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.
Absolutely delicious!! Just made a batch for some friends and they are gonna love ‘em and not even know they are vegan. You are a vegan baker genius.
You just made my day!! THANK YOU!! Enjoy 🙂
Amazing! we’ve made them three times in the last week, no substitutions and they have always turned out beautifully
This is so wonderful!! Seriously THANK YOU!! <3
These are amazing. easy to make, bake and eat. I have made many vegan chocolate chip cookie recipes, this one beats them all.
This is so awesome!! Thank you so much!!
Made these a couple days ago, so much better than store bought! Made gf with bobs 1 to 1, but I would suggest something with less rice for a softer less puffy cookie… still delish!
These tasted amazing but they were super cake like and fluffy, nothing like a cookie and I’m pretty sure I did something wrong 🙁 i used coconut sugar and the GF flour from the notes, as well as apple sauce. Any insight? 😭 I’ll definitely try this again though.
Hi Ingrid! Oh no! Okay so first thing, which gluten free flour did you use, AND did you use a scale or cups? Sometimes with cups, it’s easy to over measure, which would result in a more cake-like cookie!
BEST chocolate chip cookies ever!!! These are so delicious. I used mini chocolate chips and it was perfection.
YAYA oh I’m so happy to hear that 🙂 Enjoy!!
Hello! recipe looks awesome, can’t wait to try it.
Quick question on the flour – the video says 180g and in the comments i also saw 210g, but the recipe says 230g… which one is it? Thanks!
Hi Roshni! SO sorry for the confusion- it’s 230 g! I updated the recipe recently, so the video is a bit out of date. So sorry!
These were the BEST vegan cookies I have ever made. I have tried so many recipes and they always turn out cakey and I wanted more of a chewy texture. These were perfect. like insane. so good.
Oh this is so lovely 🥹So glad you loved!! Thanks so much for the review!! Enjoy 🙂
First time I made these cookies they came out so gooey and delicious! I’m chilling my dough not for the second time & I used 1 1/2 cups of flour and 1/4 cup of cocoa powder for extra chocolateyness. Hopefully they turn out just as delicious!
This is my families FAVORITE cookie recipe. We have tried at least 10 other recipes that just aren’t what you’re looking for when looking for that soft gooey chocolate chip goodness. These are what you wish you were eating when you bought a batch of soft cookies from the store only to be disappointed. These are a staple in my household now!! Absolutely delicious. Soft. Gooey. Melt in your mouth goodness!! I make them for my extended family and neighbors! Absolutely fantastic.
Hello I am wondering if I can make these into chocolate chip cookie bars instead of individual cookies? If so, any recommendations for pan size? Thank you.
Absolutely! I recommend an 8×8 or a 9×9 pan 🙂 They would be wonderful!
Really enjoyed these! I have avoided applesauce in the past and always opted for flaxseed, but decided to go with it for your recipe, and they turned out amazing. I’ve been trying to find a perfect chewy cookie recipe, and this finally worked. I was even able to reduce the white sugar a bit with no ill effects. This is my go-to recipe now. Thanks so much!
Hi! You’re my new fave! I did use Bobs GF 1:1 and it worked. I just had to leave it in the oven for like 2 more minutes. They were sooooo good! Crisp on the edges and gooey/chewy in the center. Thank you!
This is so wonderful!! I’m so happy to hear!! Thank you so much for the review, and so glad to hear about the Bob’s that’s so helpful to other readers! Enjoy!
I literally have never baked cookies successfully as they always come out hard as a rock or disgusting but WOW!! You have cured me of my inability to make cookies, they are so delicious and chewy. Thank you!!
can’t wait to bake!! What yogurt do you recommend? I was planning on using vitasoy Greek style but they only have vanilla and fruit ones now. soy vanilla, oat, coconut yogurt work best?
Hi Liam! Oh I’m so excited for you to try these!! You can totally use the soy Greek-style vanilla flavored yogurt for these- that would be lovely!
These are so delicious. I used a selection of random chocolate I had in the cupboard and Alpro coconut yoghurt, and the recipe turned out great. I also had to bake them for closer to 15 mins to get them browned around the edges, but they’re easily the best cookies I’ve ever made.
Thank you for the recipe!
Hello, I am wondering if you would have any suggestions about making chocolate chip cookie bars instead of individual cookies and what size pan to use? Thank you and I love all of your recipes! Take care, Chapin
Hi Chapin! Oh yes you can totally make these into bars instead! I would use an 8×8 or a 9×9 pan, and they’ll bake for around 25-27 minutes at 350F (I’ve made sugar cookie bars very similarly). Just check how they’re doing at the 20 min mark with the oven light! Enjoy!
Wonderful cookies, I roll them in extra chocolate chips and cool a second time then flake with sea salt – they’re always a hit! Even without the extras, everyone loves them!
This is WONDERFUL oh I’m so happy to hear it!! Thanks so much for the review! Enjoy!!
Fabulous recipe and my omnivore roommate loved them. I didn’t have a vegan butter baking stick, only spreadable vegan butter, and they took much longer to set in the fridge because of this. I had to let them set in the fridge for 2 hours when using the butter spread. They were crispy on the bottom but chewy on the inside. Amazing.
Hi Britt, I just tried the recipe and the flavor is AMAZING! I just have one question: we don’t have the Bobs Red Mill 1:1 flour in Germany and I tried to just replace it with spelt flour (Im not gluten free), which didn’t really work as my cookies just became one piece on my backing sheet 😀
Do you have any tipps for me how the replacing of the Red Mill flour could actually work without the dough ‘melting’?
Thanks for all your amazing recipes, I can’t stop baking since I came across your Instagram <3
Hi Chantii! Oh I’m so happy to loved them! So you can just use regular all-purpose flour (I believe called plain flour elsewhere!)! If you need gluten free, I recommend a baking flour blend that contains xanthan gum!
Thank you so much for your super fast reply! Ah okay, I thought the flour was the problem – do you have any idea why else my dough just melted into one whole piece if the flour is not the cause for that?
Other than that, it could be that you didn’t measure the ingredients properly! If there was too little flour or too much of another wet ingredient, it would cause that, but most likely it is the flour!
Maybe the most delicious chocolate chip cookies ever
These were absolutely delicious! They were soft and chocolatey. You would not be able to tell their vegan. I used coconut oil instead of butter and applesauce instead of yogurt and they were perfect.
So happy to hear this!! How wonderful 🙂 Thank you for the review, enjoy!!
I just found you and can’t wait to try these cookies and some other recipes of yours that I have printed out. I have seen that you prefer Miyokos and VioLife for butter. Curious about yogurt though. Do you have a favorite type and brand? Thanks!!
Hi Jen! Oh absolutely! I love Forager Project, but So Delicious also works for nut free, and Kite Hill is great too!
Is there anything I can sub the applesauce for? Love your recipes but I don’t have any 🙁
Yes! I use dairy free yogurt all of the time 🙂 It’s so good!