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!
This cookie recipe is so good, it’s the same recipe I used to develop my small batch chocolate chip cookies (for when you just need 3 or 4 chocolate chip cookies) AND my single serve chocolate chip cookie!
My latest video:
Quick Look: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Method: One bowl, a whisk, and a silicone spatula. Whisk the wet ingredients, fold in the dry, scoop, chill, & bake!
- Why Make THIS Version? Crisp, golden edges meets soft, chewy centers with molten chocolate chips- all without eggs & dairy!
- Secret to Success: Using dairy-free yogurt as the vegan egg replacement for the perfect chewy & soft texture.
- Key Ingredients: All-purpose flour, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, vegan butter, dairy free yogurt.
- Baking time: 12-15 minutes.
- Freezer-Friendly: Yes. Freeze your finished cookies for up to 3 months (and even the cookie dough!)
Table of contents
- My latest video:
- Quick Look: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Reader Review:
- Why my vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe works:
- Key ingredients:
- How to make the best vegan chocolate chip cookies:
- Figuring out baking time for this vegan cookie recipe:
- Common mistakes when making this cookie recipe:
- Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies FAQ’s:
- Other vegan cookie recipes you’ll LOVE:
- Chewy & Soft Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (Better Than Tollhouse!) Recipe
Reader Review:
Why my vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe works:
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 (including my chewy vegan peanut butter chocolate chip cookies!).
My 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 rigorously tested this recipe over the years with multiple vegan egg replacements, and I swear (and readers agree) 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!
Key ingredients:
- 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 using a good vegan butter. Currently, I make my own (coming soon!), but Plant Crock is a great option.
- 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! And using multiple varieties REALLY boosts depth of flavor. My go-to combination is: Enjoy Life dairy free “milk” chocolate chip with Valrhona Oriado chocolate feves.
- All-purpose flour: Like any classic chocolate chip cookie recipe (including my vegan double chocolate chip cookies!), all-purpose flour is a must! For my gluten-free bakers, I have tested this recipe with gluten-free 1:1 flour (specifically King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten-free flour), and it works wonderfully!
- Light brown sugar: I’ve spent so many years developing this recipe and playing around with different ratios of sugar (because that’s another key driver of texture in a cookie recipe!). What I’ve found is that a ratio with higher light brown sugar to granulated in a vegan cookie recipe gives the proper chewy texture while also helping the cookies spread just enough.
- Granulated sugar: My biggest note here is using vegan sugar. Not all granulated sugar is vegan in the U.S. due to processing with bone char. A brand that’s certified vegan (like Florida Crystals or Wholesome Sweets) OR is certified organic will be naturally vegan.
- Baking soda: Seems like an odd ingredient to need to talk about, but I’ve seen SO many chocolate chip cookies call for both baking soda AND baking powder. In my testing, I’ve found that this recipe only needs one– baking soda. If I used baking powder, the cookies would puff up way too much.
How to make the best vegan chocolate chip cookies:
1. Chop the chocolate (if using! Or you can just use chocolate chips). A mix of both vegan milk chocolate and dark chocolate produces such a good, rich flavor!
2. Next, whisk together the wet ingredients. This is your melted vegan butter, light brown sugar, sugar, vanilla extract, and sea salt. Then whisk in the baking soda.
3. Add in the flour and cornstarch, and fold JUST before the dry ingredients are fully incorporated.
4. Add in both your chopped chocolate and chocolate chips. I’ve found this gives my chocolate chip cookies more flavor depth and texture variety with pockets of mixed chocolate!
5. Fold the chocolate into the dough JUST until incorporated. This prevents over-mixing of the dough. You want to make sure you don’t over-mix the dough!
6. Scoop the dough onto a baking sheet.
7. Chill the dough for 2+ hours.
8. When ready to bake, space about 2 inches apart on several baking sheets (or bake in batches!) at 350F for 12-15 minutes.
Figuring out baking time for this vegan 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.
Common mistakes when making this cookie recipe:
Swapping out the fat. I use a vegan butter that’s homemade (recipe coming soon!), but I also really like these cookies with Country Crock’s vegan butter sticks. Earth Balance has a very strong flavor, so I try to avoid that. But swapping in ingredients like coconut oil may dramatically change both the flavor and texture of your cookies, as I mentioned above.
Reducing the sugar. Using sugar isn’t just for flavor- it’s also for the science of developing the texture and the look of your cookie. If you want a moist, chewy, and soft cookie with just crisp edges, you need to keep the sugar ratio the same. Altering with the sugar ratio completely alters your texture AND flavor of the cookie (like in my chewy vegan pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies!).
Not weighing the ingredients. This is one of those traditional baking tips that is paramount to any baking recipe. Weighing your ingredients will ensure that you’re not using too much flour (which will prevent your cookies from spreading properly!). Usually a cup of sugar consistently weighs what we would use for the metric measurements, but flour in particular is tricky because you can easily put way too much flour into a cup. This drastically alters your baking results!
Over-mixing the dough. This is true even if you’re using a gluten-free flour blend! Over-mixing the dough creates a tough texture in your cookies. I try to stop JUST before the dry ingredients are incorporated. Then add in the chocolate chips and fold JUST until the chocolate is evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies FAQ’s:
100%. I actually really question recipes that don’t call for chilling your cookie dough for this vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe because I’ve found in testing my recipe, not only does chilling the dough help with texture or look, but it also helps develop the flavor of your cookies! I recommend chilling my vegan chocolate chip cookie dough for at least 2 hours to really lock in flavor and texture.
Absolutely! I sometimes stir in vegan candy bits (like vegan candy-coated gems that mimic M&Ms, crushed chocolate creme cookies (like my homemade vegan Oreo cookies!), or even chopped nuts (toast them in the oven first!). It’s also why I created my vegan s’mores cookies with crushed graham crackers and gooey vegan marshmallows from this very dough!
Yes, absolutely! I do this all of the time actually. Make sure to pre-scoop the dough and then let it chill for 5 minutes in the freezer unwrapped. This helps the dough set so you can then properly wrap and chill the dough without squishing the form. I’ve baked the dough from frozen before, but 5 minute on the counter as the oven preheats will give these cookies the perfect amount of spreading in the oven.
Easy- too much flour. If you’re using US Cups, it’s so easy to over-measure the flour (I’ve done it!). I highly recommend using a kitchen scale and the metric system when baking this recipe.
Other vegan cookie recipes you’ll LOVE:
Vegan Stuffed Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Chewy & Soft Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies (Better Than Tollhouse!)
- Prep Time: 7
- Cook Time: 15
- Total Time: 22 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
- 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 g) organic granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (85 g) dairy-free yogurt, 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.
- Scoop: 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.
- 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: Place into oven and bake for 12-15 minutes (my oven, I bake them exactly 14 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.
Dairy free yogurt: I really recommend using dairy-free yogurt here, but if you can’t access it, you can use unsweetened applesauce.
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.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookies
- Calories: 258
- Sugar: 23.9 g
- Sodium: 113.4 mg
- Fat: 9.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 3.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 39.2 g
- Fiber: 1.8 g
- Protein: 5.1 g
- Cholesterol: 0.7 mg
hi! if i want to switch the butter with coconut oil, how much should i use? thanks!
Hi Mal! You can use coconut oil, but they might not spread as much- I would omit the baking powder if you use coconut oil!
Hi Mal,
Im in the middle of making these right now (second tray) and I noticed that my first batch didnt spread at all. I used coconut sugar instead of light brown sugar but everything else was followed.
I also noticed that they needed an additional 5 minutes baking. Do you know why this might be?? Going by your photo, mine do not look like that at all! lol
They taste amazing though!
Hi Kenysha! That will be because they use coconut sugar, so they’ll look a little different in color but still will taste good! I’m also wondering, did you use a kitchen scale? A kitchen scale is the most reliable for measuring flour. If they aren’t spreading, it sounds like that might be the issue!
Hi Britt,
The coconut sugar does make them a bit sweeter, which isnt a bad thing! lol
I didnt use a kitchen scale, I did level it pretty well but I can imagine that might make a difference. Thank you for your reply!
Oh I’m so glad you leveled though, some people just scoop and pack the flour, which would give you way more! What type of dairy free yogurt and butter did you use?
Hi. Quick question on the recipe vs the video…in the video you used 1/2 cup of room temp butter, however the recipe is for 3/4 of a cup of melted and cooled butter. Has the recipe been updated since the video?
Hi Kristina! Yes, the recipe was further adapted! I will update the video 🙂
I needed a vegan cookie recipe for one of my husbands coworkers who says he can never find anything good vegan, and they turned out PERFECT! They were so delicious, and I can’t wait to hear what he thinks when he try’s them!
This is so wonderful! So happy to hear it 🙂 Thanks so much for coming back to review!
Thanks so much for your reply! I’ve used both brands but I will take your suggestion and use the King Arthur for this recipe. I love your recipes and look forward to seeing what you’ve created. Thanks, again. 🙂
Oh absolutely! And if you feel more comfortable using one flour over the other, please feel free to use what is best for you! I was speaking with another reader recently who was telling me that KA doesn’t work for her and Bob’s does- and then a different reader said the opposite (that KA is her go-to, not bobs!) so it’s really whatever suits you! I’m just here to give recommendations based on what has worked for me 🙂 Excited to hear what you think of them! Thanks again!
I am wondering why you stated that Bob’s Red Mill GF 1:1 Flour won’t work with this recipe? It does contain xanthan gum so is it because of the different gf flours in each brand?
I think they’ve changed their recipe for the flour blend. Every time I’ve used it for the past 2 years, it’s not consistent results anymore, which is disappointing because I think it’s the most widely available of the gf flour blends. But I really love King Arthur Measure for Measure! It’s great!
amazing!
Hi! Can I replace the yogurt with buttermilk?
Hi Rebeca! I haven’t personally tried this, but I worry that the mixture would be too wet. You might need to chill the cookie dough longer. I would try to sub in applesauce if you can instead first!
WOW. my best friend recently found out she’s allergic to gluten, dairy, eggs, and more! as someone who’s love language is baking, i was determined to find the perfect recipes so i can keep baking for her. these are INCREDIBLE!? i wasn’t expecting them to bake well because the dough is a little different than a typical cookie dough but they set so well, and they taste amazing. the best comparison i can think of is the mcdonald’s chocolate chip cookies but better. i used bob’s red mill oat flour with 1 tbsp. cornstarch. for the butter i used miyoko’s creamery european style vegan butter because i’ve heard wonderful things about it and i think the cookies taste amazing! i also used mini chocolate chips which really made all the difference with the chocolate distribution. coming from someone who isn’t vegan or gluten free, i literally wouldn’t have been able to tell these are allergy-friendly. couldn’t recommend more!
Omgsh!! I’m so happy to hear it!! Thanks so much for this review, wow! I love that you also mentioned what brands you used, etc. that’s so beyond helpful for others! Thanks again for coming back to review this and help other readers! 🙂
what should the oven be preheated to? theres no oven temp written anywhere.
Hi Cat! It’ in the chill step, you might have missed it- preheat to 350F 🙂
Could you make them flourless with cassava flour or some combination of almond, coconut, and tapioca? I’m on an essentially flourless regimen.
I haven’t personally tried this, but I’ve had success combining cassava with oat flour- I would think that cassava and tapioca might work well, but again, I can’t speak to the results as I have not tried!
Amazing easy recipe. Already made a second batch. Definitely for keeps! Thnx!
Amazing!! Oh, I’m so happy to hear it!! Enjoy, and thanks for the review 🙂
Hey!!! Love your recipes so thank you!!!
I kind of fudged the recipe last night and realized this morning what might of happened but maybe you can give me so insight! 🙁 my cookies didn’t spread at all, they cooked somewhat and stayed in ball form. I realized this am that I forgot to add the arrowroot starch to my gf bobs mix. Do you think this could have been the culprit? They also felt really tough after being chilled.
I’m wondering if I should leave them out longer to thaw before I bake the rest of them?
Also is it too late to thaw out the dough and mix in the arrowroot starch as best I can and reshape into balls? Lol might be a silly question but figured I’d ask!
Thanks again!!
Hi Greta! Aw thank you!! So happy you’re here 🙂
So I’m thinking that the dough was probably too cold! If I leave the dough overnight, I usually let it sit at room temperature for an hour because I keep my fridge so cold haha- the butter is super hard then in the cookies, which makes it harder to spread! But I’m also wondering, how did you measure the flour? Because too much flour would prevent the cookies from spreading too!
The arrowroot just helps with the texture of the Bob’s red mill! To make them a little more chewy in texture 🙂
Thanks for getting back to me :):)
Update: I left one cookie out to thaw out for about two hours and then baked it, but it still didn’t spread. Also I used coconut oil instead of butter but I used the same measurement 1/2 cup in solid form. was that correct?
I measured with my scale and did 245g of flour. But maybe the tare was wrong and it was off by a little bit… 🙁 lol
Thanks for the arrowroot info!
I’m so sorry I’m just responding now! It must have been the coconut oil then, sometimes it can be finicky and not spread I’ve noticed (which is why I’ve just been using vegan butter lately!). I’m so sorry about that!
its okay! thanks for getting back to me now 🙂
I think Ill go ahead and try it again with the butter and see what happens!
Ill keep ya posted 🙂
Wonderful!! I look forward to it! 🙂
Hi. Loving your website and recipes. I am new to vegan and gluten free baking and I feel like a moron because I have no idea what you are saying to do in the recipe notes when making the cookies gluten free. I will be using Bob’s GF 1:1. I understand to add 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder but then what? Do you use the grams or cups?
Note in question is this: “Gluten free: Swap in gluten free 1:1 baking flour or oat flour mixed with 1 tbsp arrowroot starch. Make sure to JUST use the cup measurements if using gluten free 1:1 baking flour then convert to grams by multiplying the weight of 1 cup of your flour blend by the amount of cups in the recipe (1.75 in this recipe)”
Thank you in advance for your help! Can’t wait to try these. 😉
Okay first off, you’re not a moron so please don’t feel like that!! It’s confusing at first, and I may not explain it the best sometimes to beginners (which I’m so sorry for!). I’m so excited for you though, you’re going to love these!! So I haven’t confirmed this, but a few months ago, I’ve noticed that Bob’s 1:1 was acting a bit differently in my recipes, so I have a feeling they changed the recipe a bit. I’ve since then switched to using King Arthur measure for measure- I’ve noticed that KA actually weighs equivalent to 1 cup of AP flour, whereas Bob’s is a little more, so it gets tricky in the conversions. If you’re using Bob’s, stick with using the cup measurements (so 1 3/4 cup for this recipe). Then to make sure you’re truly getting 1.75 cups of Bob’s, I suggest converting cup = grams for Bob’s specifically (so 1 cup of bobs = 140 g, so you would use 245 g total of flour if you want to use gram measurements!). And then add in the arrowroot starch! I hope that helps! Let me know if I explained it a bit better, I know it’s confusing!
I also just tried to make these with Bob’s GF flour & the dough spread out over the whole baking sheet when baking to one thin blob. (I also didn’t see your specific mention to add arrow root or convert to grams in the original recipe, the latter of which I completely do not understand!) In reading some of the other comments, (1) does it matter if you use a light pan vs. a dark pan (2) if I switch to King Arthur are the measurements the exact same as the recipe ie. No adjustments or converting to grams and do you still add arrowroot? (3) If I stick with Bob’s can you explain why you have to convert to grams and how – I don’t get it at all! Thanks so much!
Hi Colleen! So did you use Bobs Red Mill GF flour or Bob’s Red Mill GF 1:1 flour? Because there’s a very big difference- the 1:1 contains xanthan gum which is crucial for the cookies to hold together. Someone else accidentally used the regular GF flour without xanthan gum, and they were a blob too. For Bob’s 1:1, I always say to take the cup measurements and then convert to grams if you are weighing ingredients. This is because 1 cup of Bobs 1:1 weighs 147 g, vs 1 cup of AP flour weighs 125 g. That means that Bob’s is actually NOT 1:1 when using gram measurements and CANNOT be swapped in 1:1 if you’re using gram measurements. If you were to use just 230 g of Bob’s GF 1:1, it wouldn’t be enough, yielding probably blob like cookies (or really gooey cookies that never bake). If you convert Bob’s from the cups to the grams- take 1 3/4 cups and multiply that by 147 g (the weight of 1 cup of Bobs 1:1), then you’ll yield roughly 258 g of flour. That’s a significant difference with flour! I hope that helps explain it a bit more!
So for your questions:
1. I like to use a dark pan- it helps prevent spreading too much in the cookies, which these cookies will spread!
2. NO adjustments needed for the KA gf cup for cup- it weighs 125 g per cup, making it a perfect swap for AP flour! I like to add in 1 tbsp arrowroot starch to help with any grittiness of the flour.
3. See above! And if there’s any doubt about your dough, you can always chill it for 10-20 minutes if you’re worried about over spreading with GF! Some flour blends will need to be chilled just based on how they’re developed, but unfortunately I’m unable to test every flour blend that someone might use!
Wow! Thank you so much for the quick reply and the super helpful explanation! I so appreciate it!
Absolutely!! I really hope it helps!! Let me know if you try them again 🙂 Enjoy!
Hi, I’m just a little confused because the recipe says 230g of flour but in the video you say 180g. Which one is it? Thanks
Hi Paige! The 230 g is correct 🙂 The recipe was adjust a touch since the video. I hope you love them! Thanks!
I just made these. and girl. they are wonderful! my husband loved them! Literally can’t tell they are vegan! Thank you for sharing your recipe. Sup easy to follow too.
So so happy to hear it!! I love making these for my fam as well 🙂 So glad everyone loved them, and thanks so much for the review!! Enjoy!
Thanks so much for this wonderful recipe! It’s my first time making vegan and gf cookies. I used Aldi’s gluten free plain flour + xanthan gum (1 cup: 1 tsp gum ratio). It turned out amazing. So chewy and crisp!
I’m so happy to hear it!! Thanks so much for the review, as well as noting what flour you used!! That’s so helpful for other readers!! Thank you, and enjoy!