We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
Soft, ultra chewy, melt in your mouth vegan date sweetened double chocolate cookies that are oil-free, gluten-free and irresistible
These cookies. THESE COOKIES. I don’t even know how to choose the adjectives that will accurately describe these cookies but I will try.
Soft, decadent, chewy, mouthwatering, delicious, tempting, irresistable…how is that for starters?
Seriously, these vegan date sweetened double chocolate cookies are so freaking good. Warm, soft, fresh from the oven double chocolate cookies with melty chocolate chips and then finished off with a sprinkle of salt.
These cookies are inspired by my vegan date sweetened chocolate chip cookies (aka the best chocolate chip cookies ever). I knew my blog needed a classic chocolate cookie recipe so I was excited to work on this one. Since I wanted the cookies to be date sweetened, I simply made a few adjustments to my chocolate chip cookie recipe and here we are!
They are only sweetened with dates, gluten-free, oil-free, easily made in a food processor and ready in about 30 minutes.
What About Substitutions?
Dates– if needed, you can use 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.
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.
Cacao Powder- you can use cacao or cocoa powder.
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.
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.
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, or simply level to dough with your fingers.
Place each scoop on the lined cookie sheet. You should have six 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.
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.
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 refrigerator or on the counter! I hope you enjoy these vegan date sweetened double chocolate cookies!
If you make this recipe, don’t forget to take a photo and tag @wholesome.crumbs on Instagram!
Vegan Date Sweetened Double Chocolate Cookies [GF, Oil-Free]
Equipment
- You will need: a food processor, parchment paper, ice cream scooper and a cookie sheet
Ingredients
- 1 cup pitted medjool dates, tightly packed
- 1/3 cup peanut butter needs to be smooth, creamy and somewhat drippy
- 1 & 1/4 cups blanched almond flour
- 4 tbsp cacao powder
- 2 & 1/2 tsp 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. A sturdy large food processor is a must for this recipe.
- 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.
- 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, or simply level to dough with your fingers.
- 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.
- 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.
Notes
- See post for substitution information!
Absolutely delicious. Lovely and chocolatey and moist. Take one out of the freezer each day for afternoon tea at work.
I am so happy to hear that, thank you so much for your comment!
These cookies are AMAZING. Thank you so much, I will 100% be making these again. The ingredients in these are awesome, and they taste like heaven.
I am so glad to hear that, thank you for commenting! 🙂
Hi, can we replace the almond flour with oat flour or something else?
Hi! So sorry for my late response. You most likely can, since almond flour is much lighter and more absorbent than oat flour, try to use less flour than what the recipe calls for, so maybe use about 1/2 cup or 3/4 cup oat flour? I haven’t tested this exact recipe out with oat flour so I am only guessing. Just make sure the batter looks similar to the photos (you may need to use more/less milk so add it slowly). Feel free to let me know if you have any other questions! 🙂