It’s a good ol’ fashioned vegan chocolate chip cookie bake-off!

One of the most fun things to do at the end of last year, aside from finding a solid brownie cookie recipe, was figure out which vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe would become my staple. I couldn’t believe I didn’t have one, and every baker needs it!

I decided to pull recipes from three solid vegan baking sources and make only half a batch. While all recipes are meant to be gluten-free, they varied in ingredients and flavour.

hot for food by Lauren Toyota’s chocolate chip almond butter cookies

Oh She Glows’ vegan, gluten-free chocolate chip cookies

BabyCakes chocolate chip cookies

What makes a “perfect” cookie is going to be different for everyone. Personally, I like a thick, crispy cookie that’s soft and chewy on the inside when freshly baked, not too overpowering in terms of sweetness to let the chocolate stand out, and sturdy enough once cooled that it can withstand ice cream in between to form a crunchy cookie sandwich.

Without further ado, here are the results:

Third place: Oh She Glows

While this recipe had the most ideal texture when cooled, it had the lightest colour of all three recipes — but also because I used cane sugar instead of brown, which is not always readily available vegan. The oat flour (meant to be gluten-free) in this recipe resulted in the smell of oats, but surprisingly, the nuttiness from the almond flour was very pronounced.

However, the next day, the nut flavour subsided and resulted in the sugars melding a lot better with the chocolate. The texture was more soft than crispy, so it was more crumbly but it’ll be chewy if you eat it chilled.

Friends said this recipe was okay, but we all agreed that it’d be best as an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. I’d make it again if I wanted to go a healthier route.

If you want to try this recipe without it being gluten-free, Angela has another recipe using whole wheat pastry flour.

Second place: hot for food

With only six ingredients, this recipe was by far the easiest to make. There was a nice nutty smell coming from the oven, and the result was a thick, doughy, but still soft type of cookie. Not my jam personally, but almond butter fiends will probably love it — this was Leo’s pick for best chocolate chip cookie. They also pack really well and don’t crumble easily.

The downside: the next day, these taste REALLY nutty…so you have to be able to tolerate the almond butter. You could try making it with other types of butter, or search hot for food for another recipe. Friends weren’t a fan of the soft texture.

First place: Babycakes

I’ve shared my Blueberry Muffins and Carrot Cupcakes by BabyCakes here already, so it’s no secret I am a fan of Erin McKenna‘s recipes. The vapour coming from the oven had the most classic chocolate chip smell, and even though I had some difficulty halving the recipe and added too much coconut oil than there should have been, these cookies had the best golden colour and crispy texture. They came out too thin because of the coconut oil and I had to cut an almost giant cookie cake into squares (mmm, cookie cake…) but if I had made it properly I think they’d easily withstand a cookie sandwich.

Friends all said these tasted the best and Leo said it was one of his favourite cookies, even though I could taste the Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose flour, which can sometimes bug me. These are great chilled too, and keep their crunch really well.

In future I might experiment with a different kind of gluten-free flour (Vancouver bakers have some great options) and for a healthier option, see if cutting it with some oat flour works as well.

Ingredients:

1 c coconut oil (not necessary to melt it)
6 tblsp unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 c evaporated cane juice (I use cane sugar)
2 c Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose baking flour
1/4 c flax meal
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 c vegan chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a medium bowl., mix together the oil, applesauce, salt, vanilla, and evaporated cane juice/sugar. In another medium bowl, whisk together the flour, flax meal, baking soda, and xanthan gum. Using a rubber spatula, carefully add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and stir until a grainy dough is formed. Gently fold in the chocolate chips just until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough. Using a melon baller (I use a 1 tsp spoon), scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the portions 1 inch apart. Gently press each with the heel of your hand to help them spread. Bake the cookies on the centre rack for 15 minutes, rotating the sheets 180 degrees after 9 minutes. The finished cookies will be crisp on the edges and soft in the centre. Let the cookies stand on the sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack and cool completely before covering. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Serves 36.

Pssst… there might be an even better vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe!

In the same BabyCakes cookbook, there’s a Double Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe which I’ve made before. It’s got almost the same ingredients as above, but has cocoa powder added to it. It would have been unfair to use this for the bake-off as the cocoa gives it a slight edge, so if you REALLY like chocolate, HMU in the comments and perhaps I will bake and share this recipe too.