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I’m kicking off the holiday cookie season with a recipe I have been playing with for AGES! Growing up, all the cookies baked in my house were eggless. I actually didn’t eat eggs until I was in college. During the holidays I always bake eggless cookies for my family and I always defaulted to shortbreads since they’re usually eggless. But secretly I always wanted chocolate chip cookies. I use applesauce in my eggless chocolate chip cookie recipe as an egg replacer and it does an amazing job! The cookies end up being ooey, gooey in the middle and chewy on the outside.
This recipe has a few other unique ingredients in it that one wouldn’t expect in an eggless chocolate chip cookie recipe. I add lemon zest and lemon juice to my cookies which brightens them up. I picked this trick up from the famous DoubleTree Cookies! I was reading the ingredients while enjoying one and noticed they add lemon extract to their cookies. I opted for lemon zest and lemon juice and it truly steps up the flavors in the cookies.
Another ingredient I use is vital wheat gluten, which helps with the texture of the eggless chocolate chip cookies. The vital wheat gluten gives you a chewy texture that is usually missing in eggless chocolate chip cookies, which tend to be cakey. If you don’t have it, no worries, just bake them a tad longer and you should get a close enough texture!
One tip I can’t stress enough is to use good quality chocolate! I like to buy bricks of Valrhona chocolate from Whole Foods and chop them up myself. Other brands I recommend are Guittard, Ghirardelli, and Callebaut. I’m a big fan of just buying chocolate bars and chopping them up versus buying bags of chocolate chips. I like the surprise of little chocolate shards in my cookies!
If you decide to make these cookies for the holidays, be sure to tag me @milkandcardamom!
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Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
The best eggless chocolate chip cookies, chewy on the outside and soft in the middle!
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) salted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 (220 g) cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/2 tbsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups (375 g) all purpose flour
- 1 tbsp vital wheat gluten (optional)
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/3 cup (200 g) good quality milk chocolate,chopped ( I use Valrhona 40% Jivara Milk Chocolate)
- 1 1/3 cup (200 g) good quality dark chocolate, chopped (I use Valrhona 70% Guanaja Dark Chocolate)
- 2 tbsp flaky salt (Maldon, Fleur de Sal)
Instructions
- Add butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar to a mixing bowl. Use a stand mixer or hand mixer and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
- Add applesauce, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla and mix until well incorporated.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together all-purpose flour, vital wheat gluten, and baking soda.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until combined. Fold in the chopped chocolate.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Roll the cookie dough into 30 gram balls, about 2 tbsp. Place the cookie dough about 2 inches apart, the cookies spread quite a bit. Top each cookie dough ball with a pinch of flaky salt. Freeze for 10 minutes.
- Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the baking sheet midway. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a rack to completely cool. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week (if they last that long!)
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
