This quick and easy butterless chocolate chip cookie recipe uses coconut oil instead of butter for a soft, chewy cookie.
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!
PS - You can also use coconut oil instead of butter for our small batch chocolate chip cookies!
How do you like YOUR chocolate chip cookies? Let me know in the comments!
Video: How to make butterless chocolate chip cookies
Butterless Chocolate Chip Cookies with Coconut Oil
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: Makes 25-30 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
Easy, chewy chocolate chip cookies with no butter.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup liquid form coconut oil (see recipe notes)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup white sugar
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- 2 ½ cups flour (measured correctly by scooping and leveling)
- ¾ 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. 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 ¼ cup. For an ultra-thick, especially dense cookie, you can increase the flour by up to ¼ 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.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 cookies
- Calories: 201
- Sugar: 17 g
- Sodium: 95.2 mg
- Fat: 9.5 g
- Carbohydrates: 27.3 g
- Protein: 2.4 g
- Cholesterol: 14.9 mg
Marlo Michaelson
Wow, Zowie... I've never baked with coconut oil before. Ask me about coconut oil for your hair, for your body and even for your dog's body, in fact the only reason I had it was for a homemade dog treats recipe. Absolutely fantastic. I've been home for about 3 years newly disabled. So I have an enormous amount of time. 24/7 365! Since around August I've been baking and eating a minimum of 3 batches of cookies a week. Yes, a week. So I went looking for butterless dessert, really any kind. After I read "Full disclosure" my mind pictured a tall lanky gay man with style and flair. And on my way to bake cookies with that inspiration. And they are fabulous, yummy pockets of heaven. I don't know how to pin, tag or ##. I took pictures but don't know where to add them. Anyway, Thank you and I hope you aren't offered.
Team Life As A Strawberry
We're SO happy you loved making these butterless cookies!!
Kaye
Never mind, I see it! Sorry about that 😬
Team Life As A Strawberry
So glad you found it! Happy baking!
Kaye
Wait… do you ever add the white sugar? I don’t see it in the instructions but it’s in the ingredients list. I’m confused!
Amy
I’ve made these cookies twice and they are delicious! I don’t recall if I changed anything the first time but I may have done the authors recommendation of reducing the flour for a thinner and crispier cookie. The bottom got very crispy and almost caramelized. This time the change I did was to reduce the sugars to 1/2 cup each. The cookies are sweet enough and a delicious treat.
Team Life As A Strawberry
YIPPEE! We're so happy you loved the cookies!
Jennifer
Ran out of butter so I searched for a coconut oil choco chip recipe. My batter turned out crumbly! I didn't have my ingredients ready to go as suggested! I just put my bowl in hot water and put some elbow grease into getting it somewhat soft. Seemed to do the trick! Not bad! Wish I would have followed that direction though! Also ran out of vanilla extract so I used maple syrup.
Team Life As A Strawberry
Great thinking with the hot water and elbow grease to smooth it out!
Rebecca
Made these for a family friend who's daughters are both allergic to soy in addition to milk, so I needed a non dairy and non vegetable oil cookie recipe. They were a huge hit. Everyone loved them!
The only changes I made were that I used 1:1 gluten free flour, made my cookies smaller, and chilled them before baking. My test cookies that were not chilled came out flat and crispy. I prefer my cookies to be thick and chewy.
Thank you for a great recipe!
Team Life As A Strawberry
WAHOO!! We're so happy to hear the cookies were a hit!
Amy
Delicious. The coconut oil makes for a lovely crisp, sugary outside and the inside is soft and delicious. I used milk chocolate chips for extra tastiness. Cut the sugar to 1/2 cup each.
Team Life As A Strawberry
WAHOO! We're so glad you loved them!
Kerry Morrissey
These cookies are amazing-- probably my favorite recipe. They are so gooey and soft.
Team Life As A Strawberry
WAHOO! We're so glad you love these cookies!
Ella
This is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I've ever made! And the very first time a recipe has ever earned a review from me. Thank you for sharing!
Team Life As A Strawberry
YIPPEE! Thanks so much, Ella!
Savannah
Perfect! I made them with Olive oil 🤫
Team Life As A Strawberry
WAHOO! We're so happy you loved it!
Nica
I ran out of butter so I googled an alternative way on how to bake cookies without it. I’m so glad I found your recipe and I must say, my cookies turned out delicious! Thanks for the recipe. Also, I don’t think you are WEIRD and PICKY when it comes to your cookies. I don’t like chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven (I usually eat them the next day or 12 hours later) and I also refuse to dip my cookies in milk. You’re not the only one! Haha. Anyway, thanks for the recipe!
Team Life As A Strawberry
We're so happy you loved the cookies!!
Gator Fan
1) Any tips for halving this recipe beyond just using half of each listed ingredient amount?
2) I'd like to use less sugar than listed, but will that affect the cookies? I don't want them too crumbly, but it'd be ok if they were more chewy/fudgy.
Team Life As A Strawberry
This recipe is great for halving and doesn't require any extra notes! You could likely reduce the amount of sugar called for by 3-4 Tablespoons without noticing a huge change, but any more than that and you’ll definitely notice some texture differences.
Sumaira
Can I use just plain sugar instead of brown sugar? Or shall I caramelize to he sugar to get that brown sugar effect?
Team Life As A Strawberry
If you have molasses, you can also make your own brown sugar – there’s a good walkthrough here. You can use just white sugar in a pinch, but the brown sugar (or the DIY molasses sugar) adds a lot of flavor!
Claire
I made these cookies with a blob of Nutella in the middle as I didn't have any chocolate chips, very tasty. Perfect warm and fresh from the oven.
Team Life As A Strawberry
WAHOO! We love the addition of Nutella!
Allie
I am so grateful for this cookie recipe! I've been able to use it several times now for a baking ministry on campus. People really appreciate a big cookie, and it's an easy, reliable recipe that I'm comfortable varying the add-ins with. Thanks a bunch and God bless you!
Team Life As A Strawberry
Thanks so much, Allie! We're so happy you've been enjoying this recipe!
Mark
Turned out great. I ended up using 3-3.25 cups of flour. The cookie dough was quite sticky still so I refrigerated it for ~ 10-15 minutes and it was much easier to scoop.
Team Life As A Strawberry
We're SO happy to hear you enjoyed them!