What are the best vegan chocolate chip cookies?

Chocolatey, decadent, chewy and salty-sweet.

These cookies are all of the things above. They are quite literally the best cookies I have ever tasted.

This cookie recipe comes from the Ovenly bakery. I have tested these cookies in our kitchen on repeat, so that I can share what I think is the best version of this recipe with you, along with all the tips and tricks to make them perfect.

To top it off, these cookies are also vegan. You would honestly never even guess. It makes me wonder why we ever need to add butter and eggs to our cookies again.

So tell yourself that by whipping up a tray of these instead of a dairy-full batch, you are basically helping save the planet. Its a tasty place to start!

A perfectly baked chocolate chip cookie on the table

Star ingredients

Sea salt – Salt brings out the flavour of dark chocolate beautifully. Salty sweet cookies are so moreish and stop the cookies from getting sickly sweet. Whilst there is a pinch of fine salt in the cookie dough, it’s important to use big sea salt flakes on top. Using bigger flakes makes an impact and adds some more texture to the cookie. I like to use the Maldon sea salt flakes; they’re affordable and they do the job perfectly.

Dark chocolate – I have used dark chocolate with a minimum of 70% cocoa solids in this recipe. If you are vegan or baking for people who are, be sure to check there is no dairy in your dark chocolate of choice.

Two types of sugar – This recipe calls for both both caster sugar and brown sugar. There is a reason for this! White sugar is lighter in density than brown, allowing the cookies to rise. Brown sugar is is more dense and therefore creates fewer air pockets, which lets the cookies retain moisture and gives them that chew.

A stack of baked vegan chocolate chip cookies

How to achieve the best vegan chocolate chip cookies

I like to use a small ice cream scoop for evenly sized round balls of dough, as these will then spread in the oven to form perfect spheres.

Place a chocolate chunk at the bottom of the ice cream scoop for delicious melted chocolate right at the top of the cookie.

Do not overmix the cookie dough! This is something that every single cookie recipe will tell you and its for good reason. Overmixing just causes the dough to become stiff and dry. Instead, when folding in the flour at the end of the recipe, fold it in gently until fully combined.

Definitely do refrigerate the cookie dough for 12 hours. This step is so important because it will help the cookies to retain their shape in the oven. You will notice that after you have refrigerated the mixture it will be less wet, and this is because the flour has had time to absorb the liquid. Refrigerating the cookies also help to enhance their flavour. I like to plan ahead and make the cookie dough the night before I want to bake them.

The dough is incredibly versatile, which means you can use this basic dough recipe and change up your ingredients as you please. This is exactly what I did to devise my vegan kitchen sink cookies.

A baked vegan chocolate chip cookie broken in two with melted chocolate in the middle

THE BEST VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Author: noasmodernkitchen
Total Time: 13 hours
Yield: 12 cookies 1x
Diet: Vegan

Print Recipe

Description

This cookie recipe comes from the Ovenly bakery, and they are all of the things; chocolatey, decadent, chewy and salty-sweet. These cookies will delight vegans and non-vegans alike!

Ingredients

Scale

125g plain flour, sieved
1/2 teaspoon baking powder, sieved
1/4 teaspoon fine salt
70g dark chocolate chunks (I use chocolate with a minimum of 70% cocoa solids. If you are vegan or baking for people who are, be sure to check there is no dairy in your chocolate of choice.)
50g caster sugar
55g light brown sugar
60ml sunflower oil or vegetable oil (or other mild tasting oil)
40ml water
A pinch of sea salt flakes

Instructions

Combine the flour, baking powder, fine salt and chocolate chunks in a small-medium sized bowl. Mix well.
In a separate larger bowl, whisk together the caster sugar, light brown sugar, oil and water, until any clumps of sugar are broken up and the mixture is smooth and glossy.
Add the dry flour mix to the wet sugar mixture, and fold everything together until everything is well combined. Be careful not to over mix at this stage.
Cover the bowl with cling film, and refrigerate for 12 – 24 hours. This step is so important in helping the cookies to retain their shape in the oven, and really enhancing the flavours of the cookies. Please don’t miss it out!
After refrigerating for the specified time, line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper and preheat the oven to 180c.
Use a small ice cream scoop to place small balls of dough onto the lined baking sheet. Leave two inches around each ball of dough because the cookies will spread. Sprinkle the dough balls with a few sea salt flakes for garnish and salty-sweet flavour.
Bake in the oven for 9 minutes, until the cookies are turning golden brown at the edges. It doesn’t matter if the cookies look a little under baked because they will continue to cook as they cool.
Let the cookies cool a little, and then transfer to a wire rack.
These cookies are best enjoyed warm out of the oven but they will keep well for up to 3 days in an airtight container.

Prep Time: 12.5 hours
Cook Time: 9 minutes