As I was perfecting the recipe for my single serving (vegan) chocolate chip cookie, I hit a point where I realized, “This is so good, it would be amazing if I could make a whole batch of cookies like this.” It was a bit of a lightbulb moment: now that I had successfully engineered a single serving cookie recipe, I now wanted to reverse-engineer that recipe and scale it UP to a full batch. Thanks to the simplicity of the original recipe, I figured it should be pretty easy to scale up and extremely easy to make, just like the single serving version. Stir together dry ingredients, stir together wet ingredients, combine them, scoop into cookies and bake. Easy-peasy. It would be the kind of recipe you can whip up on a weeknight because you feel like it, or last minute for a party, and bonus points because it’s VEGAN. Once I had this idea in my head I couldn’t let it go.
So I did some research and some math (I love this part), and I typed up a scaled version (roughly multiplied by 12). I gave it a shot and they turned out perfectly on the first try. (Shout-out to research and my math nerdiness.) I was sooooo excited. They even stay moist remarkably well, for like a solid 3 or 4 days. (My original non-vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe starts to go downhill after 48 hours.) I sent the recipe over to my resident vegan blogging BFF and recipe-tester, Abby from Heart of a Baker. She has since made them like five times because they’re so easy but also because her coworkers and non-vegan husband love them. (Thanks Abby!)
I had been getting a little worried that I’d become so used to my single serving cookie that even though I loved it, some people might find it odd, especially as a full-blown batch of cookies. So I was very encouraged by the reviews from Abby. My parents also loved them, and Robert got mad at me for making them, which translates to: he likes them too much to have around as a temptation. My coworkers even gobbled them up – one of them said to me after eating one, “Sara what WAS that; it was so good!” I especially enjoyed letting them eat the cookies before breaking the news that it was a vegan recipe. They were definitely not expecting that.
So that’s how I accidentally came up with my ultimate vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe. It’s surprisingly similar to my original “ultimate” cookie in texture and flavor, especially for a vegan cookie versus one with brown butter. They’re not exactly the same, of course, but they both have the crispier edges with a chewier interior that I love. These vegan ones are smaller and a little thinner, but they still have the toffee/caramel notes I go for thanks to coconut sugar, dark brown sugar, vanilla and olive oil. And it obviously has that salty-sweet factor going on since I top them with my flaky vanilla salt, just like my originals. I guess my initial chocolate chip cookie experiment really helped me to figure out what I want from a chocolate chip cookie. I know what I like!
If you’re vegan or non-vegan or maybe just avoiding dairy, I hope you give this (super easy) recipe a try. I love having it in my back pocket for last-minute cookie needs, or at least for when I need a bigger batch than the single serving option. (By the way, you should try that too if you haven’t already.) I also like to convince myself that the amount of olive oil in these cookies means they’re good for your cholesterol. I hope you love them as much as I do!
Illustration at top created with pencil and Photoshop.
Prints of my illustrations (plus other products with my work on them) are available in my Society6 shop.
- 2¼ cups (292g) all purpose flour
- ⅓ cup (35g) flaxseed meal
- 1 tsp coarse kosher salt
- 1½ tsp baking soda
- 1½ cups (267g) chocolate chips (make sure they're vegan if you're trying to be vegan)
- ¾ cup (140g) coconut sugar
- ¾ cup (153g) dark brown sugar
- ¾ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup water
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- flaky salt for topping (preferably vanilla flaky salt - see note)
- Heat your oven to 350°F. Prep one or two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, flaxseed meal, kosher salt and baking soda. Add the chocolate chips and toss to coat.
- In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the coconut sugar, dark brown sugar, olive oil, water and vanilla until it is emulsified. It will take a minute or two, but just be patient and then all of a sudden it will come together.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a spatula to combine until there are no more visible streaks of flour.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, place 12 scoops of dough onto your parchment lined baking sheet, 1-2 inches apart. Top each dough mound with a little sprinkle of flaky salt.
- Bake for about 10 minutes or until the edges are just starting to brown.
- Let them rest on the cookie sheet for three minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool.
- Repeat with the rest of the dough. Enjoy!
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You are a chocolate chip cookie queen gf! How many batches of dough do you have in your freezer? Haha But in all seriousness, I love this, and I’m excited to give it a try! (once I build up my vegan ingredient pantry) xo
haha! I’m actually still working my way through the bourbon chocolate chip cookie dough from my freezer. It’s almost gone, and then I’ll be in withdrawal. I do hope you try these – I think you’ll like them a lot. Thankfully the ingredients aren’t anything too crazy; I always have flaxseed meal on hand for my smoothies, and I like to keep coconut sugar in my pantry as well. Everything else is pretty standard. :-) xoxo
BEST COOKIES EVER. Seriously I brought these into work on Monday and they were gone by the end of the day. 10/10 would recommend all the time, everyday. xoxoxo
Hahahaha I’m so glad to hear it. Seriously, THANK YOU for all of your testing and baking! xoxo
OK, so you already know how much I looooove your single serving recipe for these guys…seriously heading into the kitchen tonight to make a whole batch! These are the best chocolate chip cookies!
Yay I’m so glad you love them! And now here’s the recipe for a whole batch so you don’t have to make a single one every night. ;-)
YUM! These cookies look amazing! I love your photos!
Thank you so much! :-*
These sounds so good! And I love the vanilla salt, so clever!
Thanks! The vanilla salt is my new favorite part of chocolate chip cookies. ;-)
I so love chocolate chip cookies! These look perfect!!
Yaasss chocolate chip cookies are the best! xoxo
I’ve made the single serving version and now I can’t wait to make a full batch! Satisfies all cravings for soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies.
Agreed – I’m so glad you like the single serving version!!! These are seriously fantastic for when you need a quick batch. ;-)
I was wondering if another type of oil could be used besides olive oil
Hi Layne – I personally like the olive oil for the subtle flavor it adds, but I’m sure another more neutral oil would work just as well. I would just stick to an oil that’s also liquid at room temp, like sunflower or grapeseed, as opposed to coconut oil. If you try something please let me know how it turns out!
If I don’t have coconut sugar, can I use the same measurement but use brown sugar instead? Will this affect the taste?
Also, would this recipe still work with gluten free 1:1 baking flour?
Thanks!
Hi! With subbing for coconut sugar, I would definitely use light or dark brown sugar as a replacement. The taste might be a little different, but it will give you a better result than swapping it with granulated white sugar. As for the gluten free question, I actually had a coworker try this recipe with a 1:1 flour and it didn’t turn out so well. Based on what he told me, his dough was much dryer, so I’m wondering if the GF flour he used was much more absorbent. I would suggest starting with less flour if you’re going GF (maybe try 1 3/4 – 2 cups instead of 2 1/4) to see how it turns out. You want the dough to hold together but still be shiny like my photos. (There’s one picture with the dough scoops on the parchment paper.) However, my coworker doesn’t bake often and I wouldn’t be surprised if he measured by volume and over-packed his flour. So if you go by my weight measurements, you might be in the clear. Please do keep me posted if you try it out!
Hi,
I just tried the single serving version of this recipe with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1to1 mix and they turned out really great. Like really, really great.
I myself have been trying to perfect my personal ccc and I believe you’ve done it for me. Was prepared to make notes and adjustments before I even tasted it and then I did, and then I didn’t have to.
Thank you!!!
Thanks Alli, that’s so great to hear! I’ve been wondering about a GF 1-1 swap, so thanks for testing that for me. ;-) So glad you liked it and I hope you get to enjoy it many more times! xoxo
Omg, a vegan chocolate chip cookie?! I already love it! I can’t wait to try it myself. Thanks!
Yay I hope you do love it!! :-*
Aaah you and your cookies always leave me starving and having serious cravings by the end of the post. Not mad about it at all. These look sooo amazing and I’m super into the simplicity of the ingredients list. Definitely testing them out asap! xx
Thanks Ruby! I agree – the simple ingredients of this one make it a major winner in my book. I hope you get a chance to try them out! xoxo
Hi Sara
Just found your blog today and so glad that I did. I already fell in love with these vegan cookies. They look delicious
The vanilla salt trick is so clever!! I’d definitely make an entire batch on the first go itself.
Love your blog
Thanks :D
Hi Corrie – I’m so glad you found my blog and are excited to try the cookies. I hope you enjoy them and thanks for the sweet comment! xoxo
Enjoyed these SO much. super simple and so dang good. my entire family loved them too. your pictures are amazing by the way!
Oh that’s great to hear – thank you so much!!! :-D
Hi! I cannot find flaxseed meal anywhere I live. Could I just skip it or add more flour? Any suggestions please??
Hi! If you’re not worried about keeping it vegan, you could add an egg or two. I have a vegan friend who subbed the flaxseed meal with ground chia seeds instead, and that worked well for her. Good luck! Please let me know how it works out.
Just came across your recipe and it looks amazing! I’m curious if I can sub the all purpose flour with coconut flour or almond flour. Thank you for sharing your Vegan Chocolate Chip cookie.
Hi Sofia! Coconut flour for sure would not work. (That flour acts way differently than other flours, especially in how it absorbs liquids.) Almond flour might give you some interesting results, although I wouldn’t really trust it without the aid of some GF 1-1 flour. Hopefully one day I’ll finalize a GF version of this cookie. Sorry I couldn’t give you a happier answer!
Thank you Sara! I’ll keep this in mind and I’m definitely happy with the answer. :)