Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (Easy Aquafaba Recipe)
As I ease myself back into sewing and rebuild my creative rhythm, I’ve been finding real comfort in simple bakes I can throw together without much thought. These vegan chocolate chip cookies are one of my regular ones. Crispy at the edges, soft in the middle, and made with a single ingredient swap that still genuinely surprises people the first time I mention it.
That swap is aquafaba, the liquid sitting in a tin of chickpeas that most of us pour straight down the sink. It works as an egg replacement here almost perfectly, and using it means a tin of chickpeas quietly does two jobs instead of one. If you’ve never baked with it before, this is a genuinely easy place to start.
Why Aquafaba Works So Well in Cookies
Aquafaba is mostly starch and protein, the same things that leak out of chickpeas during cooking or canning. That composition happens to behave a lot like egg white when whisked or mixed into a batter, binding everything together and helping trap a bit of air. You don’t need to whip it into stiff peaks for this recipe, just measure it out of the tin and mix it in with the oil and sugar.
One practical note: give the tin a gentle shake before opening, since the aquafaba can settle slightly, and use the liquid from a plain tin of chickpeas rather than one in a flavoured sauce.
A Quick Note on Timing
The hands-on part of this recipe is short, around 10 minutes to mix the dough and shape it into balls. The dough does need a minimum 30-minute chill in the fridge before baking, though, so build that into your plan if you’re making these for a specific moment. Baking takes another 10 to 12 minutes, and they need a few minutes to cool and firm up once they’re out of the oven. All told, expect closer to an hour from start to first bite, most of which is hands-off chilling time rather than active work.
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup oil
- 1 cup sugar white or brown
- ½ cup aquafaba liquid from a can of chickpeas
- A pinch of salt
- Vanilla extract to taste
- 2 cups self‑raising flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 100 g chocolate chips
Instructions
- Mix the oil, sugar, aquafaba, vanilla, and salt until smooth.
- Add the self‑raising flour and baking soda. Fold gently until a soft dough forms.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Roll into small balls, place on a baking tray, and gently flatten.
- Bake at 180°C for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden.
- Let them cool completely so they firm up.
Tips for the Best Results
Don’t skip the chilling step. It firms up the oil in the dough, which is what stops these spreading into thin, greasy puddles in the oven. Half an hour is the minimum, a couple of hours or even overnight works too if you want to prep ahead.
Let them cool fully before judging them. Vegan cookies made with oil rather than butter often seem too soft straight out of the oven. They firm up properly as they cool, so resist the urge to declare them a failure in the first five minutes.
Measure your aquafaba properly. Too little and the dough won’t bind well, too much and the cookies spread more than they should. A measuring cup or jug rather than an eyeballed pour makes a real difference here.
How to Store Them
Cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for about 5 days. The dough itself also freezes well, so it’s worth rolling a double batch into balls and freezing half on a tray before baking, then baking straight from frozen (adding a couple of extra minutes) whenever a craving hits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use a different egg replacement instead of aquafaba? Yes, a flax egg or a standard commercial egg replacer will both work reasonably well here, though the texture may turn out very slightly different.
Why did my cookies turn out flat? Almost always a chilling issue. If the dough wasn’t properly cold when it went into the oven, the cookies will spread further than expected.
Are these gluten free? Not as written, since the recipe uses self-raising flour, but a measure-for-measure gluten-free self-raising blend should work as a direct swap.
Made these? I’d love to see how they turned out, tag me on Instagram or Pinterest @caramba.crafts.
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