Note 1: I highly recommend using softened vegan butter. I personally love Miyoko's vegan butter or Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks. I haven’t personally tried any others with this recipe but any good vegan butter should work. It DOES need to soften on the counter for at least 10 minutes before you can cream it though. Substitutions: You need fat to make good double chocolate chip cookies. That’s just how it is. You can try these with pumpkin or applesauce if you need to, but I can’t guarantee anything.

Note 2: I say organic because at least in the US, sugar companies are not required to state whether or not their sugar is filtered using animal bone char. So go with organic. And yes, you need both sugars for that perfect taste and texture. Brown sugar makes it soft and rich and sweet and gooey, white sugar crisps those edges so you don’t end up with a soggy or too-soft cookie.

Note 3: I used a simple flax egg for this recipe, which is 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tablespoons of water. Just mix this while you wait for your vegan butter to soften. Place it in the fridge to make it gel quickly, just don’t forget it in there like I did. You can let it set up on the counter, too, it will just take a few minutes longer. Oh, and other vegan egg replacements should work. I like Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer for example. I’ve also recently started baking with Just Egg with good success.

Note 4: I use plain unbleached all purpose flour--my favorite is King Arthur Baking Company All Purpose Flour. To make these gluten-free, try substituting a good quality gluten-free flour. I’ve heard marvelous things about Cup4Cup Gluten-Free Flour, but I’ve personally had good results with King Arthur Baking Company Measure for Measure Gluten-Free Flour and Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten-Free Flour).

Note 5: I recommend a good quality cocoa powder because it will make good tasting cookies. I like simple Hershey’s cocoa powder, but I also regularly buy Whole Foods 365 cocoa powder or Trader Joe’s brand. I personally would not go with Dutch process as it’s pretty bitter in things like this.

Note 6: Actually any kind of salt works, but if you’re using table salt, you’ll always want to use half the amount that’s called for when the recipe says sea salt. The grains are much more finely processed in table salt, which makes each spoonful more than twice as salty as sea salt.

Note 7: I said above you don’t need to do both semi-sweet chocolate chips and semi-sweet chocolate chunks but I really think it’s better with half of each. Remember to check the labels to make sure they’re vegan. You can also just use chopped chocolate if you prefer.