Fresh from the oven. 

The world's best chocolate chip cookie recipe 
(that happens to be vegan and gluten free)

Are you a sucker for soft, chewy, melty chocolate chip cookies?  The kind that oozes with chocolate and retains its softness days after baking (if they last that long)?  If so, then these are for you. 

I developed this recipe after a long quest for the perfect (vegan, gluten free) chocolate chip cookie recipe.  The batter tastes great raw or frozen (if you know you don't even want to bother baking them you can leave out the baking soda), and makes an excellent ice cream sandwich cookie. 

The batter is easily customizable for various holidays and flavor preferences; a few options are given below but feel free to experiment with anything that sounds good to you!  

INGREDIENTS

-- 1 cup (1/2 lb.) Earth Balance buttery sticks, at room temperature
-- 1.5 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
-- 2 eggs' worth of egg replacer mixed with warm water (follow instructions on side of box for powder-to-water ratio) 
-- 1.5 teaspoons vanilla
-- 2.5 cups all-purpose gluten free flour, sifted 
-- 1 teaspoon baking soda
-- .5 teaspoon salt
-- 2 cups vegan chocolate chips, chunks, or slivers broken off a chocolate bar
-- Course grain sea salt 

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400° Fahrenheit and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 

2. In a bowl, with an electric mixer on medium speed, beat Earth Balance and brown sugar until well blended. 

3. Beat in vegan egg mixture and vanilla until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

4. In another bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. 

5. Stir or beat dry flour mixture into butter mixture until well incorporated. 

6. Stir in chocolate chips, using your hands if necessary to blend evenly. 

7. PInch off a 2-inch chunk of batter and roll between your palms until it forms a smooth sphere.  Then pull the sphere into two equal pieces, exposing the rough interior.  Reconnect the two pieces by pushing them together with the rough interiors exposed; they will now serve as the top of the cookie.  (This is what gives the cookie its textured shape.)

8. Repeat step 7 with remaining dough, placing cookies directly on the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (no grease needed). 

9. Sprinkle course sea salt on top of each cookie. 

10. Bake at 400° oven 6 to 8 minutes.  Cookies will appear soft and gooey when done, but not completely doughy.  

11. Once out of the oven, wait a couple minutes before transferring cookies to a cooling rack or tray with a wide spatula.  

MODIFICATIONS

The options are endless!  

-- Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies: replace vanilla extract with peppermint extract or oil, and add crushed candy canes to the tops of the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven. 

-- Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies: add 1 teaspoon orange extract to batter along with vanilla extract

-- Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies: replace roughly .25 cup flour with sifted unsweetened cocoa powder

-- Espresso Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies: replace roughly .25 cup flour with sifted unsweetened cocoa powder and add 1 - 2 tablespoons instant espresso flour that's been mixed and dissolved in 2 tablespoons of hot water