Last weekend, I was going to a party with a bunch of people I hadn’t met before and I therefore wanted to bring cookies. I mean, what better way to make people like you, right?
But I was still vegan at this point and I really wanted to stick with it. Enter: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies.
It was an experiment with which I got extremely lucky.
I have since made three batches, changing up the recipe each time. The first batch was definitely the best (in my opinion), but they were all good. So, I’m going to write out the recipe for the best version (trust me, they are SO GOOD) and then I’ll tell you what I changed for the other two batches, should you think they sound more your style.
Here’s a sort-of peek at what it looks like when I create a recipe.
I first write out what I think I’ll do and then, once I get in the kitchen, I change everything. I do it every single time. There isn’t much of a method to my madness, but it usually works. Thankfully.
Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes 2 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup almond milk
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips (Ghiradelli makes really good ones!)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sift flour, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.
In a separate bowl blend white sugar, brown sugar, vegetable oil, almond extract and vanilla extract. Add flour mixture and blend again.
Set mixer aside, add chocolate chips, and use a wooden spoon to mix the chips into the dough. Dough will be crumbly!
(The best part of vegan dough is that there’s no salmonella to worry about and you can have as much dough as you want! The worst part of vegan dough is the same thing. Tummyaches are the worst.)
Spoon tablespoon-sized balls of dough into your baking trays and leave them rounded.
Bake for 10-12 minutes (I think 12 is much better — it gives you this lovely browned quality below).
Sadly, that is the only picture I have of the first and best batch of cookies. Happily, the 3rd batch looks really similar, so that works.
The second batch looked like this:
AKA super flat. Very chewy. Some people like that, so here’s what I did for that:
- I cut the oil to 3/4 cup
- I upped the almond milk to 1/2 cup
- I tried coconut extract instead of almond extract.
People still liked these, so I’m not going to knock them. However, they were my personal least favorite of the three. They did result in one accident picture that I kind of liked, though:
How very “fall” of them.
The third batch had these changes:
- I cut the oil to 3/4 cup
- I upped the almond milk to 1/2 cup
- I added a half a cup of flour (actually, I may have added more — I can’t remember — but I’d say add until it’s crumbly)
- I used coconut extract instead of both vanilla extract and almond extract. (I really think the almond extract and vanilla extract together is best, though.)
Those are the cookies you mostly see in pictures here.
The main recipe, in my opinion, gives you a pretty perfect cookie — chewy on the inside and crunchy on the outside.
The second batch (the flat cookies) are super chewy and the third batch are thicker and almost cakey. They’re a little bit healthier, I suppose (what I was going for) but in the end, I say go with the better cookies and just don’t have seven of them.
You know, if you can help yourself.
One last thing!
My friend Ryan, who you may remember from his epic guest post, is doing Movember again (I invited you to help out a year ago, too!).
I would like to invite you to donate to his cause, his mustache, and his awesomeness. It’s for a great cause and a great person!
Kaitlin With Honey 