Vegan Chocolate Chunk Cookies

As far as I know, I haven’t posted a really good vegan chocolate chip cookie here. I remember making one that was also gluten-free, and it wasn’t great. This Pastry Affair cookie, however, is really good. I feel that it doesn’t beat my best chocolate chip cookies, but it definitely stands its own. Plus, the Engineer said on a few occasions that he really liked them, so that means something! They’re a bit different to put together because they are made with oil (instead of eggs or butter), but you couldn’t tell once they’re baked. This recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies; if you don’t bake them all at once, you should at the very least form each cookie before putting the dough in the fridge – the oil will harden and you won’t be able to shape the dough if it is cold, as it will feel like sand.

2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
½ cup brown sugar, packed
¼ cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
¼ cup almond or soy milk (lactose-free dairy milk will also work for non-vegans)
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 oz. semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped (use dairy-free chocolate to keep it vegan)

Preheat oven to 350 °F.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, granulated sugar, oil, and milk for several minutes until the mixture resembles a smooth caramel sauce. Stir in the vanilla.

Fold in the dry ingredients. If the dough is not stiff enough to hold its shape, add more flour by the tablespoon until it holds together (this was not an issue for me). Mix in the chocolate chunks.

Drop cookies by the tablespoon onto a baking sheet, keeping the cookies at least 2 inches apart. Bake for 8-9 minutes, or until lightly browned on the edges. Cool on the baking sheet for several minutes until transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.