Vegan Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies, also known as Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies, are based on a recipe from one of Dreena Burton's older books, Vive le Vegan. Back when Dreena wrote the book there weren't nearly as many vegan chocolate chip recipes, and I remember being surprised at how good these were without the eggs and butter. And then there's the spelt. These can be made with all-purpose flour, but the spelt flour version has a little more flavor and adds character.
Spelt
So what happened to spelt? For a while I was seeing it all over the place in vegan cookbooks. Now recipes that might have called for spelt at one point just use various gluten-free flour blends with sorghum, rice flour, tapioca and such. This makes sense because even though spelt has some nutritional benefits, it is not gluten-free. It's also relatively high in fructans, so if you are on a low fodmap diet it's not an ideal choice. On the other hand, it's a flavorful flour which people often describe as "butterscotch-y". And some bakers say they like the texture it imparts. You can try the Vegan Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies and come to your own opinion on that.
Pecans
The toasted pecans add a lot of flavor to these cookies as well. I recommend starting with whole pecans rather than pre-chopped. The whole ones taste fresher. If you do buy pre-chopped, go with a name brand rather than a store-brand. This tip is based on my personal experience and irritation over having a couple of batches of brownies ruined by bad nuts. Also, store your pecans the freezer.
Vegan Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 ¼ cups spelt flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup maple syrup
⅓ cup canola oil (or other vegetable oil)
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
⅓ cup toasted pecans
⅔ cup vegan chocolate chips or some cut-up vegan chocolate bar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment, Release foil or just use a non-stick cookie sheet.
In one bowl, thoroughly stir together spelt flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar.
In a second bowl, stir together maple syrup, oil and vanilla extract.
Add the oil mixture to the spelt mixture and stir until combined. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips.
Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheet and bake for 11 minutes.
Note: To toast pecans, put them in a dry skillet set over medium heat. Cook over dry heat, stirring often so that they won't burn, for 3-5 minutes or until they become fragrant and start to release their oils. Let them cool completely before adding to the batter.
Jodie
I just made these and would say they're only okay, not worthy of some of the rave reviews. But that's just me 🙂 I love that they're vegan, low in sugar and feature spelt flour.
Anna
Awesome! Thanks for commenting, Lisa!
Lisa
This is the best vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe out of the 15 or so I have tried! Flavor and texture are perfect. Thank you so much for sharing!! I used half coconut and half canola oil, everything else as written.
Edith
I too used turbinado sugar and the taste was amazing!! I also added 1 Teaspoon of Cinnamon to give the cookies a little extra spice!! Cinammon and chocolate are so yummy together!!
Anna
Thanks so much for the review!!
Farzana
Hi Anna, I just tried your recipe exactly as you wrote here except I didnt have pecans so I just used what I had (walnuts) and used only 1/3 cup choco-chips. WOW ! What a wonderful egg free, dairy free, wheat free treat ! Thanks so much for sharing ! My kids and husband loved it.
Amanda
Yum! I used agave instead of syrup, coconut sugar instead of regular, and vegan "butter" instead of oil, and they turned out fabulous.
Anna
Thanks for the review, Krista! Happy Memorial Day.
Krista
Fresh out of the oven, and these babies are AMAZING!! I used coconut oil, as well as brown sugar and they are incredible. Beautiful and tasty 🙂 What an awesome surprise! Thanks!
Sharon
Wow these cookies are fabulous! I have been transported to the 12th dimension......yes, I used coconut oil.....(I melted it - was that the right thing to do?) Thank you for this recipe!!!
Jen
Thanks for your ideas, Anna. I will definitely try these again with a fresh bag of flour, and I can't wait to try more of your recipes - great site!
Anna
Hi Jen,
Maybe you just need a little bit more flour? Not sure. Glad they still tasted good. Maybe you should make another 1/2 batch using some new flour.
Jen
I, too, used coconut oil. The flavor of these is AWESOME - only problem is, mine came out SUPER flat, which does not take away from the yumminess, but I was wondering if it could be because my flour is kinda old? Either way, definitely making these again! Thank you, Anna!
Anna
Thanks for the review and the tips on salt! Also, I need to follow Mateo's (and your) advice and try the coconut oil.
Joy
Thanks for this recipe--these are yummy! I used coconut oil (I agree, mateo!), left out the sugar entirely (found it really didn't need it) and skipped the nuts. By accident, I used coarse ground sea salt and found it to be a nice surprise. Will definitely make these again!
Elaine
Thank you thank you thank you for this recipe! I turned strict ethical vegan 4 months ago and love it. I made these cookies for my birthday today and brought them to work for my coworkers to share. They LOVED them and several people asked me for a copy of this recipe. One person said this was the best chocolate chip cookie she ever had. I feel the same. I have never had a chocolate chip cookie so good! These are so chewy, soft, rich, delicious! No way are these bland or flat at all. I did cut down on the amount of sugar used to several tablespoons of raw turbinado sugar but kept the maple syrup and the rest of the recipe the same and used the spelt flour (I use this flour for homemade breads too). I think the spelt and the maple syrup makes this cookie stand out. I may just turn a few coworkers vegan yet with this. 🙂 Thanks again!
ps. vegan chocolate chips are so hard to find but after five stores and not giving up I finally located some! When it comes to chocolate I will always find a way lol.
Mrs
http://www.everydaydish.tv/index.php?page=recipe&recipe=86
If you add a touch of molasses & maple syrup, you can easily forget that there is no butter in vegan chocolate chip cookies.
Alicia
THANK YOU! I have been tweaking a recipe for cookies for about a year now, because my boys have extensive diet restriction. I was using the same ingredients, but your measurements where the key! Thank you again for sharing this 🙂
Angela
I didn't add nuts in mine and used organic coconut oil instead of canola, they turned out AMAZING! I made a cookie cake with them, and the texture was somewhere between a cookie and a biscotti, will definitely be making these again!
Maggie
I mistakenly added almond extract instead of vanilla extract and it was quite a pleasant surprise!
mateo
Hey, great recipe! A secret trick: if you use coconut oil for the vegetable oil, you end up passing through a time warp to some 12th dimension of paradise. True story.
Kav
Thank you so much for the recipe! I made these cookies last night, and found that if you put Green & Blacks Vegan Baking Chocolate in the mix they turn out pretty good. They actually taste better than bakery ones, you can't tell the difference! 🙂
Anna
Brookie, wheat flour works great. In fact, the original recipe from Dreena Burton used wheat. You need to use a different amount, though. If you use wheat, use 1 cup.
Brookie
If you can't get ahold of spelt flour, what about wheat flour? It does not rise as much but has more texture.
Would you need to up the baking powder to compensate for the desnity of wheat flour?
thinking out loud =] I have whole wheat flour but not spelt and would like to try this recipe.
Anna
Hmmm. You must be using a fairly strong flavored maple syrup. I'd go with a different type. I believe Grade A is less strong than Grade B so use Grade A or the lightest maple syrup you can find. I've never had a problem with the maple flavor. Your brand of maple syrup might also be sweeter. These cookies shouldn't be overly sweet.
Xiaolu
Hi!
I've tried making these with AP flour. I really loved the texture but the maple flavor and sweetness were a bit overpowering for me. Do you have any idea how I might adjust the recipe without compromising the texture completely? Thanks!
XL
Kelly
These were surprisingly tasty. I wasn't sure how well these would turn out since the dough seemed quite greasy, but they were actually fantastic. I omitted the nuts and used agave nectar instead of the maple syrup. I really enjoyed these and will be blogging about them this week. Thanks for sharing the recipe. The only thing I did find was that there was a little grit in them from the sugar, perhaps because I used turbinado. But otherwise they were so good and chewy. That's the texture I was looking for so these hit the spot.
Anna
Hi Joanna,
I usually buy spelt at Whole Foods, but other stores should have it. Ask the manager for help. Whole Foods sells it in the bulk bin, but you can also find it in the flour section. Look for Bob's Red Mill brand.
Joanna
Anna, I have went to our main supermarket and they don't have spelt flour! I have no clue where to get it and our supermarket has an international and organic foods aisle. Where else should I try because I have to make these.
Steven
Spelt is a type of wheat.
carole
Anna
PLEASE DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS!!!
hippydippy
i'll have to try to find spelt flour in my particular corner of the world. not too many alternatives here. i bought an artichoke the other day and the cashier didn't know what it was!
sandra
Anna,
I had the same experience with pecans. I found that if I buy them at a grocery store as opposed to a discount store (no names mentioned here) I got fresher nuts.
Claire
I don't think they'd even know the difference if you gave them the vegan version. I think they'd really appreciate it...give it to them as they're leaving. BTW, whenever I use oil in cookies, they are SO flat I can't even get them off the pan...how do you get yours to stay a decent thickness?
TracysTribe3
Well, if you're going to offer them vegan cookies I'd wait 'til they're finished with the job - I don't think construction workers and vegan cookies mix too well LOL.