Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Brayden started middle school. Owasso Middle School. Sixth grade. Twelve years old, five foot four (the Turner height is accelerating), a backpack that weighs more than Wyatt, and the nervous excitement of a boy who has never met a social situation he couldn't charm his way through but has never faced the particular jungle of middle school, where the social rules change daily and the lunch table is a political landscape more complex than the United Nations.

He survived the first week. He made friends immediately (of course — Brayden in a new school is like a golden retriever in a dog park: instant, enthusiastic, mutual adoration). He likes his teachers (except math — "Math is boring, Mama" — which is ironic because he's actually good at math, he just doesn't know it). He loves the cafeteria (which tells me more about the cafeteria food than I want to know, given that I pack his lunch with $0.11 cookies and handwritten notes, and he chose the cafeteria over that, which is either a betrayal or a developmental milestone and I choose milestone).

I still pack his lunch on the days he lets me. PB&J, an apple, Goldfish, a cookie, a note. The note is the constant. Even when the lunch changes — even when he eats cafeteria food three days a week — the note goes in the backpack pocket. "Have a good day, buddy." "Be kind." "You're the best thing I ever made (don't tell the biscuits)." He reads them. He told me once — quietly, like a secret, like something he doesn't want his friends to know — that he keeps all the notes. All of them. In a shoebox in his room. A box of evidence, like mine. A box of proof that he is loved, carried in a shoebox, hidden from the world, read in private. My son keeps the notes. The chain continues in a shoebox under a bed.

He keeps the notes. That’s the part that undoes me every time I think about it — a shoebox full of folded paper in a twelve-year-old’s room, evidence that the small things matter more than we know. The cookie that goes in that lunch bag matters too, and I’ve been making these vegan chocolate chip cookies for Brayden’s lunch box long enough that they’ve become part of the ritual — soft, a little chewy, substantial enough to survive the bottom of a backpack and still taste like I made them just for him. Because I did. Every single time.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 12 minutes | Total Time: 27 minutes | Servings: 24 cookies

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup (2 sticks) vegan butter, softened (such as Earth Balance or Miyoko’s)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed mixed with 5 tablespoons water (flax eggs, rested 5 minutes)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 cups vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

Prep the flax eggs. In a small bowl, whisk together the ground flaxseed and water. Set aside for 5 minutes until the mixture thickens and becomes gel-like.
Preheat the oven. Heat your oven to 375°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
Cream the butter and sugars. In a large bowl using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened vegan butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on medium speed for 2—3 minutes until light and fluffy.
Add the wet ingredients. Add the thickened flax eggs and vanilla extract to the butter-sugar mixture. Beat on medium speed until fully combined and smooth, about 1 minute.
Combine wet and dry. Reduce mixer speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture, mixing just until no dry streaks remain — do not overmix.
Fold in the chocolate chips. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the vegan chocolate chips until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Scoop and space. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart. For uniform cookies, use a cookie scoop.
Bake. Bake for 10—12 minutes, until the edges are just golden and the centers still look slightly underdone. They will firm up as they cool — don’t overbake.
Cool. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days — or slip one into a lunch bag with a note.

Nutrition (per serving)

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies — The Kind Worth Keeping in a Shoebox