These chocolate chip cookies are pretty much perfect. My recipe adds Cook for Good twists to the excellence of David Leite’s famous NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies. Now they are healthier, thriftier, greener, and still conversation-stopping good. Think melting chocolate, buttery dough, crisp outside, and tender inside. This was one of my prized, supporters-only recipes, but I’m now sharing it with everyone. Enjoy!
Leite adapted his recipe from Jacques Torres, who had the breakthrough idea of refrigerating cookie dough for a day or more before baking it. The difference is shocking. Try it both ways yourself to see. I tried this recipe with two types of vegan butter: Earth Balance vegan buttery sticks (not organic, $4.99 a pound) and Miyoko’s cultured vegan butter (organic, $6.99 a pound). Chilled Earth Balance dough produced cookies as good as same-day Miyoko’s dough.
My recommendation? Make the supreme organic chocolate chip cookie by refrigerating dough made with Miyoko’s cultured butter.
In the recipe below, you’ll also learn how to freeze the dough so you can bake just a few cookies at a time. Why?
- You are always eating fresh, warm cookies.
- You eat only as many cookies as you’d planned. No more expensive and fattening returns to the cookie jar for “just one more.”
- Making cookies makes sense even if you are cooking for one or two.
Of course, you can also bake all two dozen Chocolate Chip Cookies at once or even double the recipe. I cut the original recipe in half so it didn’t cost so much up front or overwhelm your mixer. Even my stand mixer bucked a bit when confronted with the ingredients for four dozen cookies.
These delicious chocolate chip cookies will rock your world, yet they are healthier and thriftier than other recipes. Vegan, vegetarian, and using something-for-nothing aquafaba instead of expensive organic eggs. Make the dough the day before if you can for maximum flavor. Makes 24 cookies. Sorry about the error below that shows this is just 4 servings, but you decide!
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Instructions
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Get ready. If you haven’t softened the vegan butter yet, cut it into about eight pieces and put it in your mixing bowl, giving each piece space so it will warm up. It should be at cool room temperature before you add sugar, yielding but still solid. Thaw aquafaba if needed. Set out one cookie sheet if you will be chilling the dough overnight, two cookie sheets if you will be baking all the cookies at once, or an 8×8-inch pan and a cookie sheet if you will be baking and chilling today. What?!? For best flavor, refrigerate the dough at least overnight. I often bake four cookies the day I mix the dough and refrigerate the rest. Baking and chilling. You don’t need to line the pans if they are made of light metal. If they are dark, line them with baking mat(s) or parchment paper.
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Mix. Put butter and sugars in a mixing bowl. Cream until light and fluffy, about three minutes with a stand mixer or five minutes with a hand mixer. Add half the aquafaba at a time and mix briefly after each addition. Blend in vanilla. Sift flours, baking soda, and baking powder into separate large bowl and stir with a fork to distributed the baking soda and powder. Add these dry ingredients to butter mixture and mix on low until just blended, about 30 seconds. Blend in chocolate chips. (You may need to switch to a big spoon for this if you are using a hand mixer.)
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Shape. Form cookie dough into balls about the size of ping-pong balls. Use a soup spoon to dip out the dough, then gently roll each glob between your clean palms. You want to make round shapes without the chips sticking out too much and yet not enough to squish out the air bubbles you beat into the dough.
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Optionally, chill. I often bake four cookies at this point (see below) and refrigerate the rest to get the best flavor. Put dough balls on a cookie sheet, cover, and refrigerate at least overnight and up to three days.
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Optionally, freeze. To freeze chilled cookie balls, put them in a container, with waxed paper or parchment paper between the layers. Freeze for up to a year. When ready to bake, remove as many cookie balls as you need. Ideally, let them thaw at room temperature for 20 minutes before baking.
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Bake. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees fan/convection). I bake up to four cookies at a time in a toaster oven using the convection feature so the cookies don’t burn. Twelve cookies fit on a standard cookies sheet and four cookies fit in an 8×8-inch. The cookies will flatten and spread as they bake, so give them plenty of room. Bake for 11 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Place warm cookies on a wire rack and let cool another five minutes. Enjoy how your house smells. Eat cookies warm or at room temperature. Probably keeps about a week, but mine never last that long. You can also freeze baked cookies for up to a year.
Recipe Notes
- What is aquafaba? Chickpea broth from cooked or canned chickpeas. Read more here.
- Can you refrigerate the bowl of dough without rolling it into balls? Yes, but then you have to let it warm up again before you shape it.
- Do you need to thaw the dough balls before you bake them? No, but lets them cook more evenly through. They also relax more so they are shorter and broader.
- Can you use all white whole wheat flour? Sure! Just replace the all-purpose flour with the same amount of white whole wheat.
- Can you add nuts or raisins? Sure! Just keep the mix-ins to about the same volume as the chocolate chips.
- Can you cream the butter and sugar by hand? Yes. Use a fork instead of a spoon and stir for about 20 minutes. There, you’ve earned your cookies!
Nutritional Information for Chocolate Chip Cookies
The label shows information for one cookie.
Nutrition Facts
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Amount Per Serving
Calories 195
Calories from Fat 90
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 10g
15%
Saturated Fat 7g
35%
Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
Monounsaturated Fat 2g
Sodium 164mg
7%
Potassium 0.4mg
0%
Total Carbohydrates 24g
8%
Dietary Fiber 1g
4%
Sugars 16g
Protein 2g
4%
Vitamin C
1%
Calcium
1%
Iron
4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
