Thin & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (vegan/plant-based)

Note: Just scroll to the recipe below if you would rather skip the backstory, aka amateur chemistry lesson.

As a high school teacher who likes to bring the occasional home baked treat to my students, I am working on upping my (vegan) chocolate chip cookie game for the second semester.

I like different styles of chocolate chip cookies, but lately, I have become interested in–okay, obsessed by–the flatter, chewier type with their deep caramely notes.

But that is challenging without an egg. One batch ended up in the trash pre-winter break. I made those with browned vegan butter and loved the flavor, though not the texture. Plus, browning butter is just one more step along with a greasy pot to clean.

So, over winter break, I got it right with no browned butter!

I had done a lot of research because that’s what I do, and I learned there needed to be a higher butter to flour ratio for the spread I wanted–about 1:2.

And the butter needed to be melted–though not necessarily browned–instead of having air creamed into it.

There also needed to be a higher sugar to butter ratio–about 3:1!–to get that chewiness combined with a crisp-edged quality. Two-thirds of that sugar needed to be brown because the molasses adds moisture and chewiness along with a richer, deeper flavor, and one-third of it is needed to be natural granulated sugar because it helps crisp the edges and evidently promotes spread.

Then, here’s the kicker: I had heard about the famous pan banging cookies that went viral, though I was somewhat dubious. However, when I pulled my batch from the oven, they were still a little bit puffier than I wanted–brown sugar is slightly acidic and reacts with the soda for a little lift–so I tried it, and it worked!

You basically drop the baking sheet on a flat surface–I do it on the stove burners to protect my counters–about twelve times to help flatten the cookies and create pleasing ripples after removing them from the oven while they are still warm.

Finally, in place of an egg, because it did need a little bit of something viscous, I used 3 tablespoons of pureed pumpkin + 3 tablespoons flour.

Wowza. Even my picky husband, Bob, who likes to analyze everything within an inch of its life, had to admit they were on point!

See what you think!

Thin & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (vegan/plant-based)
Yield: 12 large cookies

1/2 cup vegan butter, melted and cooled to almost room temperature
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (if butter is unsalted)
3 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup natural granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup + 3 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup vegan dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with Silpat or parchment paper. In a large bowl, stir together butter, salt, pumpkin puree, vanilla, both sugars, and soda until completely combined. Stir in 1/2 cup flour just until fully incorporated. Add remaining flour and chocolate chips together, and stir again until completely incorporated. Dough will be pleasingly gritty from the high volume of sugar and quite soft, only slightly stiffer than brownie batter. Using a 1 tablespoon size scoop (#60)–or a tablespoon if you don’t have a scoop–make 12 mounds of dough, pressing down firmly, as far apart as possible, as they will spread. Then, place another scoop in the center of each, pressing down firmly to create a top hat shape. Bake 10 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately bang on top of stove burners or a cutting board about 12 times to cause cookies to flatten more and ripple. Enjoy slightly warm or cooled to room temperature. Cool completely before stiring in an airtight container.