Oh, how I wish I could take full credit for these delicious, totally vegan chocolate chip (and walnut!) cookies. But alas, they’re adapted from Food 52’s Secretly Vegan Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies, which are adapted from the cookies from Ovenly bakery in NYC.
I made a few tweaks to make them what I consider the Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies, adding walnuts, a splash of vanilla extract, upping the salt a bit, and changing the cooking temp. What you might ask makes these the ultimate vegan chocolate chip cookies? The fact that they taste completely non-vegan. Basically, they can go head to head with any of the best regular chocolate chip cookie recipes out there. Butter and eggs, I’m lookin’ at you.
I love that these cookies cook more up than out – thanks to a touch of baking powder – making them crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside. While I’ve never been to Ovenly in NYC, I’m reminded of the divine cookies from another Big Apple cookie haven, Levain Bakery, every time I take a bite of these babies. I can almost imagine that I’m sitting on a stoop in the Upper Westside, tucking into a bag of ooey gooey chocolatey dreams, when in reality I’m standing over the sink in my kitchen, shoveling cookies into my mouth with abandon.
A few things to keep in mind, we’re substituting butter for oil and therefore what oil you use becomes very important. The original recipe calls for canola, but I found that even using an organic, non GMO, expeller pressed, blah, blah, blah canola oil lent the cookies a strange aftertaste. Ok, I was the only one who could detect it out of multiple taste testers, but whatever. I recommend trying a sunflower seed or safflower oil, or my new favorite Sun Coco – a combo of refined sunflower and coconut oils. The recipe also calls for mixing the dough and then allowing it to sit in the fridge for 12 – 24 hours, which gives the ingredients time to meld and deepen in flavor. Do not skip this step! I know it’s a bummer to have to wait, but you’re rewarded with crazy moist cookies. I can attest to the fact that baking these off directly after mixing yields an inferior cookie. Still pretty damn good, but we’re going for ultimate here.
Now, what are you waiting for? Make these immediately, and say hello to your new favorite cookie.
- 2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips*
- ¾ cup walnuts, roughly chopped**
- ½ cup organic cane sugar
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon neutral vegetable oil such as Sun Coco
- ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts to the flour mixture and toss to coat.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugars with the oil, water, and vanilla extract until smooth and incorporated.
- Add wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir until well combined and no flour is visible. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate the dough for at least 12 hours and up to 48 hours. Do not skip this step.
- Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line two rimmed cookie sheets with parchment paper. Remove dough from the refrigerator and use an ice cream scoop or 2 tablespoon measuring spoon to portion dough into small mounds. Lightly press down on the mounds with your palm to slightly flatten.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the edges are just golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool on the pan for 2 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Serve warm or allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
- To freeze raw cookie dough for future use, follow Steps 1 - 4 but do not press down on balls of dough with your palm. Place cookie sheets in the freezer for 2 hours. Store frozen dough balls in the freezer in a Ziploc bag.
- To bake, remove desired number of cookies from freezer and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet while oven preheats. Just before putting in the oven, lightly press down on dough to flatten slightly. Bake as previously directed.
** If you're not using walnuts, add an additional ¼ - ½ cup of chocolate chips.
These look SO good! I don’t think you can beat a classic chocolate chip cookie. I’m going to bake these for my best friend who has recently turned vegan, she will love them!
These looks amazing! Can i use coconut oil instead of sun coco oil?
Hi Hajar, Sun Coco is just what I like to use but you can use any neutral vegetable oil. If you want to use coconut oil just make sure it’s refined and the kind that’s never solid at room temp (it would harden in the fridge and you’d never be able to portion out your cookies). It should be labeled for high heat cooking.
im in the vegan squad now ,started to weeks ago
Best chocolate chip cookies ever! They taste delicious.
Thank you, Jackie!
Oh these sound great! I have to admit, I’m a total chocolate chip junkie. I’m always trying out new recipes. I’m not great at making them as I’m gf and baking gluten-free kind of sucks, but I’ll give this a go =)
You’ll have to let me know how they turn out, Kimmy. And if you have any success trying a gluten free option.
I made them gluten free. They turned out great!
Awesome, Alana!
Hi there! I am always on the hunt for a good chocolate chip cookie recipe that’s vegan and doesn’t contain annoying ingredients like vegan buttery spread. This recipe was perfect! I happened to have all of the ingredients, it was super straightforward (a.k.a. hard for me to mess up, since I’m such a bad baker!), and the cookies turned out wonderfully. They’re fluffy, just sweet enough, and super soft. I used a whole wheat flour, so mine ended up with an extra gritty crunch that I love. Thanks for sharing this recipe, and I’m so glad I found it!
These turned out great! I used canola oil. These tasted better than my non vegan cookies
Yay! Thanks so much for commenting, Becca.
These sound amazing and I want to make them and the sugar cookies you posted tonight! Where can I buy the Sun Coco Oil?
Hi Cierra, I buy SunCoco at my local Ralph’s grocery store here in Southern California. I’ve also seen it at Sprouts. Hope that helps!
Can’t wait to bake these
Quick question
I like big cookies
Any modification for 1/4 c mound of dough instead of 2 TB?
I’ll report the results, too.
Thanks Mary
Hi Mary, I think the cooking time would pretty much be the same but let me know if it runs longer for you.
I was so pleased how these came out 🙂 I normally use earth balance when I bake cookies but I was able to find the suncoco for this recipe. They were perfect!
Thanks, Belinda
Yay, thanks for commenting Belinda!
After making these I have deleted my previous go-to vegan chocolate chip cookie. This is Soooo much better
I do wish you had announced the 12 hour waiting period at the top of the recipe. I had my oven heated and was ready to go when I got to that part. I put it away till the next day as you advised.
Glad the cookies replaced your former faves, Gayla! I do mention the 12-24 hour waiting period to allow the dough to come together in the post preceding the recipe. It’s always my hope people read through the post instead of going straight to the recipe because that’s where I tend to go into detail about the method and tips and tricks for all my posts.
YUM! I used earth balance plant based butter bars and then substituted oat milk for the water. They are delicious! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
My new favorite cookie! I followed instructions and let sit overnight (just half the dough) in the fridge and they came out beautiful like photo. I did NOT press them down so they would look like the Levain bakery cookies. Crunchy outside, fluffy and gooey inside. I used expeller pressed canola oil. For those who are impatient, I took the other half of the dough and baked them ASAP. The texture was a little different and possibly saltier but still soooo good. The saltiness is the perfect touch to the gooey chocolate.
Thank you so much Pia! Love that you experimented with baking the dough with and without the 24 hour fridge time.
This has become my go-to recipe. Everyone loves them and I am now expected to bring them to every family gathering. I was even asked to make them for a wedding once and they were a hit.
I use Pecans.
Dear Mostly Vegan, how do I soften thedough after 24 hour chill? It is rock hard and not malleable. Do you have any suggestions?
These cookies are the best. Since I found this I always make these and my family requests them at every gathering. I do use pecans instead of walnuts just for personal preference, but otherwise I follow this recipe exactly for perfect cookies every time. Thanks!
I make These all of the time. I did try once, not making ahead. You are right. They were good, not great, like the ones made ahead and allowing the dough to rest at least 24 hours.
I always get requests for these so they go to most potlucks and holidays. Best cookies ever. (I use pecans)
Thank you for this recipe. I made the dough per your instructions and am currently waiting for 24 hours. A double batch is waiting in the fridge to be rolled up and frozen as cookie dough balls for when my kid comes home from college. I wrote baking instructions on the bag so he can make them whenever he wants. I’ll let you know if they were a hit!