These Crispy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies are JUST 6 ingredients, made in 1 BOWL, crispy, chewy and buttery thanks to using almond flour and tapioca. The perfect cookie texture. Just 6 ingredients and also gluten-free, grain-free and oil-free!
CRISPY VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
Ok, today I’m sharing with you what I consider to be the perfect cookie texture. Crispy exterior, with a moist and chewy center. Crispy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies are my favorite kind of cookie. And making vegan cookies is fairly simple. These Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies are a huge, huge reader fave. I absolutely love these though, because I love the extra crispy factor.
These are the perfect cookie base to add in anything you like….nuts, dried fruit, obviously chocolate chips, and in today’s case, lots of candied ginger. Since it’s the holidays, here comes ginger overload. These are seriously some of the best cookies I’ve ever had in my entire life. I LOVE GINGER. But if you don’t, simply omit and use any other dried fruit or nuts. Dried cranberries and cherries would be excellent! The base recipe for these chocolate chip cookies is just 6 ingredients (+salt) and any optional add-ins.
CRISPY COOKIE TEXTURE
A perfect cookie to me should entail all of these qualities: Slightly crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside, moist, sweet and have chocolate chips. These cookies contain all of that and more. What helps to make these crispy on the outside is the tapioca starch and it also helps to bind the cookies, acting as eggs. The almond flour gives the wonderful, moist and chewy center.
WHERE CAN I BUY VEGAN CHOCOLATE?
Many grocery stores these days sell vegan chocolate, whether intentionally or not. Some brands are naturally vegan or made without milk. Enjoy Life is a great vegan brand and even Nestle now has vegan chocolate chips. Just make sure to always read the ingredients on the package before purchasing.
I’m telling you, the chocolate chips mixed with the bites of candied ginger is a delicious combo! So, definitely try that option!
MORE VEGAN COOKIE RECIPES
- Grain-Free Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Best Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Vegan Gluten-free Snickerdoodles
- Chai Coconut Oatmeal Cookies
- Old-fashioned Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Cashew Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- 5 Ingredient Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Crispy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (168g) superfine blanched almond flour
- 1/4 cup (30g) tapioca starch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup (160g) pure maple syrup (use agave if you don't want a maple flavor)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (2 tsp provides a strong vanilla flavor, use 1 if you prefer a milder flavor)
- 1/2 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
Optional Holiday Ginger Cookie Variation
- 1 tablespoon ground ginger powder
- 2 large tablespoons finely chopped crystallized ginger
NOTE
- Always use a scale for accuracy when baking, following MY gram weights listed. You never need cups, just the scale and bowl. Make sure to zero out before each ingredient.
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 350 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Dark metal pan will yield the best crispy exterior texture.
- Add the almond flour, tapioca, baking powder, ground ginger (if using) and salt to a large bowl and whisk well.
- Make a well in the center of the flour and pour in the syrup and vanilla. Give the liquid portion a quick stir. Add the chocolate chips and chopped ginger (if using), on top and stir all of the ingredients together until it becomes a very thick batter. If it's not thick enough, add a little more almond flour. This will affect how they bake up.
- Using a cookie scooper, drop large mounds onto the prepared sheet and space them about an inch apart. I fit all the cookies on the pan. For the tops, I gently pressed some extra chocolate chips on top of the cookies and slightly pressed the cookies down, but not fully. If your batter is thick enough and you want perfectly round cookies, then roll them into balls and flatten them about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Please note that different brands of almond flour will greatly effect how thick or thin your batter is. If it is a looser batter, no need to press the batter down. They will bake up thinner and spread a lot. Bake for 12-13 minutes until beginning to turn golden on top. 13 minutes produced the perfect cookie for me, using a cookie scooper.
- They will firm up a lot while they cool, so don't remove them while warm. Let cool just 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer to cool completely on a rack. Store wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or sealed container.
Nutrition
These cookies are amazing. Easy and so delicious. Big hit at a dinner party last night. Thank you for another amazing recipe!
Happy Holidays, Brandi 🙂 Can you answer a quick question please? We are trying to reduce sugar in our diet and now I often find things are too sweet for me when I make them the way I used to. How can I reduce the maple syrup in this chocolate chip cookie recipe by up to half? I was thinking maybe sub with applesauce? Or can I just reduce it and not add anything else? I was thinking I needed to replace the moisture from the maple syrup, but you are such a pro at this so I am looking for your guidance. Thanks SO MUCH! Tanya
Tanya, I’m SO so sorry I never responded to this! I get so many comments on a daily basis, that I sometimes miss some of the questions. I know this is months later, but in case you see this, I would just add milk in place of the syrup that you are reducing, but since milk is runnier and doesn’t bake up quite the same as syrup, I wouldn’t use the same exact amount or weight, because they don’t weigh the same per tablespoon. If you want to try reducing the syrup by half, which would be 1/4 cup, I’d say to replace it with 2-3 tablespoons, judging by how the batter is. That should work!
Brandi, i just now saw your reply from this summer, lol! You are so kind!!!! So here it is 11 months later, but I am still looking forward to trying these with the reduced maple syrup per your instructions. This will help me to enjoy cookies with my IBS (sugar is a big trigger). Thanks again Brandi 🙂
By the time they came out of the oven, I’d forgotten about the ginger so my first bite was a delicious surprise! What an unexpected and excellent combo of flavors! Also, super easy to make with very little clean up involved.
Haha that is awesome Mara! Ginger is SO good with chocolate, definitely one of my fave combos ever!
I just made these after my husband looked at me with sad puppy eyes and told me how much he’d love a chocolate chip cookie. I haven’t made an oil free cookie yet. In the past if I made cookies I’d used earth balance or something. But I remembered seeing your receipt a couple years ago and now I have a kitchen scale, aaaaandddd, I happened to have all the ingredients . My almond flour was old. Like really old . So old I don’t even want to tell you the expiration date. lol But I made them anyway . And I did have to chop up a chocolate bar to get 1/2 cup of chips, but I mixed it together and threw them in the oven. When they were done I let them cool almost all the way, and then brought him one. He didn’t even know I was making them. He took a bite, and his eyes rolled back in his head. Said if that was the only chocolate chip cookie he ate for the rest of his life, he could die happy. I’m so glad I tried this recipe Brandi! Thank you for creating such amazing recipes!
This was so sweet to read Becky! I’m so happy to hear how much these were a hit, especially with your hubby, lol!! Thanks for the lovely review!
BEST Ever choc chip vegan cookie recipe out there! Thank you!! And now, to try your other cookie recipes 🙂
So very happy to hear that Lisa!
Okay I just made these! AMAZING!! Loved them !
And just clicked on the link and ordered your cookbook!! Get here Sunday! Can’t wait !
Yay, really glad to hear that Julianna! Thank you so much!
I substituted tapioca starch for arrowroot, based on some brief googling on substitutions (I am no expert). I’m not sure of the impact of the tapioca starch on the composition as a whole, but they still tasted amazingly addictive (we may or may not have finished the entire batch in one night). The texture was so gooey and delicious, specially when warm. There was a bit of a flour-y taste/texture afterward but was not that impactful to the experience (not sure if because of arrowroot substitution).
Sorry just seeing this! So happy you loved them! Yes, arrowroot leaves a mouthfeel that I don’t like, which is why I don’t use it in baking. Use cornstarch next time instead of tapioca, it’s the best sub, however tapioca works best so if you can get that, it’s great!
I used wheat pastry flour because I didn’t have Almond Flour. I didn’t have Vegan Chocolate Chips but did add lots of chopped crystallized ginger!
It was a little dry! Do you think I should add more maple syrup? So it would have more liquid?
My brother and sister-in-law who are you strictly vegan loved it!
Hi Yvonne! Yes, they were dry because you used pastry flour. The recipe calls for almond flour because it’s high fat and is what makes the cookies so moist. Almond flour is not interchangeable for that reason. Pastry flour has no moisture so you definitely need the almond flour for the recipe to work as intended. Baking is very scientific, so swapping flours rarely works that well as the original recipe, but especially when almond flour is the main ingredient.
Hi! How can I sub maple syrup with normal sugar and soy milk? 🙂
Hi Bea, no, I wouldn’t do that here because it would be completely changing the recipe and milk and syrup do not bake up the same. If you are looking for a more cost-effective sweetener, agave would work just as well here!
Just made these today and they are yummy but a bit too sweet. Any suggestions how to cut the sweetness down. Thanks so much for all you do. Looking forward to trying lots more recipes from your site.
You could try replacing a couple tablespoons of syrup with milk, but it’ll be a little bit more wet, so you might need a tad more flour.
These are the best simple to make vegan chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted!! I will be making these regularly and on holidays!! I love that there is no oil or even vegan butter in them. The texture of the cookies is amazing. Crunch and then a chewy bite. So so delicious!!! Thank you Brandi!
Yay Lorie, thank you so much for such an awesome review! They looked amazing on Instagram!
Wow, this recipe tastes great! However, my cookies weren’t as golden as yours in the photos, what brand of almond flour do you use? I think that may be the culprit. I followed the recipe as instructed but had no ginger.
Hi! Every brand I use is the same color so it sounds more like it just needed to bake slightly longer since ovens can vary so much. Or another possibility is the syrup you used is a light colored syrup. Some are amber light and some are darker.
Love these cookies Brandi! This was the first recipe I made of yours over a year ago for the first time. I purchased your cookbook as a result…and your recipes never let me down! I have made this recipe at least 20 times now…and my nonvegan family and friends always request these. Quick, easy,and so yummy!
Aww that is amazing, thanks so much Deborah!
Hi Brandi, I found this recipe last week, and made the first batch. Everyone in my family loves the cookies. Thanks so much for the amazing recipe. I’ve just made the second batch. The texture is a bit different when I double every ingredient. The cookies spread more and are stickier. But they are equally tasty. Is there anything I need to change if I double the recipe?
Hi Pat! Are you weighing the ingredients? When baking, especially if doubling or tripling a recipe, weighing is pretty important as it’s easy to mismeasure with larger amounts. You don’t need to compare the cups, just simply follow my gram weights listed. Also, are you using the same brand of almond flour?
Hi Brandi, you are right. I didn’t measure the ingredients. I should get a scale this week. It’s interesting that the first batch baked was crispy but the second batch was chewy. Both batches came from the same batter. Anyway they were the best cookies I’ve ever made. I am going to make them now. Thank you so much for your recipe and advice.
Love this recipe! It’s so easy and so few ingredients, I often make it with my daughter for a quick after school activity.
I recently doubled the recipe and baked it into a round pan to make a cookie pie. Just increased the baking time. Was delicious! We are huge fans!!
Such an amazing idea to bake it into a cookie pie!!
This recipe is perfect! My mother has gallbladder issues and can’t have any oil, so this is amazing! I always add 4-5 teaspoons of instant coffee to make it coffee flavoured 🙂
I love to hear that! And what a yummy idea!
I just made these, and while they taste amazing – they spread SO much in the oven and went completely flat! So they don’t look anything like yours.
The only substitution I made was using beet syrup instead of maple – do you think that could have affected the texture so drastically?
Hi Issu! I do not know the texture/thickness of beet syrup, so that definitely sounds like the culprit. Also, did you weigh the ingredients? Some brands of almond flour are much finer than others, so this can affect the thickness/wetness of the batter, which could also cause them to overspread.
I did weigh everything, yes. They were so good I’ll make them again this week, and this time I’ll grt some maple syrup and see if the texture tursn out differently. 🙂 I think my almond flour is not superfine as I don’t have much choice here in Japan, so it could be that too. Still love these cookies though!
This is the recipe I’ve been looking for! I made these cookies twice. The second time I doubled the recipe. My whole family loves them. Hard to believe they taste this good without butter sugar and eggs! The second time I made the cookies, I upped the oven temp to 375 degrees (a gas oven) and they baked up golden and crisp. They didn’t sit still for a photo op though. We ate them too quickly! Next time….
Thanks for the great recipe!
Awesome, thank you Michelle!
Hi Brandi, the cookies were absolutely delicious!! I’m going to make them regularly from now on. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!! 💖
Yay!!
I’m just preheating the oven to make these cookies yet again – they are a staple in our home and rated the best and favourite cookie! Funny story – we were at a wedding reception over the weekend, and there were chocolate chip cookies among the desserts. My 6-year-old daughter tried one, and explained to me that she didn’t want to finish it because it was not like the cookies I make. I gave a knowing nod and bragged, “I make pretty good cookies, huh?” to which she replied, “yes, you make the best cookies, and these are worse-er!” 😀 Thanks for this and so many other amazing recipes we’ve tried! Oh – and we also love to make these into nice-cream sandwiches, with chocolate banana nice cream in the centre!
Haha just seeing this Jessica, that is such a wonderful and hilarious story, thank you so much for sharing!! Thank you for the kind words, your daughter sounds like mine, she used to say the same type of comments when we’ve tried other vegan desserts at like Disneyworld or something, haha!
These are amazing! I make these SO often (almost every day lol) I am a pretty active 15 yr old so I’m not really concerned about calories, but rather getting enough protein and healthy fats and eliminating refined sugar and oil (and animal products of course). Anyway, these have wowed my family and neighbors, all meat/sugar/oil eaters! I will definitely try the ginger version this Christmas!
Aww thank you, that makes me so happy to hear!!
I recently found out that my grandfather (who also LOVES these cookies) is having trouble with kidney stones, so he can no longer have almonds due to the high amounts of oxalate in them. Hazelnuts, though, are okay so I made a test batch using hazelnut flour (same weight, I used Bob’s Red Mill brand) and everything else the same. I am happy to say that they turned out incredible! Sort of Nutella as a cookie…YUM!! The texture in a little different but certainly not worse or less fudgey/rich.
I was craving chocolate chip cookies but wanted a healthier version (and I’m gluten free) so I really didn’t think I would be able to find a good recipe. I stumbled upon your blog and decided to give these cookies a go and wow they did not disappoint! I subbed half oat flour as I didn’t have enough almond flour and they turned out just fine! I also added a dollop of peanut butter to the batter because I love the flavor. Thank you so much for such a simple and healthy version of chocolate chip cookies.
Yay, so wonderful to hear how much you loved these, thank you Madeline for the review!!