Everyone needs a foolproof recipe for amazing gluten free vegan chocolate chip cookies with the perfect flavor and texture. These are simple to make and delicious – your family will love them! Find out how to successfully make these treats with this easy recipe.
Classic chocolate chip cookies…is there a more delicious homemade dessert? Thankfully, it’s easy to make delicious gluten free vegan chocolate chip cookies. Even if you’re new to baking without dairy, eggs, or gluten, you can master these scrumptious cookies.
It takes awhile to get the hang of baking without the ingredients you’re used to. But as far as this recipe goes, these cookies are practically foolproof. I’ve made this recipe for years, and it’s very hard to mess it up.
I wanted to come up with a chocolate chip cookie recipe that was not only delicious, but would also freeze well. Because the ability to just pop a couple frozen cookies in the oven and satisfy that craving is so convenient.
After some thinking and baking, and tinkering and more baking, I came up with this cookie recipe that bakes and freezes beautifully.
These chocolate chip cookies are free of dairy, eggs, nuts, and gluten, and the texture is the perfect mixture of crispy and chewy. Everyone loves these – they’re just right for a bake sale or party.
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Ingredient Notes
- Gluten Free Flour Blend – Namaste Perfect Flour Blend works very well for gluten free cookies, and it’s widely available. You can find it online or at stores like Costco, Kroger, or health food stores.
- Vegan Buttery Spread – I use Earth Balance Soy Free Vegan Buttery Spread for baking cookies. You can use a different brand if that works for you. I don’t recommend using oil in this recipe. If you decide to try it, use about 25% less than the amount of butter, otherwise the cookies will be too oily. Read this article to find out more about using oil in baking.
- Mashed Banana – Mashed banana acts as an egg replacer in this recipe, binding the batter together. You could also use an equal amount of unsweetened applesauce.
- Sugars – Organic cane sugar and light brown sugar are used for the best flavor.
- Maple Syrup – Although it’s not a traditional chocolate chip cookie ingredient, maple syrup is added to add a richer flavor to these cookies.
- Dairy Free Chocolate Chips – Enjoy Life Foods and PASCHA Chocolate both make chocolate chips that are vegan and allergy friendly, and easily found in health food stores or online.
Substitutions
- You can use oat flour in this recipe, but the texture of these cookies will be more delicate. See my recipe for oat flour chocolate chip cookies.
- You can use banana or applesauce – either will work well as an egg replacer. A flax seed egg would also work well.
- You can use coconut sugar in place of the white sugar and brown sugar, but the color of the cookies will be darker, and the flavor will be slightly different.
- If you aren’t gluten free, you can use regular all purpose flour or whole wheat flour.
Step by Step Instructions
- Cream the vegan buttery spread and sugars. Add the mashed banana, maple syrup, and vanilla extract and mix together.
2. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed.
3. Stir in the dairy free chocolate chips.
4. Spoon the dough onto the cookie sheet, leaving an inch between cookies. You can freeze the cookies at this point, or go ahead and bake them. Be sure to line the cookie sheet with parchment paper – it makes gluten free baking so much easier.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet before moving them.
Tips for Success
- Line the cookie sheets with parchment paper so that the cookies don’t stick to the pan.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheets before moving.
- Gluten free flour blends can absorb moisture differently. This dough should look and feel like traditional cookie dough. If your dough is too wet or too dry, try adding a little more flour or liquid until the dough is the right consistency.
- These cookies are loaded with dairy free chocolate chips. Tip: Keep a few aside and press the into each cookie dough ball before baking so that there are lots of chips on top of each cookie.
Storage
Store these gluten free vegan chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container. You can add a piece of bread to help these cookies stay moist.
Freezing
Yes, you can freeze this dough!
This recipe makes about 30 cookies. If you’d like to freeze this dough, simply drop rounded tablespoons of the dough onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper.
Place the sheet in the freezer for a couple of hours until the dough is frozen, then put the frozen cookie dough balls into a freezer bag for storage. The cookie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months.
More Gluten Free Vegan Cookie Recipes
You can also take a look at this collection of gluten free vegan cookie recipes.
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Watch the video below to see how easy it is to make these!
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Recipe
Delectable Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup vegan buttery spread
- ¾ cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ Tablespoons maple syrup
- ¼ cup mashed banana or unsweetened applesauce
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ⅛ cups gluten free flour blend I've used Namaste, Living Now Foods, and Enjoy Life successfully
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 ½ cups dairy free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Cream the buttery spread and sugars in a large bowl. Add the mashed banana, maple syrup, and vanilla extract and mix on medium speed until combined.
- Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until combined.
- Stir in the dairy free chocolate chips.
- Drop rounded tablespoons of the dough on the cookie sheet, leaving about an inch between each cookie. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. They will look a little bit underdone, but will cook a little bit more as they cool on the cookie sheet.
- Repeat step 5 with remaining dough.
- If you are going to freeze the dough, just drop rounded tablespoons of dough on the cookie sheet and stick it in the freezer for a couple of hours. Once firm, put the dough balls in a freezer bag and store in the freezer until it's time to bake them. When you want to bake them, bake at 350 degrees for 11-13 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe originally published in March 2014. The photos and text have been updated.
GS
My husband said they were the best gluten-free, vegan cookies I have ever made. I used Bob’s Red Mill one-to-one flour, Earth Balance vegan/soy free spread, mashed bananas, and Enjoy Life chocolate chips. They turned out perfect. THANK YOU!
Kelly Roenicke
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing.
Jan Vernor-Howard
Hello Kelly!
You are right, these are foolproof and delicious! I appreciate all the time and energy you spend to make sure your recipes work!
Kelly Roenicke
So glad you enjoyed these! Thank you for letting me know!
Diane
My new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe! I didn’t tell my husband it was a new recipe and asked him if these tasted better or the same as usual and he said they were better. I agree!
Munira
Hi can i use pear sauce or mashed pears instead of apple/banana?
Kelly Roenicke
Yes, pear sauce should work fine!
Savannah
These are delicious! I actually only used 1/3 cup coconut oil and I still found them a tad oily. Overall though, they were amazing! Thank you!
Kelly Roenicke
If you want to substitute oil, next time try using 25% less than the amount of vegan buttery spread. That should fix it!
Wendi
Can you freeze these cookies after you have baked them? I need to make a lot of cookies in advance for a party.
Could I make large cookies with this recipe- like 3″ cookies? Any idea how much batter for that and how long to bake it?
Thanks for your help!
Anika
These are amazing! They don’t taste gluten free at all. I used Enjoy Life chocolate chunks and Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Flour. My non-gf, non-vegan family loved them as well!
Sue
Just made these chocolate chip cookies and I could just cry. I found out 3 months ago that after 66 years I am allergic to gluten, dairy, eggs, beef and pork. Needless to say, I am on a frustrating journey to find food I can eat safely. These chocolate chips cookies are the best cookie I have found to satisfy my sweet tooth. They taste just like the “normal” chocolate chip cookies I used to make. Thank you for such a delicious recipe. I am anxious to try more of your recipes!
Kelly Roenicke
Oh, I’m so happy that you enjoyed these! Thank you for letting me know! Your comment made my day! :)
Holly
Just made these cookies and they are amazing. Thank you! Now everyone in my family can enjoy! Great crunchy texture outside and soft inside.
Betty
Is there anything I can use instead of Baking Powder? Thanks in Advance!
Kelly Roenicke
Not that I know if, you need a leavening agent. Can you not have baking powder?
Nali
These worked out great! All I did differently was I used applesauce as an egg replacement, and coconut sugar. ❤️❤️
Beth E.
Just made these — they were perfect! Just what I was looking for!
Kelly Roenicke
I’m so glad you like these! Thanks for letting me know!
Darryl
I’m sorry this recipe gets all 5 Stars! I pressed the wrong button with three stars this is by far a 5-star recipe! I can’t begin to tell you how good it feels to serve something like this to friends and family knowing that it’s safe for everyone at the table.
Kelly Roenicke
Thank you!
Roger
Wonderful chocolate chip cookie recipe!
Katie
Delicious recipe!
Anna
So, I made this yesterday and I’m not sure what went “wrong”. They came out more like a soft and crumbly shortbread. Not the semi hard cookies as chocolate chip cookies normally are.
Once I added the baking power and baking soda I was wondering if they are supposed to rise and enough they did.
I used banana instead of applesauce, earth balance buttery spread, and for the flour I used Bob Red Mills GF all purpose flour.
I’ll try again with applesauce but I’m not believing the banana is the cause for the soft crumbly result.
Any ideas??? I know it might sound a silly question but is the baking power and soda really needed??
BTW, they tasted great anyway, my 3yo girl and my 17mo boy were crazy about and there’s only a few left today (and a lot of crumbles in the carpet
theprettybee
I’m sorry they were crumbly! I wonder if it is the difference in GF blends? I think I used Trader Joe’s flour when I made these last time. Yes, the baking soda and powder is necessary (at least for me), because otherwise they would be very flat. You could try it without, but I don’t know for sure what would happen. If your batter seems dry, maybe add a bit more applesauce (or banana), or even a little non dairy milk so that it seems moist enough. If the batter is to dry, that could result in crumbliness. Every GF blend is a little bit different. These were not a hard cookie…but mine were not crumbly when I made them. I hope that helps!
Anna
That’s what I’m thinking, that the “problem” here is the flour blend. The cookie dough was very nice and moist, not dry, not liquidy, looked perfect.
I’ll have to try again with another blend. Which one do you normally use, apart from Trader Joes??
MommyBaker
The applesauce is needed for the acid reaction with the baking soda. It will make all the difference!
Commonly with my own GF baked good, which I always use Bob’s in, I add some raw apple cider vinegar to insure the needed chemical reactions take place.
Genet Harris
Bob’s All Purpose flour contains mostly “bean” flour like garbanzo and fava. It’s very different than the rice based flours ! That is probably your problem !
Anna
Same question here, can I substitute the applesauce for mashed bananas??
Also, which gluten free blend do you use?? I have Bob red mills. Just wondering if any blend would possibly work well.
Thanks!!!!
Kelly
Bob’s Red Mill should work fine here! I think I used Trader Joe’s blend on this recipe, but I use Bob’s sometimes. I think the banana would be ok here, I personally like banana and chocolate together. Let me know if it works out!
vegetarianmamma
Simply yummy! Thanks for linking it up~ Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! :)
Can’t wait to see what you link up this week! The party link up is open!
Cindy
vegetarianmamma
Great recipe! I’d love to have you share it at the #glutenfreefridays link up (live now) I know my readers would enjoy your recipe! :) Hope to see you there! Cindy
Kelly
Thanks, Cindy! Will do.
Natalie @ Tastes Lovely
This is amazing Kelly! Can’t believe these are vegan and gluten free! I don’t know how you do it : )
Kelly
Thanks, Natalie! Lots of trial and error! :)
whatjessicabakednext
Wow, these look amazing! Love the fact they’re GF as well as vegan!
Kelly
Thank you so much, Jessica!