These delicious Vegan Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies are perfectly crispy on the outside with a warm, gooey center, and super thick middle. You’ll beg for more!
We have made A LOT of vegan cookies here (over 20 to be exact). Veganizing all of our favorites and some of yours too. However, these Vegan Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies may just be the best yet.
If you have never heard of these cookies before, they are an ode to the infamous Levain Bakery. They started in New York City in 1995 and are known for there insanely thick cookies with gooey centers and the perfect crisp outside texture. It’s the best of all the worlds on cookie lovers, and today we are veganizing them.
Still super thick. Still gooey on the inside. And still have that crispy outside. Proving yet again, we can veganize it all (It just may take a lot of trial and error and time).
Oh, and they just need 9 ingredients and only one bowl. Oh yes, let’s make a double batch!
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Tips on how to make the best Vegan Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe:
We list a ton of tips above and highly recommend that you read each one if before you cook your cookies; however, if you want the short version here’s some easy tips on making the best vegan chocolate chip cookies recipe.
- Preheat the oven before you start making your dough and let it preheat for at least 30 minutes.
- Make sure to watch the video before making
- Use a cookie scoop to ensure uniform size of cookies so they bake at an even temperature.
- Don’t make substitutions unless you are aware of the changes it will make to your cookies
- Watch your cookies in the oven as all oven temperatures are different you may need to pull out your cookies earlier or leave longer
Vegan Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies INGREDIENTS:
Below are notes about the main ingredients before we get into the full recipe located lower in this post on how to make this easy vegan dessert recipe:
- Flours – We are using all purpose flour and cake flour for this recipe. Cake flour helps to make the cookies lighter and fluffier. When you combine the two in this way for cookies, you get an impeccable texture.
- Flax Egg – Our egg replacer of choice here. When you combine ground flax seed and water together and let it sit it will become gelatinous. This is called a flax egg
- Vegan Butter – we need oil in cookies for moisture and the best texture. It also provides the richness we expect cookies to have
- Brown and Cane Sugar – We are using both brown and cane sugar. Obviously it’s about sweetening, but the amount of brown sugar we are adding here also helps with the softness of the cookies thanks to the presence of molasses. If you want to learn more about why your sugar may not be vegan, you can learn more by clicking on the link.
- Baking Powder – helps again with the softness and helping us get that thick texture
- Vegan Chocolate Chips – We are using semi-sweet vegan chips that you can now easily find.
- Walnuts – The original Levain Bakery cookies have walnuts, and we personally love chocolate and walnuts together, so it was delicious and we recommend it!
SUBSTITUTIONS AND VARIATIONS:
- Flours – You can do the entire amount of just all-purpose flour, but you will get some texture changes. What we recommend instead is where the recipe calls for ¾ cake flour to measure out ¾ all-purpose and then remove 1 tablespoon of the flour, replace this with cornstarch. It will give a similar effect to you adding the cake flour. Alternatively, you could also do gluten free 1:1 flour blend like King Arthur or Bob’s.
- Flax Egg – You can sub the flax egg with ½ cup unsweetened applesauce. That would be our first preference, but you could also sub the same amount of banana, pumpkin or sweet potato puree, or non-dairy yogurt. Some of these may alter taste and texture.
- Brown and Cane Sugar – You can try coconut or date granulated sugars, but we have not tested these.
- Vegan Chocolate Chips – Try vegan white chips or dark chocolate or a combination of them all
Frequently Asked Questions on how to make the best Vegan Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Can I make these Top 8 Allergen Free?
Whether you have a gluten allergy or dairy or another Top 8, you will be happy to know that you can make these completely free of top allergens.
For the vegan butter, we would recommend using a soy free vegan butter, like Earth Balance soy free in the red tub
For gluten free, we have had the best of luck with King Arthur Measure for Measure flour.
Can I make any substitutions?
Besides the substitutions above for making Top 8 Allergen free, we are frequently asked if you can make them without vegan butter or swap out the sugar for a healthy sugar source.
The answer is yes, but. Yes, you can, but the taste and texture is obviously going to differ once you start making any changes.
For the butter you could make these Vegan Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies with applesauce by replacing in the same amount.
For the sugar, we would recommend just replacing with a coconut sugar versus something else.
Can I prep these ahead?
Yes! Let cool completely and then leave in an air tight container on the counter for up to 5 days.
Can I freeze the dough?
Of course. Whether you want to eat the entire batch at one time or you just need a couple here and there, you can totally roll out what you need and then freeze the remaining batter in an air tight freezer container or bag
Can I refrigerate the dough until ready to use?
Absolutely! Make the dough ahead, cover the bowl and place in the fridge up to a week.
It does take very chilled cookies longer to cook so check after the recommended baking time and you may need an additional few minutes to finish your cookies.
What is vegan sugar?
In the United States, most sugar has been processed through bone char. While there are no animal parts left in the sugar, many vegans are not okay with the practice of using animal parts in the refining process.
This refers to white sugar, brown sugar, and powdered sugar.
One easy way to ensure that your sugar has not been processed with bone char is to look for Organic or Non-Gmo sugars as bone char is not allowed with either of these.
Some sugar packages also say bone char free.
This is not the case in most other countries.
What makes these Vegan Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies easy?
First, if you are newly vegan and looking for something that reminds you of traditional chocolate chip cookies without sacrificing anything in texture or taste, then this is the easiest recipe you are going to find.
Also, it’s only made in one bowl, there’s only 9 ingredients, and you don’t need to chill the dough before using, which means you can have cookies ready to eat in under 20 minutes.
Are vegan chocolate chip cookies healthy?
When you eat a cookie like this, you release serotonin which is always a healthy thing to have happen.
This recipe does contain vegan butter and vegan sugar; however both of those could be replaced with substitutions like applesauce and coconut sugar to make healthier, although the taste and texture would differ.
Can I eat this cookie dough?
Many people believe that since there’s no eggs in the dough, that they could just eat the dough; however, flour is actually more a risk for salmonella poisoning than eggs.
For that reason, we do not recommend eating this dough.
However, we do have an edible vegan chocolate chip cookie dough that you can eat. As well as a gluten free edible vegan chocolate chip cookie dough.
Are chocolate chips vegan?
Traditionally, milk chocolate chips are not vegan; however, many dark chocolate chips can be vegan.
The main ingredient that makes a cookie not vegan is either milk or whey (whey powder). If those ingredients are not included in the ingredient list, then the chocolate chips are likely vegan.
You could also make your own vegan chocolate chips by following a homemade chocolate recipe and then piping chips instead.
Where do you find vegan chocolate chips?
If you are looking to just find vegan chocolate chips in the store, then you can absolutely find them. They are actually getting easier and easier.
One of our favorites is Enjoy Life, and they can be found in most grocery stores, Target, Walmart, and stores like Whole Foods and natural grocery stores. They are Top 8 Allergen Free and do not contain and dairy or eggs making them completely vegan.
Stores like Whole Foods will also have a large variety of other vegan chocolate chips like Lilys or Chatfields.
What are your favorite vegan chocolate chips?
We have a tendency to just stick with Enjoy Life or the Top 8 Allergen Free Organic line from Great Value (Walmart). They are easiest to find and they taste almost indistinguishable from traditional chips.
However, if we found a good dark chocolate bar that we like, for example Aldi’s 70% cacao bars, then sometimes we use those too.
Should my dough be sticky?
No. If you have sticky dough and followed the instructions, it could be because of the altitude that you live at or maybe things weren’t measure entirely correctly.
In the case of your dough because sticky, we first recommend that you watch the video.
After that, you can able a few tablespoons of flour at a time until the dough is no longer sticky.
What are other awesome vegan cookie ideas that I should make?
Whether you are doing a cookie exchange or you just want to switch up and make a new vegan cookie recipe, we have you covered.
We have over a dozen vegan cookie recipes that you can find when you click on our best vegan cookie recipes roundup.
We have everything from the salted caramel cookies you see above, as well as things like:
- vegan snickerdoodles
- vegan classic sugar cookies
- vegan peanut butter cookies
- vegan oatmeal cookies
- and more!
Just click here.
Pin these easy Vegan Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies for later:
Vegan Levain Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon ground flax seed
- 6 tbsp water
- ½ cup vegan butter, cold, sliced into tablespoon pats (115g)
- ¾ cup vegan brown sugar, packed (160g)
- ¼ cup vegan cane sugar (30g)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ cup all purpose flour (150g)
- ¾ cup cake flour (90g)*See notes below
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips (340g)
- 1 cup walnuts, (115g) chopped, OPTIONAL
- salt flakes for topping, OPTIONAL
Instructions
- In a small bowl, add the ground flax and water. Stir together, set aside. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, add vegan butter and both sugars. Beat with a mixer (stand or hand) for 4-6 minutes. It should be light and creamy.
- Add vanilla extract and flax mixture. Beat them until combined (about 20-30 seconds).
- To the same bowl, add the flours, baking powder and salt and beat just until combined. DO NOT OVERMIX.
- Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts (if adding).
- Use a large ice cream scoop or your hands to make 6 cookies and place on a baking sheet. Optional, place a few more chocolate chips on the the tops of the cookies. Chill cookies in the fridge for 30 minutes. While waiting, preheat oven to 375˚F (190˚C).
- Bake the cookies for 15-18 mins. Remove from oven and let rest about 15 – 20 mins to set. Add salt flakes if desired.
- Store any leftovers in an air tight container.
Devona
tried this recipe, my oven runs hot so bake at 350 for 18 min and 30 sec. let sit on pan after coming out for about 5 min before transferring to cooling rack. paired with Wicked plant based vanilla bean ice cream. PERFECT!!! THANK YOU 😊
LarishaBernard
ahhh so happy to hear that it worked well for you!
Christine
Oh my goodness, these are SO delicious!! Wow. I had to use gluten free flour, so I subbed Bob’s Red Mill GF 1:1 for all the flour, and they turned out great. Will definitely make these again!
LarishaBernard
So glad to hear that!
Lindsay
I’ve made this recipe three times and love it. My sister requested them for Thanksgiving. I was wondering If I could make the cookies, bake them and then freeze them?
LarishaBernard
Love that. You can. We prefer to make the dough and freeze the dough, but you can do it that way too
George davila
I love these cookies!!!!! can’t get enough of them👍👍👍
Larisha Bernard
YAY!
Mabel
These cookies came out perfect and were a hit in my house. Everyone got chocolate on their mouths lol! Will definitely do this again as gifts for the holidays.
Pamela
This looks amazing! If I substitute the flours for King Arthur gluten-free measure for measure, do I still need to remove one Tablespoon of gluten free flour and replace with Cornstarch? And does the gluten free flour dramatically change the texture of the cookies?
LarishaBernard
Hi Pamela. We would still recommend adding the cornstarch in the same way. These still won’t be the same as GF flours are more dense
Jenny
I made these for the first time over the weekend, and they are the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made, hands down. With the exception of leaving out the walnuts because some people in our house aren’t fans (I know), I followed the recipe exactly. Baked them on the middle rack of my large bottom oven for 18 minutes and they turned out beautifully. I’m actually making them again right now because my daughter needs to bring a treat for her Pre-K graduation. These cookies are so delicious—soft, substantial, and chock full of melty, sweet chocolate chips. The cake flour makes all the difference, so I highly recommend using it if you can. It makes the cookies fluffy but not cakey, and so, so delicious. I can see myself making these a lot!
LarishaBernard
Wow, what a great review. We’re so happy that you loved them so much
Janette
Thank you for this recipe! For some reason, cookies had been a challenge for me until this recipe. I’ve made it 3 times so far & the cookies were delicious each time. You even motivated me to dust off my stand mixer! That’s a big win for me! LOL! Anyway, thanks for your content. Y’all are great! 🫶🏽🤤
LarishaBernard
We are so happy to hear that you have been enjoying them so much. We can’t wait to hear what you make next with your mixer!
Lynn
Really enjoyed these, thank you
CC
hi there! i think your metric conversions are a little off. Do you have the grams conversion for the flour amounts pls? Thanks!
Larisha Bernard
We’ve fixed the website, sorry about that!
Frenchie
Will you make these and ship them to me? Will you make the choc chip ones for me?
LarishaBernard
haha maybe one day
Susan
I’ve made these twice now and they do NOT disappoint! I made them the size it says in the recipe the first time and they were great. This time I actually made regular cookies with them just to try and they are still JUST how I like them. I personally decrease the chocolate chips by a half of a cup because I like a little less chocolate to cookie ratio but thats just personal preference. 🙂
LarishaBernard
So happy that you are enjoying them so much!
Susan
These are the absolute BEST cookies I have ever had. The detailed instructions in the post really helped me become a better baker. Thank you for such an amazing recipe!
LarishaBernard
So happy to hear you loved them and found the post helpful! Thanks for sharing
Katerina Kugel
These are so bomb!! Question, I made them for almost 20 min and they came out perfect consistency but look kind of pale? I’d love to give them that perfect toasty look like in the pictures. Can you recommend anything? Is it just using a darker brown sugar? Thanks!
LarishaBernard
So glad that you like them! the brown sugar can affect it, but so can the tray you use (darker vs lighter), placement in the oven, and more
Tess
Have these sitting in the fridge at the moment, waiting to bake. I absolutely LOVE everything you post and I’ve made multiple recipes so far. You even inspired me to get a stand mixer – these cookies were my first time using it! Been vegan almost a year ago and I love indulging on homemade sweets from your recipes! THANK YOU!!!
LarishaBernard
So glad that you are enjoying everything!
Elena Christinne
Our new favorite!! We used to follow Alton Brown’s chocolate chip cookie recipe but decided to try yours. Loved your tips about not overmixing it makes a difference. Can’t believe how stressfree it was to make. We loved it even the ones with nuts (my girls don’t like any kind of nuts) I did make them smaller, temperature + cooking time worked the same.
LarishaBernard
So glad to hear that everyone loved them and you found the tips easy!