Vegan Air Fryer Cookies With Chocolate Chips
These chocolate chip vegan air fryer cookies are super easy to make and perfect for when you want something sweet in a hurry. They’re made with simple ingredients and of course, there’s no dairy or eggs needed!
You know what I love more than any other dessert?
Cookies.
But not just any cookies… it has to be the kind of cookies that are soft and chewy in the middle and crispy on the outside.
Say hello to these chocolate chip vegan air fryer cookies! They’re the perfect combo of soft and crispy and they have a hit of sweet and salty flavour in each bite. They are just *divine*.
The idea for these cookies came to me shortly after making my air fryer donuts recipe. It was my first time trying air fryer baking and I have to say, I am a convert! Another great thing about these eggless air fryer cookies is that you can easily scale the recipe up or down to make as many or as few as you want/need.
To skip straight to the recipe, scroll to the recipe card at the end of the post. Otherwise, for top tips and ingredient notes, keep on reading. Enjoy!
Ingredients you’ll need
- Ground flax seeds: This is as wacky as the ingredients get, I promise! Because these are eggless air fryer cookies, the flax seeds are used as the egg replacement, helping to bind the rest of the ingredients together. When mixed with water, they become thick and gloopy, similar to a chicken egg.
- Vegan margarine: It’s important to note that although vegan butter and vegan margarine are both made with oils, they produce different results in baking. I always use margarine (a soft, spreadable type such as Vitalite) for cookies because it’s a lot easier to mix. Using blocky vegan ‘butter’ will produce drier cookies.
- Caster sugar: Also known as superfine sugar in the USA, caster sugar is a finer version of granulated white sugar and helps to improve the texture of baked goods.
- Brown sugar: I like to add a little brown sugar to my cookies to help give that chewy texture. I recommend soft light brown sugar.
- Self-raising flour: Baking with self-raising flour is super convenient because you don’t need to add any baking powder or baking soda separately.
- Chocolate chips: The star of the show, vegan chocolate chips! I used Asda’s dark chocolate chips in the photos but I also love using Moo-Free baking drops in my cookies.
Equipment
- Air fryer: Of course, to make vegan air fryer cookies, you’ll need an air fryer! Any size will do but the amount of cookies you can bake at once will depend on the size of your fryer. They spread a little as they bake so don’t pack them in there! Mine is a 4.3L and I baked 3 cookies at once.
- Mixing bowls and utensils: A medium-sized mixing bowl and a wooden spoon for the cookie dough, plus a small bowl/mug and spoon to make the flax ‘egg’.
- Baking paper: It’s important to use baking paper to stop the cookies from sticking to your air fryer. You’ll need to leave the cookies on the baking paper until they’ve completely cooled so it’s best to have a few bits handy.
- Food scale: For best results with dessert recipes, always use a food scale. Cup measurements are not as accurate and can lead to baking failures.
How to make vegan air fryer cookies
Step 1: Make your flax ‘egg’ by mixing 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds and 1 tablespoon of water together. Let it sit for a few minutes until thick and gloopy.
Step 2: In a large bowl, mix together 100g of vegan margarine, 75g caster sugar and 50g of light brown sugar. Then stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, along with the flax egg.
Step 3: Add 160g of self-raising flour to the bowl. Stir it in with a wooden spoon and once it’s starting to stick together, use your hands to press it into a ball of dough.
Step 4: Pour 70g of vegan chocolate chips into the bowl and gently knead them into the dough with your hands.
Step 5: Divide the cookies into 10 equal-sized pieces and roll them into balls. Slightly flatten them to around 1-inch thick discs.
Step 6: Line your air fryer basket with baking paper and preheat it to 180°C for 5 minutes. I recommend using the standard air fry setting (rather than the baking setting) as this is what the recipe was tested with.
Step 7: Bake your eggless air fryer cookies in small batches (2-4 at a time) at 180°C for 8-9 minutes, until they’re slightly firm around the edges. They’ll look a little underbaked at first but will crisp up nicely once they’ve cooled down.
Step 8: Sprinkle with sea salt and enjoy!
Top tips
- For a small batch of cookies, you can divide the recipe by two. Alternatively, leftover cookie dough can be stored covered in the fridge for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.
- Use margarine, not the blocky type of vegan butter, for best results. This will give you soft, chewy cookies with crispy edges.
- If you don’t have self-raising flour to hand, you can use an equal amount of plain/all-purpose flour and add 1 teaspoon of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda.
FAQ
They will keep well for up to 4 days if stored appropriately. Once they’ve cooled down, put them in an airtight container and keep them in a cool, dry place such as a kitchen cupboard.
Eggless air fryer cookies are best served warm in my opinion but you can definitely freeze them. To freeze, pop them into an airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months, using sheets of baking paper to separate them if stacking. The dough can also be frozen. To bake them from frozen, allow an extra minute or two in the air fryer.
Some of my favourites include Asda’s own dark chocolate chips, Moo-Free baking drops and Dr. Oetker jumbo dark chocolate chips.
I hope you like these vegan air fryer cookies! If you make them at home, please leave a comment and/or rating below to let me know what you think. Happy baking!
Vegan Air Fryer Cookies With Chocolate Chips
Soft and chewy chocolate chip air fryer cookies without eggs or dairy.
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon Ground flax seeds
- 100 g Vegan margarine
- 75 g Caster sugar
- 50 g Soft light brown sugar
- ½ Teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 160 g Self-raising flour
- 70 g Vegan chocolate chips
- Sea salt
Instructions
-
Mix the ground flax seeds with 1 tablespoon of water and leave for a few minutes until thick and gloopy.
-
In a large bowl, mix together the margarine, caster sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract. Stir in the flax seed mixture.
-
Add the self-raising flour and press everything together into a ball of dough. Gently press in the chocolate chips.
-
Divide the dough into 10 equal pieces and roll into balls. Gently flatten them to make discs that are roughly 1 inch thick.
-
Line the air fryer tray with baking paper and preheat to 180℃ for 5 minutes. I recommend using the standard air fry setting, not the bake setting.
-
Cook the cookies in batches of 2 or 3 for 8-9 minutes, until they're firm around the edges. They will look a little underbaked at first but will crisp up and brown more while they're cooling.
-
Carefully remove the cookies from the fryer using the baking paper. Sprinkle with sea salt and let them cool until they're firm enough to lift off of the paper.
-
Repeat until all of the cookies are baked, or store any leftover dough in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes
- Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
