Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

It’s about time for a dessert recipe. Well, I suppose it’s time for a post in general, but certainly some chocolate couldn’t hurt.

I’ve had folks comment on this evolution of my blog over time, a shift from baking to cooking. The truth is that this took place largely during COVID, and as a result of my work becoming remote. What’s a sweet-loving gal to do? Keep that stuff out of my house, that’s what.

This recipe isn't new, really. I took my Cinnamon Ginger Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe and swapped out the dairy ingredients. That means the butter, the cream, and the chocolate chips had to go. I'm not nervous, are you nervous?

I've dabbled in vegan and dairy-free food a few times in the past. Dabbling in coconut oil other vegan sticks of various oils have been the most common methods of nixing butter. It's largely curiosity and treating my kitchen like a play yard, but has become a learning ground for me.

It's really your run of mill process since it's all a basic 1:1 swap. No crazy extra steps necessary. I let the "butter" soften and then whipped it for 3 minutes in the mixer with my sugars and vanilla extract. I added a dash of almond extract, too, but that's totally optional.

I slowly added in my dry ingredients - you know, the flour, baking soda, and salt. I also like to mix in some cinnamon and ginger, because it adds a little something extra to chocolate chip cookies.

I then scooped then out onto a silicone-lined baking sheet for about 10 minutes and voila: cookies!

Beautiful and tasty.

Dude, you would not know these are dairy free. Making these wasn't just for filling the cookie void for the dairy allergic, it was also an impressive experience. I've used vegan butter a few times from a few brands with varying results, and the last few plant based butters I've gotten have been major improvements.

I've been taking some classes that have kept me from sharing this one, so I'm happy to get it posted. Do not be scared to try. The Nestle plant-based chips are really good and I hope to see more brands put them out.

As a side note, while writing this post, I had a docseries on in the background about the food industry and the impact of differing diets on identical twins.. I certainly didn't know dairy would come up, but they featured a piece on Miyokos, the brand of plant-based butter I'd used. I think the timing of this post is perfect.

Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup vegan butter, softened (I used Miyokos)
3;4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
2 tablespoons oat milk
2 eggs
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 bag dairy-free chocolate chips (11.5 ounces - I used Nestle)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugars, vanilla and almond extracts together until fluffy. Mix heavy cream, then add in eggs one at a time until well combined.  In a small bowl, stir together flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, and ginger.  Gradually mix flour mixture into wet ingredients until combined.  Stir in chocolate chips. Scoop dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes, until edges begin to brown.