These vegan red velvet cookies are perfectly crispy on the outside with warm, soft middles! Deliciously perfect in every way!
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Vegan Red Velvet Cake is a classic, but sometimes you don’t to make that much of a dessert. Or if you are like this house, you’d prefer cookies over cake. Luckily, these vegan red velvet cookies will hit the spot every single time.
The are the perfect combo of textures – having both a crispy outside and the gooey and soft middles. We absolutely love this combo together and know you will too!
We’re also really excited to be bringing you another vegan dessert option with white chocolate chips! As they become more and more available for everyone, we’re excited to be veganizing some awesome ideas.
They are also perfect for Valentine’s Day but also so much more!
Tips on how to make the best Vegan Red Velvet Cookies recipe:
Here’s some easy tips on making the best vegan red velvet chocolate chip cookies recipe:
- Preheat the oven before you making your dough and let it preheat for at least 30 minutes.
- 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 Red Velvet 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:
- Flour – We are using all purpose flour for this recipe.
- Cocoa Powder – Red Velvet classic taste comes from the addition of cocoa powder, so we are using that in these as well
- Flax Egg – Our egg replacer of choice here. It’s simple to use and works perfectly while being neutral in flavor.
- 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 and Soda– helps again with the softness and helping us get that thick texture
- Vegan White Chocolate Chips – We are using white vegan chips that you can now easily find. The Great Value Top 8 Free white chips are what we are using here as they are vegan friendly. Enjoy Life and Pascha are other brands.
- Red Food Dye– What we are using to get the iconic red color
SUBSTITUTIONS AND VARIATIONS:
- Flours – You could also do gluten free 1:1 flour blend like King Arthur or Bob’s.
- Flax Egg – You can sub with ½ cup 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 semi-sweet chips or dark chocolate or a combination of them all for a different taste
- Red Food Dye – You could try beet powder for this, but we have not tested to see the color difference
Frequently Asked Questions on how to make the best Vegan Red Velvet 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 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.
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 white chocolate chips?
If you are looking to just find vegan white chocolate chips in the store, then you can absolutely find them. They are actually getting easier and easier.
Walmart’s Great Value Top 8 Free line of chocolate chips includes white chocolate chips and they are vegan friendly and affordable. Another option is Enjoy Life or Pascha.
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 Red Velvet Cookies for later!
🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Vegan Red Velvet Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon ground flax seed
- 6 tablespoon water
- ½ cup vegan butter, softened
- 1 cup vegan brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup vegan cane sugar
- 2-3 teaspoon red food dye
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3 tablespoon cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ½ cups vegan white chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375˚F (190˚C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, add the ground flax seed and water together. Set aside (this makes a flax egg)
- In a large bowl, add the softened vegan butter and both sugars. Beat together for 4-6 minutes or until light and creamy.
- Add in flax egg mixture, vanilla extract and red dye. Beat them just until combined (about 20-30 seconds).
- Sift in flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Use a spatula to stir together just until combined. DO NOT OVERMIX.
- Fold in white chocolate chips. Scoop out cookies (4oz cookies using an ice cream scoop shown in photos).
- Bake the cookies for 12-14 mins. Remove from oven and let rest about 10-15 mins to set.
- Store any leftovers in an air tight container.
Definitely didn’t come out good with GF 1:1 flour.
Hi John. We’ve made these ourselves w/ GF flour so I’d love to know more of what didn’t work for you. Texture, taste? What type of GF flour did you use. Let’s troubleshoot!
Love this cookie! They look like mushroom tops, so whimsical. They are so moist, and have that unique red velvet flavor. We made it loads during the holidays and it’s become a house fave.
I love that and agree about the mushrooms LOL!
Last year we went all out and made 8 different cookies for the holidays. Too much! This year I told my daughter to pick 2. These were one of her picks : ) love them, thank you!
Ahh, we’re honored!
EXCELLENT, DELISH, WOW!
These Vegan Red Velvet Cookies really hit the spot and what a nice change. I added a few chopped walnuts to a few and now I’m considering adding pistachios for the holidays.
(Based on how many I’ve eaten so far, I think I might reduce the sugar and chips a bit next time in order to reduce the calories.)
Thanks Larisha.
LOL, love it. I think the pistachios would be such a fun addition
These were good ! More on the super sweet side , I was wishing it had a more tangy flavor and actually tasted like red velvet , they tasted more like a sweet red cookie! Over all good 👍
Thanks for the feedback
These were okay: too sweet and missing the tang of a cream cheese frosting that usually accompanies a red velvet dessert. I was so excited to make them because they look beautiful but they were underwhelming. If I were to make them again, I think they would be better by omitting the 1/4 C of white sugar (they’re too sweet as-is) and reducing the amount of white-chocolate chips by half.
I’m curious if you used mini vegan white chocolate chips when stating it’s too sweet. Could you provide feedback?