Chocolate Chunk Vegan Pantry Cookies

I wanted to create an “everything cookie” packed with all my favorite cookie mix-ins, a cookie that was indulgent and 100% satisfying (but maybe still a tad bit healthier than your standard cookie). This is that cookie! Table of contents:1. Why you’re going to like these cookies2. Ingredient notes3. Substitutions for this recipe4. Tips for making this recipe5. Recipe card with notes PS: If you’re looking for more scrumptious chocolate desserts, I highly recommend my Bakery-Style Vegan Chocolate Chip Muffins, my decadent but wholesome Vegan Chocolate Mousse, or my five-ingredient Vegan Fudge!

Why you’ll love these cookies

Everything cookie. These cookies truly have everything you love in cookies: chocolate, nuts, oats, chewy dried fruit. Yep, it’s all in there! Indulgent but sort of healthyish. Despite being vegan and made with some better-for-you ingredients like vegan butter, flax eggs, almond butter, coconut sugar, and oatmeal, these cookies are very indulgent. Max, who’s not vegan and specifically asked for “not healthy cookies” gave them his seal of approval. Edible dough. Like all eggless cookie doughs, this cookie dough is not only safe to eat but also incredibly delicious. The recipe says “makes 24 cookies,” but you’ll probably end up with 22ish cookies because the dough needs to be snacked on. Easy to customize. As you can find in the section below on “substitutions,” these cookies are easy to adapt to what you have available in your pantry.

Ingredient notes

Vegan butter

Vegan butter not only brings that chewy texture you associate with a chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin cookie, but also a delectable buttery taste that isn’t often associated with vegan baked goods. The recipe calls for bringing the butter to room temperature. To make the softening process quicker, simply slice the butter into small pieces. It’ll come to room temperature in about 15-20 minutes.

Almond Butter

I adore baking with almond butter. Like vegan butter or oil, it’s a source of fat, so it brings richness and moisture to the cookies. But it also brings a subtle nuttiness to the batter that I just love, especially in these cookies. You want to make sure that use a smooth/creamy variety, not a crunchy variety, and stir it well before adding it in. I prefer almond butter brands that have no added oil or sugars, but if yours does have added sugar, you maybe want to use a tablespoon less of sugar.

Coconut Sugar or Brown Sugar

To keep these cookies a little healthier, you can use coconut sugar, which is a low GI sweetener. However, I do prefer them slightly better with sugar, as it has more moisture than coconut sugar and therefore makes the cookies moister (in a good way).

Flax Eggs

When I want a baked good with a chewy texture, my go-to egg replacement is a flax egg. I think it works perfectly in this recipe to create a cookie that has chewy edges but slightly gooey, soft centers.

All-Purpose Flour

I was lucky enough to run out of flour shortly before self-isolating took effect, so I bought a huge bag of flour shortly before it became a hot commodity! Full disclaimer: I have not tried making these gluten-free but I suspect they should work with an all-purpose gluten-free baking flour. But again, I can’t guarantee how they’ll come out (if you try it, please leave your feedback below!).

Vegan Chocolate Chunks or Chips

I used vegan semi-sweet chocolate chunks from Enjoy Life Foods, though I typically would opt for dark chocolate chunks, such as these Whole Foods 365 brand of dark chocolate chunks. Since I haven’t been to Whole Foods in a month and it’s hard to get groceries delivered in NYC right now, I used what I had (I have an Enjoy Life vegan chocolate stash in my freezer, no shame!). If you don’t have chocolate chunks, of course chocolate chips works just as well. And if you don’t have those either, you can just chop up some dark chocolate or vegan chocolate into small pieces.

Walnuts

A chunky everything cookie needs some kind of nut, so I chose walnuts for a few reasons. One, they’re the healthiest nut IMO (packed with omega 3 fatty acids); two, they’re relatively inexpensive for nuts (especially if you buy walnut pieces instead of whole walnuts); and three, I have a decent amount of walnuts at home.

Currants or Raisins

I used currants because I had some in my pantry, but I also like how tiny they are so they don’t take up too much space in the cookie. In an oatmeal raisin cookie, the raisin is front and center. But these are not oatmeal raisin cookies, so I want the raisin element to be more of a background element that you taste but that doesn’t overwhelm. And since raisins are bigger than currants, I thought the currants would be more unassuming in the cookie (they were). That said, if you don’t have currants, raisins are totally fine. If you have the time (I know you do right now!), you could chop up the raisins into smaller pieces.

Substitutions for this recipe

Almond Butter

You can use another nut butter, such as peanut butter or cashew butter. Peanut butter will give them a marked peanutty taste. You could also use tahini for a nut-free variation. The tahini brands I regularly use are Soom Tahini, Seed + Mill, and the Whole Foods 365 brand (affiliate links). If you typically refrigerate your tahini, bring it to room temperature and stir well.

Flax Egg

No ground flax meal at home? Try making a chia egg! Just use 2 tablespoons chia seeds and 5 tablespoons water. Stir and allow it to rest for at least 5 minutes until it thickens into a gel-like texture.

Mix Ins

You can substitute vegan/nondairy chocolate chunks with chocolate chips, or just finely chop up your favorite chocolate bar. If you don’t have walnuts, pecans would be the next best substitute. If you’re allergic to nuts, omit them entirely or substitute with something like sunflower seeds or hemp seeds for a nice crunch (and be sure to use tahini in lieu of the almond butter). As I mentioned above, if you don’t have currants, you can chop raisins into smaller pieces. But you could also use dried cranberries or cherries!

Tips for making this recipe

Start by removing the vegan butter from the fridge so it can come to room temperature. Then make the flax egg and let it rest in the fridge for 15 minutes.
Once you’ve mixed the dry and wet ingredients, the dough should be fairly thick but still a bit moist. If it feels dry or crumbly, add in a splash of plant milk until it moistens up a bit. I find that using brown sugar (in lieu of coconut sugar) makes for a slightly more moist dough. If you give these Chocolate Chunk Vegan Pantry Cookies a try, be sure to tag me on Instagram with your recreations and please comment with your feedback below! Sending you all positive thoughts, warm wishes, and hugs from a safe 6-foot distance!