The HIGHLY requested, decadent, massive, gooey, chewy (with crispy edges, OBVI) single-serving vegan levain cookie is here!
And let’s be honest, there are always moments where you just need a single serving cookie recipe. Rough day at work? Single serving cookie. Having a party of one tonight with just you and a Gilmore Girls ep? Single serving cookie. Date night with bae? Split a single serving cookie.
It’s so perfect if you want a quick dessert, plus it tastes like the real thing. It is easy to make in minutes, affordable and will save you a trip to Levain bakery (and a wait in that iconically long line). Check out how to make a single-serving levain cookie remake in this post! I’ll give you all the good tips and tricks 😉
Let’s gather our ingredients and talk about why we use each one of them (a little baking science sprinkled into my posts, because y’know, why not?)
- Coconut oil – coconut oil has a relatively low melting heat (about 78 degrees) but although that is a downside for cookie baking, coconut oil makes up for it in the fact that it has a high level of fat solids compared to butter, helping diminish any spread in the cookie.
- Brown sugar – brown sugar contains molasses, which is an acid that will better react with your baking powder in the recipe, adding even more lift to the cookies. This sugar will also add more moisture and flavor compare to white sugar, which is why I chose to use only brown sugar here.
- All-purpose flour – we are using a LOT of flour, which you might think would lend to a dry crumb. But since we are adding moisture in multiple forms to this cookie, plus using an oil that has a low melting temp, the high level of flour is necessary, and the cookie will still be moist af. Mixing will be tricky, but I’ll help guide you through it!
- And lastly, I always like to add a bit of cornstarch to my cookies to help mimic cake flour and add a little more tenderness! This helps with the melt-in-your-mouth feel.
And of course there are other standard ingredients included, heres the full list:
- 35 grams all-purpose flour (a note on how to use cups is below)
- 1/2 tbsp cornstarch, 8g
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp coconut oil, room temperature
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 shallow tbsp almond milk, shallow means you fill it up juuuust short of the rim
- 3 tbsp chocolate chips of choice
Mixing the wet ingredients is pretty standard, you just want to mix the oil, sugar and vanilla into a paste. But adding the dry ingredients is where things get a bit tricky, but don’t worry, I gotchu.
Since this recipe is a single-serving recipe, every measurement is so precise, which is why I’m using grams for flour instead of cups. That’s because there is always such a huge variance in amount of flour when you use cups (ie. 1/4 cup of flour could be 30 grams one day and 45 grams the other) and that variance can make all the difference. If you must use cups for this, I recommend starting with a shallow 1/4 cup and then assessing from there.
Now when you mix in the dry ingredients, you’ll begin to think “there is no way this dough will come together.” But just wait for it! The goal when first mixing is to evenly disperse the flour and get a gravelly, kind of crumb-like texture. Then we add the magic binding ingredient, plant-based milk.
So in order:
- Step 1: Whisk in the dry ingredients, starting with 1/2 of the mixture. Mix until the dough is crumb-like and no piece is bigger than a lentil
- Step 2: Pour in the almond milk and whisk again until everything is evenly dispersed.
- Step 3: Use your hands to form and smash the mixture into a rough dough, this is the fun part!
It might take some time to come together, but you’ll quickly begin to feel the dough form in your hands. It is super satisfying.
Use the dough to kind of “pick up” any dry crumbs around the edges of the bowl, and continue to knead it into a dough ball. Try not to overwork it, but if you do have to smoosh it together a bit with your hands to get a dough you feel confident with, don’t sweat how long it takes 🙂
And in terms of chill time, I always chill my dough in the fridge while my oven preheats. I’ve found that 10-15 minutes of chill time makes all the difference in creating the perfect Levain style cookie!
The shape of the dough is also important before it goes in the oven. You want it to be a very tall cone, almost funny looking. This will help the cookie keep it’s height and get that classic Levain cookie recipe look that you want!
And when it’s out of the oven, don’t forget to give it a bit of time to cool on the sheet! The cookie will be insanely tender, in a good way, so it will need about 20-30 minutes to continue to come together as a solid cookie. But don’t worry, it will still be gooey, melty, thicc and all the things you love about a Levain cookie!
And if you’re still in the market for a scale, you can find the one I use here.
Single Serving Levain Cookie Recipe | Vegan
Ingredients
- 35 grams all-purpose flour since this recipe is SO finicky, it's important to do flour by weight, but if you must use cups I've included some estimations in the notes below!
- 1/2 tbsp cornstarch 8g
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp coconut oil room temperature
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/8 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 shallow tbsp almond milk shallow means you fill it up juuuust short of the rim
- 3 tbsp chocolate chips of choice
Instructions
- In a tiny bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt.
- In a larger bowl, mix together the coconut oil and brown sugar with a fork. Mix until it becomes a well-combined paste. Add the vanilla and mix again.
- Pour 1/2 of the dry ingredients into the wet and mix. It will seem like you have WAY too much flour, but don't panic! Keep mixing until you get a gravelly texture. Add in the rest of the dry ingredients and keep whisking. Once you have a well-dispersed crumb-like texture, you're good to move onto the next step (consult images above for reference on this step, it can be tricky!)
- Add in the almond milk and give a quick mix with your fork, then use your hands to form everything into a dough. You'll feel it start to come together and it will be super satisfying.
- Add the chocolate chips and form the dough into a tall "cone" shape. Let it chill in the fridge while you preheat your oven to 400F.
- Bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 8-12 minutes, begin checking at the 8 minute mark, then every two minutes until you get the desired look and golden brown color.
- Let it cool for 20-30 minutes, it will still "cook" a bit when it's out of the oven so this is important. Then serve!
Hi! I made 2 of these and they tasted so good but they flattened out into a pancake! I think I may have messed up with the coconut oil because I melted it and let it cool until it was room temperature but maybe I needed to mix it with the brown sugar while it was solid? Let me know any tips because I want to try again! 🙂
Hi! Yes it looks like the coconut oil is problem, it shouldn’t be melted, but it should be in it’s normal solid form at room temp. That way you can mix it with the brown sugar to get a paste! You can see more details in my video on it 🙂
hey justine ! do you have any advice on making a batch of these? thanks 🙂
Hi! If you’re looking for more than one, I recommend my vegan levain recipe (also on this site) that makes six! It’s much easier to scale that recipe over this one 🙂
Just made this! It came together easily which I loved. I doubled the vanilla, and in hindsight I would reduce the chocolate chips to 2 tbsp. I baked for 10 minutes and after cooling it is still rather gooey (next time I’ll try 12). It flattened a bit but I didn’t mind – made for crispy edges and still a satisfying thick centre. I don’t always like coconut oil cookies but this is quite tasty! Nice to have a single serve recipe in the repertoire.
So glad you liked it! And if you want more height next time, I definitely recommend lowering the almond milk amount, which should help! But I’m so happy you liked them <3
What can I do if I don’t have cornstarch?
I’d add 1 tbsp more of flour! (About 8-10 grams) The cookie won’t be as tender but it should still work 🙂
This cookie is AMAZING! I messed up and didn’t read the recipe fully first (oops) that the brown sugar and coconut oil should be made into a paste. Coconut oil came out while baking a bit, I suspect this might be why. The cookie still came out tall and crispy on the edges and so gooey/tender on the inside. I will try it again doing it the right way, but no complaints even with the error. Thank you, Justine!!
omg I am so glad you liked it!! Thank you for taking the time to comment this, and I hope the second time is delicious too!
I absolutely love your tik tok videos so i HAD to try this recipe. Let me tell you, it did not dissapoint! I’ve never got to try the actual levain cookie because I’m allergic to walnuts but it was pretty cool that this one didn’t even call for walnuts. Being vegan didn’t take away from the taste at all, it just felt like an added bonus. love love love :)))
omg I am SO glad you like it! This comment legit made my day <3
Is there an alternative to coconut oil? I cannot do any kind of butter- dairy or nut. Pls help 🙁 Will olive oil work?
Vegetable shortening will work if you have that on hand?
Hi. This looks and sounds great & I’d love to make it, but I’m out of a few ingredients. I don’t have brown sugar, coconut oil or almond milk. Can I substitute white sugar, butter and regular milk? I do not have vegetable shortening. I know you explained the need to use of brown sugar and coconut oil, but would it be a complete flop if I use these substitutions? Should I not even bother or do you think it might work, albeit not as great? What would I need to change?
Thank you for any help you can provide.
Hi! Since this is a single serving cookie, it makes substitutions even more difficult. I know that using butter and white sugar will cause too much spread unfortunately. Normally subbing regular milk will be fine, but only if all the other ingredients are present – I’m so sorry to be the bearer of bad news! But I hope you can try the recipe one day (or the other vegan levains on the site!)
This was so good!! I was wondering if you had a non-vegan substitution – would that be just adding egg or butter?
Since this is single serving, substitutions are pretty tricky! If you use butter it will spread out quite a bit more due to the moisture, and I don’t think you need an egg!
Holy guacamole, BatGirl! This lovely piece of yumminess is the size of a salad plate. I shared with the fam, because it was so big.
Big Sister was the only holdout on entire fam giving it a 10 (all other family members gave you a 12, which is usually only reserved for Thanksgiving dinner!), as Big Sis loves her cookies Toll style with all crunch and no soft baked center. I want to make this so she will enjoy, also. Would baking the cookie at a temp lower than 400 degrees make that possible?
Hi! First, I’m so glad you liked these! I have a totally different recipe for a crispy cookie, called my “Tates Cookie Remake” that I think your sister might love! Let me know if you try it 🙂
I love the way this looks, but any time I make it (with all the ingredients except almond milk, which I sub in regular milk), my cookie spreads a ton and is super oily. Any suggestions?
Hey! Since this is a single serve recipe, it can get super finicky, so it’s def not you! The first thing I would check is to make sure you’re measuring the flour out by grams, and that the mix is kind of crumbly before you add the milk. If it comes together without the milk, then you don’t need to add it. Another thing that can impact spread is too much sugar or too much oil, if the problem keeps happening, I’d look at those factors as well.
I tried this! Didn’t spread at all. Stayed in its “cone shape”. What did I do wrong? I ended up with more of a cookie cone that was raw inside. Extra info : I did the x2 recipe.
I’m so sorry that happened! I’ve never heard of that issue before, but it definitely means too much flour or cornstarch and not enough oil & sugar to help with the spread. Coconut oil has a low melting temp so they should spread out! Also if you want a larger batch recipe that is easier to follow (single serving cookies have to be insanely precise to work) I have a vegan levain cookie recipe that makes 6!
I’m loving the sound of this one and I want to make it tonight! Or atleast try to lol. I cannot use regular flour. I was wondering if you have a good base measure for a coconut almond flour mix to use instead?
Since this recipe is so finicky, I can’t say for sure. But a good rule of thumb is to use 25% more almond flour than the recipe calls for!
I didn’t have coconut oil or almond milk but I was in dire need of a massive cookie. I said a prayer to the baking gods and tried it with olive oil and oat milk. It didn’t come out quite as high but it was still delicious! I just had to chill the dough about 5-10 mins longer because it was too gooey to shape at first. Can’t wait to try it again without the substitutions. Thank you!
I’m sorry it wasn’t as tall! That was def the olive oil at play, but I’m glad you still enjoyed it!
Have you done this in the air fryer?
I would not recommend it – an air fryer acts like a small convection oven which would give this cookie too much spread!
Me and my friend made these and they were absolutely fantastic! It kinda tasted like a soft Trader Joe’s dunker cookie , and my dad didn’t like the coconut taste but me and my mom absolutely loved it and I added more chocolate just cause it’s chocolate and it was so amazing one of the best cookies I’ve ever had.
Omg I’m so glad you liked it!