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
🌟MADE THIS RECIPE & LOVED IT?🌟I’d love it if you’d like 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!
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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
Thank you!
Hi Britt, I can’t wait to try this recipe for my daughter! I had a couple of questions. If I’m using only chocolate chips (not a bar), how many ounces of chocolate chips should I use? Also, do you have a link to the large cookie cutter you used in the video to round out the baked cookies? If not, what’s the diameter of the cookie cutter? Thanks! Elizabeth B.
Aw that’s wonderful!! Okay so if you’re only using chocolate chips you can use ~7 ounces chocolate chips- but you can use less if you’d like, it depends on how many chips you prefer in your cookies! For the cookie cutter, it’s a pretty old one from the video, but the size is about 4″. You can also use the back of a spoon though and that works too! Can’t wait to hear how they turn out for you all!
I have made a batch of these cookies on 3 separate occasions and they never spread 🙁
Don’t get me wrong, the cookies taste great! On my third try, I used only 2 cups of flour to see if that would change things. I also didn’t refrigerate it on the 3rd try because in the blog portion it said it was optional. I’m sad because I really like the cookies, I just want them to be thin and chewy with crisp edges!
I really followed the recipe exactly because I wanted them to turn out perfectly. I’m wondering if it’s the addition of the cornstarch? I tried using a light pan, dark pan, and no pan (just parchment) both lined with parchment, and I always have the same result. At least they taste good lol!
Oh no!! Okay let’s see what went wrong here! You’re adding the baking soda, correct? What type of flour are you using? And are you measuring with cups or a scale?
Hii same issue ! I’m doing scale, cup4cup and King Arthur on seperate occasions and used baking soda amount
Hmm and you’re not switching anything else? Like not substituting coconut oil for the vegan butter, etc?
ohh you are so right i did swap coconut oil for vegan butter and i use coconut yogurt as the egg replacement
I have nut and seed oil sensitivities so most vegan butters are a no go for me
Oh that probably did it, especially with the coconut yogurt! I totally understand that- it might help to use a bit less flour to help them spread (or swapping applesauce for the dairy free yogurt- has a bit more moisture that will help counteract the shortness of the coconut oil, as coconut oil is 100% fat and now moisture). I hope that helps!
I don’t see milk or baking powder in the recipe list. Can you confirm please?
Hi Ashely! The recipe has been further adjusted so sorry for the confusion! Just baking soda now 🙂
Hi, I have a question:
The written recipe says you only use baking soda, but in the video you said you mix the flour with baking soda and baking powder.
What is the correct recipe? And if you also use baking powder, what is the measurement?
thanks britt!
Hi Paloma! The recipe has been further adjusted, so it’s just actually baking soda now, no baking powder! An updated video is coming soon 🙂 Stay tuned!!
Hi there!
Was wondering how long you think I should bake an 8 x 8 cookie cake instead of cookies ?
TIA!
Oh you can totally do that! I recommend about 23-26 minutes, I’ve done it before at 350F!
I just made these cookies. They didn’t spread nor did they darken like the photos (they look very pale) and I left them in for 15min. I cut the recipe in half because I’m only making these cookies to satisfy a late-night hankering. I read through some of the comments left by other people and the responses you gave. I think they didn’t spread due to the flour (I scooped it ahaha), or maybe I portioned them out too largely, or my oven temperature is lower than normal, or maybe it’s simply due to be doing only half of the recipe. Despite those things, the cookies taste so good. They are the best vegan cookies I have ever had! I’m gonna try making it again for a better outcome!
Aw I’m so glad the taste is still there!! But would love to help you figure out what went wrong! It sounds like there might have been too much flour potentially if you scooped it, which would make them not spread (and potentially not darken too!). Try spooning and leveling the flour next time, that will help a ton!!
Ok so let me just start off by saying I’m not vegan. I have a friend who’s recently become vegan and I made these for her. I was so impressed by how magnificent these were I HAD to leave a comment. Bravo girl these are a 10/10 RECOMMEND. Followed the recipe by measuring did the applesauce because I didn’t have vegan yogurt. Absolutely delicious.
Hi! Have you tried with coconut oil instead of butter? If yes what would be the ratio?
Hi Daniela! Absolutely! So you will have a bit more of a coconut flavor, but if that doesn’t bother you, then totally use it 🙂 Same amount will work, they just won’t spread AS much, but they’ll still be delicious!
This dough is amazing. I need to monkey with the cook time, but this will be my new go to cookie dough. I didn’t have vegan yogurt and my applesauce had gone bad, so I used vegan sour cream and it turned out delicious.
I wanted to let you know that the updated recipe creates very cakey cookies, not the chewy cookies like the old recipe makes. There is too much flour and not enough butter. Please reinstate the archived recipe as it yielded chewy cookies as the recipe was intended. The old recipe is a family favorite so thank you for creating it!! 🩷
Hello – Would this dough be ok if I make it 2 days ahead of time, roll into balls and refrigerate, so that I can bake fresh the day I need them? I’m going to be pretty busy that day and I’d like to be able to just pull them out and bake day of the event. I do this with regular choc chip cookies (not gf / vegan) but I know GF flour can behave a little different so checking if you think the dough would be ok sitting in the fridge for up to 48 hrs.
Absolutely!! I do this quite often (usually have a batch stored in the freezer pre-scooped so we can bake whenever we want them haha!)! Enjoy!!
Any idea why my cookies are flakey/dry/puffy? The chocolate chunks recommended didn’t melt either which I thought was odd. I used bobs 1:1 flour and used cup measurements as recommended. Thank you!
Hi there! I actually STOPPED recommending bob’s and made an explicit note in my note’s section- they changed their formula a few years back, and it no longer works 1:1 with this recipe. Additionally, using cup measurements is also the issue- it looks like there’s way too much flour there, which often happens with cup measurements. I’m so sorry this happened! Using a kitchen scale and a gf flour like King Arthur’s works wonderfully here. I make my neighbor these cookies gluten free with KA about once a month, and they’re so good!
Thank you for the reply I’ll be sure to use King Arthur next time, at least the cookie dough is fabulous!
Oh absolutely!! I’m so happy to hear that the cookie dough was at least good! So sorry again about the Bob’s :/ it’s frustrating because it used to really be 1:1, but I haven’t been using it since about 2022!
Hi Britt. Can you please clarify the butter amount? the recipe calls for 2/3 cup but in the video you say 1/2 a cup. I tried following the recipe and I think the cooky dough was too buttery.
Oh I’m so sorry for the confusion!! The video is a bit outdated to the written recipe (a new video is coming), but the written recipe is the one that is most accurate. So the 2/3 cup is correct! As long as you used the proper amount of flour, it should absolutely work!
Hi Britt! Thank you for sharing your creations. These cookies were a hit (with non-vegans too) and I can’t wait to try your other recipes. I’ll have to remember to take a picture next time I make your recipes as these cookies did not last long in this house. I did manage to freeze some scooped dough and found they baked perfectly.
The small batch version of these cookies were on the sweet side for my taste, but these were wonderful even despite the debacle of being short ~25 g of sugar, they still turned out chewy, gooey, and crisp on the edges. Thanks again and take care! <3