A simple egg and dairy free recipe for rye chocolate chip cookies – just in time for back to school. This is one of our favourite cookie recipes, with a great depth of flavour (rye, of course, plus almond flour and almond butter).
Adding almond flour and almond butter adds richness and makes the cookies chewier, both of which can be missing in cookies lacking the high amounts of butter, sugar, and eggs traditionally added. These are very much a grown-up cookie, but I’m sure kids would love them too.
Rye and chocolate are best friends and this recipe definitely showcases that. The cookies are chewy in the centre, with a crispy, golden edge. The best kind.
For a similar gluten-free cookies, try my vegan peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chunk cookies (the name is a mouthful, and the cookies are fabulous).
Why You Should Try This Recipe
It can be hard to find a good vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe that still has a great texture and flavour. This recipe uses a lot of flavour-boosters, like coconut sugar and maple syrup instead of white sugar, for a truly good cookie.
- It’s a whole grain cookie: I always make these with whole grain rye flour, but even if you use lighter flour, it’s still using high-protein almond flour.
- No need for substitutes: you don’t need vegan butter or margarine, or egg replacement for this recipe. Almond butter does a lot of the work.
- It doesn’t skimp on the chocolate: there’s so much chocolate in the cookies that the dough doesn’t cover it all. This is a good thing, but make sure you’re adding enough milk to make sure the dough is soft enough that it doesn’t fall apart.
Ingredients

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
- Rye Flour: spelt or white flour can be subbed for rye if absolutely necessary, but you will get a different cookie. For readers in places with different varieties of rye flour available, use light rye. The lower the number, the better it is for cookies (815 in Germany is best here).
- Arrowroot Flour: for a chewier cookie and as a binding agent. Cornstarch can be used.
- Almond Butter: if preferred, use hazelnut flour in place of almond. Any runny nut butter can be used – hazelnut butter would also be great. I haven’t tested a nut-free version but hypothetically a seed meal and seed butter should work too.
- Chocolate: I use chocolate drops rather than chips, because American-style chocolate chips are hugely expensive here. Chopped bar chocolate or a mix of chips and chunks is good too.
- Coconut Oil: using softened, rather than melted, coconut oil causes the cookie to spread a bit more in the oven and results in a better texture. If your house is warm, this can be straight from the jar. If the oil is very hard, heat it slightly before mixing.
Step by Step
1. Mix dry ingredients: add to a large mixing bowl and stir or whisk to combine.
2. Mix wet ingredients: whisk the nut butter and other wet ingredients in another bowl until well combined.

3. Mix dough: combine the two mixtures and stir to combine, then fold in the chocolate chips.
4. Scoop dough: use a cookie scoop or large spoon to scoop 12 cookies onto a sheet.
5. Flatten: use the heel of your hand to flatten the cookies slightly.
6. Bake: bake the cookies for about 10 minutes, until lightly golden.

Recipe Notes
Flattening the cookies slightly causes a greater spread in the oven. Since the cookies are comparatively low in sugar, they don’t spread as much in the oven, and need a little help. Use slightly dampened hands.
These cookies don’t take very well to many substitutions, especially outside of those listed (which have been tested). I recommend making them as stated in the recipe card the first time.
How to Store
Storage: keep in a sealed container at room temperature for several days (this will depend on ambient temperature).
Freezing: place the cooled cookies in an airtight container and freeze at least a month. They taste good frozen.

Expert Tips
- Why non-dairy milk: adding milk or water to a cookie made with oil mimics the makeup of butter. Don’t omit it, but use water if you don’t have milk. I always use oat milk.
- Add extra milk: if your dough is hard and dry, this can be due to different flour types, inaccurate measuring, or dry nut butter. Add a splash of extra milk if needed for a dough that looks as pictured in step 3 above.
- Use soft nut butter: the hard, dry bits at the bottom of the jar aren’t ideal for this recipe. It should be runny, or at least spoon-able, but not dry.
If you make these Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies or any other cookie recipes on Occasionally Eggs, please take a moment to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. It’s such a help to others who want to try the recipe. For more OE, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest, purchase the Occasionally Eggs cookbook, or subscribe for new posts via email.
Almond Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 120 grams rye flour
- 50 grams almond flour
- 50 grams coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt*
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 120 grams runny almond butter**
- 60 grams coconut oil, softened
- 60 ml maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk or water
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 150 grams dark chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the rye flour, almond flour, sugar, arrowroot, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In a smaller bowl, mix the almond butter, coconut oil, maple syrup, milk, and vanilla.
- Add the almond butter mixture to the larger bowl and mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until the dough comes together. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Scoop three tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheet, about 6 cm (2 in.) apart for each cookie. Press each cookie down slightly.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden.
- Let the cookies cool for about 10 minutes on the pan before removing and cooling fully on a rack. Store in a sealed container at room temperature for 3-4 days, or freeze up to a month.
Notes
* For American cup measurements, please click the pink link text above the ingredient list that says ‘American’.
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
This post was originally published in August 2018. It has been updated with some clarifications and slight adjustments to the recipe as of August 2021.
Kate says
Can I swap vegan butter for coconut oil?
Alexandra Daum says
I’ve never tried it, but I think it would be fine!
Gracia says
I made the cookies and they were delicious! very surprised with the rye flour I was skeptic due to the fat that is a very dry flour. For a second time I can replace arrowroot for cornstarch?
Alexandra Daum says
I’m so glad you like them! Yes, you can use cornstarch no problem.
Catherine says
These are going to become a staple in our house. Delicious, I didn’t add the sugar (just the maple) and they were sweet enough for us.
Heike says
Hi Alexandra,
Just made these über delicious cookies. The recipe is super simple. I didn’t have any rye flour at home and used whole spelt flour instead. Next time I may use less chocolate since the hand chopped pieces were made them slightly fall apart.
Many thanks for this amazing recipe¨
Best,
Heike
Alexandra Daum says
Thanks Heike, so glad you liked them!
Yosefa says
These cookies are amazing! I don’t usually use rye flour but definitely worth buying for this recipe!
Lysh says
Hi, I tried making these and after baking them, they didn’t rise or spread. They looked exactly how they did raw just with a toasty bottom and edges. I double checked the recipe and made it but weighing, any ideas what what I did wrong?
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Sorry to hear you had some problems Lysh, if you didn’t change the recipe at all then this sounds like an oven setting or baking problem. These have been successful in lots of different ovens so I’m not sure what else it might be!
Yosefa says
I just made these cookies and usually they came out great. Mine also spread out very thin and then I realized I skipped the almond butter! *Face Palm*
Hopefully someone will eat them lol
Alexandra Daum says
Oh no! Well, it happens, and some people will eat anything : )
Yvonne says
Hi Alexandra, I made these cookies when you first posted the recipe but I remember that at that time I couldn’t write a comment (website problems?) and I forgot about it.
The post about the chocolate recipes reminded me of these cookies because they are excellent and I am going to make them again, very soon! Or maybe I will make the hazelnut chocolate ganache tart first?
Maybe you are already speaking a little bit dutch : ) I know it’s a difficult language to learn: my mother, being Spanish, came to live here with my (Dutch) father and found, and still finds it quite a difficult language to pronounce.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Alexandra | Occasionally Eggs says
Hi Yvonne, thanks so much for your comment! I’m so happy you liked the cookies. The tart is also excellent ; ) I can’t say that my dutch has progressed much as I haven’t had too much time to practice. I’m a little bit better at reading it now but it’s tricky to understand when people are talking! Have a lovely week ahead : )