These are the best vegan gluten free chocolate chip cookies ever! With crispy edges and perfectly soft middles, no one will guess they’re gluten free. Egg, dairy and nut free as well with NO dough chilling required!
You’re going to love these vegan and gluten free cookies
You can stop looking. These are the best gluten free vegan cookies! They’re easy to make with a handful of staple ingredients and ditch the regular flour for gluten free flour. You’ll hardly be able to tell the difference between them and my Perfect Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Gluten free desserts don’t get much easier than these nut free and gluten free chocolate chip cookies. The dough is easy to mix together in one bowl before it’s rolled into cookie dough balls and baked in the oven. You won’t find any complicated ingredients here either! Just grab your favorite gluten free flour mix and vegan chocolate chips and you’re ready to start baking.
Ingredients needed (with substitutions)
- Vegan butter – Remember: softened room temperature butter is always easier to work with and incorporates better into cookie dough. Put it out on the counter 30 minutes before getting started or microwave it in 15-second increments until it’s soft to the touch (but not melted).
- Brown sugar – This is where all chocolate chip cookie recipes get their molasses-like flavors. If all you have is white sugar at home, try mixing it with molasses to make your own brown sugar.
- Vanilla extract
- Non-dairy milk – Any kind of plant milk is just fine. Make sure it’s room temperature before you get started.
- Gluten free flour – I recently discovered Better Batter Gluten Free Flour, and I feel like it’s one of the best. It’s less sandy tasting than others I’ve tried. Any quality gluten free flour mix should work quite well, so use your favorite.
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Vegan chocolate chips – Check the ingredients to make sure your chocolate chips don’t contain milk. You can find vegan chocolate chips at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Costco (look for Kirkland brand of semi-sweet chocolate chips), and on Amazon. When all else fails, look for Guittard or Enjoy Life as both brands make vegan-friendly chocolate chips.
How to make vegan gluten free chocolate chip cookies
Find the complete recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
Beat the softened butter and brown sugar together until you have a creamy and fluffy mixture. Add the vanilla and milk, and continue to mix. Lastly, slowly mix in the flour, baking soda, and salt until just combined.
Fold the chocolate chips into the dough and you’re done!
Roll 1 to 2 tablespoons worth of dough in your hands at a time to form the cookie dough balls. Place them on the prepared baking pans, then bake until the cookie edges are just starting to brown. It’s ok if they feel too soft at first! They’ll firm up as they cool.
Sprinkle with coarse sea salt, if desired. Leave the cookies to cool completely on a wire rack, then dig in and enjoy!
Freezing cookie dough
Roll the cookie dough into balls, place them on a lined baking sheet, and freeze. Once they’re frozen solid, transfer them to a freezer-safe bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
Bake the dough balls right from frozen, adding a few more minutes to the bake time to make up for their cold temperature.
The baked cookies also freeze well. Just pop them in an airtight container and grab one out of the freezer whenever you have a craving.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I use almond flour? Using all almond flour won’t work well here, as the cookies will be very flat. You could try using 1 cup gluten free flour and 3/4 cup of almond flour.
- Do you have to chill the cookie dough? It isn’t necessary for this recipe. Chilling the cookie dough in the fridge before baking can solidify the butter and prevent the cookies from spreading too much in the oven. If you love thick, chewy cookies, go ahead and pop the dough in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Can I make these without sugar? I wouldn’t recommend it. Granulated coconut sugar, however, can be used instead of brown sugar as a natural sweetener alternative.
Want more vegan and gluten free desserts?
- Gluten Free Banana Bread
- Easy Vanilla Vegan Gluten Free Cake
- Gluten Free Chocolate Cake
- Gluten Free Vegan Brownies
Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, softened to room temperature I prefer Miyoko's
- 1 1/4 cups brown sugar, lightly packed
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup non-dairy milk I used soy
- 1 3/4 cups gluten free flour mix* I used Better Batter
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, or using a handheld mixer, beat the softened vegan butter and brown sugar together until creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the vanilla and non-dairy milk and mix to combine, scraping the sides as needed.
- Stop the mixer and add the flour, then sprinkle the baking soda and salt on top of the flour.
- Turn the mixer on low speed, and mix until just combined. Mix in the chocolate chips until incorporated.
- Scoop about 1-2 tablespoons of dough using a cookie scoop or spoon, roll into balls and place on the prepared pans about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 9-12 minutes, until barely golden brown on the edges. They will appear soft, but will firm up as they cool. Sprinkle with a little coarse sea salt, if desired.
- Let the cookies cool for 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Notes
- Vegan butter – I prefer Miyoko’s brand for taste and quality, but other brands work as well. Use the stick type butter instead of the container.
- Sugar – Brown sugar works best, but you can use coconut sugar if desired.
- Gluten free flour – Recently I discovered Better Batter, which I am enjoying more than any other brand I’ve tried. It has almost no sandy, gritty texture in baked goods. I recommend a quality mix that includes xantham gum.
Yummy!… best vegan cookie ever! I used homemade almond milk, and organic coconut oil & ghee blend grass-fed butter. The dough was a bit oily when rolled into balls, but baked perfectly and no oily flavor. I will definitely make again and try Miyoko’s plant based butter as recommended in the recipe. Thank you Nora!
You are welcome, Christine. I’m thrilled you loved the cookies! Thank you for your awesome feedback and review!
Okay I felt bad about the negative review, so I’m leaving a good one.
The “cookies” are still not cookies at all, but the result can be defined like the conjuction ring between cookies and hard candies.
It’s technically cookie flavored toffee.
It’s actually hella good and I’m honestly preferring this compare to what I was trying to make.
(One day I’ll try again making them but with my own metric measurements and leave a more complete feedback.)
I had high hopes for these and followed the recipe exactly but they came out very flat and greasy looking, they don’t look anything like the photo 🙁
I think they needed a lot more flour…
Hi Michele, sorry it didn’t work out for you! Was your butter melted? What kind of butter did you use? Did you use a quality gluten free mix? If you try it again, it could help to chill the dough in the fridge for 1 hour before baking.
Did you use the metric system to make them? Because I just had the very same problem.
The conversion is weird because cups aren’t a standard measurement in the US….
Maybe I’ll try again one day making my own “translation”
But for now I’ve got greasy flat crunchy but chewy…. things. Still edible. Taste like caramel. Def not cookies.
Great cookies-a big hit. But they were completely flat. I’m not vegan so I used regular butter and milk-does that cause the melting into a puddle? So tasty.
Hi there, yes real butter is a bit different to bake with. That’s likely why they came out flat. If using real butter, you will probably want to chill the dough for an hour before baking.
I never comment on recipes, but I had to here. I’ve been searching for the best vegan choc chip cookie recipe for a long time. I only had GF flour in the cupboard so opted to try this recipe today. The search for best vegan (and GF) choc chip cookie recipe is over!!! I used mini choc chips and subbed baking powder (x3) because I was out of b soda. These were sooooooooooo good. Thank you!!!
That’s great, I’m so happy you loved the cookies! Thanks so much for your wonderful review!
I just made these. I have had great results with your recipes. I used King Arthur Flour one for one and Country crock olive oil butter. I did not soften the butter. I put that in the bowl first and then got the sugar and added it. I have found that softening that butter gives bad results. They came out great! I will definitely make them again. Thank you
Hi Roberta. How awesome that the cookies turned out great for you! Thank you for sharing your ideas and great feedback! I’m so glad you are enjoying my recipes!
This needs some work. More flour is needed and egg replacer. Cookies turned out very flat and runny.
Hi Nora,
Great recipe. I going to make them today. Can I add some almond flour to it? Second, can we add some almond butter just for extra protein?
Thanks!
Thank you! I’ve had good results making these with 1 cup of gluten free flour and 3/4 cup of almond flour. And yes, the cookies should be fine with a little almond butter added, but you might need to add more flour if the dough isn’t coming together as well.
Delicious! Will make again!
So glad you enjoyed them! Thank you for your review!
So good! Taste and texture just like the real thing! Our toddler has ALL the allergies so it’s great to find recipes that don’t sacrifice on the taste.
Hi Olivia. I’m so glad that you guys love the cookies and that your toddler is able to enjoy delicious foods! Thank you for sharing your terrific feedback! Happy cooking!
So good! I am so surprised at the taste and texture! Our toddler has ALL the allergies so it’s great to find something that tastes like the real thing.
Why did mine come out so flat?
I’m not sure, did you make any substitutions? Did you use a quality gluten free mix? Accidentally melt the vegan butter instead of just softening it?
I am in Canada and I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 GF flour and President’s Choice plant based butter. 1/2 cup coconut sugar and 1/2 cup white sugar. These are so good and the texture is perfect!!! Crispy and delicious. I did refrigerate the dough before making the cookies because it seemed really soft and I didnt want them to come out flat.
I’m thrilled the cookies turned out wonderful and you loved them! Thanks for your terrific comments and review! Happy cooking!
Hi
Are there two or three ingredients in the flour mix ? What are they ?
Which Miyoko’s Vegan Butter is used in the recipe ?
Thank You
There is a link to the flour I used, you can check out the ingredients list if you want, but you need a quality gluten free flour mix. Better Batter is great, but King Arthur and Bob’s Red Mill are two other common gluten free flour brands. The one I used has rice flours and a few different starches. I used Miyoko’s block of vegan butter, but I’ve used other brands and they work too.
Have you tried bob red mill’s 1-1 baking flour? It’s all I have on short notice.
That should work great!
Nora, I’ve tried A LOT of gf ccc recipes and these are my favorite! Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
You are welcome, Jen! Thank you for using my recipes and for sharing your great feedback! I’m so glad you love them!
They were really good but next time maybe less sugar.?
This cookie is amazing!!!! I used toll house vegan semi sweet chocolate chips oat milk namaste gluten free flower and of course vegan butter. ? I will definitely share this recipe and also keep using it here on out!
Hi Kathy. I’m so happy you love the cookies! Thanks for sharing your wonderful feedback!
These are literally the best cookies I’m able to eat that I have ever had!
My personal feedback is a bit less sugar and chocolate chips, and I added a flax egg, which gave them extra chewiness!
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe!
Hi Sam. You are welcome! How wonderful that you love the cookies! It’s always great to be able to customize for your sweetness preference! Thank you for sharing your experience and positive feedback!
Thanks for the tip on the better batter! It’s hard to find good GF flour. So, can I swap the better batter flour in any of your other recipes when it calls for ‘all purpose flour’ to make those recipes gluten free? Or is it only a good all purpose flour replacement for baked goods?
Hi Eleisha. You are welcome! This flour should work as a substitution for AP flour in most recipes.
This is an amazing choc chip cookie recipe! I followed the recipe exactly and I used Bobs Red Mill 1:1 gluten free flour. There is a very very slight grittiness, that one often finds with GF flours, but it’s very subtle and obviously could be refined with a different flour. I was shocked at how beautifully these cookies turned out, considering the prep is SO easy. The proportions are perfect as is. They turned out to be my favorite consistency of cookie…..crispy edges, chewy middles. The kids love them and these are going to be a staple in our house!
Hi Cyndi . I’m so thrilled that you loved everything about these cookies! We love them at our house for sure! Thanks for sharing your fantastic feedback and review! I’m so happy they are now your chocolate chip cookie staple! Happy cooking!
Will this work with coconut oil instead of vegan butter?
Yes, it should work quite well with melted refined coconut oil.
Exactly like the traditional non vegan gluten chocolate chips. Made these with my 2 year old and she could eat the batter no fear of raw eggs.
How fun! Thanks for sharing your fun feedback!
They look beautiful when finished but waaaaaay too sweet.
My boyfriend is vegan and I’m not I surprised him with these cookies and we loved them.I also enjoyed making them for him and it was so simple to follow the direction..thank you so much
I’m glad you found the recipe easy to follow! I’ll always repeat recipes when they are easy to follow! I’m glad the cookies were a hit for you both! Thank you for sharing your wonderful feedback!
Hi Nora…thanks sooo much for this recipe!
Made them with 4 year old grandson for Father’s Day gift to his GF/DF (& lots other other allergies) Dad. Used Country Crock plant butter, Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 flour..(no Better Batter any place near me). Kept an extra 1/3 cup flour on the side in case batter was too runny as per another reviewer. Used leftover coconut milk for DF liquid, Kroger’s dark brown sugar. Also mixed baking soda & salt with flour. The test cookie looked fine! I then added the Trader Joe’s GF/DF large Chocolate Chips. Used a mini ice cream scoop for the 4 year old to squeeze onto parchment covered cookie sheet – rave reviews on Father’s Day…even from my Husband who said the larger chips are a must!
Again..
Many thanks for this hit!!!
That’s wonderful to hear, Kathleen! I’m so glad the cookies worked out for you and that they were a hit! Thank you for your amazing review 🙂
Like another comment, I also had trouble with this recipe. I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 flour (correctly with the spoon and sweep method) and found the batter wet and the cookies spread super thin and bubbly on my first tray. I ended up adding an additional 1/3 cup of flour (approx) to the remaining batter. The next batches turned out much better (and even the pieces from the first round tasted good). So perhaps the makeup of the Bob’s flour is pretty different than the Better Batter.
I tried this recipe last night and again with frozen dough this morning. Unfortunately, both times I was left with a runny bubbling mess on the baking tray. The dough was more like buttercream so I didn’t expect to get a good result. Where did I go wrong? I used plain gluten free flour.
Hi Sheila. It’s hard to know what went wrong without being there but if the dough was really runny, that could be a sign that there wasn’t enough flour in the dough or the brand you were using didn’t contain xantham gum/just isn’t quite right for cookies. Next time, I’d recommend experimenting with a different brand and possibly adding even more flour if the dough still seems runny. I hope this helps!
Super tasty! Super successful! I completely recommend this recipe! Me and my daughter made these delicious cookies, and in one day, there were only crumbs left on the tray, no more cookies. Such a good recipe, (vegan is the cherry on top) and I totally recommend it, because this recipe is easy, tasty and addictive!
Hi Anna. It’s great to hear your feedback on the cookies! Thank you so much! I’m thrilled they turned out great for you, and that you and your daughter enjoyed them! Wishing you lots of happy cooking!