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.
These are incredibly delicious!
So awesome to hear!! Thanks for the review 🙂 Enjoy!!
The taste of these cookies is really good but mine came out super flat. I am new to vegan baking (my son has a dairy allergy)but I am not new to baking in general. As I was looking through the comments, I noticed something about an updated recipe which I never saw. I used 3/4 cup of melted vegan butter and everything else is just like your recipe. I did use all purpose flour. I would so love to bake cookies that look like yours. Mine are flat and the edges are super golden but the middles still look rather underbaked. Very tasty though.
These are the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. Because of dietary restrictions in my family, I used King Arthur Measure for Measure gluten-free flour (as recommended in the write-up), potato starch in place of cornstarch, and for the sugars, coconut sugar and organic light brown raw cane sugar. Using dairy-free yogurt in place of eggs was a brilliant suggestion; no more yummy but dry and crumbly cookies. My grandchildren say they’re the best cookies of any kind ever. Thank you so much!
Omgsh!! LOVE this!! Thank you so much for the review, and what great swaps! So glad they worked 🙂 Enjoy! So happy everyone loved them 🙂
Best CCC I’ve ever had. I didn’t have any cornstarch last night but twas still amazingly delicious. I am not sure if the cornstarch would significantly change the texture, I will be making another batch tonight with cornstarch this time. Thank you again Brit.
Omgsh they’re PERFECT!!! So so happy you love!! These just look phenomenal 🙂 Definitely eager to hear what you think once the cornstarch is added! Thank you so much for the review and enjoy!
I’ve made these twice. The flavor is amazing and my non vegan friends/family/coworkers didn’t realize they were vegan (I told everyone, but some people came in after id mentioned that).
Each time I made the cookies, they don’t rise at all. They are extremely thin (but have so much flavor). The second time, I increased the amount of baking powder to help with the cookies rising but they were just as thin. I also chilled the dough in the fridge until it was cold to touch and formed balls on the baking sheet.
That’s wonderful to hear, re: feedback!! But so sorry for the flatness! I’m wondering if it’s your baking powder- have you given it a test to see if it’s still active? Add a tsp of vinegar to about a tsp of baking powder and if it foams it’s working and the issue is somewhere else, but if it doesn’t that’s most likely the culprit!
Britt, thank you so much for sharing this wonderful recipe. I recently discovered I’m gluten and egg intolerant but I love baking. I tried at least a dozen of Gluten Free Chocolate Chip cookie recipes from cookbooks and other online authors (such as Minimalist Baker, Chocolate Covered Katie, NoraCooks) and this, hands down, is THE best GF Vegan Chocolate Chip cookie recipe in existence. These cookies are to die for.
I used Namaste Organic GF Flour with the spoon and level method. Measured yogurt with a dry measuring cup and left it out for 1 hour to room temperature. At the same time, melted butter and let it cool for 30 minutes. I used salted. Followed directions exactly except I chilled the dough for 2 hours, quickly rolled into balls (dough was still soft), then chilled again for 24 hours. Popped half of the dough in the freezer and baked the other half fresh. Baked at 350 for 13 minutes (fresh), 14 minutes (freezer). They’re melt-in your mouth soft right from the oven and nice and chewy the next day. I had no issues whatsoever, the texture and bake was incredible.
Thank you for writing this wonderful blog, thanks to you I can enjoy my favorite baked goods again. Can’t wait to try all your other recipes.
My kids don’t mind my egg allergy as long as I make cookies like these! They also beg that I save any “leftover” cookie dough in the freezer so they can just chip away at it guilt-free. Thank you for sharing this recipe and for all your other recipes too!
This is so wonderful!! Thank you so much for the wonderful review 🙂 Enjoy!!
Looooovveeeeddd this recipe. I’m from Germany and I find that it’s very hard to use German vegan recipes.. they’re just not it but this one is so so goood!! Even my “anti vegan” grandparents thought that those were amazing which they really are .
Can you make the dough 1 day in advance and just let it chill in the fridge ?
Thank you for this yummy recipe, I’ll never use another one again !!!
Hi!
I read the comment about gluten-free flour…I have bob’s gluten-free 1 to 1 baking flour…it gas xanthan gum in it…similar to king arthurs…it is rice flour based…this doesn’t work?
I don’t think we can get King Arthur’s here…wondering which brand to use…
Hi Kate! Completely understand! So I used to make these cookies all of the time with Bobs up until a few years ago, when I noticed NONE of my bakes were turning out the way they used to. I’m not sure what the reason was other than I thought maybe Bob’s changed their formula (because I use a kitchen scale and everything is always the same). That’s when I switched to KA and started recommending them. Now, that being said, some people still use Bob’s with my recipes and find their own success so it’s possible- I would recommend adding in 1 tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot to help with the texture.
These are the best vegan chocolate chip cookies I’ve found. I used applesauce since I didn’t have yogurt. They don’t taste healthy at all! The texture is perfect! No one would know that no animals were harmed in the making of this cookie!
Absolutely delicious! My nonvegan family compared these to other homemade cookies that weren’t vegan. & everyone was blown away by how much better these ones were. Very delicious recipe 🙂 10/10
This is so wonderful!! So happy you all love it 🙂 Thank you so much for the review!
Great recipe! Would like to note that I almost forgot the cornstarch because in the recipe when you mix your dry ingredients together, the cornstarch isn’t there. Thanks for the recipe!
Oh so sorry for the confusion!! I will take a look at that- thank you so much for the note!
don’t know what I did wrong. Follow the measurements exactly and mine turned out flat as a pancake. Would love your feedback as I make a ton of your recipes which have all been wonderful.
Hi Karla! I’m so sorry to hear that! Hmm did you happen to use a gluten free flour blend? If so which one? I had someone who got “pancake” results too and it turns out she swapped almond flour entirely for the flour portion, and it just doesn’t work!
Perfect cookie recipe!
These cookies could not get better. The chewy yet crispy texture is phenomenal and the recipe is a cookiewalk to make 😉
Omgsh I’m so happy you loved them!! Thank you so much for the review 🙂 You’re just the best. Enjoy!!
Can you elaborate more on what you mean by “spoon and level” the flour? I measured the flour out with my normal measuring scoop… my cookies taste great but I’m disappointed by the dense texture and bready/cakey look and feel. I know that flour can cause this and I just read through your tips about spooning, not scooping… probably should have looked into this BEFORE baking lol… I’m new to the vegan world, but trying to find some dairy-free alternatives to share at gatherings for my MIL.
Oh I think these look great!! But yes I can definitely help with the spooning and leveling! So if you don’t have a kitchen scale, definitely don’t SCOOP the flour, but instead, use a spoon and spoon the flour into the measurement cup until you reach the top. Then take a butter knife and over the flour bag, just scrape the top of the measurement cup so that the flour is in line with the top of the cup. Don’t pack in the flour though! You want the flour to remain nice and fluffy 🙂 I hope that helps!
Such a big fan for all your baked goods!! I’ve just been discouraged because my cookies never seem to spread 😔 I used 25% sugar, weighed out my measurements instead of scooping, I used chia egg in the same ratio of 1/3 cup applesauce, I chilled the dough. This is my 3rd time making it, I just want it to look as good as the picture 😭
Hi Bianca! Thank you for the kind words! Okay so regarding the recipe, do you mean that you reduced the cookie sugar content TO 25% of what it is or you reduced the sugar BY 25% (so 75% total)? Either way, that will have a negative impact on the cookies and prevent them from spreading- the sugar content is what helps them spread! Additionally, I don’t recommend chia egg as that binds the cookies too much and prevents spreading. So the combination of reducing the sugar AND using a chia egg would make your cookies not spread! I would recommend using the applesauce or the dairy free yogurt, and try to keep the sugar the same ratio if you can! I hope that helps!
Thank you so much for your quick reply!! Just bought applesauce to try it out again. Also whoops, not 25%, I meant I reduced the cookie sugar content to 50%. What would you recommend to do to create a beautiful spread cookie similar to your picture?
Always looking for a new vegan recipe to make for my daughter. I scrolled across your chocolate chip cookies and they were absolutely amazing! The recipe was so easy to follow. I was able to make them in a pinch and tasted delicious! These were my best yet to make. ! I’ve never used yogurt in a cookie recipe before. Great idea. And you are correct, They ARE better than Toll house. Actually making a batch this week to take to our family Dentist office . thanks again!
Omgsh this is wonderful!! So so happy you loved them 🙂 And so glad to hear you agree re: Tollhouse haha!! They’re just so yummy 🙂 Thank you so much for the review, and enjoy!!
I used to have a great non vegan cookie recipe which my friends raved about when ever I made them. I made some more using your recipe and the same friends could not tell the difference at all. Amazing, thank you ☺️
So so happy you loved these wow 🙂 What a compliment! Thank you for being here!!
How many cookies would 4 ounces each make?
Hi britt I just wanted to say that these cookies are absolutely 💯 delicious and amazing. Thanks a lot, it’s just one question dear it was written on the recipe I saw first time it’s 1 3/4 cup flour, now when I got the link of the recipe it’s 2 1/4 cup is it right? Please I need your reply because it’s a hit in my family whoever that comes says please make this cookies and they want the recipe many thanks dear❤️❤️
Hi Fatima! Aw my goodness thank you!! And yes, I adjusted the recipe and found a better ratio! 2 1/4 cups is correct 🙂 Enjoy, I’m so glad everyone loves the recipe so much!!
You are mostly welcome love truly amazing ❤️❤️❤️thanks for your reply Iam so happy. 🤗