Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (applesauce)

Vegan chocolate chip cookies that taste like the best chocolate chip cookie, light and chewy made with 8 ingredients, with gooey chocolate chips in every bite thanks to applesauce instead of eggs. These cookies are a treat for everyone, whether vegan or not!

These are vegan chocolate chip cookies rival any classic chocolate chip cookie recipe in flavor and texture. The list of ingredients is short and simple, no eggs or oil, applesauce instead, and the recipe is quick - no long chilling and cookies in half an hour!

Plus I give you a troubleshooting trick that ensures your classic dairy free chocolate chip cookies turn out perfectly every time. If you like these, you'll likely enjoy my other easy cookie recipes especially my cinnamon chocolate chip cookies and chocolate sugar cookies.

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love These
• Ingredients
• Substitutions
• Steps to Make
• Troubleshooting Vegan Cookies
• Recipe Tips
• Serving Suggestions
• FAQS
• More Vegan Cookies
• 📖 Recipe

Why You'll Love These

Great for all diets. This chocolate chip cookies fit into any diet because they are egg free, dairy free, and can be gluten-free. Like my copycat Milano cookies, these vegan chocolate chip cookies are also nut free.

Fool-proof method. This plant-based chocolate chip cookie recipe is easy to replicate because even if your flour measurement is a bit off as I have troubleshooting tips that will help you get the recipe back on track, producing perfect cookies every time.

Crispy outside, chewy inside. These tasty vegan cookies have a crisp exterior and a soft, chewy interior that is hard to resist. The applesauce in the recipe helps keep the cookies moist and tender.

Ingredients

Flour. Use an all-purpose flour or 1 to 1 baking gluten free flour if you need to avoid gluten.

Sugars. You'll need a brown and a white sugar. I used light brown sugar and organic cane sugar which tastes better than ordinary cane sugar. Other vegan desserts that taste delicious with organic cane sugar include my vegan vanilla cake, and my healthy chocolate cake.

Butter. Use a vegan butter from a stick and softened. If you only have access to butter in a tub, add 1 tablespoon of flour because the butter from the tub has added moisture. Make sure the butter is at room temperature.

Apple sauce. Use apple sauce to replace the egg found in a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe. It adds moisture and structure along with the leaveners.

Chocolate chips. I used dairy free chocolate chips such as Enjoy life brand. Or you can use my homemade chocolate chips recipe,or chop up a chocolate bar. A mix of chips and chunks ensure a lot of melted chocolate pockets.

Substitutions

There are several ingredient substitutions you can use in this vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe, depending on your dietary needs and preferences. Here are some options:

Flour: You can use gluten free flour instead of all-purpose flour to make these gluten free vegan cookies. You can try my oat flour chocolate chip cookie recipe if you want to try oat flour.

Vegan butter: Theoretically, you can substitute the vegan butter with coconut oil or vegetable shortening or try my recipes that use those ingredients instead, such as these cinnamon chocolate chip cookies which use coconut oil, and these healthy chocolate chip cookies which use a healthier shortening and oat flour.

Sugar: For the light brown sugar, you can substitute coconut sugar, and for the white sugar, you can substitute organic cane sugar. I haven't tried sugar substitutes.

Applesauce: If you don't have applesauce, you can substitute it with pumpkin puree, or dairy-free yogurt, or even almond milk although you might have to then increase the flour by a tablespoon or two to achieve the correct texture.

Steps to Make

Below find general steps and step-by-step pictures of the process of how to make vegan chocolate chip cookies. Find detailed instructions and measurements are in the recipe at the bottom of the post.

Step 1: Combine the butter and sugars, stirring or mixing about 2 minutes to full dissolve the sugar. (Image 1)

Step 2: Then stir in the applesauce and vanilla for about 1 minute. (Image 2)

Step 3: Sift the dry ingredients on top of the wet ingredient mixture. Be sure to measure the flour exactly - I used the spoon and level method. If you don't want to sift, simple stir the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, and then dump that on top of the wet ingredient mixture. (Image 3)

Step 4: Mix the batter well either with a spoon, or with a hand mixer or a stand mixer. Don't over mix, especially using all-purpose flour, or you'll create a rubbery batter. Fold in the chocolate chips or chunks (or both) with a spatula. (Image 4)

Step 5: Chill the batter for at least 20 minutes to increase flavor and decrease spreading.  Then scoop using a 1 tablespoon size small scoop and space the dough balls 2 inches apart. This will make 24 small cookies. (Image 5)

Step 6: Bake 350 F for 10 minutes. Do not over-bake these cookies! They might not look done when you pull them out of the oven. Look for golden brown edges, and centers that look just dry, and beginning to show slight cracks. Cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely. (Image 6)

Troubleshooting Vegan Cookies

1. Check your cookie dough after you've chilled it. Does it look like the picture below? After 20 minutes of chilling, the cookie dough should be soft, slightly sticky, and easy to scoop. Flour brands or measurements or humidity can create differences.  If your vegan cookie dough does not have the same texture as mine, here's your chance to correct it for perfect cookies.

2.If the dough is too wet and doesn't hold a scoop ball form, then add more flour in single tablespoon increments, not going over ¼ cup, and mixing well between each addition with spoon so you don't break up the chips.

3.If your dough is dry and crumbly, you can add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, not exceeding 3 tablespoons, mix well until you reach the texture you want.

Recipe Tips

Here are some recipe tips to ensure that your vegan chocolate chip cookies turn out perfectly:

Soften the butter. Make sure the vegan butter is softened to room temperature. This will help it cream more easily with the sugar and create a light, fluffy texture. You can microwave it for 10 seconds to help it along, but letting it sit out for 2 hours is more advisable.

Measure the flour accurately. Make sure to measure the flour accurately by carefully loosening the flour in its bag with a fork, then spooning the flour into a measuring cup and leveling it off with a knife. Too much flour can make the cookies dry and crumbly. You can also use a scale if you are accustomed to that method.

Pack the brown sugar. The ½ cup of brown sugar should be packed when measuring it. To pack the brown sugar, use a spoon to scoop the sugar into the measuring cup, then press it down firmly with the back of the spoon or your fingers until it's tightly packed. 

Chill the dough. Chilling the dough for at least 20 minutes before baking will help prevent the cookies from spreading too much in the oven and will give them a better texture.

Serving Suggestions

These vegan chocolate chip cookies are delicious on their own with a glass of milk or paired with another dessert, but there are plenty of other ways you can enjoy them. Here are a few ideas:

Sandwich them with ice cream: Make ice cream sandwiches by placing a scoop of your favorite vegan ice cream between two cookies.

Crumble them on top of yogurt: Crumble the cookies and use them as a topping for your favorite vegan yogurt or oatmeal.

Gift them: Package the cookies in a cute gift box or tin and give them as a gift to a friend or family member.

FAQS

More Vegan Cookies

If you tried these vegan chocolate chip cookies or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!

📖 Recipe