For those of you who know me, you know that I am not, nor have I ever been, a vegan. I’ve done keto, the Whole 30 (actually it was more like the Whole 11, but whatever), and I even tried a raw food diet once, but veganism never really seemed like a possibility for me. However, I support the heck out of folks who can willingly give up things like bacon and butter. In fact, the reason I even dabbled into vegan baking was because a few students in my entryway were vegan and whenever I baked, I had to give them a sad pack of Oreos. You can read about my thoughts on Oreos here. Finally, I got to the point where I couldn’t stand it anymore and I had to find something they could eat. Enter: the best vegan chocolate chip cookies ever!
You know how I said I never thought veganism could be a possibility for me? If there was some way I could eat these chocolate chip cookies for every meal, I think I’d give it a go. They’re THAT good. And y’all know how much I love chocolate chip cookies! These cookies are chewy and chock-full of chocolate chunks. Even my non-vegan students are fans.
Over the winter break, I made these for my family and they didn’t even last a day and I made TWO batches! Again, us Johnsons aren’t really known for our portion control. I made them specifically for my cousin, Kalonji, who’s been vegan for a few years now. He hasn’t had a chocolate chip cookie in years and I legitimately think he ate a dozen cookies in less than twelve hours. He was happy with the recipe, to say the least. I even made it onto his Instagram story! And you should totally follow me @thebakerandthebeast84!)
About The Recipe
The best thing about this recipe is that it seems kinda healthy. I mean there’s applesauce in this for goodness’ sakes! As for the other ingredients like coconut milk and coconut oil, if you’re not vegan, you might not have them laying around your pantry, but after you try this recipe, you’ll want to stock up. I recommend using the Enjoy Life brand chocolate chips and chocolate chunks. They’re free of allergens and they taste AMAZING! These cookies are super easy to make and I promise, you can’t have just one.
Another thing I like about this recipe is the addition of almond extract. I know. It’s not very intuitive, but I promise you you won’t be disappointed. That is, unless your allergic to nuts.
True story: I baked these cookies for a group of visiting students from Mississippi and I added almond extract as my “secret ingredient”. The students were scarfing them down and talking about how great they were and I was like, “Thanks so much! I added a new ingredient that kicked them up a notch!” Then, one of the students looked at me and asked what the ingredient was. I beamed as I told her about the almond extract and she proceeded to tell me that she was allergic to nuts. I almost broke down in tears! I am SO lucky she was only mildly allergic and that they liked me enough not to complain to my boss about me inadvertently trying to kill someone. I have never felt so bad in my LIFE!! A word to the wise, always inform people ahead of time if your “secret ingredient” is a common allergen. I’ve definitely learned my lesson.
Tips for Baking the BEST Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
I just wanted to clue you all in on a couple things to keep in mind when baking these cookies:
To Chill or Not to Chill: Sometimes you can plan your baking ahead of time and factor in time for chilling the dough. Other times, you’re a starved 27-year-old woman wondering why cookies can’t just appear in front of you at this very instant. If you fall into the latter category, I have good news for you. These cookies don’t really need to be chilled. Of course you can. Chilled cookie dough leads to thicker cookies and the dry ingredients have a chance to soak up the moisture from the wet ingredients. Cookies from chilled dough are great. HOWEVER, so is eating cookies approximately 20 minutes after you first decided you wanted them. I’ve made this recipe with and without chilling the dough and they’ve always been a hit.
To Cool or Not to Cool: Similarly, if you can’t resist the smell of freshly baked cookies, you can eat these straight from the oven. I mean I guess technically you can eat anything straight from the oven… However, I really do recommend letting them cool on a wire rack. they firm up nicely around the edges and they’re able to be handled much more easily, while keeping their gooey centers. You might be asking, “Alysha, we all know that you’re supposed to let cookies cool. I don’t think this is a tip. Why are you making me read this?” And to you, dear reader, I say, once you smell these cookies coming out of the oven, every fiber in your being is going to want to devour them hot. I beg you to wait. Your patience will be justly rewarded.
But I’ll let you be the judge. Let me know what you think in the comments. Especially to my vegan readers, have you missed chocolate chip cookies? How do these stack up to your not-so-vegan favorites?
Happy Baking!
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup Coconut Oil, solid
- 1¼ cup Brown sugar
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tsp Almond Extract
- ¼ cup Applesauce
- ¼ cup Coconut Milk
- 2¼ cup All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- ½ tsp Salt
- 1½ cup Chocolate Chips (I use a mix of the Enjoy Life brand semi-sweet chocolate chunks and mini chocolate chips)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside
- In a medium, bowl mix the coconut oil (make sure it's solid and not melted at all!), vanilla extract, almond extract, and brown sugar until combined.
- Add the coconut milk and applesauce and mix well
- In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until everything is combined
- Fold in 1½ cups of chocolate chips into the batter
- OPTIONAL: You can chill the dough for an hour (and up to 48 hours), but see my note above
- Using an ice cream scoop, scoop dough onto your prepared baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes, checking for doneness around 10 minutes
- Remove cookies from oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool for another 10 minutes
not a vegan but they were very tasty!
Thank you!! I’m glad you liked them 🙂 Also, you can certainly add walnuts to these cookies!