An easy recipe for gluten free and vegan chocolate chip cookies. These are simple to make and delicious – your family will love them!
Some of my first gluten free baking experiences were, um, less than appetizing. I remember some brownies that would not cook in the middle, but were burnt on the edges, and some cakes with a sunken center, and some very bland and blah chocolate chip cookies. Can you relate?
It took awhile for me to get the hang of it. And while I was learning, it was kind of an ordeal, because I would spend time baking, and then if it didn’t turn out, it was a bummer. And a waste. But it was a learning experience, and how was I going to learn how to bake this way with out some experimentation?
I remember spotting these frozen gluten free chocolate chip cookies at the grocery store one day. I bought a box and took them home, and was so happy because they were just soooo good. And I could just bake one or two and they were delicious, and there wasn’t a big mess.
Ever since then, I have 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 without baking a few dozen of them is just so convenient.
After some thinking and baking, and tinkering and more baking, I’ve got a gluten free and vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe that freezes beautifully.
This recipe makes about 30 cookies. I baked half of them immediately, and froze the other half. To freeze, I simply dropped rounded tablespoons of the dough onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Then I popped the sheet in the freezer for a couple of hours until they were frozen, then put the frozen cookie balls into a freezer bag for storage. I waited about six weeks before baking these, and they baked up very nicely.
These gluten free and vegan chocolate chip cookies are:
- perfect for a bake sale or school party
- great for sharing with new neighbors
- nut free and allergy friendly
Easy Gluten Free and Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup vegan buttery spread
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons maple syrup
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 1/8 cups gluten free flour blend I've used Namaste, King Arthur, and Enjoy Life successfully
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups dairy free chocolate chips
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
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Cream the buttery spread and sugars in a large bowl. Add the applesauce, maple syrup, and vanilla extract and mix on medium speed until combined.
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Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until combined.
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Stir in chocolate chips.
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Drop rounded tablespoons of the dough on the cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. They will look a little bit underdone, but will cook a little bit more as they cool on the cookie sheet.
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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 for 11-13 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Different store bought gluten free flour blends could change the consistency of the batter. This should be thick like "normal" cookie dough. If for some reason you have a thin, cake-like batter, then add a little more gluten free flour blend until the dough is thicker.
If you love a spicier cookie, try these gluten free and vegan molasses cookies.
Kelly Roenicke
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Wow, these look amazing! Love the fact they’re GF as well as vegan!
Thank you so much, Jessica!
This is amazing Kelly! Can’t believe these are vegan and gluten free! I don’t know how you do it : )
Thanks, Natalie! Lots of trial and error! :)
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
Thanks, Cindy! Will do.
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
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!!!!
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!
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
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!
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??
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.