Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Would you like to know how to make the absolute best chocolate chip cookies? How to make cookies without butter so they are vegan? Well come along and let’s make these cookies! They are gooey and there is one secret ingredient that sent them to a completely different level.
There is never enough recipes for chocolate chip cookies in my opinion. (Yes, another one is coming soon, haha). What is better than to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch? Nothing is the answer. When I’m baking cookies, I like to dance around the kitchen in the anticipation of the great bake. Or maybe it is some kind of ritual that everyone should be doing for the best cookies? Just kidding obviously, but you can see how baking vegan cookies makes me happy. So let’s do them together!
When I was thinking what kind of ingredients go together with chocolate, I immediately thought of hazelnut. So why not to use hazelnut butter as a replacement for half of oil in these cookies? And you know what? It was a great idea! Hazelnut and chocolate complement each other well but it is not overwhelming in any way - just a a subtle taste of hazelnut.
What ingredients do you need?
All purpose flour - is my usual go to flour. I wouldn’t substitute all of it with a different kind of flour because every flour is a bit different. But if you fancy, use half all purpose, half whole wheat. If you need gluten free, just use gluten free flour.
Caster sugar - I usually use light brown caster sugar but you can use white too, there is not much difference in flavour.
Rapeseed oil - I like to use rapeseed oil because it is low in saturated fats and it contains omega 3. But you can use any type of vegetable oil.
Hazelnut butter - is the secret ingredient. It complements chocolate really well (I mean, is there a better combination? Yes, I am looking at you Nutella, haha). So I wouldn’t recommend to substitute it but I understand that hazelnut butter is something that everyone has at home - so you could use any kind of nut butter - I can imagine peanut butter being very nice, or almond. Or cashew!
Flax seeds - are here to substitute an egg. You need to use ground flax seeds - you can either buy already ground or you can ground it yourself (in a coffee grinder, pestle and mortar or some food processors).
Dark chocolate - up there on the photo are chocolate chips however I prefer to use cut up chocolate bar. The pieces can be bigger and the smaller bits gets everywhere which is nice in my opinion. (It also looks prettier in photos but that’s not exactly why most of us bakes cookies, right?)
How to make the best chocolate chip cookies from scratch?
Mix ground flax seeds with 6 tbsp of water.
Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda into a large bowl.
Add salt and combine well.
In another bowl mix sugar, oil, hazelnut butter, vanilla extract, coffee and flax seeds.
Mix all well.
Add dry ingredients into the wet ones.
Add chocolate and fold in dry ingredients and refrigerate for 60 mins.
Make 14 balls (each around 50g so they all are similar in size) and bake in preheated oven 190C/170C (fan) for 13-15mins.
My top tips on how to make the best vegan cookies
Is it okay that the cookie batter is quite loose?
Yes, it is, this batter is supposed to be quite runny. When you are making them, you might thing that they will spread too much, but they actually won’t. Good trick is to make rough balls, put them into the freezer for about 10 mins and then create better shaped balls. It is only for the shape though, as I said, they won’t spread that much even if not freezer.
Is it necessary to refrigerate the cookie dough?
Yes, it is so much better if you do. The ingredients will have more time to get to know each other therefore the outcome will be better. It is also easier to shape balls from refrigerated dough and cookies won’t spread as much in the oven. If you don’t have that much time (or if you are too eager to eat them, which is no surprise), shape balls from the dough straight after you mixed it all together. Place them on baking sheets and put into fridge (or even better - freezer) for about 10 mins - or as long as it take to preheat your oven.
Can chocolate chip cookie be frozen?
Cookie dough is great - you can make a big batch of it, bake half, freeze half and then bake cookies whenever you feel like it. So how to do it? Shape balls from the dough, place them apart on a baking sheet and place into the freezer for about 1 hour. Then move dough balls into an airtight bag and put it back into the freezer. It is always good idea to label it with date (you should use it within 3 months) and how to bake these cookies (temperature and time). Also, when you bake freeze cookie dough, you might need to bake it for 1 or 2 mins longer than stated. Just don’t freeze already baked cookies, they are better eaten straight away.
How to know when chocolate chip cookies are done?
Cookies (and basically anything you bake) continues to bake for a bit even after you took it from the oven. Bake cookies until they are golden brown, they’ll get darker when you take them out. Every oven is a bit different so check your cookies from time to time. When you take them out, they will be soft to touch but they will get harder, don’t worry.
How to store chocolate chip cookies?
Preferably in an airtight box and use within 4 days (which won’t be problem, trust me)
For more vegan cookies be sure to check out:
Vegan Oat and Chocolate Chip cookies
Chocolate Chip Cookies (with vegan butter)
If you make these chocolate chip cookies, and take photos of them, be sure to tag me on instagram - @bigbakesmanifesto and use hashtag #bigbakesmanifesto too. I’d love to see you making my recipe!
Makes 14 cookies
Ingredients
2 tbsp flax seeds (ground)
200 g all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
160 g golden caster sugar
100 ml oil (I used rapeseed but any mild flavour oil will do)
80 g hazelnut butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp coffee (or non-dairy milk)
70 g dark chocolate (I used 55%)
optional: sea salt flakes
Method
Mix flaxseeds with 6 tbsp of water and set aside to thicken for few minutes.
Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda into a large bowl, add salt and combine well.
In another bowl, mix sugar, oil, hazelnut butter, vanilla extract, coffee and flax seeds.
Fold in dry ingredients + chocolate and mix well.
Cover the bowl with a cling foil and refrigerate for about 60 mins.
Preheat the oven to 190C / 170C (fan) and line two baking sheets with paper.
Use an ice-cream scoop (or just a spoon) to create 12 balls (one should weight around 50g, that way you’ll get even 14) and place them apart on baking sheets. Give them some space because they will spread a bit.
Bake for 13-15 mins, immediately after taking out of the oven sprinkle with salt flakes, leave them to cool down a bit and then move to a cooling rack.