Vegan chocolate chip cookies get stuffed with a date vegan caramel center and plenty of chocolate. Ready in under an hour and easy as pie!
The base for these caramel-stuffed vegan chocolate chip cookies recipe was adapted from Tara O’Brady’s chocolate chip cookie recipe. I first heard about it when Tara was on the Pure Green Magazine Podcast and talked about the recipe being 30 minutes from start to finish, and one that she had obviously labored over with love. After using her version of chocolate chip cookies several times and deeming them the best/easiest I’ve made so far, I knew it was time to change it up just a little bit (aka stuff things inside of it). Dare I say these might be a good alternative to pie for Thanksgiving? I think so!
The beauty of Tara’s recipe is that almost every ingredient is probably something you have hanging out in your kitchen at home, especially if you are prone, like myself, to keeping cookie ingredients on hand at all times. I’ve sung the praises of vegan date caramel in the past (especially in ice cream!) and with good reason. It’s easy, fast, and shies away from the usual ingredient list of caramel that includes lots of sugar and corn syrup.
Even though I was pretty confident, as I was stuffing the date caramel into the chocolate chip cookie dough I got a little nervous that this was just too good to be true, there was no way this was going to work, right? Wrong, and I’m so happy about it. The chocolate chip cookie base becomes perfectly crispy around the edges and melted in the center, while still giving that extra surprise from the date caramel center.
If you want to start out with just making straight-up vegan chocolate chip cookies with the dough, by all means, go right ahead. I fully expect and support you in starting out with straight up chocolate chip cookies, you do you!
How to make vegan caramel
If making homemade caramel scares you, hear me out. The vegan date caramel in this chocolate chip cookie recipe is one of the easiest things you’ll ever make, pinky promise. To make the vegan caramel, you simply have to blend pitted dates, non-dairy milk, vanilla extract, and the tiniest amount of maple syrup in a blender until fully combined.
Seriously, that’s it! Once you’ve blended together the date caramel you’ll need to let the mixture rest in the fridge or freezer until the cookies are ready to be stuffed. The vegan caramel you’re making for this recipe is quite soft and tastes incredible on top of pretty much any treat.
Making these vegan chocolate chip cookies
These vegan chocolate chip cookies are as easy to make as your average cookie (not that these babies are average in taste—far from it!). However, if you don’t plan your cookie assembly right you might have a tricky time stuffing the caramel into the cookie dough.
Once you’ve made the cookie dough, you’ll need to scoop out two or three tablespoons of dough per cookie (you’ll need a little extra than normal to accommodate the gooey caramel filling). Flatten the dough out slightly and dollop on the vegan caramel. Then, wrap the edges of the vegan cookie dough around the caramel and seal it in as best you can. You want to make sure there are no gaps in the cookie dough when you place each ball onto the baking tray.
If you have extra time on your hands, I suggest freezing the caramel for a few hours and cutting it into chunks before adding it to the cookie dough. This will make it easier to wrap the cookie dough around the caramel and will prevent leakage in the oven.
Previous vegan cookie recipes on Heart of a Baker:
- Chocolate Dipped Vanilla Bean Macaroons
- Chocolate Vegan Gingerbread Cookies
- Homemade Vegan Nutter Butters
- Oil-Free Vegan Sugar Cookies
- Vegan Chocolate Cherry Cookies
Caramel-Stuffed Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 9 -12 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Description
Vegan chocolate chip cookies get stuffed with a date vegan caramel center and plenty of chocolate. Ready in under an hour and easy as pie!
Ingredients
For the caramel:
- 10 dates (pitted)
- 3/4 cup non-dairy milk
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the chocolate chip cookies:
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (or if it’s hot outside, your coconut oil is probably pre-melted for you, melted)
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
- 1 flax ‘egg’ (1 tbs. ground flax seed combined with 3 tablespoons water)
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 360ºF. Line a rimmed cookie sheet with parchment paper or Silpat and set aside.
- To make the caramel: In a blender, combine the dates, milk, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth. Transfer to a small dish and place in the freezer while preparing the cookie dough.
- To make the chocolate chip cookies: In a medium bowl, whisk together the melted coconut oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, almond extract, milk and flax egg. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the coconut oil mixture until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Scoop the cookie dough out in 2-3 tablespoon balls, roll into balls, then flatten down into a small disc, spacing each about an inch apart. Remove the caramel mixture from the fridge and place a dollop of caramel into the center of each disc. Wrap cookie dough around the caramel center, squeeze together and place cookie onto the cookie sheet with the seam down (where you pinched together the dough).
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown.
Notes
If you want the caramel center to be easier to handle, freeze for a couple of hours and cut into chunks, then place in cookie dough discs.
Keywords: vegan chocolate chip cookies
Liz @ Floating Kitchen says
I’ll totally help you steam things in return for cookies. I mean, look at these beauties! Photography game is strong here! Love them!
The Frosted Vegan says
Thanks girl, appreciate the lovely words from you! Yes please, come help me, I supply wine, cookies, and lots of belly laughs
June @ How to Philosophize with Cake says
That looks like another great chocolate chip cookie recipe! I guess it’s good to have options! 🙂 Love the caramel filling too, especially since it’s made with dates 😀
The Frosted Vegan says
It’s so so good! I love that I found my perfect chocolate chip cookie 🙂
whiskandshout says
You don’t even understand how excited I was for these! I’m so pumped to make them- you’re the coolest when it comes to veganizing things I’m craving 🙂 Pinning, of course!
The Frosted Vegan says
Hooray!! Thanks love, you are amazing!
Heartbeet Kitchen (@amanda_paa) says
amazing…. i am obsessed with date caramel as well, and stuffing it inside a chocolate chip cookie is genius.
i had no idea your wedding day was so soon! how exciting. xo
The Frosted Vegan says
Thanks love! Sending you a virtual dozen cookies, you deserve them 🙂 xo
[email protected] says
If you lived in Denver I would 100% steam table runners in exchange for those cookies!
The Frosted Vegan says
Oh I wish I lived in Denver, it’s such a gorgeous place!
Marfigs says
Absolutely beautiful photos! These cookies look divine and super indulgent – definitely stocking up on ingredients 😀
The Frosted Vegan says
Thank you so much! What kind words 🙂
Nicole @ Young, Broke and Hungry says
All the well wishes on your upcoming nuptials! These chocolate chip cookies look amazing and don’t even get me started on that date caramel – YUM!
The Frosted Vegan says
Thank you Nicole! xo
harrietemilys says
Wow! I am speechless! These look incredible! Chocolate and caramel is the best combination, and I love how you’ve stuffed these cookies with caramel! Yum! This is such an amazing recipe. I love it! 😀
The Frosted Vegan says
Thank you Harriet! They really are pretty dang good 🙂
Heidi Kokborg says
Goodness! These cookies look absolutely incredible! I just got home from vacation so I’m trying to stay a little away from sweets but these are my next sweet treat to make when I get friends coming over! 🙂
The Frosted Vegan says
Yes yes you should try!
wellandfull says
These look absolutely DECADENT, Abby!! #CookieHappyHour
The Frosted Vegan says
YES! Let’s make it a thing, ok?
Stephanie says
What is your preferred non-dairy milk for baking these?
The Frosted Vegan says
I almost primarily use almond milk! But I bet cashew milk would work as well 🙂
Michael says
OMG! if I were nearby I would totally help. Cookies and wine?!? YES!!! A little advice for the day of your wedding – have fun! The work is over. Take a moment every now and then during the reception to step aside and take it all in. It will be over before you know it.
The Frosted Vegan says
Ahh I wish you could come help Michael! It feels like everyone has said that exact thing about your wedding day, it goes by so fast 🙂 I so appreciate you stopping by Michael, you guys are awesome! xo
Lisa says
What can I use to replace the coconut oil? I’m having a hard time finding it where I live. Can i use a non dairy butter?
The Frosted Vegan says
Hi Lisa! You should be able to use non-dairy butter with successful results. Let me know how they turn out!
holly nerone says
regular brown sugar isn’t vegan the same as white sugar. Also what I found out after all ready using it in a recipe is that neither is imitation vanilla extract. I am however, going to substitute it for ground sugar in the raw because this looks friggin’ divine.
Lortiz says
Can you tell me what I can use instead of whole wheat flour?
The Frosted Vegan says
Hi Loritz, You can just use all-purpose flour in place of the whole wheat flour.
Lortiz says
Can you give me a gluten free flour option? These cookies look yummy 🙂
Eve-Marie says
Yum! One Green Planet posted this recipe but left off the flax egg – you should let them know! Planning to make these today😃
Heart of a Baker says
Oh no, thanks for the heads up!
Eve-Marie says
Wow – these turned out so amazing! What a creative idea – thanks for the great recipe!
Natalie T. says
Just made these, Abby, and they turned our really well! The date caramel was a little hard to work with, since the consistency was pretty gloppy, but it was totally worth it in the end. Next time I’ll try freezing the caramel ahead of time. 🙂 Thanks for a great, easy recipe with ingredients I had in my pantry!
Heart of a Baker says
Hi Natalie! Hooray!! I know the caramel can be finicky, especially if it isn’t frozen ahead of time, but they are worth it, right? So glad you loved them!
Angela says
This recipe did not work for me as written AT ALL. I had to add a huge extra handful of dates to get the caramel to not be total liquid and the cookie batter was also really wet… even after adding a bit more flour, chilling the dough, and freezing the caramel, it was borderline impossible to form the cookies 🙁
Heart of a Baker says
Hi Angela, I’m so sorry to hear this! I’ve tested the recipe a few times, so it should have worked as written 🙁 I’m so sorry!
Sara says
These cookies look really delicious. May I sub the sugars with coconut and cane sugar or only coconut sugar? I want to make them today. I can’t wait to make them. Thank you.
Gabriella says
Made these tonight! I made the date caramel a few days ago; my roommate and I have been eating it with vanilla ice cream which is gr88888888. It was very watery, so if I make it again, I’ll add the water a little at a time. Freezing is def recommended.
The dough was a great consistency to work with. Almost firm, which is a boon when stuffing them. I upped the temperature to 375F after I left the first batch in for 6 extra minutes. IMO they came out better with the higher temperature.
They are, unsurprisingly, very moist on the inside. Not a bad thing, but I prefer my cookies on the crunchier side so this recipe won’t be replacing my tried and true. These would be great for a party, though. It’s a jazzy take on the regular chocolate chip recipe.
Heart of a Baker says
I’m so glad to hear this! I agree, they are on the softer side, but I know everyone’s cookie preferences are different 🙂
Sara says
I was wondering I can replace the sugar with coconut sugar?? Please reply back.
Heart of a Baker says
Hi Sara,
Yes, you should be fine doing that!
Melissa says
I am having the same problem with the sauce. 🙁 I have added about 7 dates and it is still liquid. don’t know why
Heart of a Baker says
Oh no! If you stick it in the fridge for a bit it should thicken up!