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You would NEVER guess these are healthy! The most delicious, thick & chewy date sweetened vegan chocolate chip cookies that are also oil-free & gluten-free!
So I kind of had a revelation recently. I will probably never create another vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe. Why, you ask? Well, it’s simple. These ones are SO FREAKING PERFECT that I genuinely don’t know how I can make them 1. healthier 2. taste better. Seriously, no improvements needed and I am so happy with these ingredients!
This recipe all started the other night at dinner when I was daydreaming about cookies (totes normal) and I thought- HEY! I wonder what would happened if I tried to bake my infamous vegan date sweetened cookie dough recipe?
I was SO excited to try this out. Sadly, I didn’t have any chickpeas. Oh no. What’s a girl to do? I was way too excited to quit on this so I just subbed in some blanched almond flour, thinking it wasn’t going to work at all but I knew I would eat whatever mess came out of the oven.
I WAS WRONG. They looked and smelled like cookies. And when I tried them…these date sweetened vegan chocolate chip cookies were absolutely mouthwatering delicious.
After I made them, I left them on the counter for my husband who was outside at the time. I went into our room to work out. He came into the room with a cookie in his hand and said…well I can’t repeat what he said because it was just a bunch of swear words, but you know, in the good way! He loved them too!
Enough of my story- let’s get to the cookies. I highly doubt there is anyone who would try these and think they were “healthy vegan cookies” because all they taste like is delicious. They are:
Ultra thick
Incredibly soft
So chewy
And they melt in your mouth.
Plus only 9 simple ingredients and 30 minutes to make!
Key Ingredients
Pitted Deglet Noor Dates– the only sweetener in these date sweetened vegan chocolate chip cookies!
Peanut Butter– the peanut butter contributes greatly to the texture of these cookies and keeps them nice and chewy. You can’t taste it though!
Blanched Almond Flour– the almond flour is high fat and keeps the cookies moist and chewy.
What About Substitutions?
Here are a few substitutions I can recommend without affecting the integrity of the chocolate chip cookies:
Dates– if needed, you can most likely sub medjool dates for deglet noor, just make sure the measurements are the same (1 cup packed). You want to check that they are nice and soft before you put them in the food processor. If they need to be softened (only if they are overly dry!) you can try soaking them in hot water for about 20-30 minutes, but make sure to drain the water well so that they aren’t soaking wet when they go into the food processor. I have used medjool dates and while they still taste great- the texture is MUCH more chewy since the dates are naturally chewier.
Peanut Butter– feel free to sub any nut butter for peanut butter, as long as the nut butter is soft, creamy and somewhat drippy!
Blanched Almond Flour– I do not recommend any substitution for almond flour. The high fat content in the almond flour is what keeps these cookies moist and chewy. Feel free to try a substitution if needed and let me know how it worked for you!
Plant-based milk- any kind will do! I use unsweetened but it’s such a small amount, it shouldn’t matter which kind you use.
How to Make
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and lining a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Add all of the ingredients, minus the chocolate chips, to a food processor. A sturdy large food processor is a must for this recipe. Here is the one I use.
Pulse on high for a couple minutes. You may need to stop every so often to scrape the dough off the sides of the food processor and down toward to the blade. Keep pulsing until the dates are very finely chopped and the ingredients are well mixed together. If you see random pieces of large dates in the dough, keep pulsing until smooth.
NOTE: depending on your equipment, you may need to pulse longer than 2 minutes. In this instance, your dough may become warm. Make sure to check for this before adding the chocolate chips as they will melt. If the dough is warm, let it cool and then add chocolate chips.
Remove the blade and stir in the chocolate chips. I use these dairy free dark chocolate chips.
Use an ice cream scoop for each cookie. As you scoop the dough out of the food processor, drag it along the side as you come up so that the dough is level, liked in the photo below.
Place each scoop on the lined cookie sheet. You should have seven large cookies.
Using your fingers, gently press down and flatten cookies a little more than halfway.
Bake for about 10-11 minutes. I take mine out right at 10 & 1/2 minutes. Since these don’t bake like typical cookies, the indicator that they are done is how brown they are on the bottom. You want to look for a nice medium brown on the bottom of the cookies.
These will be extremely soft when they come out of the oven. Let them cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack for another 5 minutes, then enjoy! I highly recommend sprinkling a tiny bit of salt on top of the cookies. It just makes them!
As they cool, they will firm up a bit. It will be hard to resist eating the entire batch in one go but if you have any leftovers, cover and store on the counter. Someway somehow these cookies taste even better as they sit out so try to save at least one to try the next day!
If you make this recipe, don’t forget to take a photo and tag @wholesome.crumbs on Instagram!
Date Sweetened Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies [GF, Oil-Free]
Equipment
- You will need: a food processor, parchment paper, ice cream scooper and a cookie sheet
Ingredients
- 1 cup pitted Deglet Noor dates, tightly packed
- 1/3 cup peanut butter needs to be smooth, creamy and somewhat drippy
- 1 & 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 3 & 1/2 tbsp plant-based milk
- 1/2 tsp mineral salt plus a couple extra pinches
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- about 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees and lining a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add all of the ingredients, minus the chocolate chips, to a food processor.
- Pulse on high for a couple minutes. You may need to stop every so often to scrape the dough off the sides of the food processor and down toward to the blade. Keep pulsing until dates are very finely chopped, the ingredients are well mixed together and the dough is smooth. Note: depending on your equipment, you may need to pulse longer and therefore the dough may warm up. Make sure to check for this and if the dough is warm, let it cool down before adding the chocolate chips!
- Remove the blade and stir in the chocolate chips.
- Use an ice cream scoop for each cookie, leveling off the dough. Place each scoop on the lined cookie sheet. You should have 7 large cookies.
- Using your fingers, gently press down and flatten cookies a little more than halfway.
- Bake for about 10-11 minutes. I take mine out right at 10 & 1/2 minutes. Since these don't bake like typical cookies, the indicator that they are done is how brown they are on the bottom. You want to look for a nice medium brown on the bottom of the cookies.
- These will be extremely soft when they come out of the oven. Let them cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack for another 5 minutes, then enjoy! I highly recommend sprinkling a tiny bit of salt on top of the cookies. It just makes them!
- Store leftovers covered on the counter. These taste even more delicious the next day!
Notes
- See post for substitution information!
These were very very very good!! I’m fairly new to plant based cooking and these are the closest I’ve come to tasting like the “real thing” aka sugar loaded, butter filled, white flour, horrible for you cookies 🙂 I added chopped walnuts and used a melon sized scoop to have more cookies 🙂 the salt on top was the perfect touch. will definitely be keeping this recipe for my go to cookie! Thanks for the recipe, Ali!
YAY! I am so happy to hear this!! 🙂 Thanks for your comment!
Hii
I made these cookies and they smelled so divine, however, the dough is too sticky and even when I cooked the cookies, they’re just too sticky
do u have any recommendations to make them better cause I don’t wanna waste the cookie dough
Ps I also added extra almond flour and that isn’t helping at all
Hi! It seems to me like it’s the dates. Did you happen to use another kind of date?
These chocolate chip cookies are amazing! I love how they are naturally sweetened with dates. They are a go to recipe for me!