Vegan Air Fryer Cookies

Name: Vegan Air fryer Cookies
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Ingredients: 120 g (½ cup) vegan block butter (slightly softened); 100 g (½ cup) light brown soft sugar; 50 g (¼ cup) caster or granulated sugar; 2 Tablespoons unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy); 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 210 g (1 ¾ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour; 1 teaspoon baking powder; ½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda); ½ teaspoon salt; 120 g (4 ½ oz) dark chocolate (roughly chopped)

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Vegan air fryer cookies - these incredible vegan chocolate chip cookies can be made in either an air fryer or a traditional oven.

They are rich, sweet, soft and chewy, easy to make with no weird ingredients and very addictive!

Vegan air fryer cookies on a wire cooling rack.

Did you know that your air fryer isn't just limited to cooking dinner, you can use it to bake things too!

These vegan air fryer cookies are wonderfully crisp on the outside and soft and chewy in the middle. They are really easy to make with basic ingredients and the dough doesn't need chilling before baking (though they are even better if you do chill it!).

If you don't have an air fryer do not despair, these cookies are also fantastic baked in a regular oven. They do look a little different depending on if they are baked or air fried however, below is a comparison photo.

A photo comparing cookies made in the oven vs air fryer.

A labelled photo of the ingredients needed to make vegan air fryer cookies.

Ingredient Details:

Chopped chocolate: you can use chocolate chips if you really want to but I strongly recommend using chopped chocolate for the best cookies. Dark or milk is up to you but I always plump for dark, cookies are quite sweet enough already.

Plain flour: Just regular plain (all-purpose) flour is best here. I haven't tried making these gluten-free.

Vegan butter: Please, for the love of holy baking, use a block butter/margarine to make these cookies, not the spreadable kind in a tub.

The spreadable kind contains too much water and may make your dough too soft and your cookies too cakey.

Sugar: White sugar leads to thin and crisp cookies, and brown sugar leads to tall and moist cookies; using a mix of both gives you the best of both worlds and the best texture.

Either caster or granulated sugar will work and I recommend using light brown soft rather than dark.

Baking powder and bicarb: Baking powder generally makes for taller, cakier cookies, and bicarbonate of soda makes for craggier, denser, browner cookies. As with the sugars I find that a mix of both provides the best texture.

Vanilla extract: Use a good quality vanilla extract for the best flavour. If you have it then vanilla bean paste would be amazing instead.

Non-dairy milk: Non-dairy milk replaces the moisture that would usually come from egg. You can use any kind you like as long as it is unsweetened (except coconut milk), but I recommend using soy milk if possible. It has the highest protein content so is the closest swap for egg.

Salt: the addition of a bit of salt helps to tame the sweetness and bring out the flavours.

Vegan air fryer cookies on a sheet of baking paper.

How To Make Vegan Air Fryer Cookies:

(Full measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page)

Step 1: Cream together the butter and sugars until well combined.

Step 2: Add the milk, vanilla extract, flour, baking powder and soda and salt and mix to form a smooth, stiff dough.

Step 3: Stir in the chopped chocolate.

Step 3, the dough with the chocolate mixed in.

Step 4: Divide the dough into 10 portions and roll into balls. Place a few of them well spaced apart in a lined air fryer basket.

Step 4, the cookie dough balls in the air fryer basket.

Step 5: Cook for 10-15 minutes until nicely browned.

Top Tips:

For the best results make sure that you follow the recipe closely. As always, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients using the gram measurements (with a digital scale), rather than the cup conversions. Cup measurements are simply not accurate enough for baking and I cannot guarantee the best results if you use them. A gram is always a gram, but a cup won’t always measure out the same amount.

Cookies may seem like a simple thing to bake but they can actually be quite tempermental and any seemingly minor changes to the recipe or exact ingredients used can have a drastic effect. For this reason you should make the recipe exactly as written.

For the best looking cookies, save a few of the chocolate chunks to press into the tops of the balls of cookie dough before you bake them.

If you are baking the cookies in an oven, bake them on a metal baking sheet, not in a glass dish or on a silicone sheet. These do not conduct heat in the same way as metal does so the cookies won't turn out as well.

Make sure that you line the air fryer basket with baking paper, tucking it under the sides so that it cannot fly up. I like to poke holes in it with a toothpick to help with air flow.

The cookies will still be very soft when they are first baked so do not try to remove them from the air fryer right away, let them cool in the air fryer basket for 10 minutes before using a spatula or fish slice to carefully lift them out onto a wire rack.

Depending on the size of your air fryer you will only be able to bake a few cookies at a time, probably 4 maximum. Keep the rest of the dough covered in the fridge until you are ready to bake more cookies, it will keep for up to 3 days.

The cooking time will vary a bit depending on your air fryer and the size of cookie you make so just keep an eye on them. They are ready when they are nicely browned around the edges.

FAQ's:

Do I have to chill the dough?

No, it is not necessary to chill the dough before baking these cookies. However, if you do want to chill it it will keep (covered) in the fridge for up to 3 days, and chilling it will result in thicker, deeper flavoured cookies.

Can I freeze them?

I recommend freezing the dough rather than the baked cookies. Portion the dough out into balls and place them on a lined baking sheet then freeze until they are solid before transferring them to a container or freezer bag. The cookies can be baked right from the freezer, no need to defrost the dough first, they just may need an extra minute in the oven.

Can I bake them in an oven?

Yes, these cookies are great baked in a regular oven. Place them well spaced apart on a couple of lined baking sheets and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark 4 for 15-18 minutes until golden.

More Vegan Cookie Recipes:

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5 from 4 votes