This is one of my old easy vegan chocolate chip cookie recipes. Credit goes to Dreena Burton, whose original version of this recipe (Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies) is in her book, Vive Le Vegan! This is a pecan version, so I call them Maple Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies. They're sweet and chewy thanks to a combination of maple syrup and oil. They're also so incredibly easy. You just put the ingredients in a bowl and stir everything together.
Oil or Margarine in Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
I don't know how many times I've made these, but one thing I've learned is that you will taste the oil, so use one with a flavor you like. Some of the oils I've used in place of canola include coconut oil, almond oil and olive oil. And I've also mixed different oils. I recently tested these with very gently melted vegan margarine (Earth Balance) and the cookies were even better!
Very Small Batch Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Another bonus to this being vegan is that without eggs, it's easy to scale down. Here's a recipe for a very small batch. I often make this size because I like experimenting with the oils so much.
- ½ cup flour, preferably pastry flour if you have some
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar (25 grams)
- 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoon maple syrup (48 grams)
- Dash of blackstrap molasses (I just eyeball about ⅛ teaspoon)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 2 tablespoons (24 grams) of any oil or 28-30 grams almost melted Earth Balance or vegan margarine (from tub, sticks should be fine too)
- Chocolate Chips (I don't really measure these)
- Some toasted pecans
Preheat the oven or toaster oven to 350F. Stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. I love that the leavening agents and salt measurements are ½, ¼ and ⅛.
Mix the sugar, maple syrup, molasses, vanilla and oil or melted Earth Balance in a bowl, then dump in the flour mixture and stir. Stir in the chips and the nuts.
Drop by spoonfuls or medium size cookie scoops onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for about 10 to 12 minutes or until the cookies appear set. Makes 6
Recipe
Maple-Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour or pastry flour (130 grams)**
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup brown sugar (50 grams)
- ⅓ cup maple syrup (85 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon molasses (blackstrap) (somewhere around 2 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract --(you can use up to 2 for more flavor)
- ¼ cup oil or vegan margarine that is at least 80% fat such as Earth Balance or any with 100 cal per T. If using the margarine, weigh out between 56 and 30 grams
- ⅓ cup chocolate chips (you can use more if you like)
- ¼ cup pecans toasted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- In a separate bowl, combine brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, vanilla and oil OR gently melted margarine.
- Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir to make a dough.
- Add chips and nuts and nuts, being careful not to overmix.
- Drop by large spoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes or just-set. Don't over bake.
- Remove from oven and place cookies on cooling rack.
Anna says
Hi Sarah,I can't wait to hear your report!Don't overcook them. It really seems to make a difference in the texture.
Anonymous says
Anna,These sound delicious. I may whip up a batch for Robert for Father's Day. Thanks for introducing me to a great vegan cookie. Sarah
Elizabeth says
thanks, Val & Anna...!
Anna says
Lindsay, glad you tried them. It sounds like you might have overbaked them a bit, as they are supposed to be chewy. Could you your oven is running a little hot.
Lindsay says
Made these tonight...very interesting. I think I slightly overbaked them (325 convection for 11 min) as there wasn't much "chewy". I liked the whole wheat texture, though was surprised that the dough didn't hold together very well. It seemed a little crumbly when I put it on the cookie sheet, but turned out just fine. Overall, these satisfied my dessert sweet tooth. Hubby and I both had 3 and don't feel badly at all! I will definitely make again! Thanks for being the brave one to try these out Anna.
val says
thanks, anna. I do have the WW pastry flour and have used it a number of times in baking... it would be interesting to bake up another batch with that kind and compare it to the kind I made today. I would do it, but I am out of maple syrup.
val says
I agree, I like your blog, elizabeth.anna,I made these cookies today and I think they are great! couple questions for you... I used real maple syrup and didn't taste the maple flavor at all. did you? next time I will add 1 tsp maple extract. also, you mentioned using ww pastry flour. the recipe calls for plain ww flour... did you use the pastry flour? I used regular ww flour. I could taste the ww flavor but it didn't harm the cookie at all. I loved the flavor. And the texture, as you said, was great. chewy but tender with a bit of a crust on the outside of the cookie. Thanks for posting this recipe!!
Anna says
Val, I used real maple syrup. These were not whack you over the head maple, but chocolate chip with a subtle maple aftertaste. If you love maple, then adding the extract is a good idea. I used whole wheat pastry flour and would probably continue to buy that kind of flour just to get the texture I got. She also says you can use spelt flour.
Anna says
Hi Brenda,I'm glad to hear you like pecans too. Mmmmmm. Pecans.
Brenda says
Are we able to post today? Yesterday I tried several times and wasn't able to :-(I wanted to tell you that being a former Texas girl, I love pecans too. I usually change any nuts in recipes to pecans. My parents (who live in west Texas) have 3 trees so most years I have fresh pecans to bake with. I'm going to have to try yesterdays recipe. It looked so good.
Elizabeth says
Anna...as a maple lover and a lover of chocolate chip cookies, I am SO excited to see this recipe! The cookies look de-lish! elizabeth
Anna says
Hi Elizabeth,You have a beautiful blog. I'll have to put a link.I'd like to hear what you think of the cookies. I'm very happy to have found a relatively wholesome cookie that tastes so good.