The PERFECT Eggless Chocolate chip cookies...soft, chewy and crunchy on the outside!

Hi friends!! A very Happy New Year to you all. Hope you all ringed in the new year in healthy and happy spirits. We too had loads of fun celebrating it with our friends and wishing our families back home through Duos and Watsapp. For the baker in me, the New year became extra special when Gayathri  announced Season 2 of the Baking eggless challenge.....remember all the fun we had last time??! (you can read about it here and here). This time she'll be giving us 2 recipes a month, to convert to eggless....wooow, isn't it!! 

For this month's first challenge, it was the famous Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies. Now these are some cookies that are my family's absolute favorite, so I was pretty excited, as well as a bit apprehensive, whether I'll be able to replicate the chewy texture without the egg. But bingo!!! found out egg can be subbed without compromising on the original texture....

And as a person who has baked both the versions, I can totally assure you that texture and taste-wise there is NO difference.

Just look at those beauties😍....aren't those crumbs tempting! I know😄 I had a very hard time keeping my toddlers sneaky hands off that plate😂😂!!

The amount of flour in a cookie dough depends a lot on the weather we are making it in. So, even for the same tried and tested recipe that you have made umpteen times, you'll notice that in hot weather you will need a little bit more flour to bind the dough, whereas in cold climate a little less or same will suffice. The culprit is ofcourse! the butter that likes to spread around wherever it feels a warm welcome!!  So always judiciously eyeball and measure the flour according to your weather and you'll have perfect cookies every single time...believe me!!

Now, for the recipe.....

Yield: 16 regular size cookies (if using pinch and roll method); OR, 8 big size (using ice-cream scoop); OR one 8" log

Original recipe: here (I halve the recipe for making. The eggless version below is also equivalent of half the recipe)

Pre-prep: 1. Pre-heat your oven to 170℃;

                2. Line your cookie tray with parchment paper (Don't butter it).

My recipe:

My 1 cup measures 8 oz (237 ml)

1 Cup minus 1 Tablespoon - All Purpose Flour (spooned and levelled with a knife)

1 Tablespoon - Full fat Milk powder (I use Nestle Nido as it is the only Full-Fat Milk Powder, substitute whatever you have on hand)

1/8 Cup - Cornflour/ cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon - Baking Soda

1/2 Cup - Unsalted Butter (115 gm or, 1 stick)

3/4 Cup - Brown Sugar

1/4 Cup - Icing Sugar (if using caster sugar, use only 2 Tablespoons)

1 Tablespoon - Light corn syrup, or, Honey (optional, if you don't have, skip it)

2 Teaspoons - Vanilla Extract

1/4 Teaspoon - Salt (Skip, if using Salted Butter)

1 Cup - Chocolate chips

Method:

1. Whisk together All-purpose flour, milk powder, cornflour/cornstarch, salt and Baking Soda;

2. Cream together Butter (slightly chilled, i.e. a bit colder than room temperature) and both the sugars, till light and fluffy. Add in Vanilla extract and Honey/ Light Corn Syrup and cream together for few more minutes.

3. Fold in the flour mix to the creamed butter in 2 batches using your spatula, till it becomes homogenous. Add in chocolate chips and mix.

The dough will be soft and smooth, neither sticky nor crumbly. If it is crumbly that means you have added more flour, add 1 Tablespoons milk (and more by tablespoons, if required) till you get a soft dough. If it is sticky, add 1 Tablespoons more flour (and more by tablespoons if required, till you get a smooth, non-sticky dough.

4. Refrigerate the dough for 2 hours (overnight is all the better!). If you want to roll and cut your cookies, roll the dough into a log and refrigerate.

5. Take the dough out, and using ice-cream scoop, scoop out the dough and drop on the cookie tray placing them 1" apart (these cookies spread). Alternatively, you can pinch small balls of the dough, pack it firmly and roll it between your palms. Personally, I prefer the scoop and bake method to pinch-and-roll method, as the heat of the hands makes the dough gloopy after some time. If the dough becomes gloopy, just refrigerate it for 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on how hot your weather is. If using Roll and cut method, take your log out and slice them 1.5" thick and place them 1.5" apart on the cookie tray.

6. Freeze the cookie tray for 1-2 hours.

7. Pop the frozen cookie tray directly into the pre-heated oven and bake at 170℃ for 8-10 minutes. Take them out of the oven when you see the sides browning. Let them remain on the cookie tray for 5 more minutes. Take them off the tray and place on a cooling grid/rack to cool off completely before storing in an air-tight container.

TIPS: Personally, I like to bake small batches of cookies, as whatever tip or trick you try, home made cookies are bound to lose their crunch after 2 days. However, there is one trick that has given some good results for storing...and that is, storing half a slice of bread with cookies. Place your completely cool cookies in air-tight ziplock bags, and pack those bags in airtight box with half a slice of bread in the box. 

All said and done, if your cookies do become soft, or soggy, just zap them again in the oven (not microwave) for 4-5 minutes at same temperature you baked them, leave them to cool, and they are good to go again.

Here's another peak at these moreish beauties before I say Chayo!!

Happy baking guys!! Hope you enjoy them as much as we do. If you have any questions, comments or feedback, post them as comments below, would love to hear from you. Subscribe to my blog for more such yummy, tried and tested recipes. Thank you. Love n Hugs💗!!