This quick and easy butterless chocolate chip cookie recipe uses coconut oil instead of butter for a soft, chewy cookie.
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You guys. I am SO 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?
Like, I DO NOT like chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven. They are weird and sometimes you get burned by a still-really-hot chocolate chip and just UGH give me room temperature cookies all day erryday.
(Side note: please still be my friend after reading this post. Also please tell me that you, too, have weird cookie preferences so we can be weird cookie monsters together).
I also don’t dip cookies in milk. Because milk makes cookies soggy and why would I want a soggy cookie? I just don’t get it. I also don’t get those weirdly paper-thin chocolate chip cookies that are crispy and almost translucent-looking.
Just give me a soft, fluffy, room temperature chocolate chip cookie with no milk on it, please. This is the way to my strange, anti-all-the-regular-chocolate-chip-cookie-things heart.
(Aren’t I totally making you want to eat these cookies right now?)
These butterless chocolate chip cookies are actually kind of wonderful, though.
(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!)
And – AND AND AND – 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 for people who’d like to avoid butter but still enjoy all the tasty butter-ful foods in the world.
I thought about taking it one step past the coconut oil and going allllll the way dairy-free with this recipe, or even processed sugar-free, but…y’know…CHOCOLATE. I just couldn’t do without it.
But there’s no butter! So we’ll still call it a win.
PS – I checked in with a few dietician friends this week about whether there are actually any real HEALTH benefits to coconut oil vs. butter, but they tell me that the jury’s still out on whether it’s better or healthier for us. They pointed me towards some interesting studies, though, that I’d be happy to share if you’re interested!
BUT BACK TO THE COOKIES!
You can taste the teeeeeeeeniest bit of coconut-y-ness 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!
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Easy, chewy chocolate chip cookies with no butter.
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup liquid form coconut oil (see recipe notes)
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2.5 cups flour (measured correctly by scooping and leveling)
- 3/4 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 heaping cup chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine liquid coconut oil, vanilla, eggs, sugar, and brown sugar and 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 2″ cookie scoop (I like this 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
Coconut oil at room temperature is usually solid, but for this recipe we want to melt it down so it mixes more easily into our cookie batter. To melt the coconut oil for this recipe, I like to scoop about 1 cup of coconut oil (in its solid, room-temperature form) into a glass measuring cup, and then microwave for 3-40 seconds until it’s melted down. Give the coconut oil a stir and then check the measurement – you may need to add another spoonful to bring the liquid oil up to 3/4 of a cup. Generally, I find that 1 cup of solid coconut oil translates almost exactly to 3/4 of a cup of melted coconut oil.
Out of butter AND coconut oil? Use vegetable or canola oil instead.
I’ve been using this virgin coconut oil.
My favorite tweak to this recipe is to use half semi-sweet chocolate chips and half mint chocolate chips! The combination is amaaaaazing.
I like my chocolate chip cookies pretty soft and slightly dense, but if you like a thinner, crispier cookie, you can reduce the amount of flour in this recipe by 1/4 cup.
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/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 large 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!
Feel free to use more chocolate chips than called for! You could also add crushed peanuts or white chocolate chips to mix it up a bit.
Adapted from Nestlé Toll House.
Nutrition
- Calories: 335
This 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!
★★★★★
Hi Allisa, GREAT!
These are so delicious! Quick and easy to make. Love them.
★★★★★
Hi Melissa, thank you! So glad you enjoyed them!
I made these with my toddler – they are fool proof and amazing!! Love the taste and texture of these. Thank you for posting!
★★★★★
Wahoo! So happy you like them, Sara! Thanks for letting us know how they turned out!
Hi Sara, GREAT!
oh my gosh!! iv’e made these so much i think i’m addicted to them!! i have memorized the recipe all ready!!
Hi Chloe, Wow…thank you!
These are fool proof and amazing!!!
Made it last night. They came out perfectly! Crunchy outside, chewy inside. Would bake again. Thank you for the great recipe!
★★★★★
Hey Stephanie, thank you!
I don’t think you needed kosher salt, I think you needed table salt instead,
You 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!
Holy 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.
★★★★★
Hi Melissa, thank you soooo much!
Ok 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.
★★★★★
Yay! We’re so happy you like them, Melissa!
Hi! 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!
My 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 🙁
Definitely! 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!
I 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.
★★★★★
Hello! The pecans sound great! Thank you 🙂