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With nut allergies becoming more prevalent, I’ve been looking to create a vegan and gluten-free cookie that is nut-free, as well. This turned out to be quite a challenge!
First, I tried adapting my favorite Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies, using oat flour instead of almond meal, but the result didn’t hold together well. I realized that oat flour requires an egg-like binder, such as a banana or a “flax egg,” and since I didn’t want a banana-flavored cookie, a flax egg seemed like the best choice. However, I should mention that I actually prefer to use ground chia seeds over flax seeds, in most cases, as I find their flavor blends more seamlessly into baked goods.
During the recipe development process earlier this month, I posted one of my trials on Instagram, mentioning how the cookies tasted good, but I still felt like they were missing something. (I’m very particular when it comes to cookies!) Kelly, from Cut Cut Sew, saw my Instagram post and kindly offered to share her own recipe with me, passed down from her sister-in-law. So, we all have her to thank for helping this recipe come to life.
The resulting cookies are lightly sweetened, with a crisp outside and soft, tender inside– just the way I like them. I hope you all enjoy them, too!
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Vegan & Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 12 cookies
Adapted from Kelly at Cut Cut Sew
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup gluten-free oat flour*
3/4 cup coconut sugar
2 flax or chia “eggs” (recipe here)
1/3 cup melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
*I made the oat flour at home by grinding gluten-free rolled oats in my blender.
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, chia eggs, oil, vanilla and salt, and stir well to create a uniform dough. Fold in the chocolate chips, then scoop the dough onto the lined baking sheet, leaving about 1 1/2-inches of space between the cookies. Gently flatten the dough with your fingers, as these cookies won’t spread too much with baking.
Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350F, until the cookies are lightly golden and the edges are firm. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup gluten-free oat flour*
- 3/4 cup coconut sugar
- 2 flax or chia "eggs" (recipe here)
- 1/3 cup melted coconut oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
- *I made the oat flour at home by grinding gluten-free rolled oats in my blender.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, chia eggs, oil, vanilla and salt, and stir well to create a uniform dough. Fold in the chocolate chips, then scoop the dough onto the lined baking sheet, leaving about 1 1/2-inches of space between the cookies. Gently flatten the dough with your fingers, as these cookies won't spread too much with baking.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350F, until the cookies are lightly golden and the edges are firm. Cool on the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Nutrition
Per Serving: Calories: 233, Fat: 10g, Carbohydrates: 34g, Fiber: 3g, Protein: 5g
Notes:
- Non-vegans can substitute real butter for coconut oil, if you prefer. I haven’t tried making this recipe with real eggs, so I’m not sure if you’d need 1 or 2 eggs for this recipe– please leave a comment below if you try it out!
- For a grain-free vegan cookie, try my Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe instead.
Enjoy!
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Reader Feedback: What’s your favorite flour to bake with? I’m partial to nut and seed flours, but I also enjoy grinding my own flour from oats and buckwheat.
I used two eggs and they turned out fine. I added only a half cup of sugar because my coconut sugar is kind of strong and I loved them! The perfect healthy treat to curb my sweet tooth
I made these using two flax eggs and adding a bit of water to the dough at the end because it seemed a bit too dry (and then I worried that I’d made the dough too wet) but they are SO DELICIOUS. Truly some of the best cookies I’ve had, vegan or otherwise. I was amazed!
These look so good! Can I make these with olive oil instead of coconut oil?
Fantastic! I didn’t have any flax or chia so I used one egg + 1 egg white and they turned out perfectly.
So yummy! I substituted applesauce for a little more than half the oil and used Bobs Red Mill GF flour(not oat). Nice and chewy.
People! Don’t you get it?? A fricking ten yr old knows that chocolate chips contain frickin milk!!! That me! Chocolate is not vegan!
There are several brands of vegan chocolate chips available– my favorite is Enjoy Life brand.
I just found your date paste recipe….im trying to rid my life of sugar 🙂 do you think I could replace the coconut sugar with the date paste and still get good results?
Youare10 years old, aren’t you?
I replaced 3/4 Cup of oat flour with PBfit (defatted peanut powder). I used 2 flax eggs instead of the chia eggs. I had to adjust the consistency of the dough by adding 1 tablespoon of water. The cookies came out FANTASTIC! These are the first vegan GF cookies I’ve made that were not sticky-soft. They remind me very much of the traditional chocolate chip cookies from my childhood. Thank you for this well-thought-out recipe!
These are one of the best gluten free and vegan cookies I have made. I made these with Olive oil and added 1/2 tsp of baking soda and added only 1/2 cup of light brown sugar. sooo good
So I never comment on these but I had to THANK-YOU! These cookies, made with chia egg, have been a lifesaver for me to start off the school year. One thing you don’t mention in the title is that they are also NUT FREE which means they can go to school (YAY!!). They were also beautifully tasty – crisp on the outside and moist & tender on the inside – I had to freeze them or there would be non left for lunches! Being a paleo family it is truly hard to find a good tasting, non-processed, snack for my kids so again, thank-you!
So made these exactly according to the instructions, and they WERE delicious, but never achieved that dry, outer-cookie shell with chewy center or oven-gold brownness. Also, the dough was solid and slick with oil. Hard to form into cookies since the chocolate chips kept falling out. Perhaps it was my altitude, which is 387′ above sea level, but next time I’ll try less flour, and less oil? Maybe more chia egg. Idk XD It could have even been my oat flour.