prep time: 15 min | bake time: 15 min | total time: 1 hr
If you’ve ever bitten into a massive NYC-style chocolate chip cookie thick, gooey, and packed with chocolate you know exactly what makes them irresistible. These famous cookies are known for their bakery-level height and decadent, rich centers. But here’s the best part: you can recreate them at home without eggs and in a completely vegan-friendly way!
This recipe can be made with plant-based butter, a clever egg-free binder, and the perfect blend of sugars to achieve that iconic chewy texture. The result is a cookie that’s crisp on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside, and generously studded with chocolate chunks when they are warm and they become chewy once they have cooled and chocolate chips set.
Get ready to impress yourself and anyone lucky enough to taste these with the ultimate thick NYC chocolate chip cookies, made kinder and eggless but every bit as delicious.
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a baking tray with parchment paper so the cookies bake evenly and lift off easily. In a bowl, cream together the room temp butter, cane sugar, and light brown sugar until the mixture becomes creamy and slightly fluffy. Mix in the vanilla extract until fully combined.
Add the flour, corn starch baking powder, baking soda, and salt, ensuring everything is evenly blended. to the butter mixture and mix until a thick, slightly crumbly dough forms. Pour in the milk and mix again; the dough will come together smoothly at this stage, becoming soft and cohesive. Fold in the chocolate chips, saving a few to press on top before baking for an extra bakery-style look.
Scoop portions of dough into balls weighing about 120g each for thick, classic NYC-style cookies, or 65g each for smaller cookies. If you want taller, more compact cookies, you can cover the tray and chill the scooped dough in the fridge for 1hour before baking. To bake place the dough balls on the prepared baking tray, leaving space between each one, and press a few additional chocolate chips on top if desired.
Bake the cookies for 14-15 minutes, or until the edges look lightly golden while the centers remain soft the hallmark of NYC-style cookies. If you want a perfectly round, bakery-style look, immediately after taking the cookies out of the oven, use a cookie cutter or a bowl slightly larger than the cookie to gently reshape each one while it’s still soft. If you like, sprinkle a pinch of flaky sea salt on top while the cookies are warm to enhance the chocolate flavor.
Allow the cookies to cool on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack so they set while staying thick, soft, and gooey in the center.
Thick and tall – no flat cookies here!
Crispy edges + doughy center
Lots of chocolate – chunks, chips, or a mix
Rich flavor from both brown and white sugar
Bakery look with extra chocolate pressed on top
And yes, all of this is possible without eggs.
Get creative with your cookies! Add a handful of peanut butter chips or white chocolate chips for a fun twist or toss in some chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts for extra crunch. For a richer, deeper flavor, try browning your butter before mixing the dough it adds a subtle, nutty note that elevates these classic cookies.
Immediately after taking the cookies out of the oven, while they’re still soft and malleable, place a cookie cutter or a bowl that’s slightly larger than each cookie over the top and gently swirl it in a circular motion. This “corrals” the edges inward, reshaping any uneven or spread-out cookies into perfect rounds. Because the cookies are still warm, they easily mold to the cutter, and as they cool, they set in that new shape. This simple trick creates evenly sized, bakery-style cookies that stay thick, soft, and gooey in the center without altering the recipe.
Yes! You can easily freeze cookie dough balls for up to 3 months. Place the dough balls on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, freeze until solid, then store them in a freezer-safe bag. Bring them to room temperature before baking.
Yes. Use vegan butter, plant-based milk, and dairy-free chocolate. The recipe is already eggless, so no other swaps are needed.
Your butter may have been too soft, the dough too warm, or the flour slightly under-measured. Chill the dough for 20–30 minutes
It’s best to stick with all-purpose flour for this recipe. Other flours, like whole wheat or almond, can alter the texture and moisture content of the cookies.
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. For longer storage, freeze them for up to three months.
Not required, but chilling helps the cookies stay thicker and enhances the bakery-style texture.
Resting allows the flour to fully hydrate, improves the texture by relaxing the gluten, and enhances the flavors, resulting in a better cookie. Resting time can be as little as 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.
Yes. Use 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie and bake for 9–11 minutes.
Look for lightly golden edges while the centers appear soft. They will continue to set as they cool, so it’s okay if they seem slightly underbaked when you take them out.
This can happen since we are not using eggs. If the dough is too dry, you can add a tablespoon of milk of your choice to help bring it together.
Leave a rating and review below and check out these cookies next!
And for even more incredible recipes, grab a copy of my cookbook Vegan Baking Made Simple! It’s packed with tips and foolproof recipes for mastering eggless and dairy-free baking. Available now on Amazon HERE.
7 Responses
Took a few minutes longer to bake at 350 degrees but I also left them to chill for 3 hours so I probably should have kept them in the oven more time. Otherwise they were great and my husband ate almost all of them in one go!
Zury
Thanks for sharing your feedback!
I made the cookie dough with bread flour and cake flour. I kept the cookie dough refrigerated for a day and baked the cookies at 410 F, and these cookies did not spread out or flatten; they look perfect.
I I first refrigerated my cookie dough for 4 hours before I baked the cookies. I tried this recipe two different ways: one baked at 350 F for 14-15 min, and I also tried baking at 410 F for 10 min. The spread was not the same when I baked them at 350. I like the cookies baked at 410 better because they are chewier with less spread. I wonder if bread flour can be used instead of all-purpose flour.
Hi David
Thank you for trying the recipe and sharing your feedback. That makes sense — higher heat (410°F) sets the cookies faster, so you get less spread and a chewier texture.
Yes, you can use bread flour. It has more protein, which helps reduce spread and makes cookies chewier. You can use 100% bread flour or do a 50/50 mix with all-purpose if you want to keep them from getting too firm.
I used MiYOKOS EUROPEAN STYLE CASHEW MILK BUTTER, which has a higher percentage of fat that helps with tenderness, softness, and a chewier crumb.
These cookies look incredibly thick and chewy, which I love. Its great that the recipe focuses on simple ingredients yet delivers such a rich texture. Definitely trying this soon!