This quick and easy butterless chocolate chip cookie recipe uses coconut oil instead of butter for a soft, chewy cookie.
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Full disclosure: I am WEIRD about chocolate chip cookies. I don’t know what it is, really. I’m just PICKY. And I’m picky, but, like, in the WRONG ways?
Example: I DO NOT like chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven. Sometimes you get burned by a still-really-hot chocolate chip, which UGH. Give me room temperature cookies all day every day.
I also refuse to dip cookies in milk – milk makes cookies soggy and I just don’t get the appeal, I guess.
SO. Just give me a soft, fluffy, room temperature chocolate chip cookie with no milk, please. This is the way to my strange, anti-all-the-regular-chocolate-chip-cookie-things heart.
These butterless chocolate chip cookies are actually kind of wonderful, though. Made from scratch? Check. Without butter? Check. Soft and chewy? Check annnnnnd check.
(And you are totally allowed to eat them hot from the oven and dip them in milk if those things make your heart happy. We accept all kinds of cookie monsters here at Life As A Strawberry HQ!)
Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Butter!
These cookies have NO butter! There’s just a bit of smooth, melted coconut oil for body and flavor.
(Note: Coconut oil at room temperature is usually solid, but just spoon it into a glass measuring cup and zap it in the microwave to melt it down for this recipe):
I’ve been having a lot of fun baking with coconut oil lately, and it’s a great alternative if you prefer to avoid butter/dairy in recipes (or have a craving for chocolate chip cookies but no butter in the house!)
You can taste a bit of coconut flavor in these chocolate chip cookies, but it’s definitely not overpowering. The coconut oil also lends a very slight crispness to the outside of these butterless cookies – but the insides are soft and chewy just like a perfect chocolate chip cookie should be!
How do you like YOUR chocolate chip cookies? Let me know in the comments!
VIDEO: HOW TO MAKE BUTTERLESS CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
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Easy, chewy chocolate chip cookies with no butter.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup liquid form coconut oil (see recipe notes)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 and 1/2 cups flour (measured correctly by scooping and leveling)
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 heaping cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine liquid coconut oil, vanilla, eggs, sugar, and brown sugar. Whisk to combine.
- Add flour, kosher salt, and baking soda to bowl and stir until ingredients are incorporated and you have a smooth dough.
- Fold chocolate chips into dough until they are evenly distributed.
- Line a large baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or a sheet of parchment paper.
- Use a large cookie scoop (I like this 3-Tablespoon one) to scoop dough, and place dough scoops 1 inch apart on the baking sheet.
- Bake cookies at 375 degrees F for 9-12 minutes until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack to let cool.
- Serve cookies immediately or let them cool completely and then store in an airtight container on the counter for up to a week.
Notes
How to melt coconut oil into its liquid form: Coconut oil is generally solid at room temperature, but we want to melt it into a liquid form for this recipe in order to incorporate it more easily into our chocolate cupcake batter. (We’ve used virgin unrefined coconut oils from 365/Whole Foods, Nutiva, and Carrington Farms and like them all). To melt coconut oil, scoop about 1 cup of coconut oil (in its solid, room-temperature form) into a microwave-safe glass measuring cup, and then microwave for 30-40 seconds until it’s melted down. Give the coconut oil a stir and then check the measurement – you may need to add another spoonful of room temperature coconut oil to bring the liquid up to the correct amount. Melt too much oil? Pour any excess right back into the container.
Work quickly when you bake these cookies – as the coconut oil starts to come back to room temperature, the dough will stiffen and be a little more crumbly and harder to work with, so plan to bake these in just one or two batches as opposed to storing the dough in the fridge for later!
If you use a larger or smaller scoop to form the cookie dough, you may need to adjust your bake time – just keep an eye on the cookies as they bake and pull them out when they’re very lightly browned!
Adjustments and Substitutions. Use half semi-sweet chocolate chips and half mint chocolate chips for a fun twist! Feel free to use more chocolate chips than called for, or to add nuts or white chocolate chips. Add a sprinkle of flakey sea salt on top if you like! You can also swap the chocolate chips for chopped baking chocolate (we like dark or semi-sweet) for chocolate chunks.
These chocolate chip cookies are relatively soft and slightly dense. If you like a thinner, crispier cookie, you can reduce the amount of flour in this recipe by 1/4 cup. For an ultra-thick, especially dense cookie, you can increase the flour by up to 1/4 cup.
Homemade cookies can dry out after a few days – to keep them soft, store them in an airtight container on the counter along with a small slice of bread (they’ll absorb moisture from the bread and stay softer!) or pop a cookie in the microwave for a few seconds to warm. These cookies also freeze well once cooked!
For more butter-free recipes, check out our Coconut Oil Chocolate Cupcakes or Salted Olive Oil Dark Chocolate Cookies!
Adapted from Nestlé Toll House.
Keywords: no butter, christmas, homemade
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Grace says
July 10, 2019 at 2:06 PMA friend from work made these cookies and they are the best chocolate chip cookies I have tasted.
I also do not like my cookies right out of the oven. When they have the flavor that these one do, you do not need milk. I only dip, if the flavor is missing!
Pam says
June 30, 2019 at 2:04 PMThese are super delicious! Chocolate chip cookies are my absolute favorite, and this worked perfectly since I was out of both butter and shortening. I think this may be my new go-to for making chocolate chip cookies now! Thanks so much for sharing!
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry says
July 1, 2019 at 2:19 PMThank you Pam!
Jacob Lockard says
June 17, 2019 at 9:29 PMThese cookies are REALLY good! I can barely tell the difference as compared to regular cookies.
★★★★★
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry says
June 22, 2019 at 3:08 PMHi Jacob, aren’t they SO good?! Thank you!
Anna says
June 1, 2019 at 4:08 AMThank you!!!!These cookies are amazing!!! I used vegetable oil instead of the coconut oil and they turned out amazingly you couldn’t even tell there was no butter in them. This will be my go to recipe. Thanks again for an amazing recipe!!
★★★★★
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry says
June 4, 2019 at 7:50 PMHi Anna, Woohoo! Thank you!
Julie says
May 29, 2019 at 3:10 PMThese were amazing! Honestly better than any other recipe I’ve used including ones with dairy. Thank you! I just read you aren’t supposed to refrigerate and I just did that.. do you think they’ll be okay if I let them sit out and try baking after they get back to room temp?
★★★★★
Allisa says
May 1, 2019 at 9:42 PMThis recipe is perfection! We just found out my son has a milk allergy. I’m breastfeeding so I am going dairy-free, but I have a major sweet tooth! We used dairy free chocolate chips from “enjoy life” brand to make them completely dairy free and they were so yummy! ☺️ Will definitely make again and again!
★★★★★
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry says
May 8, 2019 at 12:44 PMHi Allisa, GREAT!
Melissa says
April 24, 2019 at 10:44 PMThese are so delicious! Quick and easy to make. Love them.
★★★★★
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry says
April 28, 2019 at 11:27 PMHi Melissa, thank you! So glad you enjoyed them!
Sara says
April 12, 2019 at 6:30 PMI made these with my toddler – they are fool proof and amazing!! Love the taste and texture of these. Thank you for posting!
★★★★★
Jessie @ Life As A Strawberry says
April 18, 2019 at 10:59 AMWahoo! So happy you like them, Sara! Thanks for letting us know how they turned out!
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry says
April 28, 2019 at 11:20 PMHi Sara, GREAT!
Chloe says
March 17, 2019 at 2:47 PMoh my gosh!! iv’e made these so much i think i’m addicted to them!! i have memorized the recipe all ready!!
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry says
April 11, 2019 at 11:35 AMHi Chloe, Wow…thank you!
Avery a Collins says
March 14, 2019 at 3:04 PMThese are fool proof and amazing!!!
Stephanie S says
March 11, 2019 at 9:39 PMMade it last night. They came out perfectly! Crunchy outside, chewy inside. Would bake again. Thank you for the great recipe!
★★★★★
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry says
April 11, 2019 at 11:29 AMHey Stephanie, thank you!
Colene says
March 2, 2019 at 5:12 PMI don’t think you needed kosher salt, I think you needed table salt instead,
Jessie @ Life As A Strawberry says
April 18, 2019 at 10:59 AMYou can certainly use table salt if you like! We recommend reducing the salt called for a bit if you use table salt since it can be quite a bit saltier than the kosher salt we recommend people keep on hand. We also love that our favorite kosher salts generally contain no caking agents or iodine, which can affect their flavor. Happy baking!
Melissa Catherine says
February 21, 2019 at 9:24 PMHoly Cannoli! Using coconut oil in place of butter – you’re a genius!!! My 13-yr-old daughter and I LOVE these cookies. We plan to substitute coconut oil for butter in more recipes in the future.
★★★★★
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry says
March 11, 2019 at 2:31 PMHi Melissa, thank you soooo much!
Melissa says
February 14, 2019 at 1:29 PMOk cookies have been the bane of my existence. All recipes except snickerdoodles and this one! I seriously love these and will be bringing some to my neighbors.
★★★★★
Jessie @ Life As A Strawberry says
April 18, 2019 at 10:56 AMYay! We’re so happy you like them, Melissa!
Claire says
February 14, 2019 at 1:06 AMHi! My son is craving for a cookie right now and I want to try this recipe but i don’t have coconut oil at the moment. Can i use any oil like olive oil perhaps?
Thank you!
Cheekygrrl says
March 21, 2019 at 11:00 PMMy very favorite cookies are the Market Pantry CRUNCHY Chocolate Chip ones sold in Tar-zhay. They have always had a slight coconut taste and that is actually what I like about them.
I don’t like my cookies soft or chewy. I’m a HAPPY cruncher. I was searching for chocolate cookie recipes to make with coconut oil because butter is getting $3.49# now. Many recipes have LOTS of butter and it’s just not sold in the large sizes either! Question…do restaurants buy their butter in those 1# packs with the little cubes to cook with? Doubt it 🙁
Jessie @ Life As A Strawberry says
April 18, 2019 at 10:55 AMDefinitely! These cookies work well with vegetable or canola oil, and we have a chocolate chunk olive oil cookie recipe as well that’s great when you don’t have butter: https://www.lifeasastrawberry.com/salted-dark-chocolate-olive-oil-cookies/ Hope that helps!
C Welker says
February 6, 2019 at 10:27 PMI was looking for a chocolate chip cookie recipe that is dairy free for my 90 year old mother who has developed an allergy to dairy. These are delicious. I used a tasteless coconut oil but would be fine with a coconut flavor, and since milk chocolate is out I used 62% cocao chips (any less has milk). I also added pecans as any chocolate chip cookies are better with pecans.
★★★★★
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry says
February 11, 2019 at 4:47 PMHello! The pecans sound great! Thank you 🙂