Looking for a recipe for the best vegan chocolate chip cookies that are healthy too? Look no further. This recipe uses arrowroot and oat flours as well as coconut sugar for more fiber and less sugar. So we get digestible cookies without sacrificing flavor.
The smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies wafting throughout the house is like nothing else. They’re a family favorite in my household. And while I used to enjoy those classic Toll House cookies, these days it just feels better to go for a healthier option. That’s why I created this recipe for gluten-free, vegan chocolate chip cookies. It features wholesome ingredients for a sweet treat with a healthy spin.
When Were Chocolate Chip Cookies Invented?
Chocolate chip cookies reportedly became popular in the 1930s after Ruth Graves Wakefield of the Toll House Inn in the town of Whitman, Massachusetts, added cut-up chunks of a semi-sweet Nestlé chocolate bar to a cookie recipe.
The first-ever baked chocolate chip cookie was about the size of a quarter and was small enough to be completely eaten in a single bite.
Nestlé struck a deal with Wakefield where she sold the rights to reproduce her recipe on the company’s packages for a reported $1 (the recipe that’s on the back of every bag of Nestlé Chocolate Chips). She was also hired to consult on recipes for Nestlé, which was said to have provided her free chocolate for life.
The world’s biggest chocolate chip was created in 2003 by The Immaculate Baking Company in Flat Rock, North Carolina. It weighed 40,000 pounds and had a diameter of 101 feet.
The chocolate chip cookie is the official state cookie of both Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania “state cookie” status was proposed in 1996 by 4th-grade students at Caln Elementary school. Previously, the officially named state cookie of Pennsylvania had been tied up in a legislative battle between the Nazareth sugar cookie and the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie.
How to Make Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
I love this recipe because these cookies taste so much like traditional chocolate chip cookies. You still get the chewy middle, barely crisp edges, complex flavor, and chocolate-like chips. And it’s easy to make; no mixer is required.
The Sweeteners
The base combines palm shortening with coconut sugar, which is a great substitute for refined sugar. Brown rice syrup is another great natural, gluten-free sweetener that I like to use in cookie recipes.
The Oil
I chose macadamia nut oil for the smooth, buttery flavor and high smoke point. Because of that high smoke point it makes it a good choice for baked goods.
The Flour
Arrowroot starch/flour looks very similar to corn starch and helps to bind the dough together. Oat flour provides lots of fiber without weighing down the cookies at all.
The Leavening
Baking soda lifts and leavens the cookies to make them light and chewy while sea salt helps to bring out all the different flavors.
Note: While it may be tempting to eat this egg-free cookie dough because it doesn’t carry the risk of salmonella poisoning, the FDA advises against eating raw cookie dough because of the slight risk of E. coli and presumably other pathogens.
These cookies taste incredible when eaten warm from the oven, but will also keep well for a couple of days in an airtight container. Unbaked cookies can be frozen. Once you have made the dough, divide it up and shape it into balls. Place them spaced apart on a tray in the freezer then transfer to a ziplock bag once frozen. They can be baked straight from frozen but may need a minute or two longer in the oven.
Top Baking Tip: If you can, refrigerate the cookie dough before baking. “Chilling dough prior to baking lends itself to more tender, well-shaped, and slightly stronger flavored cookies,” says Meredith Tomason, Test Kitchen Manager for Nestlé Toll House. “The flavor-enhancing ingredients such as vanilla, salt, spices, and sweeteners all become a bit more concentrated and heightened.” Many bakers agree that 24 to 36 hours of refrigeration yield the most flavorful cookies.
Vegan Ingredient Swaps For Chocolate Chip Cookies
I took a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe and swapped it out with some plant-based ingredients.
There are no eggs or butter in this recipe yet it still tastes great. Instead of butter, I use organic palm shortening by Nutiva, which is made of organic palm fruit oil, organic unrefined virgin coconut oil, and organic unrefined red palm oil. I substitute the eggs with one flax egg. To make a flax egg, simply stir 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds with 3 tablespoons of water. Let it sit for a few minutes to thicken.
Swap out the refined sugar for coconut sugar, which has a lower glycemic index (GI)