Chocolate Baddies: The Best Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

See what I have to say about ‘bad’ foods and ‘good’ foods, and check out my go-to vegan chocolate chip cookie!

The words ‘BAD’ and ‘FOOD’ should never co-exist in the same space… unless you’re talking about ‘BAD’ in the context of something being: hot.fuego.fire.amazing.speechless.

For example, the chocolate chip cookies in this recipe are straight bad. Like, these cookies are straight baddies.

• jump here if you just want the recipe.

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I didn’t bake much growing up. Nor did my mom (who was the main cook). There actually isn’t much baking in Chinese culture, and most of the baked goods we ate either came from the Chinese bakery down the street or from the market. 

So naturally, I remember the first time I experimented with baking and that was when I was in High School.

What did I learn how to bake first?

Brownies.

In fact, I actually sold them for a short period of time in school.

No, not that kind… Promise.

A Dollar Tree had just opened down the street, which in the part of Brooklyn I am originally from, was one in a dozen.^*

I always loved grocery shopping. Unlike most kids my age at the time, I really enjoyed going to the market with my mom. Trips to the grocery store presented themselves as opportunities for me to nag her to get all the foods I wanted to experiment cooking with. In return, I’d help carry the groceries home. It was a win-win situation.^†

So, I spent a considerable amount of time wandering the aisles of this new and E X C I T I N G Dollar Tree that had just opened up and came across $1 Betty Crocker brownie mixes.

I picked up a few mixes, bought a carton of eggs and a quart of milk and went home.

Of course, making these brownies was another story. 

Remember how I told you that we didn’t bake much growing up? Well, that meant our oven served another purpose— storage for pots, pans, etc. If you’re Asian, you probably can sympathize with this.

So, off the brownies went into our little oven toaster!

I don’t know if it was the lack of air space that existed in the toaster oven, but the brownies always came out bomb.com.

Also, just so we’re clear— brownie/cake mix from the BOX is perfectly fine.

I think Facebook was just becoming a thing at this time, and so, it was there that I announced I was officially open for business. I sold brownies at $1 a piece, making a profit of $10 with each batch.

I went on to do this for a few weeks, and over time, it just phased itself out.

So, there is my baking story.

Not the fuzziest or warmest of stories. But, it’s my story nonetheless.

Owning my story and speaking it outloud is something I’m actively working towards. However, the sole act of remembering a story poses another dilemma in itself.

It’s easy to try and forget the most vulnerable parts of your life, without intention.

For a while, I truly did forget this mini chapter of my life.

The act of making brownies itself was fine. Selling them, however, was a response to growing up in circumstances, where I felt like I had to make myself purposeful, or my existence was in vain.

Jeez. Something as simple as baking, presented itself as an opportunity to hustle.

I don’t hate this story. I truly don’t.

As an adult, I’ve been lucky enough to make the realization that my past ≠ current existence. Reshaping and shifting a perspective that feels so deeply embedded in me has been challenging, but rewarding.

Baking for me has entered that vortex of transition, and now… baking is fun, exciting, and dare I say… just a tiny bit therapeutic?

A more concrete transition that I have made recently includes removing dairy completely out of my diet. As some of you may know, I have been a long-term vegetarian (14 years this year) for many years and after some much necessary self-eval, realized, eating dairy contradicted my inner workings and beliefs as a constantly ever-changing person. Hence, these chocolate plant-based baddies.

Enough ramble, to the recipe.

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^*Where I’m from in Brooklyn is filled with small, locally, owned businesses.

^†Again, locally owned stores and businesses line the streets down my block, and everything was walking distance; which meant you walked to the grocery store. We owned several rolling shopping carts growing up.

INGREDIENTS
YIELD: 11 - 12 cookies
PREP & BAKE TIME: 30 minutes total

• 2 cups all-purpose flour cup

• ¼ cup vital wheat gluten (or just 2 ¼ cups of flour total if you don’t have this)

• 1 tsp sea salt

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp cornstarch

• ½ cup vegan margarine, softened* (this is what i use)

• ¼ cup nondairy milk

• 3 tbsp applesauce

• ¾ cup brown sugar

• ¼ cup granulated white sugar

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 1 cup chocolate chips (these are my current favorite)

*It is best to use vegan margarine that has been cooled on the counter, so if you’re going to attempt this recipe NOW, run to your fridge and take your margarine out!

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

2. In a mixing bowl, whisk the dry ingredients (flour, sea salt, baking soda, and cornstarch). Set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the softened margarine, non-dairy milk, sugars, applesauce, and vanilla extract and beat.

4. Gradually add the flour mixture in increments to the wet mixture to combine.

5. Fold in the chocolate chips.
   At this point (if time is not a limiting factor), I’d highly recommend you to let the cookie dough cool in the fridge for a minimum of two hours. Cooling the cookie dough will give the cookie a bit more texture, making it crumbly, yet unbelievably chewy!

6. With your *clean* hands, form cookie dough balls that are ~ 2 inches wide (we want ‘em big) by rolling against your two palms. Once you have your perfectly formed ball, tear the ball evenly in half, and combine the two balls side by side, with the “torn” part of the dough being the face of the cookie.

7. Evenly place cookies on a non-greased baking sheet.

8. Bake for 10 minutes.

9. Remove from oven and let cookies sit for three minutes on sheet before transferring them and cooling them on a wire rack.

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Let me know what you think of the recipe in the comments below! Hope you enjoy it!

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