30 Minute Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
These Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookies are so delicious you won’t even miss the dairy! They are gooey on the inside and crispy on the edges. The best part is that you do not have to chill these cookies and they can be ready in less than 30 minutes!
Most cookie recipes from scratch call for dairy ingredients like butter because it creates the structure, texture, and shape in a cookie when used in different ways. For example, if you used melted butter in your cookies the texture is chewy, more fudgy, and gooey than if you use softened butter.
If you have a dairy allergy or other dietary restrictions it can be super frustrating to find a delicious chocolate chip cookie that can taste like the real thing!
As a trained pastry chef, I’ve carefully tested this dairy free chocolate chip cookie recipe to be 100% free of dairy, AND have given it out to taste testers who were shocked after eating it that it didn’t have any dairy in it at all!
It’s so good I even used this cookie base as the batter in my homemade brookies recipe!
Like my small batch chocolate chip cookies, these cookies are chewy and fudgy in the center and have crispy outer edges, which makes the most perfect cookie in my opinion! They are stuffed with dairy free chocolate chips too so you get that chocolatey goodness you’re craving.
Because we keep a kosher home we don’t mix meat or milk ingredients together, and we don’t serve dairy desserts after eating a meat meal. These dairy free cookies are on frequent rotation! You can even turn this into a giant cookie cake by replacing the dairy ingredients!
If you happen to run out of brown sugar then dont worry, you can make chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar! I even have a recipe for chocolate chipless cookies!
The best dairy free baking ingredients to use
Butter- Instead of butter, these cookies use Earth Balance which is a dairy-free butter alternative that acts just like the real thing in baking! It’s my favorite vegan butter to use because it comes in sticks just like dairy butter, and you can use it as a 1:1 substitute.
Chocolate Chips- Dairy-free chocolate chips can be found in most grocery stores and are made without milk while keeping their rich chocolate sweetness. My favorite brands are the ones from Trader Joe’s or Enjoy Life.
Please measure your flour correctly
In the comments Ive seen lots of people have issues with a dry crumbly batter. Yes I have tested and retested this recipe AND I have made it almost a hundred times over the last 5 years.
If you have a dry and crumbly batter you used too much flour. Full stop. You need to weigh your flour instead of using a measuring cup.
If you pack too much flour into a measuring cup by scooping, it can mess with the batter and make it dry and crumbly.
If you dont have a scale, then carefully spoon flour into a measuring cup and level it off. Do not, I repeat do not scoop your flour with a measuring cup.
Also this recipe takes a little bit longer for the flour to absorb into the rest of the ingredients, just keep mixing!
As a professional baker, thank you for following these expert directions.
How to make them
Prepare for baking: Preheat the oven to 350° F and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.
Dont forget to scoot the cookies- immediately after they come out of the oven, place a larger round cookie cutter over the cookie and move your hand around super fast. This will make them spread and gooey- BUT you have to do it while they are still super hot from the oven or it wont work.
Remove and cool: Once finished, let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for three minutes before letting them cool completely on a wire rack. Enjoy!
TIPS FOR RECIPE SUCCESS
- Scooting the cookies will help them form perfectly round shapes.
- Pressing chocolate chips into the top of the cookie gives a beautiful presentation, as well as adding a little extra chocolate in each bite.
- To customize, try mixing in other textured ingredients such as nuts, dried fruit, or shredded coconut.
- Make these cookies gluten free by using a gluten free flour blend that is a 1:1 substitute for regular flour.
STORAGE AND FREEZING
Storing: Once fully cooled, dairy free chocolate chip cookies can be stored in an airtight container on your counter for up to 5 days. They do not need to be refrigerated.
Freezing: These dairy free chocolate chip cookies can also be frozen after baking. Let them cool completely, then place them on a sheet tray and freeze until solid. Transfer to a ziplock bag or airtight container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. When ready to eat, let them thaw on the countertop before enjoying them.
You can also freeze the dough by following the recipe up until baking time. Instead freeze the dough balls on a cookie sheet, then after one hour transfer them to a zip top bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake for an extra 1 minute from the freezer!
30 Minute Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup (106 g) dairy free butter, such as Earth Balance, melted
- ⅔ cup (146.67 g) brown sugar, packed
- 2 tbsp (2 tbsp) white sugar
- 2 (2) egg yolks, whites discarded
- 1 tsp (1 tsp) vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cup (210 g) all purpose flour
- ¼ tsp (0.25 tsp) baking powder
- ½ tsp (0.5 tsp) baking soda
- ¼ tsp (0.25 tsp) kosher salt
- 1 ½ cup (270 g) semi sweet dark chocolate chips, dairy free
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350° F and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium sized microwave safe bowl melt the 1/2 cup vegan butter. Add the 2/3 cup brown sugar and 2 tbsp white sugar and mix till smooth.
- Add the 2 egg yolks and 1 tsp vanilla extract and mix again.
- Add in the 1 3/4 cups flour, 1/4 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/4 tsp kosher salt and stir till dough forms.
- Stir in the 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips. Leave out a handful of chocolate on the side and add the rest into the batter. Mix until evenly combined.
- Scoop out the dough using a 3 tbsp cookie scoop, or using two tablespoons for one cookie dough ball. Press the leftover chocolate pieces all over the tops of each cookie. Place on a cookie sheet leaving 1.5 inch space between each one and bake for 12-14 minutes or until the bottom of the cookie is golden brown.
- To make perfectly round cookies- immediately after baking place a cookie cutter or bowl that is larger than the cookie and move your hand in a fast circular motion to round the cookies into perfect circles.
- Cool for 3 minutes on the cookie sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
My dough is very dry and lumpy, I followed the reciepe instructions. I hope that adding a tad more melted butter will work!
Hi Dolly! How did you measure your flour? The best way is to either measure it or spoon and level it into the measuring cup. If you scoop the flour you can use too my by accident.
I experienced the same thing! I thought I was crazy. I ended up just making more of the wet ingredient mixture until it looked the right consistency, but also my plant butter was super oily so they were very oily. Cookies came out alright though! Ended up making twice the wet ingredient mixture and the cookies turned out tasting more like sugar cookies with chocolate chips but they still taste nice
Thanks Kayli! This is good to know that Dolly isn’t the only one who experienced this! I haven’t had this happen when I make a batch for my family, but I might do some experimenting to see if I can re-create this and if it’s the plant butter oil in different brands throwing things off.
can i use canola oil instead of the butter?
Hi Lauren, I have not tested it that way. Oil to butter substitute is not 1:1 so I cant give an exact answer on this.
I used regular butter
I tried making them and the dough tastes better than the cookie. I did everything right but the cookie was more cake than the gooey cookie that it says it would be. I was so disappointed. It almost tastes like Irish soda bread, but with choc chips instead of raisins haha. I have no clue what went wrong as I tried twice (same recipie just diff sized cookie) and it turned out cakey both times :((
Hi Monique- that is very strange considering ive made these so so many times. I am wondering how you are measuring the flour? The best way is with a kitchen scale, or to spoon flour into a measuring cup and then leveling it off. Also make sure when you measure ingredients like baking soda/powder that you are leveling that off too so you dont put too much in accidentally.
Hi Sam! Thank you for taking the time to figure out how to sub receipes with the non-dairy butters! I made these, scooped my flour with a spoon and they ended up dry, firm and more cake like than we hoped. I only baked for 12 minutes. I don’t have a kitchen scale, but maybe it still was too much flour. I’m so happy not to have flat, runny cookies that we will try again with less flour!
Yay Tami! I am so, so glad the substitutions helped. I definitely recommend trying with less flour. It’s so easy to add just slightly too much when you aren’t using a scale so that’s my guess on why it might have been dry too! Let me know how the second batch goes!
I followed the recipe to the T but they didn’t turn out at all.
Oh no Elizabeth! Thank you so much for giving this one a try! Can you tell me more about the texture before you popped them in the oven? I’d love to help you troubleshoot.
I followed the recipe and ingredient quantities exactly. My dough was extremely crumbly and dry. I ended up adding a bit more melted butter so I could form the cookies. They still ended up being very cake like and did not spread ):
Hey Caroline! Thank you so much for giving it a try. This one is super sensitive. Did you weigh out the flour or use measuring cups? Sometimes that’s the culprit. I also find this one takes more mixing than most recipes. The flour absorbs into the dough slower and so sometimes you have to put in some extra muscle mixing it together. Either way I’m so honored you tried one of my recipes! If you ever give it another go, know that I am here to help troubleshoot!
I whipped these together in 30 minutes or less. I didn’t have any eggs so I used 4 tbsp of unsweetened apple sauce instead and just added a tiny bit more flour to make up for the additional liquid from the apple sauce.
They turned out absolutely delicious! Will make again!
YAY! Love a quick and easy bake Amilia! That’s such a great egg substitute! Thank you for sharing your tweak! I’m so happy they turned out delicious for you. Hope you get to make them again soon! 💕
I read the comments, I followed the directions and my cookies didn’t “melt down” in fact they retained the dry crumbled shape they were in when I put them on the pan. My son was brave enough to try them and said they were grainy and way too chocolaty. Disappointed and threw the rest of the “batter crumble” away. Sad to have wasted an expensive bag of dairy free chips.
Hi Misty! Have you read through the whole post? If you dont measure the flour with a scale you can add too much accidentally making them dry and crumbly.
Amazing!!! The dough is different than a typical cookie dough, it’s pretty dry and crumbly, but it works if you just pack it into dough balls. I keep the recipe exactly as is other than slightly fewer chocolate chips and they are the best cookies. My whole family loves them and I’ve had multiple people ask me for the recipe!
Thanks Brooke! So glad everyone loves them! Just to troubleshoot-ff the dough is dry and crumbly then that means too much flour was added. If your not using a scale this can happen easily. Just keep in mind!
I came on here just to see if anyone else’s dough was extremely crumbly making it difficult to make balls for the cookie sheet. I see many did feel the same way. I’m just baking them now so hopefully they’ll turn out. 🤞
Hiya! This is a common problem if there is too much flour added to the dough. I mentioned it in the blog post and in each of the comments here to make sure! Its always better to weigh your flour because measuring cups pack too much in and thats what causes them to be dry and crumbly. Ive never actually had an issue with this 🙂
Huh well I’ve never heard of weighing flour before. Thanks for letting me know. I’ll probably stick with my favourite chocolate chip recipes instead of using this one again though. But thanks anyway!
No problem. Yep weighing ingredients is done by using a kitchen scale and its the most accurate way to bake. I can understand if you dont want to do that but measuring cups leave lots of room for error which is why the dough came out dry and crumbly. Thanks for trying though!
Hi Sam. I made mine with agave instead of the white sugar and whole wheat pastry flour. The dough was very crumbly, so I added a tablespoon of water. That made it the doughy consistency I wanted. But…they aren’t spreading at all. So I’ve smushed them a bit with the back of a spoon so they aren’t just balls. What should I do next time so that they spread? Thanks.
-Michelle
Hi Michelle- unfortunately if you didnt follow the recipe as listed then youre not going to have the same results. Whole wheat pastry flour doesnt have the same properties and I only tested this with regular flour and sugar. The only other thing I always make sure to do is to weigh my flour because even if youre as accurate as you can be with a measuring cup you run the risk of still adding too much flour which can change the consistency of the cookies.
I’m shocked at how harsh some of these reviews are – these are five star DAIRY FREE cookies! I made them with my three year old and we followed the recipe carefully, but obviously his scoops weren’t perfectly accurate. They turned out fantastic. Is it the same as my favorite cookies made with regular butter? No, but I really appreciate having something delicious like this while I’m dairy free for breastfeeding my youngest!
OMG THANK YOU! Validation HAHA- these are my favorite cookies to make with either butter or with a dairy free alternative and have made them hundreds of times without problems, so Im SO glad you got the same results! Such a fun activity to do with your 3 year old, im not that brave to do it yet with my 2 yr old lolol. Congrats on the baby and thank you so much for making these and letting me know how they turned out!
Haha, you’re welcome!! They were so good that I made more today!
These cookies turned out great for my daughter with a dairy allergy. They are beautiful and look exactly like the non dairy ones I have been making for years. I used Presidents choice plant base butter alternative (Canadian) which uses mostly coconut oil. It has the same consistency as butter. I did not melt the butter, but rather cut it in small cubes before throwing it in the mixer.
Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you so much for the wonderful review Portia! So glad you loved these. I really appreciate you letting me know how they came out and the 5 star rating!