These Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies bake up soft, chewy, and rich, just like classic bakery-style cookies. They're made without gluten, wheat-free, dairy, eggs, or soy, but you would never guess from the texture or flavor.
This perfect cookie recipe tastes just like the best bakery and homemade cookies you remember and is easy to make with our simple step-by-step instructions.
Get excited to to share these "just-like-the-original" vegan and gluten-free chocolate chip cookies with friends and family! This year-around favorite is super shareable and our friends and family had no idea that these were vegan and without gluten, wheat, dairy, and egg.
Make them for any occasion including holidays, and serve them with my Easy Microwave Hot Chocolate or Thick Hot Chocolate recipe for an extra special treat. Or, if you're a peanut butter lover, consider pairing with my decadent Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate and Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies. You can even turn these amazing vegan gluten-free chocolate chip cookies into Vegan Ice Cream Cookie Sandwiches!
For more vegan gluten-free cookie recipes, check out my Coconut Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies, Gluten-Free Thumbprint Cookies, Gluten-Free Sugar Cookie Cut Outs, Gluten-Free Gingerbread Cookies, and No Bake Chocolate Coconut Cookies. My Maple Brown Sugar Cookies include an easy vegan substitution.
For more vegan and gluten-free party desserts, check out my Gluten-Free Blondies, Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake, Vegan Gluten Free Funfetti Birthday Cake, and Vegan Gelato.
And if you're new to gluten-free, be sure to also check out our how to go gluten free guide
Allergy-Friendly Substitutions
Most chocolate chip cookies include wheat and gluten, eggs, and dairy. Here are my favorite tested vegan and allergy-free substitutions for cookies:
- Dairy-Free Butter - Vegan buttery sticks make the best substitution, but you need to read the label carefully if baking for a soy allergy since soy is often part of vegan butter substitutes.
- Egg-Free Substitution - Egg substitutes can get complicated, but there really is no need to get special egg-free ingredients for cookies and most other baked goods. For 2 eggs, we substitute 2 tablespoons of potato starch with 6 tablespoons of water. This will give your cookies that traditional crispy outside and soft inside. Rather than mixing them ahead of time, I separated the starch and water into dry and wet ingredient categories respectively.
- Best Wheat and Gluten-Free Flour - My favorite wheat and gluten-free flour blend is Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Baking Flour. It is a rice-flour-based blend, vegan, and free of the top 9 allergens.
How to make it (with photos)
Ingredients Notes
These vegan and gluten-free chocolate chip cookies are made with common everyday ingredients. If you do not need them to be free of egg, dairy, wheat and gluten, it is easy to substitute the original ingredient back into the recipe.
- Flour - I recommend using a gluten-free rice flour blend like Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Flour or Pamela's All Purpose Gluten-Free Flour.
- Butter - I like Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks - the red package is free of the top 9 allergens including soy. If you would like to replace the butter with coconut oil, substitute ¾ cup coconut oil and ¼ cup water (for 1 cup of butter in the 1x recipe). The coconut oil to butter substitution is not 1-to-1 because butter is 80% fat and 20% water and coconut oil is 100% fat.
- starch - Potato or corn starch can be used in this recipe. They make the outside of the cookie crisp and act as an egg replacer.
- water - Warm water is a somewhat nontraditional ingredient in chocolate chip cookies. It is the other part of the egg replacement after starch. There is also some additional water needed if using coconut oil instead of butter. See the note on 'butter' above if using coconut oil.
- baking powder - make sure to use a gluten-free baking powder variety. Rumford and Clabber Girl are popular gluten-free brands in the USA.
- chocolate chips - We like Enjoy Life brand chocolate chips because they are gluten-free and free of the top 9 common allergens.
You also need organic sugar, organic brown sugar, vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt to make this recipe.
See recipe card for complete quantities and instructions.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Only 5 steps and 30 minutes stand between you and the most perfect vegan gluten-free chocolate chip cookies ever!
- Wet Ingredients: In a medium mixing bowl, add the warm melted vegan butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Whisk by hand or with an electric mixer for at least one minute, or until the mixture is smooth and the sugar granules begin to dissolve. Add vanilla and warm water and continue to mix/whisk until you have a smooth sugar syrup.
- Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, add flour, potato starch, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together until well-mixed.
- Finish and chill the dough: Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with dry ingredients. Mix well until the dough is smooth and shiny. Fold in the chocolate chips and mix well. Cover the bowl with a lid, beeswrap, or plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to chill.
- Prep for baking: When ready to bake, take the dough out of the refrigerator and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (162 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone liner. Roll the dough into large round balls with about 3 tablespoons of dough each. This will make large, but not jumbo-sized, chocolate chip cookies. Leave about 3 inches between the cookies to allow for spread. I bake only 6 cookies per large baking sheet.
- Bake: Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the tops have some light golden brown color. Then remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before gently using a spatula to remove the cookies from the sheet and place on a cooling rack. Let cool and enjoy!
Hint: If baking with a silicone liner like silpat, expect the baking time to be 3-5 minutes longer than if using parchment paper. The cookies are finished when the edges are golden brown with a little spotty golden brown coloring on the top.
Expert Tips
Get amazing vegan and gluten-free chocolate chip cookies on the first try with these expert tips!
Dissolve the sugar in the vegan butter.
If you dissolve the sugar into the vegan butter, your cookies will be crisper. We recommend whisking the wet ingredients together for at least 1 minute, but longer will give you a crisper cookie and smoother dough.
Read your vegan butter ingredients carefully if making this allergy-free.
Vegan butter can contain soy or tree nuts. If you're making this allergy-free, double check your ingredients for hidden allergens and have a quick chat with your allergic cookie eater to make sure they feel comfortable with your ingredient choices.
Recipe FAQs
Here I answered some frequently asked questions about making gluten-free and Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies. Don't see your question? Leave it in the comments and I'll answer within two business days.
After cooling to room temperature, store leftover vegan and gluten-free chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days or in the refrigerator for up to a week.
The Enjoy Life brand of chocolate chips are free of the top 9 allergens and are great for baking or snacking.
Gluten-free chocolate chip cookies typically use a gluten-free flour mix made from rice and other gluten-free starches and flours like tapioca and potato.
We found that Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten-free flour or Pamela's All Purpose gluten-free flour are best for cookies in our recipe experiments.
The baking temperature and ingredients both have an effect on if a cookie is chewy vs crunchy. Lots of butter or oil tends to make cookies crunchier, while more egg can lend to a softer, chewier texture. Adding starch to the cookie dough can help to create a crisp outside. Baking cookies at a lower temperature will generally create a chewier cookie.
In egg-free chocolate chip cookies, the combination of 1 tablespoon of potato or corn starch plus 3 tablespoons of water is an excellent replacement for 1 egg. For two eggs, use 2 tablespoons of starch and 6 tablespoons of water.
Related vegan gluten-free cookie recipes to consider...
Looking for other recipes like these amazing vegan and gluten-free chocolate chip cookies? Check these out!
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup vegan butter , melted (227 grams)
- ½ cup organic sugar (100 grams)
- ¾ cup organic light brown sugar packed (145 grams)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 6 tablespoons warm water (90 ml)
Dry Ingredients
- 3 cups all purpose gluten-free flour - I used Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-Free Flour (405 grams)
- 2 tablespoons potato starch (20 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups allergy-free chocolate chips (375 grams)
Instructions
- Wet Ingredients: In a medium mixing bowl, add the warm melted vegan butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Whisk by hand or with an electric mixer for at least one minute, or until the mixture is smooth and the sugar granules begin to dissolve. Add vanilla and warm water and continue to mix/whisk until you have a smooth sugar syrup.
- Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, add flour, potato starch, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together until well-mixed.
- Finish and chill the dough: Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with dry ingredients. Mix well until the dough is smooth and shiny. Fold in the chocolate chips and mix well. Cover the bowl with a lid, beeswrap, or plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to chill.
- Prep for baking: When ready to bake, take the dough out of the refrigerator and let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (162 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone liner. Roll the dough into large round balls with about 3 tablespoons of dough each. This will make large, but not jumbo-sized, chocolate chip cookies. Leave about 3 inches between the cookies to allow for spread. I bake only 6 cookies per large baking sheet.
- Bake:Â Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the tops have some light golden brown color. Then remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before gently using a spatula to remove the cookies from the sheet and place on a cooling rack. Let cool and enjoy!
Cindy says
I needed an allergy Free Chocolate Chip cookie recipe without egg, dairy, or gluten for my son’s class birthday party. These were an absolute hit and I passed the recipe on to others. Thanks so
Much for this one!
Jamie says
These are my favorite kind of comments! Thanks Cindy, I'm glad they were a hit!
Emily K. says
These really do taste like tollhouse! My mother in law asked when I started to eat gluten again. She had no idea they were gluten free! Im looking forward to trying some of your other baking recipes.
Jamie says
Thank you so much for sharing Emily!
Emily W. says
So excited for a legit allergy free cookie! My daughter has celiac and her friend has an egg and dairy allergy. I made these for both of them and sent some home with her. Her mother hugged me with tears in her eyes. So great what you’re doing here. Please make more egg free recipes!
Kaila says
What is this magic?? These are very very good. Delicious. I can’t believe they are egg free. Don’t hesitate — just bake! I made them exactly as written with bobs red mill flour and the coconut oil hack.
Abbi H. says
Wow, these really taste like the real thing! I made the full batch which makes a ton of cookies. We froze some, offered them to friends, and no one knew they were gluten-free and vegan! Really stellar recipe that we’ll be making again and again.