Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies - 9 mistakes to avoid

Every homemade cookie recipe is the best, but this 3 step Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe is my favourite. And it could become yours too, after you discover the 9 rookie mistakes that you are making that is spoiling your eggless cookie recipe in this post.

What are Chocolate Chip Cookies?

Chocolate chip cookies are a type of drop cookies, where the cookie dough is made by incorporating air through the process of beating butter and sugar which causes it to spread while baking creating nice crisp edges and slightly soft and chewy centre. We are tweaking the classic recipe to substitute eggs and make a egg free chocolate chip cookies in this post.

Why try this recipe?

This is now not only America's favourite cookie but also the very basic cookie recipe that I believe every home-baker must know. And here are my top 4 reasons for you to try it.

1. It's an Egg-free recipe. So whether you are allergic, run out of eggs or just don't consume eggs; I promise this recipe is exactly like the ones made with eggs.
2. I am sharing 9 rookie mistakes to avoid to give you the best eggless chocolate chip cookies recipe.
3. These rustic looking egg free chocolate chip cookies recipe yields a perfect crisp edges and a slightly soft, gooey bakery style with melty chocolaty texture.
4. And yes you can obviously eat the raw cookie dough as there are no raw eggs in it but it is still recommend to toast the flour at 160°C for 7 minutes to kill any bacteria

Ingredients:

The right consistency, temperature and the type of ingredient used can make or break a recipe. This is one place where you might be making a mistake.

1. Butter: Use only butter for maximum flavour and not margarine, ghee or vegetable oil. Also butter should be soft enough to slice it easily with your fingers.
2. Sugar: Caster sugar provides structure to the cookie and also gets dissolved easily when creamed with butter. Do not use granulated sugar here. Brown sugar makes the cookie chewy and also adds caramelized flavour. If you do not have brown sugar follow this recipe for making chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar.
3. Chocolate: You can use either chocolate chips or chopped chocolate in this recipe. However make note that chocolate chips comes with stabilizer which prevents it from melting and you won't have that melted chocolate effect so I recommend using your favourite chocolate bar and then chopping it to different size chunks for texture.
4. Sea Salt: I believe if you want to experience the best ever chocolate chip cookies then by all means please generously sprinkle the cookies with sea salt once baked.

Step by Step Tutorial:

Step 1: Prepare the Cookie Dough

Cream the softened butter and sugar until the butter turns light, fluffy and pale in colour and the sugar is all dissolved and combined with the butter (Image 1-4).

This process of creaming would take anywhere between 12 to 14 mins using a hand mixer depending upon how the soft the butter was when you started.

How do I make moist and chewy cookies?
Replacing a portion of white sugar with brown sugar to the cookie recipe makes the trick. If you use all white sugar then you would get a crispy cookie.

Next add the flavouring agent which is vanilla essence and beat well.

This process of creaming develops air pockets which is where the eggs sits. Instead of eggs today we are going to use Milk.

Add the milk in two batches. Add half of the milk. Beat well and then add the rest (image 5).

Why are my Cookies dome-shaped? -
Creaming butter and sugar develops air pockets which is where the milk sits. By adding all the milk at once you are actually collapsing the fluffy batter or the beautiful air pockets that you just created and hence your cookie won't spread and you would get a dome shaped cookie.

Finally it is time to incorporate the dry ingredients.

For that take a sieve and add your flour, baking powder and salt directly on top of your bowl (image 6).

Remember it is always a better idea to measure by weight to be accurate as too much flour can cause your cookies to dry out.

Once it clumps, get rid of the hand mixer, add the chocolate chips or chocolate chunks whatever you are using, and mix it gently using your hands (image 7).

Once the cookie dough is ready, portion it out to make 12 cookies and place it on a baking tray lined with a parchment paper (image 8).

Step 2 - Chilling the Dough

Cling wrap the tray well.

Chill in the refrigerator for 24 hours. If you cannot wait for that long then it is important to chill for at least 2 hours before baking.

Step 3 - Baking the Cookies.

Pre-heat your oven to 180°C.

Place not more than 4 cookies in a baking tray giving enough space for them to spread while baking.

Should I flatten or not flatten the cookie?
If you want to make best big chocolate chip cookies then do not flatten the cookie before baking. If you had creamed it well in the first step then the cookies would spread giving you a slightly thicker centre and thinner sides. If you find that the cookies are not spreading and having a dome-shaped then you can flatten it a little for the second batch. However, this means that the creaming process was not done well.

Bake in a preheated oven of 180°C for 11- 14 mins until the sides are golden brown with a pale centre.

The cookies once out of the oven will be soft and it will crisp up while cooling.

While still warm, generously sprinkle some sea salt on top.

After about 3 to 4 mins, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Make sure to bake the cookies in batches. This is the ultimate eggless chocolate chip cookies recipe that you must try.

How can you tell if chocolate chip cookies are done?
The edges turn crispy and light golden brown in colour whereas the centre still seems to be soft and not cooked completely. Do not worry upon chilling the cookies will crisp up further.

9 Mistakes to avoid:

1. Do not compromise upon the quantity of butter used. It is important to use only butter and not margarine or ghee or vegetable oil in the recipe.
2. The butter has to be soft enough meaning you should be able to slice the butter easily using your fingers and also cubed. If it is too cold you would spend a lot of time creaming the sugar causing it to spread due to the air bubbles and if it is melted you won't be able to beat it in the first place.
3. Granulated sugar should not be used. Caster sugar is much smaller in size as compared to granulated sugar and hence can dissolve faster with the butter without incorporating too much air into the batter, you cannot do the same with granulated sugar. And this is the reason why you are getting flat cookies.
4. Not beating enough - Creaming the butter and sugar is important for the cookie to spread and take that rustic and rough look.
5. Adding all the eggs or milk all at once. By doing that you are actually collapsing the fluffy butter or the beautiful air pockets and hence your cookie won't spread and you would get a dome shaped cookie.
6. Over-mixing the cookie dough. Once you add the flour do not beat for long. Just mix until the dough starts clumping together. Over-mixing the dough would result in flat cookies.
7. The biggest rookie mistake that we all make is not chilling the dough. If you bake the cookies directly without chilling the cookies will spread way too much and become flat. This is because all the ingredients are warm at this stage and when it hits the hot oven everything spreads instantly as compared to when you place cold butter in the oven.
8. Over-baking the cookies. The speciality of chocolate chip cookies recipe without eggs is that they are crispy on the edges and soft at the centre. Over-baking would give your crispy cookies.
9. Do not use the hot cookie tray from the previous batch for the next batch. Using the same cookie tray for the second batch would make the cookie dough warm even before it hits the oven causing it to spread too much.

Storage Instructions:

How to chill Cookie Dough in the refrigerator?

There are 2 methods to do this:

One of which is what I follow and have mentioned in the steps above and also in the recipe card which is to make balls and then chill.

If baking the next day I leave it on the baking tray itself as mentioned in the recipe.

And if you want to store it for 2-3 days then you can consider transferring the chilled balls to an air tight container to save you space in the refrigerator.

The other method:

Once the dough is ready, simply cling wrap the bowl and chill for 24 hours (left side of the above image).

Next day you can form balls, space them apart and bake (as mentioned in the recipe).

If you find that the dough feels hard to scoop then simply let it thaw for few mins on the kitchen counter and then scoop into balls. In that case I would recommend you chill the dough for 15 to 30 mins and then bake as the dough is softened now.

Either way, you can store the dough in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

How to Freeze Cookie Dough?

There are 3 methods to do this.

First Method:

1. As shared in the recipe card, form the balls place in the baking tray cling wrap and keep in the freezer for few hours until it is frozen.
2. Once frozen, transfer the balls to a zip lock bag and freeze for up to 3 months.
3. When ready to bake, take the desired number of balls and you can directly put it in the hot oven to bake. So from freezer to oven, no need to thaw.
4. This as per me is the best and preferred method of freezing the eggless chocolate chip cookie dough, as you can make cookies whenever your heart desires by this method. Also storing in a zip lock bag would take up less space in your freezer. Just remember to date it properly.

Second Method:

1. Transfer the Cookie dough on to your worktop, flatten it to form a circular or rectangular shape (right side of the above collage image).
2. Cling wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.
3. When ready to bake take it out of the freezer, let it thaw for few minutes, then roll and bake.
4. I do not prefer this method as the texture might vary in this case.

Third Method:

1. Freeze the cookie dough in a bowl directly wrapped well with a cling wrap.
2. When ready to bake, take the bowl out of the freezer and make balls.
3. If you are unable to do so, let it thaw at room temperature for a while and then form cookie dough balls.
4. In that case make sure to chill in the refrigerator for 15 to 30 mins after shaping them into balls and before baking.

How to Store the baked cookies?

You can store the baked eggless chocolate chip cookies in an air tight container for up to 7 days at room temperature.

Freezing the baked cookies is also an option.

Freeze them in a baking tray first individually. Once frozen transfer to a ziplock bag or any container of choice and freeze for 3 months.

Remember to microwave it for few seconds before enjoying it when needed.

Recipe FAQ's

Related Recipes:

1. Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups
2. Chocolate Chip Cookies - Science behind baking
3. Chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar
4. 3 ingredient Butter Cookies

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