Key Ingredients
As mentioned, these vegan chocolate chip cookies come together with pantry staples you probably already have on hand. That means they’re easy and budget-friendly which is a huge win in our book!
- Oil – Melted refined coconut oil or refined avocado oil helps take the place of butter resulting in rich cookies that are full of healthy omega fats, too!
- Maple Syrup – A natural sweetener, maple syrup adds extra depth to the flavor as well as a boost of antioxidants. (Source)
- Fine Blanched Almond Flour – Used to replace standard flour, almond flour is a great gluten free alternative full of healthy fats, fiber, vitamin E, and magnesium. It also has a low glycemic index to help manage your blood sugar levels and lower your cholesterol. Pretty impressive for a cookie, right?!
- Tapioca Flour – Used in combination with the almond flour to act as a thickening agent helping to give the cookies shape and structure.
Foodie Swap: If needed, arrowroot starch can easily be substituted for tapioca flour.
- Fine Raw Sugar – If you prefer to keep this vegan cookies recipe lower in sugar, feel free to use a sugar substitute such as Swerve instead.
- Cinnamon – We like to add just a dash for a little extra warmth.
- Dairy Free Dark Chocolate Chips – You can’t have vegan chocolate chip cookies without chocolate chips! We prefer to use dark chocolate chips for a boost of antioxidants, but semi-sweet or even white chocolate would work, too.
- Cookie Baking Staples – You’ll also need just a few baking staples such as pure vanilla extract, baking soda, and kosher salt.
Optional Add-Ins
We love the simplicity of this recipe, but feel free to mix and match your favorite add-ins like:
- Chopped Nuts
- Dried Cranberries
- Coconut
- Instant Coffee
How to Make This Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Not only are these vegan chocolate chip cookies delicious, but they’re also incredibly easy to make!
- Prepare. To begin, preheat your oven, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat Baking Mat.
- Whisk the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk the oil, maple syrup, and vanilla until smooth.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a separate large bowl, combine the almond flour, tapioca flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon until well incorporated.
- Combine. Work in batches, gently add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredients, mixing until they are just combined. Then, fold in the chocolate chips.
- Chill. Place the batter in the fridge for at least 20 minutes.
- Form the cookies. Using a cookie scoop, portion the vegan chocolate chip cookie batter into 15-17 equal-sized balls, and place them on the baking sheet roughly 2 inches apart.
- Bake. Place the cookies in the oven, baking until the edges are golden brown.
Baking Tip: If you live at a higher altitude (above 3500’) your cookies may take longer to bake.
- Cool. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, let the cookies completely before removing them, and enjoy!
How to Store Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
The great thing about this vegan chocolate chip cookies recipe is that it can easily be prepped ahead of time for leftover cookies or easy to bake dough when you need cookies in a pinch!
Baked Cookies
Once baked and fully cooled, transfer your cookies to an airtight container, and keep them at room temperature for 3-4 days. Or, store them in the freezer for up to 6 months.
Unbaked Cookie Dough
If you want to make the dough in advance, follow the instructions as usual, stopping just before baking. Instead, transfer the cookie dough balls to the freezer until they are hard. Then, transfer them to a freezer-safe container and keep them stored for up to 6 months. When you’re ready to bake, you can do so from frozen. Just add a few minutes to the baking time!
Common Questions About This Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Yes, this prevents the dough from spreading too much as it bakes.
Cookies aren’t the most healthy food on the planet no matter how they are made. However, these vegan chocolate chip cookies may be considered healthier for some who cannot tolerate gluten or dairy.
Most chocolate chips contain dairy, meaning they are not vegan. However, you can easily find vegan varieties in the baking section of most local grocery stores.
More Gluten Free Vegan Cookie Recipes
Whether you’re preparing for a bake sale, hosting a holiday party, or just enjoy a sweet treat, we’ve got you covered with the best gluten free cookie recipes!
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Total Time: 35-37 minutes
- Yield: 15–17 cookies 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Made with simple gluten free ingredients and so easy to make, these Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies are the best you’ll ever taste!
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup melted refined coconut oil or refined avocado oil
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (175 grams) fine blanched almond flour
- ½ cup (60 grams) tapioca flour or arrowroot starch
- 2 Tablespoons sugar or sugar substitute
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- Pinch of cinnamon
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips
- Optional – chopped nuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a silicone baking mat.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together oil, maple syrup, and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together the almond flour, tapioca flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Gently add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Fold in dark chocolate chips and let the batter chill in the fridge for at least 20 minutes before baking.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop batter onto a prepared baking sheet placing dough 2 inches apart.
- Bake cookies for 10 -12 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let the cookies cool completely before removing them from the baking sheet. The bottoms will harden as they cool.
- Store cookies in an airtight container.
Notes
Storage Tips – Cookies may be frozen for up to 6 months.
Baking Tips – This is a standard vegan sugar cookie recipe that can be baked without chocolate chips. Try substituting other mix-ins for the chocolate chips such as nuts, dried cranberries, dried fruit, etc.
Baking Time – If you live at a higher altitude (above 3500’) your cookies may take longer to bake.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 10-12 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookies
- Calories: 161
- Sugar: 6.9 g
- Sodium: 64.2 mg
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 10.1 g
- Fiber: 0.9 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 0.3 mg
Keywords: vegan, gluten free, cookies, dairy free, dessert, chocolate chip cookies
Do you have questions, feedback, or tips about this recipe? Leave a comment below with any questions or feedback you’d like to share!
I dont have maple syrup or honey or any ‘wet’ sweetner. what could I substitute?
Hi Maureen! You could try making date paste (recipe on site) or maybe try it with very ripe mashed banana or puréed banana. Do you have that?
i love them. thanks 🙂
★★★★★
Yaayyy! You’re welcome!
Hi Lindsay,
Oh boy I made these cookies twice. First time with tapioca flour and 2nd time with coconut flour. They both tasted fabulous a couple of minutes after pulling them out from the oven! Lovely crispy outer layer, and slightly soft insides. Perfect cookie I’d say!
One strange thing though.. once cooled and stored in an airtight container, both batches lost their crispiness and became hard – it was a little hard to bite through ? any clue what I did wrong?
Oh that is strange. Did you store them in fridge or counter top? And what kind of coconut oil did you use? Refined or unrefined?
I’m determined to figure this out. Haha!
I stored them on the countertop, and used refined coconut oil.
I’ve just made another batch, cooling it on a rack instead of the pan (I’m usually lazy and just let it cool on the pan) + kept it in the airtight box once it cooled. I’m hoping it won’t get hard tomorrow! Will keep you updated ?
I’m definitely curious, keep me posted!
Hello Lindsay, update here! I haven’t solved the mystery of the hard cookies but thought I should keep you informed… I underbaked the cookies a little (they were just slightly browned) and cooled the cookies on a rack. These seemed to help a little – the cookies still turned hard overnight in an airtight container, but a little less hard than the previous times. I wonder if adding more tapioca flour would help?
Oh no!! Gah, I wonder why. They don’t do that when I cook them. Maybe because I’m at altitude? I would say use less tapioca flour. Or we could try arrowroot flour. So sorry.
Don’t worry about it Lindsay! I’ll use less tapioca flour (or arrowroot) and see how it goes! It could be that I measure the “cups” differently from you too! Maybe you pack the flour while I scoop it into the cups gently and scrape it off? So many factors involved I think! I’m just glad your troubleshooting alongside me ☺️
Look so delicious!!! I wish to eat all this at the first instant once I see them. Many thanks for sharing these food.
These ROCK! Thank you so much!
As a note: I didn’t have any coconut oil on hand so I used melted coconut butter.
I also didn’t have tapioca or coconut flour, so instead I used chickpea flour with the almond flour.
The cookies are quite soft and chewy, more on the cake side of cookies probably because of my flour substitution. absolutely DELICIOUS!
OH wonderful!! So glad the substitutions worked. I’ll have to try that next!
I will ALWAYS be a cookie dough lover. Cookies are absolutely incredible! These bad boys are no exception! 🙂
You really need to become a parent. You have Momma Bear just built right into your genes. Nurturing with a side of chocolate chip cookies.: yes please.
Great recipe! I made these today…they taste good, but are much flatter than yours. I made exactly as written, and did refrigerate them. I’m wondering if let them sit out too long after I scooped them onto the baking sheets?
Guess I’ll have to make them again to find out!
SO glad you liked it! Yes, chilling helps. I also didn’t flatten the cookies all the way and used a slipmat. I think that really helps. Extra crispy outside though, yes?
Hi…I made these again today (I bake at sea level) and didn’t flatten them at all & baked while dough was still pretty cold they came out much less flat! They don’t look like yours, but still delicious! I use coconut oil not ghee
This is a great recipe, thanks for sharing it 🙂
Oh Yes, it’s been hit or miss with the height. Sometimes it depends on the oven. I found butter makes them a tad more fluffy. But either way, they are still crispy! Glad you liked them. Thank you so much for sharing your results with me. It means a lot!
also, are you baking at altitude or sea level?
I adore how much you love your job and it totally shines all the time. I’m amazed at how you are just a go getter Lindsay; I’m not quite that way, but I think God has given me the gift of cheering on the people who are super go getters like you.
And the persistence that has to go into food blogging. I just can’t imagine it, but every time y’all tell us about how many times you test a recipe, my respect for the recipes I try and most of all the food bloggers that make these recipes, rises. Because you all are pretty talented and stubborn in a really good way.
Thank you friend. God sure did gift you with encouragement and i am thankful!!
Ooh, I want one now! Does the tapioca flour help bind?
Yes, and it definitely gives it a lighter texture. Which i love! Coconut flour works but it’s a bit more gritty and doesn’t hold shape as well. If that makes sense? I know you get this. LOL!
Craving cookies now!
You are so evil showing me these when I’m cookie-less!! They look really good 🙂
I can not wait to make these Lindsay! I know how hard it is to nail these kind of recipes and I am pumped to enjoy them!
COOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Those look amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I secretly made them for you!
These look so delicious!! Love that they are egg-free!!
I’ve never worked with tapioca flour, but with an endorsement like this for these cookies I think I’ll go buy some! They look amazing. I’ll totally take you up on the chocolate liqueur tip too! My best-ever cooke recipe is a chocolate chip bourbon cookie… so yeah… I’m a believer in boozy baking.
I bet your hair dresser loved the tip! I’ve brought baked goods to my hair dresser, my physical therapist, my acupuncturist, my landlord, the softball team… basically anyone who’ll eat ’em. #foodbloggerlife
I am all for cookies that can double as breakfast!
the best of both worlds!
I adore that you adore this job! And – I adore these cookies – reminds me of some vegan ones we had at a farmers market in NYC a couple of summers ago that I haven’t been able to recreate. One of my daughter’s friends is a vegan and just so happens that she is in the hospital with a horrific brain injury – after the second surgery we are praying hard for recovery – it’s a miracle she made it through that second surgery so when she makes it through am so making her a basket of these! <3
OH friend, I read that on your blog! Your daughter’s friend is in my prayers! Keep me posted. I’ll send cookies too!
Oh my goooooodness. These look amazing!
not gonna lie… it was hard to stop eating them. I had to freeze them to stop. LOL!
These look so delicious, Lindsay!!! I can’t believe they’re vegan AND paleo!
I can’t believe it myself! LOL!
Oh my word… I need these. Must get restock my almond flour ASAP!!!!! Your list of “10” is great 😀
yes! do it! I’d send you some now if i could. <3
Great. Starting my morning craving cookies again. Story of my life. But these are definitely worth it!
that’s a good life. 😉