These nut-free, chewy vegan chocolate chip cookies have the most incredible texture and are bursting with flavor. They are made with sunflower seed flour, are gluten-free, and you only need a handful of ingredients!
What flour is used in these vegan chocolate chip cookies?
Sunflower seed flour! It’s just finely ground sunflower seeds! You add the seeds to a high-powered blender and blend until a super fine flour forms – just like almond or oat flour! It is so easy to make.
Benefits of using sunflower seed flour
Price: it’s cheaper than almond flour. Almond flour can be VERY pricy, sometimes costing upwards of $15 for a bag. Sunflower seed on the other hand are a lot more cost-effective.
Flavor: Sunflower seed flour offers a super yummy, unique taste to any recipe you use it in. If you love sunflower seed butter, you’ll especially like it. It gives these vegan chocolate chip cookies a unique nutty flavor, without adding nuts!
Nut-free: For those who have nut allergies, this may be a great swap! I know a ton of “healthy”, gluten-free recipes can call for almond flour and it can be hard to find a substitution. Sunflower seed flour can work in almost every recipe almond flour is used in.
Tips for making sunflower seed flour
Make sure you only blend it on high for a few seconds at a time. It shouldn’t take long to create a fine flour. If you blend it too long, it’ll start to turn into sunflower seed butter and won’t work properly.
Make it fresh. I think it’s best when the sunflower seeds are freshly blended. I haven’t tried storing it, but I’m sure you could store it in an air-tight container (I’d keep it in the fridge!).
Ingredients in chewy vegan chocolate chip cookies
Sunflower seeds: You can always make these with almond flour
Coconut sugar: Coconut sugar offers a great flavor to these cookies, but any granulated sugar can be used.
Flax egg: You can use a real egg. To make a flax egg, mix 1 tbsp ground flax seeds with 2 1/2 tbsp of water. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes to thicken.
Cinnamon: This is optional, but cinnamon and sunflower seeds work SO well together!
Let’s make some sunflower seed flour cookies
- Add the sunflower seeds to a high-powered blender (I use a Vitamix). Blend for a few seconds until you create a super fine flour and no chunks remain.
- Add all of the ingredients to a bowl, mixing until a sticky dough forms. Then fold in the chocolate chips.
- Drop by spoonfuls onto a lined cookie sheet Slightly flatten with your palm.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes and top with sea salt when removing from the oven. Let cool (they firm up as they cool!)
Storing
Store these cookies in an air-tight container.
More cookies recipes to try
Buckeye brownie Crumbl copycat cookies
Apple crisp cookies (Vegan, gluten-free)
Chewy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (Nut-free, Gluten Free)
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cup sunflower seed flour *See above post for how-to
- 1 flax egg or regular egg
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- generous pinch of sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. If using a flax egg, mix 1 tbsp ground flaxseed with 2 1/2 tbsp water and set aside to thicken 5-10 minutes.
- Start by blending sunflower seeds in a high powered blender until it reaches the consistency of almond flour – super fine! You'll need around 2 cups of sunflower seeds to get 1 3/4 cups sunflower seed flour.
- Then add in the remaining ingredients, mixing well until dough forms. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Use a cookie scoop to drop by roundfuls onto a lined cookie sheet. Use your palm to slightly flatten them.
- Bake for 11-12 mins, until golden around the edges. Let them cool completely (i actually like sticking mine in the freezer for a bit) before enjoying! They'll firm up as they cool.
