Crispy around the edges and soft and chewy in the center, these Vegan Insomnia Cookies will be a hit with your loved ones, just like mine.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time16 minutesmins
Cooling Time10 minutesmins
Total Time56 minutesmins
Method: Baking
Course: Cookies
Servings: 72Cookies
Ingredients
PART 1:
2cupsvegan butter(Earth Balance)
2cupsgranulated sugar
1cupbrown sugar
4teaspoonsegg replacerEner-G
6tablespoonswater
4tablespoonscorn syrup
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
PART 2:
5 and ½cupsall-purpose flour
1teaspoonbaking soda
1teaspoonsalt
PART 3:
2cupsvegan chocolate chunks
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line baking sheet/s with parchment paper or lightly grease it with non-stick cooking spray. I usually rub the butter wrapper on the baking sheet/s.
In a small cup, whisk together the Ener-G egg replacer and water; set aside.
Add the vegan butter substitute and sugars (white and brown) in a large bowl and beat until light and creamy.
Add the Ener-G egg replacer mix, corn syrup, and vanilla extract to the creamed butter-sugar mix, and beat well.
To this creamed wet mix, add the dry ingredients listed under Part 2. Mix well with a wooden spoon.
Mix in the chocolate chunks. The cookie dough is ready now.
Use a tablespoon to scoop the dough and place it on the cookie sheet. As always, I test-baked about 5 cookies to see how well they spread or don't spread so that I don't mess up a huge batch of cookies. I normally try two things. Few cookies, I just drop the dough and, for the remaining, flatten it. The baking test showed that the cookies didn't spread much as it is, so flattening the dough was absolutely necessary. This may change with the type of fat you use, the consistency of how well it is creamed with the sugar, and the rest of the ingredients. So always test-bake before trying a huge batch.
Bake the cookies for 15-16 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove the cookie sheet from the oven, place it on a wire cooling rack, and cool completely before storing it in an air-tight container.
Repeat the same process for the rest of the dough.
Notes
If you don't want to make it vegan, use butter and regular chocolate chunks/chips instead of Earth Balance vegan butter substitute and Enjoy Life's allergen-free chocolate chunks. This will reduce the cost of baking the cookies. Do not use shortening because it will make the cookies crispy rather than soft and chewy, which I believe is the original texture of the Insomnia chocolate chunk cookies.
Although I did not try freezing the cookie dough for this recipe, I'm sure it would work perfectly. Scoop the dough onto the cookie sheet, lightly flatten it (if the test bake proved that the cookies do not spread without flattening), cover the cookie sheet with plastic wrap, and place it in the freezer. After a couple of hours, transfer the frozen cookie dough into a freezer bag and store it for 3-4 months. If you are in the mood for freshly baked warm cookies, simply remove the cookie dough from the freezer, place it on the baking sheet, and bake it, maybe for a couple of minutes extra. Thawing is not necessary.
Taste & Texture
These cookies are delicious and warm from the oven. The soft and chewy texture, along with the melting chocolate chunks, it's pure bliss.
Once it cools, the edges are crispy and soft in the center. After a day or two, it sort of gets a bit on the hard side. It's nothing to complain about. The kids loved it. But you can warm it up in the microwave oven for a few seconds to have softer cookies.
Next time I will have to try to make these Insomnia cookies using butter. I'm sure it will have a different flavor.