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These easy Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies are probably some of the BEST cookies I’ve ever made. Chewy vegan cookies packed with dark chocolate chunks – without any eggs, dairy or gluten.
Imagine a batch of freshly baked, chocolate chip cookies which are chewy and delicious, but completely gluten free, dairy free and egg free.
And what’s more, you’d never know these easy vegan gluten free chocolate chip cookies are free from so many ingredients!
There are no quirky ingredients either – just basic storecupboard staples thrown together to make this quick and easy cookie dough.
They’re super easy to make, coeliac-friendly and delicious more-ish. But warning: once you start eating them you may not be able to stop!
Why make this recipe?
- Vegan Recipe I often get asked for an egg free cookie recipe and these cookies are completely vegan. But you’d never know!
- Super chewy: These are proper, bakery-style vegan gluten free cookies. A decent size cookie like you’d find in the bakery aisle.
- Packed with chocolate: I use chunks of vegan chocolate to make these extra chocolatey. No skimping in this recipe!
- No egg substitutes: You don’t need to buy anything special for this recipe to replace the egg. It doesn’t need it!
- Easy to make: This is perfect for beginner bakers. No complicated techniques or ingredients – just mix, shape and bake!
I’m trying to add a few more vegan recipes to my site, such as my vegan vanilla cupcakes, my classic tea loaf and my gluten free vegan millionaire’s shortbread.
A lot of people have multiple food intolerances so I want to make sure my recipes can be accessible to everyone and sometimes a straight ‘swap’ for vegan substitutes doesn’t work.
I’d rather give you a tried-and-tested vegan cookie recipe than try to guess at how an egg replacer would work if I haven’t tried it myself.
And if you’re not vegan, dairy free or egg free I urge you to try them anyway – or give my classic gluten free chocolate chip cookies recipe a go instead.
Ingredients and Substitutions
There’s a full printable recipe card down below, but here are some more details on the ingredients you’ll need for my gluten free vegan chocolate chip cookies recipe:
- Dairy Free Margarine – I used the Vitalife Dairy Free Spread in this cookie recipe but any dairy free spread, margarine or vegan butter should work. Of course, if you can have dairy you could use butter, but I found the margarine produced a really nice texture.
- Sugar – This recipe uses a combination of both caster sugar and light brown sugar. This gives it a lovely, syrupy taste and texture without being too overwhelmingly sweet or sickly.
- Plain Gluten Free Flour – I always use the FREEE Plain Gluten Free Flour in my bakes and it’s readily available in UK supermarkets. Any plain gluten free flour blend should work though, such as the Asda flour, Schär mix or Juvela mixes. US readers can use an All Purpose gluten free flour blend.
- Raising Agents – I use a combination of gluten free baking powder and bicarb as the raising agents in this gluten free vegan chocolate chip cookies recipe.
- Xanthan Gum – I always use xanthan gum in my gluten free baking as it helps to replicate some of the texture and stretchiness of the gluten. If you’d rather not add it that’s fine, but you may find the dough doesn’t handle as well or the cookies become slightly more crumbly. A little goes a long way – and if your gluten free flour blend already contains it, you can omit the extra in this recipe.
- Almond Milk – The almond milk in this recipe simply helps to bind the mixture, but any dairy free milk such as soy, coconut or gluten free oat milk should work as well.
- Vegan Chocolate – For these cookies I used the Dr Oetker Extra Dark Baking Chocolate which is gluten free and also vegan, and chopped it up into chunks. I love dark chocolate to balance the flavours but feel free to use vegan milk or white chocolate if you prefer. You can use vegan chocolate chips or chopped chocolate.
The full quantities for all the ingredients can be found in the printable recipe card below.
How to make vegan chocolate chip cookies
Making these gluten free vegan choc chip cookies honestly couldn’t be any easier.
First, melt the margarine/vegan spread in the microwave in 10-second bursts (be careful as it can burn quickly!).
Add the brown sugar, caster sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl. Pour in the melted margarine.
In a separate bowl add the gluten free flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and xanthan gum.
Stir well so it’s mixed together then add to the sugar/margarine in the mixing bowl.
Add the almond milk and beat with a wooden spoon until it forms a thick, slightly sticky dough.
Next add the chocolate chips/chunks and mix again until the chocolate is evenly distributed throughout the mix.
Line a baking tray with baking paper. Use an ice-cream scoop to scoop the cookie dough into small mounds on the tray, placed so they are not touching.
Pop the tray of cookie dough balls in the freezer for at least 30 minutes to chill – this is THE most important step!
Recipe Tip
Never skip the chilling stage of this recipe. For better results, make the cookie dough the night before and then chill overnight before baking. If you don’t chill the dough it will spread into one giant cookie in the oven!
Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 180C / Fan 160C / Gas Mark 4. Remove the cookie dough from the freezer and spread the balls out over several lined baking trays.
They are fine to freeze close together but for baking you need at least 2-3 inches between each cookie.
While they’re cold and more solid, you can use your hands to gently shape them into more ball shapes, but be careful not to handle them too much or you’ll need to chill them again.
Bake the cookies for 12 minutes until golden around the edges and then remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before moving from the tray.
Be careful as they will be very soft when they first come out of the oven but will firm up as they cool.
Variations
Love this recipe and want to try some other vegan cookie recipes? Here are some ways you can mix this recipe up:
- Add more chocolate: Try adding 1 tbsp cocoa powder to the cookie dough mixture to create a double chocolate chip cookie.
- Chopped nuts: Adding chopped peanuts, pecans or almonds to this recipe in place (or as well as) the chocolate chips is delicious.
- Dried fruit: Dried cherries or freeze-dried raspberries work really well in this recipe with the chocolate chips. You can also add raisins too.
- Add oats: For an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe, try adding a handful of gluten free oats to the cookie dough.
This is a really great recipe to make with kids too. Try putting out a selection of toppings, dividing up the cookie dough and letting them create their own.
More gluten free vegan recipes
If you make this recipe and love it, please do let me know by tagging me on my Instagram or using #theglutenfreeblogger. You can also share your creations in my Facebook group! And please do leave a 5* review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ to let others know you loved it too! It would mean the world to me and really helps support my website.
Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 125 g dairy free margarine or spread
- 75 g caster sugar
- 75 g light brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 200 g plain gluten free flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1-2 tbsp almond milk
- 150 g vegan dark chocolate chips, or chopped chocolate
Instructions
- Melt the margarine/vegan spread in the microwave in 10-second bursts (be careful as it can burn quickly!).
- Add the brown sugar, caster sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixing bowl. Pour in the melted margarine.
- In a separate bowl add the gluten free flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and xanthan gum. Stir well so it's mixed together then add to the sugar/margarine in the mixing bowl.
- Add the almond milk and beat with a wooden spoon until it forms a thick, slightly sticky dough. Add the chocolate chips/chunks and mix again until the chocolate is evenly distributed throughout the mix.
- Line a baking tray with baking paper. Use an ice-cream scoop to scoop the cookie dough into small mounds on the tray, placed so they are not touching. Pop the tray in the freezer for at least 30 minutes to chill – DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP!
- Once the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 180C / Fan 160C / Gas Mark 4. Remove the cookie dough from the freezer and spread the balls out over several lined baking trays – they are fine to freeze close together but for baking you need AT LEAST 2-3 inches between each cookie. While they're cold and more solid, you can use your hands to gently shape them into more ball shapes, but be careful not to handle them too much or you'll need to chill them again.
- Bake the cookies for 12 minutes until golden around the edges and then remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before moving from the tray – be careful as they will be very soft when they first come out of the oven but will firm up as they cool.
Notes
- Variations: Scroll up to the blog post above for lots of ideas for variations using this gluten free vegan cookie recipe.
- Making Ahead: You can easily make this cookie dough in advance up until step 5, and then keep the dough in the freezer, taking out to bake a cookie whenever you like! The dough will also keep in the fridge for up to 3 days before baking.
- Storing: Check out the Frequently Asked Questions below this recipe card for storage instructions and freezing these cookies.
- Like this Recipe? It would mean SO much to me if you could leave a 5* rating and tell all your gluten free friends about this Gluten Free Vegan Cookies!
Nutrition
Frequently Asked Questions
Before we get baking here are some commonly asked questions about this gluten free vegan cookie recipe.
Just because a recipe is vegan does not mean it is gluten free. These are two separate things.
Usually cookies are made with wheat flour and therefore not gluten free, even if they are vegan.
These vegan chocolate chip cookies are made using gluten free flour. This means they’re 100% gluten free and coeliac-safe.
These easy egg free cookies do not need an egg replacement – that’s what makes them so magical!
The sugar and dairy free milk in the recipe binds them, giving these eggless cookies an amazing chewy texture without any weird substitutions.
A lot of chocolate contains dairy so will not be vegan. Many chocolates also have ‘may contain’ warnings for wheat so are not suitable for people with coeliac disease. You will need to ensure you buy a specific vegan milk chocolate, or use a dark chocolate which is vegan and gluten free. You can chop up a bar of chocolate if it’s easier than finding chocolate chips.
YES! This is probably the single most important step in this recipe so do not skip it.
Chilling the vegan cookie dough in the freezer will help speed things along but you could always make the dough balls before and leave them in the fridge overnight. Either way, you want them to be nice and cold when they hit that oven so they don’t spread as much and create that lovely soft centre.
When the cookies do come out of the oven, try to resist the temptation to tuck in immediately! As well as the chocolate being molten hot, they’ll also be very soft, so you’ll need to let them cool on the tray for a bit until you can move them.
They do firm up as they cool so give them at least half an hour if you can bear it before trying to pick them up and eat them.
Once you’ve baked these cookies allow them to cool completely on a wire rack before transferring them to an airtight container. They’ll keep for up to a week.
If you don’t want to eat the whole batch of cookies straight away, firstly, congratulations on your willpower. Secondly, simply let them cool before freezing them between sheets of baking paper. Defrost at room temperature before enjoying a cookie on demand!
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This was a wonderful recipe and a complete success, thank you so much Sarah! They were devoured in minutes so I will have to make them again as I didn’t get the chance to try them 🙂
Yay! This makes me so happy to hear!
The taste and consistency was fantastic but the texture very grainy and bitty. It’s most likely the flour I used? It was BFREEE plain gluten free flour blend.
Can you recommend a different brand that I can get in the UK that will make these the right texture?