Vegan Copycat Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies

I started making chocolate chip cookies from the back of the Nestle bag for “Tollhouse Cookies” since I was a kid as my mom wasn’t really a baker. They seemed easy enough and after a few tries I got pretty good at making them. They bring such nostalgia and even though I have other chocolate chip cookie recipes, this is the one I made from memory. When I decided to be vegan, I tried substituting things for eggs and was never really satisfied with the results – until now. I’ve perfected a recipe for these classic cookies and I know they’ll become a favorite for you too!

What are “Tollhouse” cookies?

Toll House chocolate chip cookies have an interesting origin story. They were first created by Ruth Wakefield in the 1930s. Legend has it that Ruth, who owned the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts, ran out of baker’s chocolate while making cookies for her guests. In a moment of inspiration, she substituted broken pieces of Nestle’s semi-sweet chocolate into the cookie dough, expecting them to melt and create chocolate cookies. Instead, the chocolate retained its shape, giving birth to the classic chocolate chip cookie. The recipe became a hit, and Nestle even bought the rights to print it on their chocolate bars, leading to the creation of Nestle Toll House chocolate chips.

What do I need to make these?

• Vegan butter. Use a stick style denser vegan butter if you can. Some spreads that are very soft contain too much water and the cookies won’t have the right texture.
  
• Vegan sugars. This classic recipe calls for equal amounts of brown and cane sugars. Choosing organic ensures it’s vegan or look for one that states it’s vegan on the package. A lot of sugar is processed with bone char as a filter but animals are not killed for this purpose alone. It’s a personal choice and it’s in so many products it can hard to avoid.
  
• Flax eggs. I make what I call a “rich” flax egg by adding some fat to the water and flax meal. Think about it. Real eggs have fat and the flax acts like the whites so this forms a more accurate substitute in my opinion.
  
• Dry ingredients. All purpose flour is best and although the original recipe called for only 2 1/4 cups, I’ve found increasing it to 2 1/2 was the sweet spot in replicating the texture I remembered. Adding cornstarch does wonders for baked goods in general and adding it here helps give the cookies a chewy inside. Baking soda remains the same amount as the original recipe and for salt, I prefer Diamond Crystals kosher salt but use your favorite.
  
• Chocolate chips. The classic recipe calls for Nestle semisweet morsels and they do make a plant based version now. You can use semi or bittersweet (or even a combo!) so use your favorite brand.

How do I shape and bake?

I tried a few ways to shape the cookies to see which gave a better result in my opinion so I tried using a standard ice cream scoop leaving the bottoms flat, rolling the same size of dough from the scoop into a ball and another method I had seen online and that was breaking the ball in half and piecing it back together seam side up. Spoiler alert, the last method proved best to me making cookies that were perfectly mounded with ripply edges.

A few more things I do is to use a heavy metal baking pan that heats more evenly and I only bake until just done then I rap the pan on the counter a few times when they come out of the oven before letting them cool. Another tip for perfectly round cookies is to use a round item (I used a glass dish or even a larger round cookie cutter would work) and cover the cookie and twirl the glass or cutter around the edges quickly while the cookies are hot from the oven and this gets them perfectly round. Not necessary but they all look perfect. You can also add some extra chocolate chips when they come right out of the oven so they look nicer and full of chocolate! I hope you enjoy these classic cookies. They take me right back to when I was a kid and hope they do the same for you.

Check out my other vegan chocolate chip cookie recipes here!

Vegan Copycat Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe by Kreg

3.8 from 35 votes

Course: Desserts, Easy Eats, RecipesCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

18

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

12

minutes

The classic chocolate chip cookie recipe from the bag, now vegan!

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 cup vegan butter (2 sticks – room temperature)

• ¾ cup granulated sugar

• ¾ cup packed brown sugar

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

• Rich Flax Eggs

• 2 tablespoons finely ground flax meal

• 1/4 cup water, room temperature

• 1 teaspoon coconut oil or plain vegetable oil

Directions

• In a bowl mix together the dry ingredients with a whisk to remove any large lumps and set aside.
• Make the rich flax egg by whisking the flax meal into the water until completely combined then whisk in the oil. Set aside for five minutes to thicken.
• In a separate bowl using a stand or hand mixer, cream the butter for a few minutes to lighten it. Add the sugars and continue to mix for one to two minutes scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the flax egg mixture and vanilla and blend until fully incorporated.
• Add the flour mixture all at once and mix just until there are a few streaks of flour left. Add the chips and combine just until the dough is smooth and there’s no traces of flour left.
• You can bake the cookies immediately but I’ve found they do benefit from some refrigeration. I refrigerated my dough overnight but again, it’s not absolutely necessary.
• Preheat your oven to 350°. Line a large full sheet baking pan with parchment paper or spray it (I prefer aluminum or gold finish nonstick pans) and scoop the dough. I explain the three different methods in the post and the one I felt worked best was to use a standard sized spring release ice cream scoop then roll the dough into a ball, separate the dough ball in half then price it back together from the opposite sides and place it on the sheet seam side up. You can certainly go old school and drop dough from a large tablespoon but to get them to look like mine as pictured you’ll need to follow my method.
• All ovens vary but the key to getting these cookies crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside is to not over bake them. I use a convection oven and 11 minutes was the sweet spot for me but depending on the size you made them and your oven, the time could vary from 1-3 minutes so best to check often. They should look a little loose in the middle but baked with golden edges.
• When done baking, remove from the oven and give them a hard rap or tap on the counter to deflate them a bit. They’ll pool and ripple that way. I also use a glass or bowl to spin around the outside edges of the cookie to make them perfectly round but it’s not necessary. If you want to add a few more chips to the top while they’re hot so look prettier now would be the time to do that.
• Store cookies in an airtight container at room temp or in the fridge.

Recipe Video

Notes

• Use a dense vegan stick or block style butter for best results.
  
• Use your favorite chocolate chips. I like mixing some semisweet and bittersweet sometimes for the best of both worlds.
  
• You can make these cookies any size you’d like just make sure to adjust the baking time. I’ve also made these into cookie cakes for parties and they’re always a hit. You can even decorate with frosting like the kind you would get at the mall back in the day!

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