Despite my love for cookies, I don’t have many cookie recipes on the blog, so I’m excited to share this recipe for Chocolate Chunk Vegan Pantry Cookies!
I wanted to create an “everything cookie” packed with all my favorite cookie mix-ins, a cookie that was indulgent and 100% satisfying (but maybe still a tad bit healthier than your standard cookie). This is that cookie!
Table of contents:
1. Why you’re going to like these cookies
2. Ingredient notes
3. Substitutions for this recipe
4. Tips for making this recipe
5. Recipe card with notes
PS: If you’re looking for more scrumptious chocolate desserts, I highly recommend my Bakery-Style Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins, my decadent but wholesome Vegan Chocolate Mousse, or my five-ingredient Vegan Fudge!
Why you’ll love these cookies
Everything cookie. These cookies truly have everything you love in cookies: chocolate, nuts, oats, chewy dried fruit. Yep, it’s all in there!
Indulgent but sort of healthyish. Despite being vegan and made with some better-for-you ingredients like vegan butter, flax eggs, almond butter, coconut sugar, and oatmeal, these cookies are very indulgent. Max, who’s not vegan and specifically asked for “not healthy cookies” gave them his seal of approval.
Edible dough. Like all eggless cookie doughs, this cookie dough is not only safe to eat but also incredibly delicious. The recipe says “makes 24 cookies,” but you’ll probably end up with 22ish cookies because the dough needs to be snacked on.
Easy to customize. As you can find in the section below on “substitutions,” these cookies are easy to adapt to what you have available in your pantry.
Ingredient notes
Vegan butter
Vegan butter not only brings that chewy texture you associate with a chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookie, but also a delectable buttery taste that isn’t often associated with vegan baked goods.
The recipe calls for bringing the butter to room temperature. To make the softening process quicker, simply slice the butter into small pieces. It’ll come to room temperature in about 15-20 minutes.
Almond Butter
I adore baking with almond butter. Like vegan butter or oil, it’s a source of fat, so it brings richness and moisture to the cookies. But it also brings a subtle nuttiness to the batter that I just love, especially in these cookies.
You want to make sure that use a smooth/creamy variety, not a crunchy variety, and stir it well before adding it in. I prefer almond butter brands that have no added oil or sugars, but if yours does have added sugar, you maybe want to use a tablespoon less of sugar.
Coconut Sugar or Brown Sugar
To keep these cookies a little healthier, you can use coconut sugar, which is a low GI sweetener. However, I do prefer them slightly better with sugar, as it has more moisture than coconut sugar and therefore makes the cookies moister (in a good way).
Flax Eggs
When I want a baked good with a chewy texture, my go-to egg replacement is a flax egg. I think it works perfectly in this recipe to create a cookie that has chewy edges but slightly gooey, soft centers.
All-Purpose Flour
I was lucky enough to run out of flour shortly before self-isolating took effect, so I bought a huge bag of flour shortly before it became a hot commodity!
Full disclaimer: I have not tried making these gluten-free but I suspect they should work with an all-purpose gluten-free baking flour. But again, I can’t guarantee how they’ll come out (if you try it, please leave your feedback below!).
Vegan Chocolate Chunks or Chips
I used vegan semi-sweet chocolate chunks from Enjoy Life Foods, though I typically would opt for dark chocolate chunks, such as these Whole Foods 365 brand of dark chocolate chunks. Since I haven’t been to Whole Foods in a month and it’s hard to get groceries delivered in NYC right now, I used what I had (I have an Enjoy Life vegan chocolate stash in my freezer, no shame!).
If you don’t have chocolate chunks, of course chocolate chips works just as well. And if you don’t have those either, you can just chop up some dark chocolate or vegan chocolate into small pieces.
Walnuts
A chunky everything cookie needs some kind of nut, so I chose walnuts for a few reasons. One, they’re the healthiest nut IMO (packed with omega 3 fatty acids); two, they’re relatively inexpensive for nuts (especially if you buy walnut pieces instead of whole walnuts); and three, I have a decent amount of walnuts at home.
Currants or Raisins
I used currants because I had some in my pantry, but I also like how tiny they are so they don’t take up too much space in the cookie. In an oatmeal raisin cookie, the raisin is front and center. But these are not oatmeal raisin cookies, so I want the raisin element to be more of a background element that you taste but that doesn’t overwhelm.
And since raisins are bigger than currants, I thought the currants would be more unassuming in the cookie (they were). That said, if you don’t have currants, raisins are totally fine. If you have the time (I know you do right now!), you could chop up the raisins into smaller pieces.
Substitutions for this recipe
Almond Butter
You can use another nut butter, such as peanut butter or cashew butter. Peanut butter will give them a marked peanutty taste. You could also use tahini for a nut-free variation. The tahini brands I regularly use are Soom Tahini, Seed + Mill, and the Whole Foods 365 brand (affiliate links). If you typically refrigerate your tahini, bring it to room temperature and stir well.
Flax Egg
No ground flax meal at home? Try making a chia egg! Just use 2 tablespoons chia seeds and 5 tablespoons water. Stir and allow it to rest for at least 5 minutes until it thickens into a gel-like texture.
Mix Ins
You can substitute vegan/nondairy chocolate chunks with chocolate chips, or just finely chop up your favorite chocolate bar.
If you don’t have walnuts, pecans would be the next best substitute. If you’re allergic to nuts, omit them entirely or substitute with something like sunflower seeds or hemp seeds for a nice crunch (and be sure to use tahini in lieu of the almond butter).
As I mentioned above, if you don’t have currants, you can chop raisins into smaller pieces. But you could also use dried cranberries or cherries!
Tips for making this recipe
1. Start by removing the vegan butter from the fridge so it can come to room temperature. Then make the flax egg and let it rest in the fridge for 15 minutes.
2. Once you’ve mixed the dry and wet ingredients, the dough should be fairly thick but still a bit moist. If it feels dry or crumbly, add in a splash of plant milk until it moistens up a bit. I find that using brown sugar (in lieu of coconut sugar) makes for a slightly more moist dough.
If you give these Chocolate Chunk Vegan Pantry Cookies a try, be sure to tag me on Instagram with your recreations and please comment with your feedback below!
Sending you all positive thoughts, warm wishes, and hugs from a safe 6-foot distance!
Chocolate Chunk Vegan Pantry Cookies
Ingredients
WET INGREDIENTS
- 6 tablespoons (84g) vegan butter, softened at room temperature
- 6 tablespoons (96g) smooth/creamy almond butter, stirred well*
- 1 cup (150g) brown sugar or coconut sugar**
- 2 tablespoons (14g) ground flaxseed meal
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 1 1/2 cups (180g) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled (can sub with gluten-free all-purpose flour)***
- Heaping 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups (145g****) old-fashioned rolled oats (use certified gluten-free rolled oats as needed)
MIX-INS
- 5 ounces (142g) vegan chocolate chunks or vegan chocolate chips, divided*****
- 3/4 cup (84g) walnuts or pecans, chopped into small pieces
- 1/2 cup (75g) currants (or raisins, preferably chopped into smaller pieces)
- Flaky sea salt (optional)
Instructions
- Remove the vegan butter from the fridge to come to room temperature. Whisk together the flaxseed meal with 5 tablespoons (72 mL) water until well combined. Place in the fridge for 15 minutes to help it gel and set. These are your “flax eggs.”
- Preheat the oven to 325°F/163°C. Line two half-sheet pans or large cookie trays with parchment paper.
- Cream the wet ingredients. Use the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or use a large bowl with an electric handheld mixer. Add the softened vegan butter, almond butter, and coconut sugar or brown sugar and beat well until the ingredients are well incorporated. Add in the flax eggs and vanilla extract, and mix again until everything is well combined.
- Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Stir in the oats to combine.
- Combine the wet and dry. Add the flour-oat mixture to the butter mixture. Using the mixer on low speed, beat until the dough is well combined.1. NOTE: The dough should be thick yet still a bit moist, but if the dough appears very dry and crumbly (likely a result of adding too much flour), add in a spoon or two of plant-based milk to give it some moisture.
- Fold in the mix-ins. Using a silicone spatula, fold into the batter all but 1 ounce (all but 28g) of the the chocolate chunks/chips, along with the walnuts/pecans and currants/raisins. Set aside the remaining chocolate chunks/chips.
- Use your hands or a 2-tablespoon cookie scooper to scoop the dough and roll into uniform-sized balls. Line them on the baking sheet (up to 12 per half sheet) and gently press down on the dough a bit to slightly flatten. Add a piece or two the reserved chocolate chunks/chips in the center.
- Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly golden. They’ll look somewhat unbaked, but they’ll continue firming up a bit as they rest. Remove from the oven immediately sprinkle with a bit of flaky sea salt, if desired. Let the cookies rest in the pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Devour. Best when still warm :)
Notes
Wow. These might be my favourite biscuits, ever. I didn’t have almond butter so used crunchy peanut butter instead. The tiny pieces of chopped raisin and walnut make it extra special. Thank you for another gorgeous recipe!
Your review made our day, Julia! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and for trying out the recipe.
This is my second time making these pantry cookies! I only swapped vegan butter for coconut oil, and used roasted sesame seeds instead nuts as a mix-in. And if you happen to have bread flour instead of all-purpose, the 1:1 swap works beautifully.
Your positive feedback is the best reward for our hard work. Thank you, Christina!
I made these exactly according to the recipe and they couldn’t be more yummy. I just ate one straight out of the oven so the chocolate was melted and the combination of flavors delicious thank you, Nisha!
Your review made our day, Kimberly! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and for trying out the recipe.
Those cookies will stay in my recipe boxe , I used all organic whole wheat flour I reduced the palm sugar to 3/4 cup in case it would be too sweet , I only used 1/4 cup of 75% cocoa chocolate chips , 1/3 cup of chopped dates , sliced almond , pumpkin seeds , walnuts and 1/4 unsweetened coconut , I made my own sunflower butter I can taste it in the cookies . The texture is perfect I baked mine for 15 minutes I like crunchy cookies they were perfect . The only thing missing is a tad more spices maybe nutmeg or pumpkin spice . If you like sweeter cookies the 1 cup of palm sugar is perfect and not that sweet mine weren’t at 3/4 cup . Thank you
I am making your spinach &artichoke dip for Christmas I report back !
Hi Brigitte, thank you for the lovely review! :)
Delicious! Tastes like my two favorite cookies, oatmeal and chocolate chip.
We’re so happy that the cookies turned out well for you, Courtney. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and for trying out the recipe!
You know when you read a recipe review and the person writes, “I give this recipe 5 stars and I changed 5 things.” Well, this is kind of the same way. I used 1/4 c oatmilk instead of nut butter. And I skipped the oatmeal because oatmeal gives me stomach problems and I upped the flour. I put in both brown sugar and white sugar. brown sugar (1 cup). White sugar (1/4 cup). I used chocolate chips only. It came out FANTASTIC.
We’re glad you were able to tailor the recipe to your preferences, Anna! Thanks for sharing!
These turned out amazing!
I used my own butter substitute (half olive/half coconut oil) and had to replace the flour with GF flour (my mix chickpea+almond+cornstarch).
The fat-moistness-chewiness-softness thing going on is amazing.
I did half of the batch with dates instead of chocolate and I liked them even better!
Yum, Sounds like you made these cookies your own, Leop!
Next time, would you mind leaving a rating alongside your review? Star ratings are big help to readers who are thinking of making the recipe. Thanks!
My mix-ins were walnuts, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds. I also did a mix of coconut sugar/brown sugar and subbed out the all-purpose flour with whole wheat pastry flour and it worked out great! I don’t like raisins and omitted those and added a couple tablespoons of edensoy milk since the dough was a little dry but baked up and rested they turned out phenomenal. My boyfriend doesn’t like chocolate but I use lily’s dark chocolate chips and he enjoys these cookies very much.
Hi Melissa, we’re so happy you enjoyed the cookies! Thanks for leaving a review :)
Whipped these up for game night and they were a win! These cookies were not complicated to make. The flax mixture seemed shady at first (I have never used this before), and the next thing I know I am chatting proudly about it at dinner! Thank you for these awesome recipes!
Hi Katie, Thank you so much for such a fantastic review! So great to hear the recipe worked well for you, and welcome to the world of egg substitutions :) Flax egg is a staple in many vegan baking recipes!
I absolutely love these cookies! So moist and chewy and moreish! Do you think I could make these using whole wheat flour, and by using only the almond/peanut butter?
Hi Teju, we’re glad you love them! We haven’t tried making them with whole wheat flour so would recommend replacing only half of the flour with whole wheat at first and seeing how they turn out. And what do you mean by “using only the almond/peanut butter?”
Hi Kaitlin, thanks for your reply! I basically mean, can I use 12 tbsp of almond butter instead of using 6 spoons of plant based butter and 6 of almond butter?
No problem Teju! We aren’t sure because we haven’t tried it ourselves, but from what we read online, it seems like it could? We are hesitant to recommend it, though, because the recipe won’t turn out like originally written. If you try the substitution, please let us know how it goes!
Will do – thanks so much!!!
You’re welcome!
OMG these are sooooo good!! This is the first plant based baking recipe I’ve ever made and I came to your site because I’ve really enjoyed your bolognese and chili recipe that I had a strong feeling your cookie recipe would be spot on!! I’ll be putting this recipe in my regular repertoire. My add-ins were cranberries and mini choc chips but next time I’ll make sure to have nuts on hand to add in as well.
Thanks for sharing, J :) We are so glad the recipe didn’t disappoint!