This delicious vegan cookie is the perfect combination of a moist cookie and a scrumptious, slightly sweet cake that can be topped to your liking! Try this protein-packed 30-minute dessert.
Do you love chocolate chip cookies as much as we do? If so, you need to try this vegan skillet cookie that’s soft, chewy, naturally sweetened and undetectably good for you.
It’s a gluten-free, dairy-free, and high-protein dessert recipe that’s crowd-pleasing, simple to make and delicious year-round.
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Prepare it during fall or winter for a cozy treat, dress it up with coconut whipped cream to make a birthday cake or serve it with a dollop of vegan ice cream during Christmas breakfast!
Thanks to the wholesome high-protein cookie dough which you can enjoy by the spoonful before even baking your vegan skillet cookie, this nutritious dessert can be enjoyed on a regular basis without any problems.
This recipe is also featured in our protein-packed chocolate mousse cake!
Recipe overview
- Soft, chewy & not too sweet
- Ready to serve in just 30 minutes
- Little kitchen skills or tools needed
- Studded with melted chocolate chunks
- Dairy-free, sugar-free & gluten-free
- Rich in plant-based protein & fiber
- Undetectably vegan & wfpb
- Crowd-pleasing & kid-friendly
We love eating this vegan skillet cookie fresh from the oven as it is but you can also dress it up to become a beautiful holiday-appropriate dessert.
Ingredients needed
- Chickpeas — our protein- and fiber-rich secret ingredient that’ll be overpowered in terms of taste by our delicious add-ins.
- Dates — the best natural sweetener to add to any dessert recipe!
- Almond flour — can be made by blending whole or slivered almonds for a few seconds in your blender.
- Oat flour — same as above, plus it allows for the vegan cookie cake to be naturally gluten-free and more allergen-friendly.
- Almond butter — adding some richness without using vegan butter or oil!
- Chocolate — we love going for dark chocolate chunks that are roughly chopped but vegan chocolate chips work just as well.
Just a pinch of baking powder, salt and some vanilla extract to support the sweetness and your vegan cookie batter can bake to perfection within 20 minutes!
All you need to make this vegan skillet cookie is a food processor, skillet and measuring equipment. Start by gathering your ingredients and preheat your oven to 345° F (175° C).
Create the batter
Make the first part of your cookie batter by placing the dates, almond butter and vanilla extract into a food processor jar and pulse to obtain a puree.
If the mixture is too dry and won’t come together, add a splash of water or soy milk.
Next, add the rest of the ingredients except for the chopped dark chocolate: your drained chickpeas, almond flour, oat flour and baking powder. You may also add a pinch of salt at this point.
Process everything to obtain a thick, smooth and creamy batter. Stop and scrape down the sides as needed, then get a spoon and make a quick taste test to see whether you want the batter to be any sweeter or make other adjustments.
Add the chocolate chips or chocolate chunks and fold them in with a spoon.
Put in skillet & bake
Transfer the cookie batter in a cast-iron skillet or round baking pan measuring 10-12 inches in diameter, making sure it reaches all of the edges by pressing the mixture down with your wetted fingers.
You can also use a spatula or the back of a large spoon to do so. Once the batter is evenly distributed, put the skillet or baking pan into the preheated oven and bake for around 20 minutes.
You can check to see whether your vegan skillet cookie is done baking by inserting a toothpick in the center — if it comes out clean, you can take it out of the oven.
Let it cool slightly before slicing and serving warm!
Serving suggestions
This vegan skillet cookie is super versatile! You can enjoy it on its own with a cup of vegan hot chocolate, oat milk, or almond milk latte. We’ve also tried it with vegan vanilla custard or date caramel sauce!
Take it a step further by adding a scoop of vegan ice cream on top or decorating with vegan cashew frosting and some vegan whipped cream.
By the way, you can just eat this chickpea cookie dough raw as a high-protein snack without baking it into a cookie!
Storage & Prepping
You can make the vegan cookie dough for up to 2 days in advance and store it in a sealed container in the fridge before baking it into a cookie.
If you want to store any leftovers, let it first cool completely before transferring it to a sealed container. It keeps well in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for 2 months.
Adjustments ideas
For a thicker cookie, simply double all of the ingredients. If the sweetness of the dates isn’t enough for you, simply add some maple syrup or brown sugar to adjust to your taste preferences.
Here are some more adjustments you can make!
- Grain-free: swap the oat flour for more almond flour and you’re good to go
- Almond butter: cashew butter works just as well!
- Lower fat: decrease chocolate chips and replace almond butter with apple sauce
- Dates: use around 2-3 tbsp of maple syrup and slightly increase the amount of nut butter
- Spices: use bourbon vanilla powder instead of vanilla extract, add a pinch of cinnamon or cocoa powder to the batter if you like.
More vegan desserts
We love creating healthy versions of our favorite desserts! See how we like to replace eggs, dairy, oil and sugar when baking and try these whole food plant-based recipes next.
- Cozy Apple Crumble
- Chocolate Caramel Slice
- Nutty Cinnamon Rolls
- Peanut Butter Stuffed Dates
- Protein-Packed Blackout Brownies
Did you try our healthy vegan skillet cookie and like it? Share with us in the comments below and be sure to leave a rating. You can also Pin the recipe here!
Hi! About the chickpeas… the recipe says “cooked and drained” but you don’t explain how to cook them. Can I use them just drained from the can, if not, how should I cook them?
Thank You!
thanks for your questions, you’re right! I batch cook beans at home in my pressure cooker so I always have some on hand but this recipe works with just canned, drained & well-rinsed chickpeas :) let us know how you like it!
Perfect! Thank you!!
I followed the recipe pretty faithfully, and it was very easy. I did have to add a little water to the date paste and subbed the chocolate with Lily’s chocolate salted caramel chips (Omg!!). Also, I didn’t have a small skillet so I baked it in a 9-inch pie plate, and it took 35 minutes to brown. Delicious and filling result! I would say more like 8 servings given how dense it is. Thank you for this recipe!
sounds wonderful, great that you adapted the recipe to your needs! yup, it’s really filling indeed — I just adjusted the serving sizes ;) so happy you like the recipe!
this was so tasty!
I’ve never made a cookie cake before and this looks delicious! I don’t have a food processor, can I soak the dates in hot water, drain it, and mash everything with a fork? Or can I make this with a hand mixer? Thanks so much in advance :)
Hey Meg, thanks so much for your comment! There are many ways you can create a date puree, definitely soak them first in hot water and then either mash it with a fork or use an immersion blender if you have one, anything that would create a smooth texture will do :)
Let us know how the cake turns out!
Warm wishes,
Alena
Alena, do you think I can substitute the almond flour with oat or sprouted whole wheat flour?
Can’t wait to make this! Thanks!
Hey Roz,
sure you can use only oat flour for this recipe but in this case, I’d add 1 tbsp more almond butter to get a similar result due to the lower fat in the oat flour compared to almond flour. Hope this makes sense! Let us know how you like it :)
Best wishes
Hi, could do you think I could substitute all or some of the chocolate chips for pieces of apple? My family loves apple cake! Thanks you so much for this recipe!
yes, this would be a fantastic swap! let me know how it turns out and whether your family liked it :)
How big is your skillet?
about 10 inches diameter but 12 also work well
Can you use a different legume than chickpeas – say a white bean – navy or lima? I’ve been following the blood type B diet and chickpeas are an avoid food.
Thanks for all the wonderful content!
pretty sure that any white beans work just as well :)
can I use any other nut besides almonds?
Tested and the worst:
wheat (am NOT Celiac)
dairy
eggs
almonds
ALL on a scale of 0 to 4 were found to be a 3
Thanks so much
sure, your favorite nut will do! enjoy the recipe :)