Thanks to #bakingscience, over two dozen tests, a careful blend of ingredients, and a little baking magic, we’ve arrived at the perfect Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Every bite is textural heaven, with soft and gooey middles, crisp edges, and a serious chewiness throughout.
And their flavor? These cookies are rich and buttery, with notes of caramel interspersed with melty pools of dark chocolate and flaky sea salt.
I can’t think of anything better. It’s truly my ultimate chocolate chip cookie! And they can even be made gluten-free, YAY!
Table of Contents:
1. Baking Science
2. Ingredient notes
3. Step-by-step instructions
4. Tips for making this recipe
5. Frequently Asked Questions
6. Recipe card with notes
Watch: How to Make Amazing Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
With over 160K views on YouTube, these chocolate chip cookies are a huge hit with my audience. I hope you love them just as much!
Baking Science = The Perfect Cookie
No shortage of research and testing went into this vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe. I spent days if not weeks reading about cookie science from the experts and only then we got started with recipe testing:
Armed with research, my recipe tester Callie and I tested every practical variable:
a) chocolate chips vs. chopped chocolate vs. chocolate feves
b) browned butter vs. creamed butter vs. coconut oil
c) brown sugar vs. white sugar vs. both
d) the ideal time to rest cookie dough before baking
e) various oven temperatures
f) gluten-free alternatives
g) different vegan butter brands
All in all, we baked 300+ cookies to develop our perfect grown-up chocolate chip cookie that has:
– a soft and rich middle
– lovely crispy edges
– wonderful chewiness throughout
– a deep caramel-esque flavor
– big melty pools of chocolate
Here’s just a very small sampling of some of the variables we tested.
Ingredient notes
Vegan butter
You’ll rarely find a chocolate chip cookie recipe without butter…and a lot of it. Most cookie recipes either use creamed, softened butter or melted butter…or a variation of melted butter: browned butter. In our tests, browned butter was the clear winner.
Melting butter, as opposed to creaming it, produces a more pronounced chewy texture. Taking the melting a step further to browning adds a more mature, nutty, and caramelized flavor.
We recommend butter sticks, not in a tub (the sticks are formulated to mimic dairy-based butter better).
Tips for browning vegan butter
Vegan butter doesn’t brown the same way as dairy butter because it doesn’t contain milk proteins, but it will still become slightly darker in color and nutty in aroma after 5 to 6 minutes, depending on the brand used.
Use a stainless steel or light-colored skillet or saucepan so you can see the color change.
Sadly, our favorite vegan butter brand (Violife) was discontinued as of summer 2026, but we recently re-tested this recipe with Earth Balance buttery sticks, which are widely available, and it worked great!
The butter doesn’t brown as much as dairy-based butter but still changes a color a bit (and the flavor improves over time).
NOTE: If your butter is unsalted, use a bit of extra salt, a heaping ¾ teaspoon instead of ½ teaspoon.
Flax egg
We tested these cookies with a few other vegan egg replacers and found that flax eggs (ground flaxseed mixed with water) worked the best. They bind the dough together and, when baked, give the cookies a delightful chewiness, which is typically what eggs do.
All-purpose flour
No fancy flour is needed here. All-purpose flour worked best at giving the cookies a classic chewy-soft texture.
Gluten-free? Check out the FAQ section to find out which flour substitutions work best.
Dark brown sugar + cane sugar
There’s a reason why most chocolate chip cookies combine brown sugar and white sugar: white sugar only = thin and crispy cookies; brown sugar only = the cookies don’t spread much so you have a soft, almost cakey center.
Here, a 2:1 ratio of dark brown sugar to white sugar delivers soft centers, chewiness throughout, and nicely crisped edges.
Shopping Tips: For strictly vegan cookies, buy organic sugars (at least in the US, where conventional sugars are typically processed with animal bone char). If you can’t find dark brown sugar, light brown sugar still works well.
Baking soda
Baking soda (AKA bicarbonate of soda outside the U.S.) helps the cookies spread while baking, leading to evenly baked cookies that aren’t too thick.
We tested a variation of this recipe with baking powder as a substitute, and it gave us cookies that were puffy and cakey—no thanks!
How to tell if baking soda is fresh
Combine ¼ tsp baking soda + 2 teaspoons vinegar in a small bowl. If it bubbles immediately, it’s still fresh.
If you see no bubbles or only slight bubbles, it’s time for new baking soda.
Bittersweet or dark chocolate
In our many tests, the best cookies were made not with chocolate chips but with dark chocolate bars, somewhere in the 60% to 75% cacao content range.
Chopped dark chocolate bars offer several advantages over chocolate chips.
- Most chocolate chips contain melt-resistant chocolate → cookies with localized pockets of chocolate.
- In contrast, chopped chocolate bars = melty chocolate pools and chocolate interspersed throughout the dough 😋
- Chopped chocolate bars melt better → more moisture in the dough → the cookies spread a bit more and don’t end up cakey.
- It’s easier to find dark chocolate in bar form than in chips, which prevents the cookies from being overly sweet.
Pure vanilla extract and sea salt
I always pair vanilla and salt together in desserts because they work together to bring out the other layers of flavors. Without them, the flavor would be a bit flat.
A little flaky sea salt sprinkled on top of the freshly baked cookies also balances the sweetness and enhances the dark chocolate flavor. We love Maldon flaky salt—just a little goes a long way!
Step-by-step instructions
Brown the butter: Add the vegan butter to a light-colored skillet or saucepan. Turn to medium heat and allow the butter to melt, stirring occasionally.
Once foamy and at a bubble, stir or swirl the pan frequently, or until it gives off a nutty aroma and is slightly darker in color. Immediately pour it into a bowl, then refrigerate for ~30 minutes to bring the butter to room temp.
Tip: Wait until the butter cools to room temp or your dough will be too sticky!
Next, make the flax eggs: whisk the flaxseed meal with warm water. Set it aside to gel.
Meanwhile, coarsely chop the chocolate.
Combine the dry ingredients: Whisk the flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl.
In a large bowl, combine the flax eggs, cooled brown butter, brown sugar, cane sugar, and vanilla.
Beat the liquid ingredients with an electric mixer until well combined, thick, and gooey.
Use a silicone spatula to fold half of the dry ingredients into the fluffy wet mixture until no dry spots remain.
Add the remaining dry ingredients and the chocolate chips and fold until just combined.
Scoop out cookie dough rounds with a ¼ cup measuring cup (or a large cookie scoop like this or this) onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. No need to space them out since they’re going to chill.
Refrigerate until cookie dough balls are set. Afterward, you can transfer them to a reusable bag or container and refrigerate for 24 hours or up to 72 hours.
When it’s time to bake:
Preheat your oven and line a sheet pan with parchment. Space 6 cookie dough rounds on the pan, leaving 3 inches (7.5 cm) of space in between each (these babies are going to spread).
Bake until the edges are golden brown and a bit set but still gooey and soft in the center, 14 to 16 minutes.
Sprinkle with a little flaky sea salt. Cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack for another 5 minutes.
Tips for nailing this recipe
TL;DR: the 2 most important tips
The best cookies have two important features: (1) chopped chocolate bars (not chips) and (2) the dough has rested in the fridge for 24 hours or longer.
So, if you don’t have time to refrigerate the cookie dough: it’s even more important to use chopped dark chocolate over chocolate chips.
Or, if you only have access to chocolate chips, not dark chocolate bars, it’s even more important to rest the dough for 24 hours or longer.
Resting the dough is the most important thing you can do
When the cookie dough rests in the fridge, the flavors meld together and the dough gets hydrated, giving you a cookie with significantly better flavor (more complex, richer, caramel-like) AND significantly better texture (crisp edges and the chewiest, gooey-ist center; not at all cakey or thick).
Tips for resting cookie dough
If you’re really short on time, even a shorter rest of 8 hours (or even 2 to 4 hours!) makes a difference. Or, if a 12 hour rest works better for your schedule, that’s totally fine.
You can refrigerate the cookie dough for up to 72 hours. Any longer than that, and the rested cookie dough should then go into the freezer.
Life hack: Need a cookie NOW? Bake one cookie after making the dough but save the rest of the cookie dough rounds for tomorrow or the next day.
Use dark chocolate bars (not chocolate chips)
In our many tests, dark or bittersweet chocolate bars between 65-75% gave us the best result. If you prefer things a bit sweeter, use 60% dark chocolate. If you prefer less sweet desserts, use chocolate in the 75+% to 80% range.
If you only have chocolate chips: a few important notes:
(1) use dark chocolate chips (anything below 60% cacao, and these will be too sweet);
(2) refrigerating the dough for 24 hours (or longer) will dramatically improve the cookies.
In our tests, cookies made with chocolate chips that were baked immediately were underwhelming in flavor and were thicker, puffier, and cakier. Luckily, after a 24-hour rest, though, the cookies improved A LOT.
Large cookies > small cookies (by a long shot)
Here’s why: larger cookies don’t bake through as quickly as small cookies, which means you get gooey, soft centers paired with irresistibly crisp edges—a perfect balance of textures.
On the other hand, small cookies bake too evenly, resulting in a uniform texture that lacks depth. And the fine folks at America’s Test Kitchen agree.
Worried the big cookies are too much for one sitting? No problem! Share with a friend, or slice them in half for a smaller treat. Trust me, this is infinitely more satisfying than settling for a batch of tiny cookies.
Measure with a digital scale
If you have a kitchen scale, use it to measure all of the ingredients. Not only is it more precise than measuring cups, but you will have fewer dishes to wash (win-win!).
Don’t bake on warm pans
Let your sheet pan cool to room temperature before putting more cookie dough balls on the pan. Warm sheet pans will cause the cookies to spread more.
To speed things up, simply run your pan under cool water.
Resist the urge to overbake
Pull the cookies out of the oven when the edges are just starting to set, but when the middle is still soft and gooey. They’ll continue to bake a bit on the pans for ~10 minutes before you transfer them to a cooling rack.
Frequently Asked Questions
As much as I want you to indulge in these cookies as quickly as possible, letting the dough rest for 24 hours really does make a big difference (check out the Tips section for more on this).
Even an 8- or 12-hour rest makes a big difference. Really short on time? In our tests, even a 2-hour rest yielded a better cookie than a cookie baked immediately.
And cookies rested for 48 hours taste even better, so you can always “prep” the cookie dough and bake them a couple days later.
If you can’t bake the cookies with 72 hours of refrigeration, though, you should freeze the cookie dough.
We recommend using vegan butter sticks, as they are formulated to mimic dairy butter in baking better than the margarine or butter in tubs.
Our long-time favorite butter brand, Violife, was recently discontinued. Luckily, our recent tests with Earth Balance Buttery Sticks turned out great (in fact, my partner Max thinks the cookies made with Earth Balance are even better).
Use the same amount of refined coconut oil (12 tablespoons / ~150g) instead.
The cookies won’t have the same amazing flavor without the browned butter and won’t be as chewy with crisp edges, but they’ll still be tasty (and will NOT taste like coconut if you use refined coconut oil).
I’d also recommend using good-quality dark chocolate to compensate for the loss of flavor and texture.
The coconut oil will harden in the dough, so before baking, let the cookie dough balls sit at room temperature for 20 minutes, or until pliable. If the dough balls have lost their shape, reshape them into balls before baking.
Good news! Our gluten-free test worked out very well!
Replace the 2 cups of all-purpose flour with 1 ⅓ cups (192g) of gluten-free all-purpose flour and ⅔ cup (76g) of oat flour (certified gluten-free).
It’s also important that your gluten-free flour blend contains xanthan gum, something like Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour or King Arthur’s Measure for Measure GF Flour (affiliate links).
In our testing, we also found that the gluten-free dough was a bit sticky, so you will likely need to refrigerate it for 10 to 20 minutes before shaping it into balls.
Bake the cookies for 13 to 15 minutes.
Baking one pan of cookies at a time yields the best texture. This is because hot air doesn’t circulate as efficiently in an overcrowded oven.
That said, if you’re in a real rush, you can arrange a rack in the upper-middle and lower-middle of the oven. Bake the cookies for 8 minutes. Remove one pan from the oven (closing the door in between to avoid too much heat escaping), then remove the other pan.
Switch the pans’ positions on the racks for even baking and browning, and bake for another 8 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and a bit set but still gooey and soft in the center.
There could be a few potential reasons for this.
(1) Your baking soda isn’t fresh. To test if it’s fresh: combine ¼ tsp baking soda + 2 teaspoons vinegar in a small bowl. If it bubbles immediately, it’s still fresh. If you see no bubbles or only slight bubbles, it’s time for new baking soda.
(2) You accidentally used baking powder instead of baking soda.
(3) You didn’t chill the browned butter for long enough. Make sure it’s not warm!
(4) The brand of butter makes a difference. In our tests, Earth Balance buttery sticks didn’t spread quite as much as our previous favorite butter, Violife, but the flavor/texture ended up being great.
Recommendation: After baking, if your cookies don’t appear to have spread very much, try the Sarah Kieffer’s pan-banging technique to encourage a bit more spreading (video instructions here): lift up the pan about 4 inches and bang it down on the oven rack or kitchen counter several times.
If eating within 1 day: store the cookies in an airtight container or sealed ziploc bag on the kitchen counter.
Storing for more than 1 day? These are best stored in the freezer.
1) Stack cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container, separating each one with a piece of parchment paper, then freeze.
2) Take as many cookies as you want to eat out of the freezer.
3) Defrost by setting each cookie on a paper-towel, without the cookies touching. They defrost in ~10 minutes and taste almost identical to freshly baked cookies.
To warm the cookies in the oven: place on a sheet pan (lined with parchment for easier cleanup) and heat at 350ºF / 175ºC for 3 to 5 minutes, or until warm.
You can microwave the cookies but I think the texture isn’t as good.
Absolutely. Shape the dough into balls, chill in the fridge for 24 to 72 hours per the recipe, then freeze any dough balls you don’t bake.
Freeze the balls on a tray until solid, then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container.
Yes!
Best results: thaw frozen cookies in the fridge until softened (~ 24 hours). If they have thawed but are still a bit hard, let them sit at room temp for 15 to 30 minutes, then bake.
Don’t have time to thaw in the fridge? Let the frozen cookie dough balls sit out at room temp for 30 minutes, then bake for 16 minutes, or a bit longer.
For crispier cookies:
1) Use more cane sugar (white sugar) than brown sugar. For this recipe, use 3/4 cup (155g) cane sugar. And ¼ cup + 2 TBSP (80g) dark brown sugar, tightly packed.
2) Use 3 TBSP dough (54g) per cookie instead of 1/4 cup (72g).
3) Reduce oven temperatuer to 325ºF / 165ºC.
4) Don’t use parchment paper on your baking pans.
For softer, fluffy cookies:
1) Use all brown sugar, no cane/white sugar. Since dark brown sugar can be a little potent, I recommend ~ half light brown and half dark brown sugar (117g of each).
2) Add 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch to the dry ingredients.
3) Use 3 TBSP dough (54g) per cookie instead of 1/4 cup (72g).
You may need to refrigerate the dough before scooping into rounds.
My recommendation is no. This is because sugar doesn’t just bring sweetness; it also lends structure and moisture. Reducing the amount of sugar will impact the texture of these cookies…and not in a good way.
For a less sweet cookie, use a darker chocolate: 75 to 80% dark chocolate.
More delicious vegan cookies!
If you loved these Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies as much as we do, please give the recipe a rating and review below! And of course, tag me with your remakes on Instagram!
Introducing
Big Vegan Flavor
Techniques and 150 recipes to master vegan cooking.
Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 12 TBSP (168g / 1.5 sticks) vegan butter, sliced into thick pats (see Note 1)
- 2 TBSP (14g) ground flaxseed meal
- 70 mL (~5 TBSP) warm water
- 6 oz (170g) 65% to 75% dark chocolate (see Note 2)
- 2 cups (250g) spooned and leveled all-purpose flour (see Note 3 for GF)
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ¾ tsp baking soda (make sure it's fresh, see Note 4)
- ¾ cup (155g) organic dark brown sugar, tightly packed (see Note 5)
- ¼ cup + 2 TBSP (80g) organic cane sugar
- 1 TBSP (15 mL) pure vanilla extract (not imitation extract!)
- Flaky sea salt for finishing
Instructions
- Brown the butter first, as it needs time to cool: Add sliced butter to a stainless steel or light-colored skillet or saucepan. Turn to medium heat. Swirl the pan or stir with a silicone spatula occasionally until melted, foamy, and at a bubble (~ 2 ½ to 3 minutes).Heat for 2 to 3 more minutes, stirring frequently until nutty in aroma and slightly darker (it won't fully brown like dairy butter). Turn off the heat before it starts foaming up the sides of the pan.Immediately pour into a medium bowl to stop cooking, scraping out all of the butter from the pan with the spatula. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until no longer warm but still in liquid form (if the butter is warm, the cookie dough will be sticky).
- Line a large plate or mini sheet pan with parchment paper and place in the fridge to chill.
- Make the flax eggs. In a small bowl, combine the flaxseed meal with 70 mL warm water (this is ~ 5 heaped tablespoons).Whisk well to combine and rest for 15 minutes, whisking again halfway through and once more at the end of the 15 minutes.
- Coarsely chop the dark chocolate (some variation in small/large pieces is nice). Reserve 12 pieces of chopped chocolate to press into the top of each cookie.
- Dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and baking soda until well incorporated.
- Wet ingredients: Once the flax eggs have gelled and brown butter has cooled, add both to a large bowl. Add the brown sugar, cane sugar, and vanilla. Use an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined, gooey, and thick, about 30 seconds (or use a whisk and arm power for ~45 to 60 seconds).
- Combine: Remove the beaters and switch to a silicone spatula. Add half of the dry ingredients into the wet. Fold with a silicone spatula until just combined.Add the remaining dry ingredients and chopped chocolate (minus reserved 12 pieces for topping). Fold together just until no dry spots remain. If the folding becomes difficult, use your hands to finish the dough. NOTE: The dough should be thick but somewhat soft, not stodgy.
- Scoop out cookie dough rounds. Use a large cookie scoop to measure out ~72g per cookie dough round. OR, use a ¼ cup measuring cup: level off the top and use a small silicone spatula to get the dough out of the measuring cup.TIP: If the dough is too sticky to handle, refrigerate for 20-30 minutes, then shape.
- Chill the dough: Place the dough rounds on the lined plate from the fridge*, but no need to space them out right now. Press a piece of reserved chocolate into the top of each cookie.Refrigerate for 24 hours, or up to 72 hours. If short on time, chill for as long as you can (even 2 hours will give you a better cookie than baking immediately). *Once firm, you can transfer the dough balls to a ziploc bag and refrigerate.
- To bake: preheat the oven to 350ºF / 175ºC and arrange a rack in the center of the oven. Line a rimmed sheet pan with parchment paper, or you can leave it bare if your pan is well-worn and made of aluminum or nonstick (see Note 6).Add five or six cookie dough rounds, spacing them 3 inches (7.5 cm) apart, as they’ll spread quite a bit.
- Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until edges are golden brown and a bit set but still gooey and soft in the center (16 minutes if you prefer a slightly crispier edge). TIP: If the cookies have not spread much, lift the pan up by ~4 inches and bang it against the oven rack or your kitchen counter several times—this helps them spread a bit more.
- Finish: While still warm, sprinkle cookies with a little flaky sea salt.Cool in the pans for 10 minutes (5 minutes if lined with parchment), then transfer to a cooling rack to cool for 5 more minutes.
- Cool the pan and bake remaining cookies (or freeze dough to bake later).
Video
Notes
- Since publishing this recipe, our favorite vegan butter (Violife) has been discontinued. That said, we’ve tested these with Earth Balance buttery sticks and they work great.
- Chopped dark chocolate bars = much better than choc chips. For more details & substitutions, check out the Ingredient Notes and Tips sections (tips #1 and #2).
- Check out the FAQ for gluten-free instructions.
- If the baking soda is not fresh, your cookies won’t spread. Combine ¼ tsp baking soda + 2 tsp vinegar in a small bowl. If it doesn’t fizz up immediately, it’s no longer fresh.
- I love dark brown sugar b/c it has nearly double the molasses content, but light brown sugar still works well.
- Unlined sheet pans yield slightly crisper edges. But if your pan is new or not made of aluminum or nonstick, line the pan with parchment paper; otherwise, the cookies stick.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Love this? Leave a rating below!
I am impressed! Resting the dough does make a huge difference in how they turn out. I even recommend up to 48 hours if you can manage. I used tub butter instead of stick butter and it still turned out well. I’m curious to see the difference stick butter will make. I don’t love how much the cookies spread but I must admit the texture is impeccable. Crispy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside. 14 minutes is the sweet spot. I prefer a thicker cookie texture in the middle so I’ll be experimenting with this recipe to get it right. Still a great recipe all in all.
My third batch came out perfect!! Use a good food scale if you can because getting the measurements right makes a difference. I used the plant crock butter brand with sticks this time instead of the tub. I made the cookies slightly less big than is recommended and came out with the perfect texture. This is my dream recipe
Hi Kamille, thanks for the feedback! We’re thrilled you were able to get the cookies just right this time 🙂
Thank you for your wonderful review and notes, Kamille! It’s great to hear this recipe was a success for you.
I trust Nisha’s recipes with my foodie life so I went ahead and made a double batch of these. I’ve been chasing the perfect vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe to rival my old omni chocolate chip cookie recipe and this one knocked it out of the park. Every detail described in the post is the truth. The cookies have just the right amount of sweetness, deep caramelized notes, loaded with chocolate (I used a few 72% dark chocolate bars and handful of semisweet chips I had) , and an ideal texture with the perfectly crisp outside and chewy, gooey inside. Truly the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had.
I had a little trouble getting my butter to brown and I’m not entirely sure I achieved fully browned butter, but I used Country Crock sticks and it still turned out phenomenally. I’m excited to try these out again when I have Violife or Miyoko’s butter in the house.
Do yourself a favor and make them. I always appreciate how meticulous Nisha is about testing recipes and walking us through why each and every ingredient is in the recipe. Just follow her recipe, it’s so completely worth it!
Your review made our day, Rhy! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and for trying out the recipe. 🙂
I have a question, even though smaller cookies are not recommended, I plan to make them for Christmas so I plan to make the small size for more sharing. Do I just bake them a minute or two less? (I’ll try the jumbo size at another time!!)
One more note, Anne! You can do 3 tablespoons (54g) per cookie, but I wouldn’t scoop them less than that, as Kaitlin mentions in her comment, the smaller cookies bake throughout faster, yielding a cookie with uniform texture that’s not nearly as exciting or desirable in texture. If using the 3 tablespoon, the bake time should be the same, but you can check at 14 minutes to be safe.
Hi Anne, you can find Nisha’s notes about this in the blog post! She recommends you simply slice the cookies in half (or double the batch, which would be my recommendation!) I’ll paste the notes from the blog post here for your convenience:
“Large cookies = better texture
When it comes to chocolate chip cookies, size really does matter. Shaping your cookies with 4 tablespoons or ¼ cup (~72g) of dough creates large cookies that beat their smaller counterparts in every way.
Here’s why: larger cookies don’t bake through as quickly, which means you get gooey, soft centers paired with irresistibly crisp edges—a perfect balance of textures. On the other hand, small cookies bake too evenly, resulting in a uniform texture that lacks excitement and depth. And the fine folks at America’s Test Kitchen agree.
Worried the big cookies are too much for one sitting? No problem! Share with a friend, or slice them in half for a smaller treat. Trust me, this is infinitely more satisfying than settling for a batch of tiny cookies.”
I am definitely making these for Christmas this year! Also, this is the recipe that finally sold me on the meal plan. If you put this much intention into your recipes, I am going to LOVE that meal plan. I signed up today!
Hi Anne, thank you for such a wonderful review! We hope you love both the cookies and the meal plans- we promise you won’t be disappointed! 🙂
Exciting!!! Going to make these tomorrow!!!! Any recommendations on the chocolate bar brands that are good quality for baking or just any personal preference?
Hi Inna, it’s mostly personal preference. I prefer a dark chocolate bar in the 65 to 70% range (Thee or Chocolove are go-tos), but as long as you use a quality bar that you enjoy, it will be fine 🙂
That is one fabulous vegan cookie post!
Thanks for all the great information and comparisons in it. Super useful for all sorts of cookie recipes.
Oh and the cookies will be tried at the very first opportunity.
Thanks for reading all the way through, Sonja! I agree- this blog post was a labor of love! Enjoy the cookies 🙂
These sound like a great cookie and it want to try them. What is your suggestion to use instead of flax? We have a flax allergy in the house. Thanks.
Hi Shirley, I would try one of these two options:
(1) A chia “egg”: use the same amount of chia seeds as flax meal and same amount of warm water. Whisk together using the same instructions and wait 10-15 minutes to gel, whisking once or twice in between. If the chia egg is really thick, add a little bit more water.
(2) Use plain unsweetened vegan yogurt. About 6 to 7 tablespoons (85 to 100g). You can fold that in with a silicone spatula after mixing the browned butter and sugars. We haven’t tried that ourselves, but based on our research, we think it could work decently well.
Hope that helps!
Saving this for when I have some cleared fridge space for the overnight storage. Looks amazing!
I’m curious if you’ve ever tried Just Egg in baking applications. I’ve used the stuff for banana bread before and it works great for that, but of course cookies would be a different beast.
Good question, Chance! We’ve only used it as an egg substitute for an omelette, not in baking. Their website says you can, but we have no idea how it would work with these cookies!
Hey Nisha, Can’t wait to try these. If I want to use a stand mixer for this step, would it be better to use the whisk attachment or the standard attachment? The mention of “ribbons” makes me think whisk, but I’m not sure…
“Use an electric mixer on medium speed to mix everything together until well combined and small waves/ribbons appear, about 30 seconds.”
Thanks!
Hi Liz, so happy you’re excited for these! I think the standard beater is fine, as that’s what typically used for cookie dough. The ribbons just light, fleeting ribbons, which should appear with any electric mixing method.
Can i make this with regular butter and eggs? Im not vegan but love your recipes! And im so eager to try this!
Hi Vanessa, I’m so happy you love my recipes 🙂 Since I’m vegan, I haven’t baked with regular butter or eggs in 8 years, so I can’t say how this would turn out.
Can you taste the coffee if you include espresso powder?
Hi Dil, the cookies do not taste like coffee, but the espresso powder enhances the chocolatey flavor. That said, they are still very delicious without the espresso powder.
where did the espresso powder go from this recipe? it has disappeared! why?
From Nisha: “Hi there, I took it out because one of the brands I used after publishing this recipe didn’t dissolve well and it add little bitter pockets to the cookies, and I didn’t want to risk others to have that experience! If you’d like to add it, add 1 teaspoon espresso powder along with the dry ingredients.”
How about sugar substitutes?
How will coconut sugar and monk fruit or xylitol change the texture/taste?
Hi Lea,
When I developed this recipe, I wanted it to be as close as possible to a bakery-style chocolate chip cookie. Brown sugar and cane sugar add not just sweetness but also structure, so substituting them will change the texture and flavor.
Coconut sugar is a decent substitute for brown sugar in some recipes, but it is drier and has less moisture, and this recipe relies on a fair amount of brown sugar for moisture, so the cookies would have a less moist and dryer, crumblier texture.
As for monk fruit or xylitol, I do not bake with those, but I imagine it would also negatively affect the overall texture and flavor. For instance, monk fruit is 100x sweeter than sugar, so you would only need a small amount, and again, the sugar in this recipe doesn’t merely add sweetness but also structure. If you used only a small amount of sweetener, it would completely change the texture of the dough and cookies.
I was on your website last night looking for Christmas recipes and saw that you had just posted this one. and I knew immediately I had to make these cookies for a college friends Christmas get-together. Because of the timing I couldn’t rest them for the whole 24 hours. I did about 17 hours. Long story short, everyone at the party was RAVING about these. Not a single person there was vegan and they all begged me for the recipe.
Wow, Karina! You were on top of it with this recipe! I need to try it ASAP… the amount of effort that was put into it is actually astounding. Happy to hear the cookies were a hit with the whole party 🙂