For years, this was hands-down my favorite recipe for chocolate chip cookies. I brought these cookies to bake sales, I mailed them to sad friends, I hung out in my room with a spoon and a bowl of uncooked dough.
Of course, these days, I have more than one favorite kind of chocolate chip cookie. I mean, really: why pick? Why can’t I sink my teeth into a soft, half-baked chocolate chip cookie one day, treasure a dense, heavy, mounded one the next, and decide on a crisp, buttery one when I’m in the mood? It’s like apples and oranges; each is wonderful in its own way. They’re different.
So since I am totally able to enjoy a multitude of chocolate chip cookie “types,” it’s important to me that a recipe’s results are described well. “This is the world’s best ________!” doesn’t tell me anything except that you like it, a lot!, which is fine, but I like to know what I’m getting into when I’m going to put my time into a recipe. And if you’re the kind of person that only loves one type of chocolate chip cookie, and this doesn’t happen to be what you’re looking for, I would hate to bum you out! So in that spirit:
I think these cookies are best half-baked. They don’t taste like butter, which was always a plus for me, as I used to really hate buttery chocolate chip cookies. They’re maple- and vanilla-scented with hints of caramel, but not so much as to warrant a name change. The dough is really good on its own. These cookies are crisp and golden on the outside and soft and doughy in the middle, with some chew in between. They are not even slightly cakey.
A few notes on ingredients. These cookies are oil-based, rather than margarine-based. That means they don’t taste like butter. And with the couple of bucks you save on not buying vegan butter for this recipe, invest in some intense maple syrup. Dark amber, if possible. It’s not that they won’t turn out fine with milder syrup; it’s just that they’re amazing with the high quality stuff. Trust me. Also, in case you were wondering, applesauce is the key to getting these half-baked and deliciously sunken. Honestly? I have kept some applesauce in the freezer for years for just this purpose. And lastly, if you’re going for something a little different, you can substitute whole wheat flour for half of the white flour.
While I no longer think these cookies are (or have to be) the be-all-end-all recipe for chocolate chip cookies, they still hold a special place in my heart — and my inbox, actually, because people ask me for this recipe all. the. time. Once when I tabled with my distro (RIP!) and these cookies at Philly Zine Fest, the person tabling next to me inhaled four of them in a row and swore that she would buy an entire cookbook just to get this single recipe. But sharing’s way more fun, right?
- 1 c brown sugar
- ¼ c maple syrup
- ½ c oil
- ¼ c applesauce
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 c flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- dash nutmeg
- 1½ c chocolate chips
- In a large bowl, beat together sugar, syrup, and oil. It will become smooth and even in consistency after a little while; don't skimp on this step!
- Beat in vanilla and applesauce.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour, soda, salt, and nutmeg.
- Add dry mixture to wet; mix well.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Form into 1" balls (or whatever size you prefer) and bake on greased sheets at 350 degrees for 6-10 minutes.
56 comments
Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie Topped with Peanut Butter Walnut Frosting | The Frosted Vegan says:
May 29, 2013
[...] adapted from Hell Yeah It’s Vegan [...]
Glo says:
Aug 9, 2013
Easy to follow recipe and yummy cookies. Thank you for sharing!
talia says:
Aug 12, 2013
thanks these were awesome, being canadian and right next to a maple syrup farming area, these tasted so good
claryn says:
Aug 26, 2013
Jeez, I bet! I’m experiencing locational jealousy as I type.
VeganB says:
Feb 17, 2014
Amazing! For the oil I melted down a half-and-half earth balance and coconut oil mixture. Perfectly buttery and delicious
Malory says:
Aug 11, 2014
Do you use sweetened or unsweetened applesauce? I can’t wait to make these!
claryn says:
Sep 1, 2014
Unsweetened!
Jessica says:
Sep 30, 2014
I see that it says to form into “balls”. If I do this will they stay in that shape or will they spread out like the non-vegan store bought cookie dough? I’m asking because I’ve only made cookies twice since going vegan and neither of those recipes stated what shape to bake the dough in so I placed them in ball shape and that’s the shape they stayed when I baked them. I want the to end up like your picture, which looks AMAZING by the way!
claryn says:
Sep 30, 2014
If you’re making normally sized cookies, then no, you don’t need to flatten the balls. You’ll probably notice when you make this dough that it’s on the softer side, which gives you a hint that they’ll spread easily. That said, any time I made large cookies (“bakery-sized” ones that start out as a quarter-cup or so of dough), I do flatten them slightly into discs, as it helps those huge balls of dough cook evenly. For what it’s worth, the cookies pictured were from a bakery-sized batch. (I have a thing for cookies the size of my face!)
And just for the record, the “not spreading” issue isn’t a “vegan” one! Some doughs spread easily and others don’t. Dough that is well-chilled or is high in flour or low in fat will spread less. I always specify in the recipe if the dough needs to be flattened to encourage spreading.
Good luck!
Jessica says:
Sep 30, 2014
Okay, great. Thank you so much! Can’t wait to try this. For what it’s worth, I love cookies the size of my face as well!
Jessica says:
Oct 20, 2014
These is the first vegan recipe I have used and for someone who is not a regular cook, let alone a vegan cook, it has been really easy to follow and the results are really tasty. They have become my favorite choc chip biscuit to cook and I highly recommend it to anyone.
I will recommend to everyone though, that maple flavored syrup is no where near as good in this recipe, you really do need to splash out and buy the proper maple syrup for these, but so so very worth it.
Thank you for sharing, and I will be using this recipe for years to come I think