These ultra-fudgy, super chewy, vegan chocolate cookies are made even better with melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chips in every bite. Made in under 30 minutes for a DELICIOUS vegan cookie. Beware, these cookies are highly addictive!
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Look at that tower of ultra-fudgy double chocolate vegan cookies! Does it make your mouth water?
I should tell you that these cookies became wildly popular at my house, competing with my Ginger Molasses Cookies and Vegan Oatmeal Cookies for the BEST COOKIE OF ALL TIME! Yes, that was said.
This recipe is inspired by a vegan cookie from one of my favorite restaurants. Sadly, the restaurant closed down last fall. As soon as I heard the news, I set to work recreating some of my favorite recipes from that place - starting with these Double Chocolate Cookies. I think you're going to love these ultra chewy, super fudgy vegan chocolate cookies. They are packed with melt-in-your-mouth chocolate in every bite for a cookie that is easy to fall in love with.
But beware, they are highly addictive!
Recommended Ingredients & Equipment
These vegan chocolate cookies are a mix of my Chocolate Crinkle Cookies and Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies. They have a similar texture to that of the chocolate chip cookie with a little of the crinkle's fudgy chewiness. Then packed with chocolate chips, there is a burst of chocolate in every bite.
Here is everything you need.
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Vegan Butter - Look for a high-quality non-hydrogenated vegan butter. I recommend either Earth Balance or Miyoko’s.
- Brown and White Sugar – Check out my guide to vegan sugars and healthy sugar alternatives.
- Vanilla Extract - Use pure vanilla extract for best flavor.
- Applesauce – The applesauce acts as the binder for these cookies. You can’t taste the applesauce but if you would prefer a different kind of egg replacer, check out my complete guide on replacing eggs to get a few more ideas.
- All-Purpose Flour – I have also made these cookies with 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour Baking Blend (<<affiliate link) with great success.
- Cocoa Powder
- Cornstarch
- Baking Soda
- Salt
- Chocolate Chips - Not all vegan chocolate chips are vegan. Make sure to check the ingredients. Enjoy Life (<<affiliate link) is my favorite brand of chocolate chips.
Recommended Equipment
For all my cookie recipes, I recommend a stand-up mixer. These make whipping, beating, and blending so much easier. However, they are pricy and if they are not in your budget, you can make cookies with by hand or with a handheld mixer.
In addition, you will need basic cooking equipment including a baking sheets, silicone baking mats, and a wire cooling rack. (<<affiliate links)
Check out the full list of my recommended kitchen tools and gadgets.
How to Make Vegan Chocolate Cookies
Step One – Mix Dry Ingredients
That’s the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Because these cookies are made without eggs, the cornstarch is the secret to keeping them puffy without spreading too much in the oven.
Step Two – Beat the Butter and Sugar
Whip the sugar and butter until they are light and fluffy. Next, add the applesauce and vanilla extract. The applesauce acts as the binder (egg replacer). You can’t taste the applesauce but if you would prefer a different kind of egg replacer, check out my complete guide on replacing eggs to get a few more ideas.
Once these are added, the dough will start to look curdled. Don’t worry about this. When the dry ingredients are added, the dough will sort itself out.
Add the dry ingredients until they are just combined. Be careful not to overmix or the dough will become gummy and dense. Throw in the chocolate chips at the very end and, once they are incorporated, remove the dough from the mixer.
Step Three - Scoop and Bake
I prefer using a small cookie scoop for this part. Cookie scoops allow all the cookies to be even with minimal mess. Scoop the cookies onto the tray, about a dozen per tray, and press down slightly before placing them in the oven.
Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes.
Pro Tip: Remove from the oven when the edges have just started to set and the centers are still slightly underdone. This is key for the chewiness of these vegan cookies.
Once they have cooled about 5 minutes on the baking sheet, they can be transferred to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Serving And Storing
Store Cookies: Once cookies are completely cool, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Raw dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.
Freeze Cookie Dough: If you only want to make only a few at a time, you can store the remaining dough in the freezer. To do this, roll all the dough into balls. Place them on a baking sheet in the freezer to freeze all the way through. Once frozen, transfer your cookie dough into a large ziplock bag and return to the freezer. You can store the cookies this way for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to bake, remove from freezer and bake!
Tips and Tricks
- The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- Do not overmix the dough. Overmixing encourages the gluten to develop making your cookies gummy and dense.
- After you add the applesauce and vanilla extract, your dough may start to look curdled. Fear not! This is normal. Once you add the dry ingredients, the dough will sort itself out again.
- Pull cookies out when they are slightly underdone. I found 10 minutes to be the perfect baking time. They will continue to harden as they cool, giving you a crispy outside with a deliciously fudgy and chewy center.
More Vegan Cookie Recipes
Chewy Vegan Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) vegan butter
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup apple sauce
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 (12 oz pkg) vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.
- In a stand-up mixer with the paddle attachment, beat vegan butter and sugars until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides as necessary. Add the apple sauce and vanilla extract and beat until combined. The dough may start to look a little curdled at this point; that's okay.
- Turn your mixer down to low and slowly add the flour/cocoa mixture to the butter and sugar until the dry ingredients are fully incorporated into the wet ingredients. Add the chocolate chips and mix until they are combined.
- Remove bowl from mixer and scoop cookies onto the prepared baking sheet. Each cook should be about 2 tablespoons in size. Press down slightly and bake cookies for about 10 minutes.
- When cookies are done, they should have a finished outer layer but the inside should still be slightly underdone. This is how we get our chewy texture. Remove the cookies from the oven. Tap on the counter to get the cookies to settle and then let cool on the cooking tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
- Once cookies are completely cool, store them in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Notes
- The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- Do not overmix the dough. Overmixing encourages the gluten to develop making your cookies gummy and dense.
- After you add the applesauce and vanilla extract, your dough may start to look curdled. Fear not! This is normal. Once you add the dry ingredients, the dough will sort itself out again.
- Pull cookies out when they are slightly underdone. I found 10 minutes to be the perfect baking time. They will continue to harden as they cool, giving you a crispy outside with a deliciously fudgy and chewy center.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the
Deb Z says
If I used flax eggs instead of applesauce, how many would I need?
Amanda says
Tried these tonight for the first time. They did come out a little thin. Yummy! But was hoping for a thicker cookie. Any thoughts on that?
Kathy says
This recipe is AMAZING. I tried it just now and they are so chewy and fudgy. I did decrease the butter down to 1 stick + 3 tbsp and did ¾ cup brown sugar + ¼ cup granulated sugar. I thought these changes still resulted in fabulous cookies that were still great texture-wise and in sweetness.
For appearances, I put a few chocolate chips on top of each ball of dough and pressing down with the palm of my hand before baking. It looks really nice to see some of the chips on top!
Cathy says
Just made them and they’ve come out great; crispy outside with nice chewy middle! I’m not vegan so used real butter and chocolate chips. My oven runs hot so 9 min was good!! Thank you !!
Emilie says
Delicious! Reduced the sugar by 1/8 cup and dissolved a pinch of instant coffee to the vanilla extract to add complexity.
CJ says
My family LOVED this recipe!! The cookies were crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. I subbed sea salt for iodized and baked for exactly 10 min. I think we ended up getting 27 cookies out of the mix instead of 36 but probably a good thing because they are dangerously tasty!!
Susan says
I both love and hate you for this recipe. Perfect mixture of soft and chewy and chocolatey! ?
Sarah says
I warned you that they were addictive 🙂
Klara says
So good!!! I added a bit less sugar because that's what I prefer and they were perfect! I used chocolate chunks, mini chocolate chips, and normal chocolate chips, so chocolatey... ? They are really good with coffee. My cookies were a bit smaller so I got more out of the recipe, but that just means more deliciousness! Will definitely be making again.
Carolyn says
I love your recipes!
I don't use processed oils. Is there any other sub for the butter? I would use applesauce but you already have it in the recipe.
Sarah Castillo says
Great texture and chocolate flavor.