Chewy & Soft Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (Better Than Tollhouse!)
These are the best vegan chocolate chip cookies you’ll ever make thanks to using dairy free yogurt as the vegan egg replacement!! Chewy edges and soft, warm molten middles studded with melty chocolate chips. Easy to make with ingredients you probably already have, absolutely no one will know these cookies are vegan, no dairy and no eggs!
Reader Review:
Why you need to try my vegan chocolate chip cookies:
These vegan chocolate chip cookies should just be labelled as the best chocolate chip cookies. Because they’re not amazing for being vegan. They’re amazing. Period. Not flat, like other vegan cookies, not too puffy, just right chewy edges with soft, warm molten centers.
It’s the top vegan cookie recipe on my blog (along with these amazing vegan double chocolate chip cookies, which made it into my first cookbook!) and is the base cookie dough I use for all of my cookies.
Every time I make these, no one believes me that these cookies are dairy free and eggless because of our secret ingredient: dairy free yogurt. The absolute best vegan egg replacement to exist for cookies. The result is identical to eggs, it’s uncanny.
I swear this is what makes them taste like Tollhouse cookies: crispy, chewy edges with a molten, SOFT center. Ugh, YUM. In fact, the dough is so good, I even used it to create my edible vegan cookie dough recipe!
And did I mention, it’s easier than traditional cookies?? 😉 Just a bowl and a whisk is needed- no fancy equipment nor methods!
My latest video:
Key ingredients I chose when making this recipe:
- Vegan butter: Some vegan cookie recipes on the internet suggest coconut oil, but I’m not a fan of this. This is because coconut oil is 100% fat, whereas traditional dairy butter is about 80-82%. That means the rest is water, which adds moisture. KEY. The more fat you have, the “shorter” the cookie (think shortbread: crumbly), but we want soft and chewy, so coconut oil just doesn’t work here. That’s why I recommend Miyoko’s. But if you’re nut free, I believe the second best option is Plant Crock.
- Dairy-free yogurt: the secret ingredient to making these vegan cookies irresistibly gooey and perfect! It might sound weird to make vegan chocolate chip cookies with yogurt, but trust me this is the key (check out my vegan egg replacements guide here for more on that).
- Vegan Chocolate chips: The chocolate you use in your CHOCOLATE chip cookie matters! My go-to combination is (because yes, I use more than one chip, that’s how you get the good flavor!!): Enjoy Life dairy free “milk” chocolate chip with Valrhona Oriado chocolate feves OR Endangered Species 70% sea salt chocolate (the sea salt is GOOD my friends). Other brands that work are Guittard, Hu Kitchen, and Pascha (though sometimes, I think some of the flavors of Pascah are a bit “earthy” tasting). Lily’s won’t really melt that well so I don’t really opt for these.
Figuring out baking time for this cookie recipe:
A trick I learned years ago is to use the baking time of cookies more as guidelines for the literal recipe you’re baking in the moment. Why? Because honestly, every oven is a bit different. In my oven, I’m baking this cookie recipe for 14 minutes. This same recipe bakes for 16 minutes in my mom’s oven because it’s 30 years old, isn’t QUITE 350F when set, and it’s just different.
I always look for the doneness in the edges of the cookie. Look for the crisp slightly golden brown edges, and allow your cookies to rest after removing them from the oven.
You are just going to LOVE these vegan chocolate chip cookies. They’re seriously just so easy to make, and an absolute crowd pleaser for both kids and adults.
Enjoy, and happy baking!
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Chewy & Soft Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (Better Than Tollhouse!)
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 10
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 18 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These are the best vegan chocolate chip cookies you’ll ever make!! Chewy edges and soft, molten middles studded with melty chocolate chips. Easy to make with ingredients you probably already have, absolutely no one will know these cookies are vegan, no dairy and no eggs thanks to our secret and simple ingredient!
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups (280 g) all purpose flour or gluten free 1:1 baking flour , sifted and spoon & leveled*
- 1 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot starch
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2/3 cup (150 g) salted vegan butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
- 2/3 cup (135 g) light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 g) organic granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (85 g) dairy free yogurt or unsweetened applesauce, room temperature
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup (170 g) vegan chocolate chips* (semi-sweet or your choice!)
Instructions
- Prep: Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, and measure out all ingredients.
- Whisk: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.
- Make the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the vegan butter, sugar, brown sugar, dairy free yogurt, and vanilla. Then add in the flour, baking soda, and sea salt. Use a rubber spatula to fold together. Stop just before all of the flour is mixed in.
- Add in the chocolate chips: Fold in chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
- Chill: Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes, but preferably 2 hours. The longer, the better, as the flavor will develop even more. When the dough is nearly done chilling, preheat the oven to 350F.
- Bake: Using a cookie scoop, and roll about 1.5 tablespoons of dough per cookie for regular sized cookies, or 3 tablespoons of dough for large cookies onto the sheet. Place into oven and bake for 10-12 minutes (my oven, I bake them exactly 11 minutes each time for large cookies) or until the edges are lightly golden and are “set.” The middles shouldn’t be dough-y looking, but if they’re still soft, that’s perfectly fine.
- Cool: Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. This allows the cookies to firm up to hold together.
- Enjoy: Sprinkle with extra sea salt and enjoy! Store these cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 4 days, a week in the fridge, or a month in the freezer.
Notes
Gluten free: I really only recommend using King Arthur Measure-for-Measure Gluten Free Flour or a similar blend with xanthan gum that also weighs 125 g per cup. Please note that Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 GF Flour will NOT work here.
Baking times: baking times will vary based on your kitchen and oven temperatures. Be sure to watch your cookies and bake according to your own oven. Read my tips in the post for how to ensure your cookies are done.
Vegan Chocolate Chips: I recommend Enjoy Life and some of the Valrhona feves are naturally dairy free and vegan (like the Oriado blend- my favorite!).
- Room temperature: Store the cookies at room temperature on a plate and wrapped in plastic wrap or in an airtight container. They’ll last for about 5 days at room temperature.
- Fridge: Store the cookies in an airtight container (this will keep them from drying out). They’ll last for about 7-8 days, depending on how cold your fridge is.
- Freezer: Store them in a plastic airtight bag or container for up to 3 months.
Ok these are hands down the best chocolate chip cookies I ever had – vegan and non-vegan. They’re so chunky and chewy and rich and absolutely easy to make!
This is just AWESOME!! WOW!! Thank you so much for this lovely review!! And for being here too 🙂 ENJOY!!
This may be a silly question… if I simply use gluten free flour, these cookies are considered gluten free and vegan? Baking for a crowd and I’ve never done this type of baking 🙂
Yes!! No silly questions here!
No I did not use a scale.
Try that next time! It’s a simple step that makes such a difference!
Hi! Made these, super yum! Only thing is the website didnt allow me to change the multiplier. I doubled the batch
Hi Becca, thanks for the heads up. Hope you enjoyed the cookies!!
Tried them yesterday, they are the best vegan cookies I’ve ever made. Thanks for the recipe, I’ve finally found THE ONE.
This is just awesome 🙂 WOW!! Just cried happy tears at this- literally made my day, thank you so much for the review!! ENJOY!!!
Absolutely epic! These vegan chocolate chip cookies exceeded my expectations. Better than any non-vegan chocolate chip cookie I’ve made to date. When you want an indulgent dessert — these hit the spot! So easy to make and a crowd pleaser all around (for vegan and non vegan alike). Highly recommend.
holy moly – these cookies are perfect! thank you for sharing all your amazing recipes.
This is so awesome 🙂 WOW! Thank you so much for the review! Enjoy!!
Hiiiii! I’m a BIG fan of your work. I’ve made so many of your recipes both sweet and savory on repeat. They always turn out amazing. This is honestly the first time one didn’t come out quite right for me.
I’m pretty sure it’s on my end since I made it to what I had available. I used cranberries instead of chocolate chips and different yogurt brands. I was hoping you might have some guidance on what could be going wrong or how to tweak it. I’m like 95% sure I followed the recipe to a T, I just don’t know. Even though my cookies aren’t the most aesthetically pleasing right now, they’re definitely pleasing to my tastebuds.I was trying to add a photo but it’s not working for me. But basically the cookies are just reallyyyy soft to where they don’t hold their shape. They spread out and like take a longgg time to cook. The middle is still raw when using the recommended time but then it burns when over the time.
OH thank you so much for the kind review and words, wow!! I really really appreciate it! Okay so the cranberries could definitely affect doneness and texture, as you’re adding a very moist component, and that liquid has to go somewhere (why the cranberries get so soft with baking- the water content will naturally expel first into the surrounding dough!). To offset this, you could try to coat them in some flour, but that’s why it actually works much better to use fruits in jam form because jam has way less moisture than fresh fruit (and even then you get some issues with spreading!). Would you be able to share which brand yogurt you used? Also make sure that you used baking soda rather than powder!! That would also cause spreading and deflating of cookies!
These are the first choc chip cookies that spread out for me, are really tasty and have great consistency! I had to sub a little oil and milk for some of the budder and I used a bit of oat flour too and yet they worked out great! I think the reason why my previous cookies never worked well is because I decrease the sugar amount quite a lot – up to 1/3. Today I didn’t – but they are really sweet, a tad too sweet for us. So do you know how much I could decrease the amount of sugar here (keeping everything else according to the recipe)?
Thank you!
Best, Jay
Hi Jay! Oh I’m so happy you liked them! I totally understand different preferences to sweet levels in cookies, but for these, I really don’t think it would work to decrease the sugar without sacrificing the structure of the cookie. You can add a 1/4 tsp more salt to help balance them and that does actually really work! Also using a super dark chocolate or even 100% might help offset some of the sweetness!
Hi Britt! I made your oat flour cookies and my colleagues, one of whom is vegan, loved them! I actually want to make another colleague a cookie cake, and I’m wondering how you recommend I go about it. Shall I make one big ball? How long should it bake, and should the temperature stay the same? Thank you in advance, and thanks again for the wonderful recipes!
Hi!! That is AMAZING, I’m so glad it came out well. I actually have a cookie cake recipe that will be super helpful for all of those questions. Find it here!!
I absolutely love these cookies. So easy to make. I added crushed raw pistachios and sprinkled a little sea salt when it came out of the oven. The whole family loved it 😋 thank you for sharing your God given gift
Oh my gosh, I LOVE it!!! Thank you so much for the review and what?! Your kind words just made my day 🙂 Really grateful to have you here, Lisa 🙂 You make it all the better! Enjoy!
Hi, which brown sugar are you using that is definitely vegan? I’m new to the vegan world and reading most are not, but some are…any recs for brands you use would be super helpful.
Thank you!
Hi Anne! I use Wholesome Sweets and Florida Crystals- whichever is available at my store!
Oh my goodness, these are the most perfect cookies I have EVER had. They have the perfect taste and texture. It is so surprising because it is vegan and there haven’t been that many good recipes but just WOW. I will be making these for the rest of my life!
Oh my goodness you made them BEAUTIFULLY!! Thank you so so much for sharing! So happy you loved them 🙂 And glad you’re on the cookie obsession train with me, I make these once a week lol it’s hard not to!!
The best recipe for vegan chocolate chip cookies!
Flavors were really good on these cookies. They are just a little too cakey for me. They never spread enough when baking and come out puffy. Super yummy cookie tho 🙂
Oh I’m wondering- did you scoop the flour or weigh it on a scale? They definitely look like they have too much flour so that would account for how much they would spread/the cakey texture, I totally agree!