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!
Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!
If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!
Print
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.
Hi Britt! Having read the comments, I’m a little confused about the amount of flour in the recipe – 280g it is? Why is this quantity of flour better than using less (which I have seen in other recipes that use similar amounts of sugar) ?
One more question: Could I reduce the amount of sugar and yield similar results or isn’t this possible?
So excited to try these cookies! ^^
Hi Julia! Oh absolutely! So this is because we’re using a bit more vegan butter than other recipes. It will help us get cookies that don’t just bake into pools without an egg, but spread beautifully! I wouldn’t reduce the sugar by much- I haven’t personally tested this, but usually you can remove about 1/4 cup of sugar from a recipe without too much impact. I can’t attest to the results however!
These are the BEST vegan chocolate chip cookies! To the point where I have non vegan family members addicted to them!
Eeeep this makes my heart sing!! Thanks so much for the stellar review 🙂
ok can you tell me the exact metic measurements?? because I noticed the measurements on here, are different from the YouTube video. I tried both a d got the same result. 😔
Hi Tiffany! An updated recipe video is coming shortly, I’m so sorry for the confusion! The written measurements will always be the most up to date over a video. So sorry for the confusion!
it’s ok! I actually figured out the problem! since I was using coconut sugar for both sugars they were not spreading out and were turning cakey! these are the best cookies hands down! I made some regular cookies and my husband likes these better!
Omgsh I’m so happy to hear you both loved them!! Thank you so much for the review and giving them another go 🙂 Enjoy!!
I’m super disappointed my cookies came out sooo cakey and I followed the recipe to a T, I dont know what i did wrong! I want to try again but I’m worried I’ll get the same result. I used the king Arthur flour you recommended. can you help me please! I want these cookies so badly!
Hi Tiffany! I’m so sorry this happened to you- it sounds like you might have not weighed the ingredients? Cakey cookies often come from too much flour, which usually happens if you use US measurements and don’t measure properly there!
I wish the instructions included a temperature for the oven. 10 minutes at 450? 300? some of us don’t know what we are doing 🙂
Hi There! So sorry for the confusion! It’s actually in step 5 where you’ll preheat the oven to 350. Hope this helps! 🙂
Finally a chocolate chip cookie recipe that my non vegan family love as much or MORE than the ATK recipe I made for years! I made this as written and they were perfect.
Omgsh I’m so so happy. This is so wonderful!! Enjoy and thank you for the review!
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. 🤗
How many cookies would 4 ounces each make?
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!!
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!!
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?
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!
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!!
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!
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!
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!