Vegan Vanilla Walnut Cookies (Easy)
All Vegan Desserts60 recipes
Chewy vanilla cookies made without eggs or dairy, using tapioca flour and applesauce to hold them together. A simple bake with a satisfying texture that holds up for days.
Chewy Texture, Naturally Vegan
Baking vegan cookies requires achieving that perfect chewy texture without eggs or butter by understanding how each ingredient works. Tapioca flour‘s starches create chewiness by absorbing moisture, while xanthan gum replaces gluten as your structural stabilizer. Applesauce adds moisture and binding power that eggs typically provide, and coconut oil contributes richness and helps the dough hold together. These ingredients work together to create cookies that stay soft and chewy throughout. Alternating wet and dry ingredients helps everything distribute evenly, giving you consistent results every time you bake.
What Makes These Cookies Chewy
These vegan vanilla walnut cookies use a mix of flours and binding agents to make a soft, satisfying treat. The recipe uses plant-based oils, applesauce, and a carefully selected mix of dry ingredients to achieve the right texture. Each ingredient builds the cookies’ special flavor and mouthfeel, making them a great introduction to vegan baking if you’re new to plant-based cooking.
Ingredients:
When buying these ingredients, know that tapioca flour gives these cookies their chewy texture. Xanthan gum acts as the stabilizer that gluten does in regular recipes. The mix of coconut oil and grapeseed oil keeps things moist, and using quality vegan sugar gives you consistent results. The applesauce and vinegar provide structure and moisture without eggs, so don’t skip them if you want the cookies to turn out right.
Preheat Oven to 375°F
Begin by preheating your oven to 375 degrees F and preparing your baking surface. Line three baking pans with parchment paper and set them aside. This preparation ensures your cookies won’t stick and will bake evenly across all the sheets.
In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 3/4 cup pastry flour, 3 tablespoons tapioca flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon fine salt, and 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum. The tapioca flour helps create that chewy texture in your vegan cookies, while the xanthan gum works as a gluten replacement and stabilizer for the dough.
In a large bowl, combine 1 1/2 cups vegan sugar or unbleached organic cane sugar, 1/2 cup applesauce, 1/2 cup raw organic coconut oil (melted), 3 tablespoons grapeseed oil, 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, and 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar. Beat these wet ingredients with an electric mixer on low speed for about 1 minute until combined. Then alternately add the flour mixture and 1/3 cup water to the wet ingredients until fully combined. Fold in 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts to complete the dough.
Cinnamon Pecan Variation Option
For a delicious twist on the classic vanilla walnut recipe, swap out a couple of ingredients and add warm spice. Make the vanilla walnut base, but add 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon to your dry flour mixture before combining with the wet ingredients. This aromatic spice blends throughout the dough, creating depth and warmth. Fold in 1 cup of chopped pecans instead of walnuts – their buttery flavor pairs well with the cinnamon. Bake following the original directions, and you’ll have sophisticated cookies that feel fancy but require minimal effort.
Pair With Cold Almond Milk
Once you’ve mastered the cinnamon pecan variation, pair these cookies with cold almond milk. The creamy, mild flavor complements the nutty walnut taste without overpowering it. Use unsweetened almond milk so the cookies remain the star. Pour yourself a tall glass over ice, and you’ve got the perfect pairing. The cool beverage cuts through the richness of the coconut oil, refreshing your palate between bites. This combination works because the almond milk’s subtle nuttiness matches the walnuts, bringing the flavors together.
Final Thoughts
These vegan cookies are straightforward to make, and you can keep baking them in different flavors without getting bored. The cinnamon pecan variation offers a delicious option, and you can experiment with whatever mix-ins you prefer. The base recipe works well with substitutions because the tapioca flour and xanthan gum do the heavy lifting.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1 Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk together all-purpose flour, pastry flour, tapioca flour, baking powder, salt, and xanthan gum in a large bowl.
- 2 In a separate bowl, whisk together sugar, applesauce, melted coconut oil, grapeseed oil, vanilla extract, and apple cider vinegar until fully combined.
- 3 Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until a soft dough forms. Fold in chopped walnuts. Refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes to firm it up.
- 4 Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough (about 1.5 inches across) onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them 2 inches apart. Gently flatten each ball slightly with your palm.
- 5 Bake for 11-13 minutes until the edges are set and the centers look just slightly underdone. The cookies will firm up as they cool.
- 6 Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
