If you love cookies, you’ve got all sorts of terrific vegan options. This short guide features several popular brands. And if you want to bake your own, I’ve got recommendations for superb vegan dessert cookbooks.
Cookies need not be bad for your health. Just opt for cookies made at least partly from unrefined ingredients. Oatmeal cookies are, by default, mostly wholegrain. You can get good results baking with unrefined sweeteners, and chopped nuts will boost the nutritional value of any cookie recipe.
Vegan Cookie Brands
For the very best texture and flavors, locally-baked cookies have an edge over mass-market brands because you can buy them fresh from the oven. Your favorite coffee shop might carry locally-baked vegan cookies, and better natural food stores often bake them fresh in their bakery/deli department. Additionally, the bakery at every Whole Foods Market makes its own vegan cookies.
Several vegan cookie brands have national distribution in the United States. Most natural food stores will stock at least one vegan brand in their cookie aisles. Here are some of the top U.S. vegan cookie brands:
- Trader Joe’s and Uncle Eddie’s
- Alternative Baking Company
- Lenny & Larry’s
Trader Joe’s and Uncle Eddie’s bagged vegan cookies (which are the same product sold under different brands) are tastier than any store-bought cookie—vegan or not—that I’ve ever eaten.
Best Vegan Cookies Cookbooks
No baked dessert is easier to prepare than cookies. And terrific recipes are easy to come by. Here are two vegan cookbooks devoted entirely to cookies:
- The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur, by Kelly Peloza
- Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, by Moskowitz & Romero.
Additionally, any cookie recipe can be veganized by replacing the animal ingredients with vegan butter, unsweetened soy milk, and egg replacer.
If you want to branch out and try something truly special, try making raw vegan cookies in a food dehydrator. Believe it or not, raw cookies can deliver phenomenal flavors. Rawsome Vegan Baking by Emily von Euw is a highly regarded title featuring several cookie recipes.
Vegan Dessert Cookbooks
Once you’ve made a few batches of yummy vegan cookies, you might try your hand at making more sophisticated desserts. Here are some vegan dessert cookbooks that contain excellent cookie recipes:
- Modern Vegan Baking, by Gretchen Price
- Chloe’s Vegan Desserts, by Chloe Coscarelli
- Decadent Gluten-Free Vegan Baking, by Cara Reed
Beyond Cookies
Cookies offer one of the best starting-points for people new to baking. All you have to do is follow an easy recipe, and your chance of failure approaches nil. When you’re ready to move beyond cookies, check out my extensive vegan baking guide.
