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.
hi there I love all your recipes thank you! Maybe I’m just having a moment lol but I don’t see in the instructions when it says to add the broken up chocolate bar.
Oh you can add that in with the chocolate chips! So sorry for the confusion!
I should’ve read the whole article before making these as I used oat flour instead and the cookies turned out like little cakes! Still delicious but not chewy with crisp outer edges!
The video provided for this recipe page is a different recipe it seems unless there was an error. The video mentions adding baking powder, and the ingredients list there is no baking powder. That stood out to me as odd, so now I’m wondering if I should add some.
The video is being updated!! The new video will be released shortly 🙂 The recipe written in the recipe card is always the most up to date!
Hi! In one part of the instructions it says chilling the dough isn’t necessary, while later on it says to chill the dough. Does it all depend on if the butter is melted or room temperature? Can you clear that up for me please?
Hi Rachel! You can chill the dough if it seems a bit wet for scooping, but it’s not necessary. 🙂 This sometimes happens if we haven’t used truly room-temperature vegan butter (you should aim for 65F in your butter) or if you’re making the cookies with melted vegan butter. I hope this helps and your cookies turn out amazing!
I didn’t chill the dough after all because my dough stuck together well. But after baking, they didn’t flatten on their own in the oven like in your picture; instead stayed in balls which is disappointing. How can this be avoided?
It sounds like there might have been too much flour- are you using a kitchen scale to measure or scooping the flour with cups?
I don’t have a kitchen scale but I used a spoon to scoop the flour into the measuring cups to ensure I wasn’t going overboard with the flour
Thanks for your quick reply. We used the ghee and they turned out great!
They are crispy on the outside and chewy inside. Absolutely perfect!
One of my best friends is vegan, so I’m going to make the recipe as written for her, too.
Oh that is wonderful!! I’m so happy to hear it! Thanks so much for the review 🙂 And such a good tip for anyone else who wants to try, so thank you for asking it!!
Could I substitute ghee for the vegan butter?
-I know it’s not vegan. My son is on a special elimination diet for 90 days – no dairy, eggs, or gluten (but he can have ghee). He’s absolutely DYING to have some dessert. Just wasn’t sure if ghee would bake the same way.
Thanks – we can’t wait to make these today during our snow day.
Hi Stephani! So unfortunately, I actually don’t know how these would turn out with ghee because I’m truly vegan. So any non-vegan ingredient swaps I can’t speak to! You’re more than welcome to try, but I just can’t guarantee they’ll turn out!
Just wow! These cookies are simply amazing and I love how simple it is to make them. We just cannot stop eating them! The salt sprinkles make them even more fabulous! Thank you sooo much 🙂
Omgsh this is amazing!! So so happy to hear! Thank you so much for the review 🙂 Enjoy!!
soooo, I always use this recipe it’s my fav. needed to make some GF ones though and the only flour I had was the bobs redmill 1 to 1. the notes said not to use it but I risked it and they were perfect. I’m not sure what issues you had with that flour but it worked great for me.
Omgsh they’re PERFECT!! Wow!! Ugh I’m not sure why I’ve struggled with Bob’s, I can’t seem to get a texture like this, but literally don’t change anything in the recipe! Did you happen to weigh or measure the flour by cup?
I bake A LOT so I always weigh everything to be exact. I do use coconut oil instead of butter but other than that everything else is basically the same. (I do add some miso paste bc I really like it in my CCC). I have even altered your recipe to use my sourdough starter bc I like using it up and I love your recipe SO MUCH. seriously, my absolute perfect cookie. so thank you 💗
Omgsh this is WONDERFUL! I’m so so happy to hear it!! Also would love any tips for using sourdough starter, I’ve always wanted to use that in a cookie recipe! Will now definitely need to try it here 🙂 Enjoy and thank you again or the review!
Is it right that it says a TABLEspoon of vanilla extract in the ingredient list? that sounds like a ton
Trust me, it’s worth it!!
Soooo delicious! Was told by everyone who tried them that they were the best chocolate chip cookies they ever had! Thank you for the amazing recipe!
These are good, however, they did not spread out and flatten like I am use to cookies doing. I used a cookie scoop and then pressed down a bit so it looked more like a puck than a mound. They cooked up and were delicious but they were delicious little pucks. 🙂 The batter was quite stiff and easy to work with – as in I feel like I could have made them any shape I wanted. Am I doing something wrong?
Hi there! I’m wondering if you maybe used a bit too much flour? That can cause the cookies to not spread! Make sure you’re spooning and leveling the flour- not scooping! But the best method is to use the metric scale which I provide the measurements for!
I do not have a scale, but I will try a little less flour next time. Thanks for the response.
Absolutely! Let me know how that goes!
How many grams of chocolate bar do you add? Is that in addition to the chips?
Thank you!
I usually add 80-120 g! Depending on the bar or if I’m using Valrhona feves!
Hi! Love your recipes… wondering what flour you recommend to use if GF? And what are the ratios?
Hi Edera!
Absolutely! I recommend King Arthur measure for measure- and it will be the same ratios as the regular all purpose flour. I recommend using a scale if available, it will yield the best results!
This is my go to cookie recipe. Probably a long shot but do you know how you could convert this recipe using sourdough discard? Thanks much!
Oh I’m so so happy to hear it! So I’ve never worked with sourdough discard in cookie or cake recipes so I’m not the best person to ask for this! I’ve been experimenting with my own sourdough lately and will report back if I try anything here 🙂
My cookies didn’t spread but I did reduce the sugar by 25% like you said
Hi Maria! Oh no- did you happen to use a kitchen scale? If you used cups, there’s a chance you used too much flour!