With just a handful of basic ingredients and no complicated preparation methods, my foolproof vegan choc chunk cookies are soft and moist, and can be slightly chewy or crumbly (depending on the fat and sugar you use) – everything a great cookie should be. And they couldn’t be easier to make. They are, quite simply, the best choc chunk cookies I’ve ever made. I’m not alone in this assessment either. Eheheh.

I don’t know about you but as much as I love chocolate (and make no mistake, I do!), I actually prefer it with something else. I’d rather have chocolate with something biscuit-ey than on its own. One day I may get around to making my own versions of Twix and Kit-Kat – I’ve been telling myself for ages that I’ll do it. Amato mio doesn’t understand my preference for ‘adulterating’ chocolate with other deliciousness… yet he was no stranger to snacking on these cookies, and declaring them to be awesome (his words, not mine).

I originally made these because while I may prefer savoury snacks, occasionally I develop a bit of a craving for something sweet. In Belgrade, where I was living when I first developed this recipe, although there are more health food shops than I’d ever seen in my entire life (seriously, they’re every hundred metres or so), most of them don’t have vegan cookies, and when I did find them, they were made from roof thatching and daub, and sweetened with unicorn tears. No, really, they were. 😉 As far as I am concerned, like cake, cookies are a treat – I don’t want them to be made with healthy, hippie-friendly ingredients, I want them to be indulgent and sinful. As my good friend Katrina over at Plantified said, we don’t want smelly armpit food, we want treats!

I eat a ton of fresh fruit and vegetables, I drink gallons of water, I almost never have processed foods… I think I’m allowed to have the odd cookie here and there. And I make no apology for it. I can’t even say it’s a guilty pleasure – it’s just a pleasure. A rich, sweet, gooey, chocolatey pleasure. Which is why I make these cookies with large chunks of chocolate, and not wussy little lame-ass choc chips. If I’m going to indulge, I’m going to do it properly. I mean really, look at them… couldn’t you just? These are the Mads Mikkelsen of the cookie world… for when you’re unashamedly out to have a good time, and don’t care what other people think. Job done, time to party. With cookies.

How to get chewy cookies It’s the fat that gives the cookies their slightly chewy aspect, so you’ll need to use a vegan butter with a high fat content, or use coconut oil (but not too much or the cookies will be greasy). If you want a less chewy cookie, feel free to use margarine instead (which has a higher water content). Similarly, brown sugar will yield a softer cookie, while white will make them more crisp. Being a complete softie at heart, I prefer to use palm sugar or jaggery.