Dairy free chocolate chip cookies - chewy and delicious! If you want one of the best dairy free cookie recipes, you’re in the right place! And for more dairy free goodness, try my Dairy Free Banana Bread, my Almond Lemon Cookies, and my Vegan Couscous Salad with Charred Corn!
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Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookies - Chewy with Crisp Edges!
If you want a batch of delicious chocolate chip cookies without the dairy, these dairy free cookies are calling your name! They're a simple and yummy chocolate chip cookie recipe, soft and chewy in the center with a nice crispness on the edges. And this fantastic lactose free cookies recipe contains no dairy in the butter or chocolate chips!
What is a substitute for butter in chocolate chip cookies?
Many of the best dairy free cookies recipes are made with coconut oil, but I think you'll love these if you want more of that buttery flavor! For these chocolate chip cookies, we're using vegan butter or butter-flavored shortening! They are both made from vegetable oil, and they're both an ingredient that is easy to find in your local market. Plus, you won't miss out on any of that yummy buttery goodness!
Do chocolate chips have dairy products in them?
Yes, typically chocolate chips are made with milk fat, butter fat, or other types of dairy products. The key to making these dairy free chocolate cookies is to use dairy free chocolate chips! I've tried Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips and Nestlé Tollhouse Allergen-Free Chocolate Chips and both worked great!
Dairy Free Chocolate Cookies Ingredients
- melted vegan butter - I like Earth Balance Organic vegan butter, or you can also use butter-flavored shortening. I haven't tried these dairy free chocolate chip cookies with coconut oil, so let me know if you try that instead!
- light brown sugar - I love the rich flavor of brown sugar in these dairy free cookies! Or if you just realized you're out of brown sugar, check out my recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Brown Sugar!
- egg - make sure your egg is room temperature so that the dough bakes evenly.
- pure vanilla extract - make sure you use a good-quality pure vanilla extract. Or better yet, check out my post on how to make vanilla extract at home with just 2 ingredients!
- all-purpose flour - (measured by weight or fluffed using the spoon-and-level method)
- cornstarch - cornstarch is a secret ingredient for soft, thick cookies, and helps to keep these dairy free chocolate chip cookies chewy!
- baking soda - reacts to the acid in the brown sugar to give just enough lift to this recipe!
- salt - adding a bit of salt helps to bring out the flavors.
- dairy-free chocolate chips - I like using Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips -- you can use either semi-sweet or dark chocolate.
- flaky sea salt - this is optional, but I always like to top chocolate chip cookies with a little flaky sea salt to balance out the sweetness.
Equipment
To make these dairy free cookies, you'll want to grab a kitchen scale to help you measure your flour with perfect accuracy to get that chewy, gooey texture that you like. Also, an oven thermometer will help to correct any temperature disparities to make sure that your cookies bake perfectly. And a #30 cookie scoop helps to measure out your cookies to the exact size you'll need. You'll also want to grab a large baking sheet -- I use the Nordicware Baker's Big Sheet lined with a Silpat ¾ sheet liner.
Tips and F.A.Q.
The Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips that I like to use contain dried cane sugar, unsweetened chocolate, and dairy-free cocoa butter.
The regular Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chips are made with milkfat, so they're not dairy free. But you can use Nestlé Tollhouse Allergen-Free Chocolate Chips in these dairy free chocolate chip cookies with great results!
Absolutely! I like to use Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer for an easy substitute for eggs. Or you can make a flax egg and add that in to replace the egg!
I've got some of the best dairy free cookie recipes for you! Try my Vegan Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies with Banana and Cacao, my Almond Lemon Cookies, or my Almond Flour Peanut Butter Cookies!
And for more ideas, check out my roundup up the 30+ Best Gluten Free Dairy Free Cookies!
If you like this recipe, you'll love my Lemon Lavender Cookies and my Raspberry White Chocolate Cookies! Or check out my Lemon Blueberry Cookies for an easy cake mix recipe bursting with fresh berries!
And if you love butterscotch, check out my Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookies! Or, for LOTS of cookie ideas, check out my roundup of the Best Cookies for a Cookie Exchange!
If you try this recipe, I would love it if you could leave a star review rating and comment below! It’s so wonderful hearing your feedback! And don’t forget to share your creations with me by tagging @chenee_today on Instagram!
More Dairy Free Recipes You'll Love
- Vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake
- Peanut Noodle Salad
- Iced Sugar Cookie Almond Milk Latte (Starbucks Copycat)
- Pumpkin Nice Cream
📖 Recipe
Equipment you may need
Ingredients
- 1⅓ cup (167 g) all purpose flour - measured by weight or fluffed using the spoon-and-level method
- 2 teaspoon (4 g) cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) salt
- 8 tablespoon (112 g) vegan butter - melted (or butter-flavored shortening)
- ¾ cup (165 g) light brown sugar - packed
- 1 large egg - room temperature (see below for vegan substitution)
- 1½ teaspoon (7 ml) pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (237 g) dairy-free chocolate chips - semi-sweet or dark chocolate
- flaky sea salt - for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a large baking sheet with a silicone liner or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Set aside1⅓ cup all purpose flour, 2 teaspoon cornstarch, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt
- In a large bowl, whisk melted butter or shortening with brown sugar until mixture is combined. Add egg, then vanilla, and whisk again until smooth and fluffy.8 tablespoon vegan butter, ¾ cup light brown sugar, 1 large egg, 1½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Fold in dry ingredients gradually until dough comes together and is well combined. Fold in chocolate chips.1 cup dairy-free chocolate chips
- Use a small cookie scoop to place scoops of dough onto prepared baking sheet at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake in preheated oven 10 minutes, or until tops of cookies are set and edges are golden brown. For soft cookies, be sure not to overbake.
- Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if desired. Let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.flaky sea salt
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Pin these dairy free chocolate chip cookies for later!
Last Updated on September 7, 2023 by Chenée Lewis
Valerie
This is a fabulous recipe. I used earth balance butter sticks and enjoy life chocolate chips and these cookies are sooo good!
Chenée Lewis
I'm so glad you liked them! 🙂
Hailey
Oh my God, these are perfect!l. My friend has a dairy allergy so I like trying recipes that he can eat and these were perfection. I’m a big chocolate chip cookie fan and I swear these are one of my favorite recipes. Instead of regular sized chocolate chips, I used the Mini Chips from Enjoy Life Foods brand and will definitely be doing that again. These are absolutely a go-to now.
Chenée Lewis
Mini chips are an awesome idea! So glad you like the recipe!
Martha
Great recipe, thank you!
I ended up adding a couple tablespoons of flour because my melted Earth Balance vegetable shortening overpowered the dough, but it worked great.
Chenée Lewis
So glad you like them! 🙂
Emily
It's difficult to find cornstarch in Australia – is it okay to use cornflour instead or should I use more flour? Really looking forward to making these! 🙂
Chenée Lewis
Yes cornflour will work great! 🙂
Blitzo
These were one of the best Chocolate chip cookies I have made. So this recipe was amazing.
Chenée Lewis
So glad you liked them! Thanks so much!
Kathleen
Would love to.make the chocolate chip for my grandson's birthday but i need to eliminate the cornstarch what can i replace that with?
Chenée Lewis
Hi! You can just replace it with more flour. Enjoy!
Lindsay
My boyfriend and I made these cookies together after a friend suggested the recipe. They actually MELTED IN OUR MOUTHS! Thank you for providing this for us to bake and enjoy together <3
Chenée Lewis
I'm so happy to hear that! Thanks so much!
Katelynn
These were some of the best dairy free cookies I have made, and they were still soft the next day. So this recipe was amazing
Chenée Lewis
So glad you liked it Katelynn!
Lauren
These look delicious! I'd like to give them a go but don't have any cornflour ... what will happen?! (In isolation, covid positive with 2 kids)
Chenée Lewis
Oh no I'm sorry to hear you're stuck in isolation! Hope you all feel better soon. 🙂 If you don't have the cornflour you can just replace it with a little extra flour, or leave it out. It helps the cookies to be a bit softer and thicker, but they'll still be good without it!
Alysa
These are awesome! I would recommend adding into your recipe that the egg can be replaced with a flax egg to make them vegan <3
Thanks for the delicious cookie recipe!
Chenée Lewis
Glad you liked it! And I added that note into the recipe card -- thanks!
Soco
I ran out of milk, and tried out this recipe. We absolutely loved it. Including my significant other. Saved it to make it again I’m the future! Thank you!
Chenée Lewis
Great to hear that! Thank you!
Moop Brown
These cookies look super chewy and like the perfect texture. I love the way vegan butter is used here as well
Chenée Lewis
Thanks so much! I love their texture too!
Annie
These were awesome! Only note is the other dairy free recipes you linked, Nutella has milk in it!
But these were so good!
Chenée Lewis
Of course! I don't know why I included that in the list-- just swapped that out for a different recipe. Thanks for pointing it out!
Silvia
My husband is dairy intolerant and he loves cookies, so this recipe was just perfect for our family. Great detailed instructions and so easy to make. We will making them again and again.
Chenée Lewis
So glad they work for your family!
Leslie
This dairy-free chocolate chip cookie recipe will NOT disappoint! I especially love the addition of flaky salt on top..PERFECTION!!
Chenée Lewis
Thank you so much! Glad you like them!
Megan
These cookies are fantastic! So easy and turn out perfect! My partner demolished them. haha
Chenée Lewis
Lol that happens so much with these cookies! Glad you both liked them!
Adriana
So lovely to be able to adjust a classic recipe to a specific diet. I didn't know vegan butter could serve well for baking. Thanks for the tip!
Chenée Lewis
You're very welcome!
Kathryn
So happy I made these chocolate chips cookies! They were so good, chewy, and perfectly sweetened without any dairy. Can't wait to make these again 🙂
Chenée Lewis
Thanks so much! Glad you liked them!
Sam
If using shortening, do you need to melt that too?
Chenée Lewis
Yes you want to melt it before adding it in! 🙂
Heather Perine
Can't believe these are dairy free! So thick and chewy with the gooey middle just like I like!!
Chenée Lewis
That's the best part! Thanks!
Lauren Michael Harris
These chocolate chip cookies look amazing! We always keep dairy free butter in the house so I just need to pick up some chips and then these are happening for sure!
Chenée Lewis
Awesome! I hope you love them!
Rebecca
I've been wanting a good vegan cookie recipe and this is it!!! These cookies are amazing. They are everything you want in a chocolate chip cookie - tender, chocolaty, chewy and delicious. Thank you for a great recipe!
Chenée Lewis
So glad you liked them!!
Alysa
Hey Rebecca! I'm sure you know this but there is egg in the original recipe which isn't vegan! You can replace it with a flax egg for a vegan option, though!