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
Description
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
I'm Jessie, and I like to talk about food. Tag your recipes #LifeAsAStrawberry on social media to share your creations!
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I was hopeful for these since the reviews were promising! I’m not sure what went wrong but they were slightly bland not very sweet, they didn’t spread at all, and the coconut oil made the house smell like popcorn (not bad but not what I wanted for cookies.) I’d be willing to try again !
★★★
These cookies are absolutely amazing! I make them twice a month for family dinners and group get togethers & everyone always loves them 🙂 I’ve never come across such a great outcome without using butter or margarine! If you want extra large, fluffy cookies just add another teaspoon of baking soda. I don’t eat eggs or butter so I replaced the eggs with a flax egg and the cookies still turned out amazing! Such a great job Jessie!
★★★★★
Thank you Anna!
Hi Jessie, Magda from Luxembourg here.
We’ve just made your cookies but added 1/2 cup of dark unsweetened cocoa to the dough. The result is fantastic they taste like little brownies. Oh I only baked them for 7mins in 175°C. Many thanks! Magda
Hi Magda, thank you!
I have made these countless times and are always spot on delicious!
★★★★★
Thank you Nina!
These came out horrible. I’ll stick to my recipe using butter. I just happened to be out but had a craving for cookies. These are totally tasteless.
★★
Hi there! Can you use canola oil instead of coconut oil?
I didn’t have butter, and I was so happy to find this recipe. It was the best batch of chocolate chip cookies I have EVER made. They stayed fluffy and had just the right amount of crispiness, which I loved.
★★★★★
Omg I made these with the all purpose King Arthur flour blend and they were my favorite dairy and gluten free cookies ever! I’m pretty sure you couldn’t even tell if you didn’t know! Saving!! Thank you!
Hi Michelle, you’re welcome!
I am a Chocolate Chip Cookie snob. I spent years perfecting my recipe, but since I became vegan I haven’t found anything that comes close to the perfect thick, chewy cookie. Oh my stars these were sooooo good!! Thank you to the moon and back!! Note-I substituted vegan powdered egg replacement for the eggs.
Thank you Emily!