Chewy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
These ultra chewy vegan chocolate chip cookies are one of my most popular recipes for a reason! They’re slightly underbaked in the center, browned to perfection and so easy to make. You’d never guess they were egg-free, dairy-free, and made with basic pantry staples.

Why You’ll Love These Cookies
- No chilling the dough. Nothing is worse than when a cookie recipe calls for chilling the dough for 30 minutes to 1 hour before baking. If you want quick, chewy cookies with no unnecessary steps, this recipe is for you!
- No egg replacer needed. If you grew up making regular chocolate chip cookies, the recipe likely contained eggs. Eggs are typically used in cookie dough to help keep the dough moist and add flavour. This vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe requires no vegan egg replacer at all. They’re very moist and delicious without one!
- Freezer friendly. If you love baking cookies, but only want 1 or 2 at a time, freeze this cookie dough before baking and bake just a few cookies at a time when a craving strikes! Full instructions for freezing down below.
Vegan margarine vs. vegan butter
I prefer to bake these vegan chocolate chip cookies with vegan margarine by the brand Becel. It’s a soft tub margarine and is lighter and fluffier than classic vegan buttery sticks. If you use vegan butter from brands like Earth Balance or softened coconut oil, I recommend adding 1-2 extra tablespoons of plant-based milk because these butters have less moisture than soft margarine.

The baking sheet you use will affect the bake time!
When testing this recipe, I baked this cookie recipe on several different baking sheets. If you are using a lighter coloured baking sheet like I did in my Youtube video, I’d recommend baking the cookies for 10-11 minutes. If you are baking your cookies on a dark metal baking sheet, bake them for closer to 9 minutes. Darker baking sheets absorb heat, meaning they brown the cookies faster. Lighter baking sheets reflect heat and take longer to heat up.






Cookies coming out more cakey than chewy?
If your cookies turned out more cakey in texture as opposed to soft and chewy, it is most like a result of too much flour in the batter. When measuring flour, it is important to avoid packing the flour into the measuring cup. Instead, it is best to spoon the flour in and scrape off any excess flour using the back of a knife.

Storing and Freezing Instructions
Store chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. You can also refrigerate the cookies if you prefer them more dense and chewy for up to 1 week.
How to freeze before baking – If you’d like to freeze this cookie dough, follow the recipe completely and scoop the dough balls onto a baking sheet as if you were going to bake them. Once all the cookie dough is formed into balls, place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze for 1-2 hours, or until the cookie dough balls are frozen solid. Transfer them into a freezer bag or container and freeze for up to 2 month. Then when ready to bake, bake for 1-2 minutes longer directly from frozen until baked to your desired crispiness!
How to freeze after baking – Follow the recipe as written, then allow the cookies to cool completely to room temperature on your cooling rack. Once cooled, transfer the cookies back to the baking sheet and stick the sheet in the freezer and freeze until solid. Then transfer the vegan chocolate chip cookies to a freezer bag or container. To thaw, allow the cookies to set at room temperature until softened again and enjoy!
If you want your chocolate chip cookies to look like they came straight out of a bakery first thing in the morning, add a slice of semi-sweet dark chocolate to the top before baking, and then sprinkle some flaky salt on top for serving!

More vegan cookies recipes to try
- Easy Vegan Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chewy Coconut Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Chocolate-Dipped Almond Butter Cookies
- Cinnamon White-Chocolate Butter Pecan Cookies
- Soft Batch Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: approx. 15 cookies
Description
Classic chocolate chip cookies made without the dairy butter, milk or eggs! Everyone loves these cookies and can never guess that they’re vegan!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegan margarine, softened vegan butter or solid coconut oil (SEE NOTE*)
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup non-dairy milk (like almond or soy)
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt (about 1/4 tsp)
- 1/3 to 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F for lighter golden, softer cookies with less crisp edges or 375F for crispier edges and deeper golden cookies. (SEE NOTE**)
- In a mixing bowl, cream together vegan margarine and brown sugar. Add almond milk and vanilla and stir to combine.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- Add dry mixture to wet in two parts, stirring to form a dough. Add chocolate chips and stir to combine.
- Use scoop 1-2 tbsp of dough and roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet. Bake 9-11 minutes or until golden. Let cool a few minutes before devouring!
Notes
* I use soft tub margarine for my cookies (Becel brand- the vegan one). If you are using vegan butter or coconut oil I suggest adding an extra tbsp or two of the plant-based milk because they will have less moisture than a soft tub margarine. I notice that my cookies always flatten out nicely, but some of you have had trouble with the cookies not spreading and I think it is just due to your fat having less moisture! I hope this helps. 🙂
** I started baking them at 375 F and this helps them get more golden brown and slightly crispy on the outside. Baking at 350 F results in chewier cookies that are lighter in colour and take a little longer to cook).

I’ve always just made the Betty Crocker vegan choc chip cookie recipe. But I thought I’d try this one as I was never completely happy with the Betty Crocker one and oh my gosh this is so much better. They were nice and chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside. They are perfect!
I don’t have any baking powder, is there a method of making these without? Thank you!
Hi! Do you think it can be done with maple syrup instead of sugar?
Thank you in advance!
Liv, what brand of vegan butter did you use? I would like to make this recipe this weekend but I can’t find vegan butter anywhere!
I have been making these for 6 months now and ally my friends and family love them. I prefer baking at 375 for 2 1/2 mins and then 350 for 7 mins and it leaves the perfect amount of crisp edges but soft middle. My meat loving boyfriend initially hated them, but time passed (I got the recipe right) & last night he asked me to make some! Thank you!! P.S I use the coconut oil & dark chocolate chips with almonds-so yum
Will it work if I use rice bran cooking oil and add extra tbsp of plant-based milk?
we did all of the right measurements and our dough is super runny… any suggestions??
add some more flour! 🙂
GIRL you are always my first search when I want to make cookies. These turned out so well! I made them gluten free by using 1/2 cup each of 3 different GF flours. They weren’t as puffy as yours look, and spread a bit thinner, but they came out sooo delicious and all my non-vegan and non-gluten free friends & family LOVE them so much that I am about to make my 3rd batch this week! Will post a photo soon to my page!
which flours did you use? 🙂
Oat flour, almond flour, and a GF blend (from the brand Cup4cup Wholesome Flour) which contains brown rice flour, white rice flour, ground flax seeds, and rice bran. I also made them again with a little less baking soda & slightly less almond milk and & they didn’t spread too thin.
These are amazing! This cookie dough base even without the vegan chocolate chips is perfect by itself or for any other add ins. I love your cookbook and love all the recipes!
Can I replace the brown sugar with coconut sugar?
Yes!
I just made this recipe and my cookies turned out perfect! They puffed up and came out nice and chewy. I went for the coconut oil option once I realized my butter shortage and added a little more almond milk, and they came out pretty coconutty, considering I also didn’t have vanilla extract lol- I DID WHAT I COULD, and they turned out beautiful. I’ll definitely be using this as a base for future cookie recipes, too. Thanks Liv!
The best vegan cookies i have ever tried.
Thank you liv for sharing this recipe with us.
My favourite chocolate chip cookie yet!
These are the best! I baked them at 375 for 5 min and then turned it down to 350 until they were done, bringing it back up to 375 the last 2 minutes. They were gone in a few hours. I ate 6…. Oops. Don’t bother trying to find another recipe though because these are totally a keeper!
Liv, I’ve made these 6 or 7 times over the past year and they always turn out so good! My coworkers always comment on how soft they stay and one of them even asked me for the recipe (and now she follows you as well!). I’m not vegan and sometimes I end up using regular margarine and milk for these cookies but they’re always delicious either way.
Does this recipe work as a double batch or do you need to alter the measurements? Cheers <3
nope you can double or triple no problem!
I made these last night and they were amazing!
I tried this recipe and two things bothered me at first: I find the brown sugar has a very strong taste and there was too much of it, I have sensitive teeth and somehow they hurt when I ate the cookies because of all the sugar. But I liked the texture and how simple the recipe is, so I tried again with regular cane sugar and I used only 1/2 cup of it, and then the cookies were perfect (for me). Since I’m a vegan, I never really had a go-to recipe for when I want to make chocolate chips cookies, and I’m really happy I found this one. I’m seeing a lot of cookies for me in the foreseeable future thanks to you ^^
Liv, these are excellent! I’ve been on a health craze for most of the year so these with all the basics were off limits but omg I’m so glad I finally got around to trying them! I first tried with coconut oil following your directions and notes exactly but they were a total flop. I tried agin with homemade vegan butter and these were perfect! Have you tried making your own vegan butter? It was surprisingly simple and I’m betting it’s cheaper than store-bought. Thanks for a great recipe!
I would love to know how you made your own butter!!
I’m not lying when I say I make these cookies every friday night after work… I’m ashamed of myself but also so proud that I officially know it off by heart. So yummy, so chewy and no one would think they were vegan!
Best cookies ever 😍 I made them for both vegetarian and omnivore friends and they all loved them!
So delicious! I used refined coconut oil instead of vegan butter. The refined version doesn’t give the cookies a coconut flavor.
Will make again!
The cookies turned out pretty great! I used Spectrum vegetable shortening instead of vegan butter/margarine and it worked well. My only issue was they were well done and slightly crispy on the outside but a little underdone in the middle. I think that’s because I made them closer to two tablespoons (I got twelve cookies and baked them for eleven minutes) instead of one tablespoon. I will definitely make these again, just a little smaller:)
These cookies are incredible! Definitely the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. I gave them to my dad who’s a picky eater and most of the time refuses to eat anything vegan, but he had no idea that these cookies were totally animal product free! This is my new go to chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Loos taste easy to make can I add chopped walnuts and chopped raisins ?
yes!
The. Best vegan cookies I’ve ever seen!
Could u use coconut oil instead of butter?
Hi liv these cookies are love…this is my second time baking these….gonna take for my preschool class….thanks for this awesome recipe
Can you please start linking where your cookware is from? I love these baking sheets and I’ve been trying to find your pans but I can’t. They’re so pretty and I’d love them for my kitchen. Thanks!
They’re all from Homesense so there isn’t a website to link to! They’re all different brands, some I don’t even know, since Homesense just gets them and then puts their own sticker on it. A lot of my cook ceramic frying pans are the brand Masterclass! The speckled baking sheet has no brand on it anywhere 🙁
I am obsessed ?
Are there any particular brands of baking sheets that you recommend?
I just use non-stick ones but no particular brands 🙂