(Vegan) Chocolate Chip Cookies
I put “vegan” in parentheses here because, to me, this isn’t the main selling point of these cookies. I don’t make these cookies because they are vegan; I make these cookies because they are simple and easy and chewy and chocolatey (and relatively more healthful than the average chocolate chip cookie)… and they just happen to be vegan. And if I make them with whole-wheat flour, not only are they even more healthful, but they also take on a slightly nuttier flavor, which I happen to love. The only catch? You need to make the dough at least 12 hours in advance, so these aren’t the cookies you make when you have a spur-of-the-moment cookie craving (but perhaps that’s for the best). However, the cookie dough freezes beautifully, so if you plan ahead, you can freeze the portioned-out dough, and then you’re only ever about 20 minutes away from warm, gooey, freshly baked cookies.
I’ve adapted this recipe from the bakers at Ovenly, a bakery in New York City, who shared the recipe in their cookbook of the same name. Although I’ve altered the ingredient list slightly, the method is essentially the same, and it’s important to follow it closely and carefully for best results.
Yield: Approximately 24 to 30 cookies.
I’ve adapted this recipe from the bakers at Ovenly, a bakery in New York City, who shared the recipe in their cookbook of the same name. Although I’ve altered the ingredient list slightly, the method is essentially the same, and it’s important to follow it closely and carefully for best results.
Yield: Approximately 24 to 30 cookies.
Author: Wholesome Family Kitchen
Ingredients
- • 2 cups white whole-wheat flour * or all-purpose flour (or some combination of these flours to equal 2 cups total)
- • 1 teaspoon baking powder
- • ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- • ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- • 1½ cups bittersweet (or semi-sweet) chocolate chips ** (I like to use chocolate with at least 60% cocoa content.)
- • ½ cup natural cane sugar
- • ½ cup packed light brown sugar (Be sure the brown sugar is fresh and soft, not hard or clumpy! If there are any clumps, break them up first with the back of a spoon.)
- • ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon light-tasting olive oil ***, or canola, grapeseed, or any other neutral-flavored oil
- • ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon water
- • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- • Coarse-grained or flaky sea salt, for garnish (optional) ****
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the chocolate chips to the flour mixture and toss to coat.
- In another large bowl, vigorously whisk together the sugars with the oil, water, and vanilla until smooth and fully combined, about 2 minutes. (I like to use a large glass bowl with a plastic lid for this step. Then after I add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture in the next step, I can simply pop the lid onto the bowl before refrigerating the dough.)
- Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture, then stir with a rubber spatula until just combined and no flour is visible. (Do not overmix!)
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (or a lid if your bowl has one). Refrigerate the dough for at least 12 hours and up to 24 hours. (Do NOT skip this step!)
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350° F and line two rimmed sheet pans with parchment paper.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and using a spoon or—my preference—a tablespoon-sized cookie scoop (also known as a #40 scoop), scoop the dough into approximately 1½-inch mounds and place them on the parchment-lined sheet pans, leaving some space in between the cookies to allow for some spreading. (If you’d like to freeze some or all of the cookie dough, put the sheet pan(s) with the balls of dough straight into the freezer for about an hour or two, then place the frozen dough balls in a freezer-safe resealable plastic bag. Keep frozen until you’re ready to bake them.)
- If desired, sprinkle the balls of dough with coarse-grained or flaky sea salt, then bake for 11 to 12 minutes (or about 12 to 14 minutes if baking straight from the freezer), or until the edges are just golden. (To help ensure that the cookies bake evenly, rotate the pans front to back and top to bottom about halfway through the baking time.) Be careful not to overbake.
- Remove the pans from the oven, and let the cookies cool on the pan for a minute or two to set up before transferring them to wire racks to cool completely (or to cool just enough to eat). Repeat the baking process with any remaining dough.
Notes
* White whole-wheat flour is my favorite flour to use when baking more-nutritious baked goods without sacrificing flavor or texture. Don’t be misled by its name; white whole-wheat flour is not the same as white flour. White whole wheat has all the fiber and nutrition of traditional “red” whole wheat, but it is lighter in color and milder in flavor. King Arthur Flour makes a white whole-wheat flour that is pretty widely available these days. And although I haven’t tried it, I imagine traditional whole-wheat flour would work just as well in these cookies.
** The last few times I made these cookies, I used a combination of chocolate chips and chocolate “wafers,” which are small, round disks of chocolate; they look like flattened-out chocolate chips. If you can find them in your area, I’d highly recommend using them for some or all of the chocolate chips in this recipe. When the cookies are fresh from the oven, the disks melt into little puddles of chocolate and make the cookies even more gooey and chocolatey! I’ve found Guittard wafers at my local Whole Foods Market, but they are relatively expensive and therefore a special-occasion-only splurge. My local Whole Foods Market also carries Guittard’s Super Cookie Chips, which are bigger, flatter (yet sweeter) chocolate chips, and more reasonably priced. Ghirardelli’s 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips are another, more widely available option; they are larger in size than most chocolate chips (my boys refer to them as “The Big Chocolate Chips”) and are consistently good. I’ve also had success just chopping up a good-quality bittersweet chocolate bar into roughly ½-inch chunks and using those chunks (along with all the little bits and crumbs that accumulate on the cutting board) in lieu of chocolate chips. (Keep in mind, however, that although most dark chocolate is dairy-free and/or vegan, some brands, including Ghirardelli, do contain milk, so be sure to check the ingredient label if this concerns you.)
*** I recently discovered California Olive Ranch Mild and Buttery Extra-Virgin Olive Oil and I have been using it with great success in many of my baking recipes that call for a light-tasting or neutral-flavored oil. It works especially well in these cookies, lending a buttery flavor without any actual butter. You can certainly use canola oil or another neutral-flavored oil in its place, but if you would like to use olive oil, be sure to use one that doesn’t have strong floral or grassy notes, unless you want those flavors in your cookies!
**** My boys prefer that I not sprinkle finishing salt on their cookies, but I quite like that sweet/salty contrast, so I earmark a few cookies just for me and sprinkle them with a little salt before I bake them. I have some “fancy” vanilla salt that someone gifted to me from Williams-Sonoma, and I reserve it just for these cookies. And bonus: I know there will always be a couple of cookies left in the batch just for me, because no one else in my house will eat them!
Recipe adapted from Ovenly: Sweet and Salty Recipes from New York's Most Creative Bakery, by Agatha Kulaga and Erin Patinkin.
** The last few times I made these cookies, I used a combination of chocolate chips and chocolate “wafers,” which are small, round disks of chocolate; they look like flattened-out chocolate chips. If you can find them in your area, I’d highly recommend using them for some or all of the chocolate chips in this recipe. When the cookies are fresh from the oven, the disks melt into little puddles of chocolate and make the cookies even more gooey and chocolatey! I’ve found Guittard wafers at my local Whole Foods Market, but they are relatively expensive and therefore a special-occasion-only splurge. My local Whole Foods Market also carries Guittard’s Super Cookie Chips, which are bigger, flatter (yet sweeter) chocolate chips, and more reasonably priced. Ghirardelli’s 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Chips are another, more widely available option; they are larger in size than most chocolate chips (my boys refer to them as “The Big Chocolate Chips”) and are consistently good. I’ve also had success just chopping up a good-quality bittersweet chocolate bar into roughly ½-inch chunks and using those chunks (along with all the little bits and crumbs that accumulate on the cutting board) in lieu of chocolate chips. (Keep in mind, however, that although most dark chocolate is dairy-free and/or vegan, some brands, including Ghirardelli, do contain milk, so be sure to check the ingredient label if this concerns you.)
*** I recently discovered California Olive Ranch Mild and Buttery Extra-Virgin Olive Oil and I have been using it with great success in many of my baking recipes that call for a light-tasting or neutral-flavored oil. It works especially well in these cookies, lending a buttery flavor without any actual butter. You can certainly use canola oil or another neutral-flavored oil in its place, but if you would like to use olive oil, be sure to use one that doesn’t have strong floral or grassy notes, unless you want those flavors in your cookies!
**** My boys prefer that I not sprinkle finishing salt on their cookies, but I quite like that sweet/salty contrast, so I earmark a few cookies just for me and sprinkle them with a little salt before I bake them. I have some “fancy” vanilla salt that someone gifted to me from Williams-Sonoma, and I reserve it just for these cookies. And bonus: I know there will always be a couple of cookies left in the batch just for me, because no one else in my house will eat them!
Recipe adapted from Ovenly: Sweet and Salty Recipes from New York's Most Creative Bakery, by Agatha Kulaga and Erin Patinkin.
Recipe by Wholesome Family Kitchen at https://www.wholesomefamilykitchen.com/recipe-vegan-chocolate-chip-cookies/