• Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies | www.planticize.com

The Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know what you’re thinking, the Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies?! Really?! Well if Crisco can call their cookies ultimate, I am so totally calling my chocolate chip cookies the ultimate vegan ones.

Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies | www.planticize.com

If you don’t live in the US, or don’t know what Crisco is, it’s a brand of shortening that’s been around in the US for over 100 years. And shortening, if you’re still confused, is a broad term used to describe any fat that is solid at room temperature. However, for some strange reason, we never refer to butter as shortening. Even though Crisco was the first shortening to be made entirely from vegetable oil, I thought for sure that their butter flavored shortening contained, well, butter. I was wrong. Their butter flavor all-vegetable shortening is indeed vegan.

Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies | www.planticize.com

I’m sure there are already a handful of people muttering to themselves about how unhealthy it is, and for once I won’t be telling you about all the great vitamins and nutrients something contains. I mean, this is fat we’re talking about here. Vegetable fat, but fat nonetheless. According to the company, their shortening contains 50% less saturated fat than butter and 0g of trans fats per serving. That said, nutritionists are wary of just how much better the fully hydrogenated oil they now use is when it comes to your health.

Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies | www.planticize.com

Lucky for me, this isn’t a health blog. This is a vegan blog. Sure, lots of the stuff we vegans eat is so awesomely good for us, but like everyone else, we are entitled to indulge in some “bad for you” snacks and desserts now and then. And remember, any time I or anyone else for that matter, posts a recipe, it doesn’t mean this is what we eat all day every day. This is the first time I’ve made these in a while, and man am I SO happy I did! All kinds of childhood memories came streaming back to me, and since I’ve planticized the recipe, I think they taste even better!

Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies | www.planticize.com

So, with the whole shortening talk out of the way, let’s look at the other plant-based ingredients you need to use: flax seeds, plant milk, and some dairy-free chocolate chips. I’m sure I’ve said it before, but flax eggs are my absolute favorite way to replace eggs when baking. Some people will tell you to measure 1 tablespoon of ground seeds, but since it’s better to grind your flax seeds as you need them, I always use 1 tablespoon of whole seeds, crush them, and add roughly 3 tablespoons of water. This replaces one large egg, and  a large “egg” is what I needed here! The plant milk and non-dairy chocolate chips are pretty straight-forward. If you can’t find any vegan chocolate chips, look for dark baking chocolate, and chop it up yourself! (Always read the ingredients, of course, but generally, the darker the chocolate , the less chance of it containing milk.

Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies | www.planticize.com

So it’s time to get cooking and bake yourself the ultimate vegan chocolate chip cookies!

The Ultimate Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Makes: ca 24 cookies

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup (1.8 dl) - Crisco butter flavor all-vegetable shortening
  • ¾ cup (1.8 dl) - brown sugar
  • ¾ cup (1.8 dl) - coconut sugar
  • 2 Tbsps (30 ml) - plant milk
  • 1 Tbsp (15 ml) - vanilla extract
  • 1 large flax egg - 1 Tbsp (15 ml) whole flax seeds + 3 Tbsps (45 ml) water
  • 2 cups (4.8 dl) - all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp (5 ml) - Himalayan or sea salt
  • 1 tsp (5 ml) - baking soda*
  • 1 cup (2.4 dl) roughly the same as a 6 oz (150 g) package - vegan chocolate chips

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 F (190 C).
  2. Start by making your flax egg: Measure, then grind the whole flax seeds, mix with water, and let gel for about 15 minutes.
  3. Add the shortening, sugars, plant-based milk and vanilla in large bowl and mix.
  4. Add the flax egg and stir well.
  5. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, salt and baking soda together first, before adding them to the sugar/liquid/shortening mixture. Blend everything together.
  6. Add the chocolate chips and stir until distributed evenly.
  7. Form the dough into loose balls and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. I made exactly 24 balls and placed 12 each on 2 baking trays.
  8. Bake for about 10 minutes, switching the position of the trays after 5 minutes. (8 minutes will give you pretty gooey cookies, and 12 minutes wil make them a litte crispy.)

Additional Info

* I don't know if it's my oven, Swedish baking soda, or the lack of eggs (which have not only binding, but leavening qualities as well), but I usually I find I need to use more baking soda in vegan cakes and cookies. The originally recipe called for ¾ tsp of baking soda, but I added an extra ¼ tsp based on my personal experience. These cookies were inspired by the non-vegan recipe found on most packages of Crisco products.

4 Comments

  • Thalia @ butter and brioche May 3, 2016 (1:07 am)

    WOW these chocolate chips cookies look seriously incredible. i never have tried vegan cookies before but you make them so delicious that it’s something that i’m eager to make.

    • Chris May 3, 2016 (8:31 am)

      Hi Thalia, and thanks! 🙂 This is a great recipe to try if you’re not used to vegan cooking/baking because the only unusual thing that you have to do is make the flax “egg”. So I hope you give them a try!

  • Lucy May 11, 2016 (3:52 am)

    What is the oven temperature that you used to bake these? Thank you.

    • Chris May 11, 2016 (9:43 am)

      Hi Lucy!, Wow did I actually miss that? :o) Sorry – they should be baked at 375 F (190 C). I added that to the instructions now – thanks for asking!