After making over 30 batches of gluten-free, vegan chocolate chip cookies, I’ve finally settled on these as my current favorite. Although ultimately adapted from Dreena Burton’s famous recipe, I found I had to make some changes to get the properties and texture I wanted. For instance, I reduced the baking soda, did away with the molasses (only because it affected the rise) and baking powder, and ended up with cookies that can be made with pantry ingredients, are vegan, gluten-free, and don’t have to be ‘flattened’ prior to baking. I don’t know why that is a pet peeve other than the fact that I never used to flatten ‘regular’ chocolate chip cookies prior to baking, and for whatever complex reason, I don’t want to now. I topped mine with a bit of flaky sea salt just before baking. It’s a nice touch.
These are more the classic, thin and chewy variety, but if you are after a slightly thicker cookie, add an extra tablespoon of potato starch. Funny how a tablespoon can make all the difference.
Thin & Chewy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vegan, Gluten-Free, Egg-Free, Dairy-Free
(with ‘Thick & Chewy’ option)
Adapted from Dreena Burton’s Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies1/4 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour
3 Tablespoons potato starch (or 1/4 cup*)
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup raw or white sugar1/4 cup grapeseed or safflower oil (generous 1/4 cup; more like 1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon)
1/3 cup pure maple syrup (I like Grade B)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla1/2-3/4 cup chocolate chips
*For thicker cookies use 1/4 cup potato starch.
Preheat oven to 350F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, stir together all dry ingredients. Add oil, maple syrup, and vanilla, mixing by hand or with a mixer on medium. Dough will be thin. Fold in chocolate chips and let dough stand for 10 minutes to thicken a bit.
Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets. Bake for about 10 minutes–cookies will look a little underdone but will continue cooking after they are out of the oven. Let cool on sheet for 1-2 minutes, then remove to cooling rack. Cookies will be a little brittle until they cool.
Store in airtight container. Makes 16-18 cookies, depending on size.
Cinnamon Quill is a place to showcase my way of baking, including my love of ancient grains, bread, and cocoa. Usually vegetarian, sometimes vegan, always gluten-free. Stay a while, explore, and discover something delicious.
24 comments
Laurel says:
Dec 29, 2011
Oh, so THAT’s why I bought that Sorghum flour. They look perfect. Everything you do looks perfect. More than that they sound really yummy. Plus, as Fate would have it, I’ve used up all my molasses making Gingerbread. All of which makes me one very lucky girl. Kitchen Ho!
kittee says:
Dec 29, 2011
i love you.
xo
kittee
Cara says:
Dec 29, 2011
Ohmygoodness–these cookies look phenomenal!! Looks like you found your holy grail chocolate chip cookies. I just bookmarked these and plan on making them soon! The pictures, oh the pictures. I wanna eat one NOW.
Ashley @ Ashley's Green Life says:
Dec 30, 2011
Just found your blog when searching for a great gluten-free, vegan chocolate chip cookie. These look awesome! Going to the store today to buy the ingredients to make them ASAP!
Your pancakes are also on my list to make( :
Thanks for sharing!
Ashley
Caitlin@The Vegan Chickpea says:
Dec 30, 2011
these cookies are absolute perfection. i am making these tomorrow for my new years eve party. thank you for being such an awesome gluten-free blogger <3 you are appreciated
Iris says:
Dec 31, 2011
You know your photos drive me crazy, right? They always look so scrumptious! Happy New Year! Wishing you lots of love and happiness in 2012!
Kittee Berns says:
Dec 31, 2011
I made these with coconut oil instead of the grapeseed oil and they spread so thin on the cookie sheet. A pretty good mess. Do you think this change is enough to affect the dough so much? I added a little extra brown rice flour to the second round, and I’ll report back.
xo
kittee
Kittee Bee Berns says:
Dec 31, 2011
Reporting back! For the second sheet, I added a bit more BRF to get a fairly thick dough. They baked up much better. I ended up getting 17 tablespoon sized cookies. I did make my own brown rice flour, so I wonder if that had anything to do with it?
Input welcome.
xo
kittee
CQ Baker says:
Jan 1, 2012
Hey Kittee,
Thank you for the comments about the cookies. Agh! So annoying that they didn’t turn out the first time, I hate when that happens! I mean, it coullllld have been the coconut oil–I’ve only made them with canola, grapeseed, and safflower oil. I have had some other people say they’ve tried to replace coconut oil in some of my other vegan recipes and it didn’t quite work. I know coconut oil has different water content than some other fats, but I just don’t have enough experience with it to say. I know I should be using coconut oil more though…new year’s resolution??
The other things I can think of include measuring–I measure by the scoop and sweep method, if you measure by spooning flour *into* the measuring cups, that could make a big difference. The other thing is that I use regular old brown rice flour–not the superfine. Sometimes when I *have* baked with superfine (cause it’s the best–obviously!) I’ve had to adjust measurements slightly. Furthermore, maybe it could be the fact that you make your own rice flour (Vitamix or grain mill?). I wouldn’t have guessed that would make a difference, but who knows. What is the texture like?
I’ve made a lot of batches of these cookies and I’ve only had the opposite problem–big thick cookies that don’t want to spread, but maybe the recipe just isn’t quite perfect yet. How did the second batch of cookies taste? Ideas for improvement?
xo
Jenn
kittee says:
Jan 1, 2012
Thanks Jenn!
I used a vitamix grain jar to make the flour. It was not as fine as the superfine, but maybe a little finer than say Bob’s Red Mill. I also melted the coconut oil, so it would be a liquid to liquid measurement. I also scoop and sweep, so I not that wasn’t the issue. Baking is can be so persnickety!
When I added more flour, they were definitely thicker, but my edges were still way thinner than yours and browned very fast. I brought them to a party and they were gobbled up, so even tho they weren’t gorgeous like yours, they were tasty. I love coconut oil so much.
Thanks for your recipes! I will keep playing with this one, as I’m determined to get the same results as you did.
xo
kittee
Sarah @ The Fit Cookie says:
Jan 7, 2012
These look beautiful! I love chocolate chip cookies; I don’t make them too often because it’s so easy for me to over-eat them!
Annemarie says:
Feb 4, 2012
I just found your blog. I think you may have saved my life. A friend and I are newly gluten free and missing our baked goods. I’m so excited to try your recipes. Not only that, but I have a vegan friend staying with me in a couple of weeks, so I’m really excited to be able to make things that both of us can eat. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
cookie: chocolate chippies with walnuts « e . mashita says:
Feb 26, 2012
[...] & Chewy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies Adapted from the Cinnamon Quill 1/4 cup tapioca starch 1/4 cup brown rice flour 1/4 cup sorghum flour 3 Tablespoons potato starch [...]
Jackie says:
Feb 29, 2012
Would this recipe work with just the sorghum flour, tapioca and potato starch? I can’t have rice flour
Bridget@MrsGreenJeans says:
Mar 4, 2012
Did I just stumble upon the best blog ever? Finally I have found vegan and gluten free mostly, all in one! I was googling vegan gluten free pancakes and wasn’t finding much, or I was but I didn’t have the ingredients..I can’t wait to check out the rest of your blog! Thanks so much for sharing. Hopefully I can add some of your recipes to my blog as well! I’ve just ventured over into vegetarian land, being vegan and gluten free where I can. The gf thing is the hardest for me but maybe your blog can help me!
Gwen says:
Mar 9, 2012
I tried the famous recipe you mentioned above and did not like it…I too have a pet peeve about having to flatten cookies prior to baking
And I didn’t like the texture. I am so excited to try these! I haven’t found a vegan gf chocolate chip cookie I like yet, I think this may be the one 
Thank you!
kirstin says:
Mar 20, 2012
I made these today. Yummy! I shared my experience on my blog and linked back here for the recipe. Here’s the link if you’d like to read it.
http://troyerslovinglife.blogspot.com/2012/03/my-try-at-gluten-free-vegan-cookies.html
kirstin says:
Mar 22, 2012
I made these again today (I’m making a bunch for a conference)…my daughter loved how flat they were…I thought mine were a bit too flat, so today I doubled the recipe and then added a bit more potato starch…they are no longer flat…at all…I think she will be bummed. They are still tasty though, but certainly not the same. Lesson learned…don’t add more potato starch if you want a flat cookie (C:
elise says:
Apr 5, 2012
i have been having such issues with sorghum flour lately. i am convinced this recipe will work though. which brand choc chips do you use? WF? enjoy life? just wondering if there’s another brand out there that im not in the loop on.
CQ Baker says:
Apr 15, 2012
I go back and forth with sorghum…you can try subbing millet flour in a slightly larger amount. I use Guittard or Trader Joe’s when I need vegan chips. They both have soy though. Some of the Ghirradelli (sp) chips are vegan as well.
Thanks for the comment!
Nikki Burns says:
Apr 8, 2012
You are a rock star! Thanks for the awesome recipe. I just found out that in addition to gluten and dairy, I now have to eliminate eggs, soy, nuts, and a handful of other things. I made these tonight with a couple different flours (asian white rice and sweet rice instead of the two starchy flours you used). I also used canola oil instead of the grapeseed oil. They were delicious: a little crunch on the outside and amazingly soft inside.
THANK YOU!
I will be blogging about these within the next week (hopefully) and I’ll send folks your way.
Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies: Gluten free & Vegan « Good-bye Gluten says:
Apr 10, 2012
[...] Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies: Gluten, egg, dairy, soy free Recipe slightly adapted from Cinnamon Quill [...]
Donella says:
Apr 12, 2012
This is a THE BEST GF I have found by far. So yummy. And I’m not even vegan, but I will certainly be using this recipe again in the very near future!
Alicia says:
Apr 24, 2012
I loved these cookies! I added a few chopped nuts and sea salt to the top. Check out my blog post to see pictures of CQ’s amazing recipe http://t.co/nHdaCOEZ