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
Shar@SharleneSays
I made these before Christmas in 2018. I made them a little too big as they were going to individually wrapped cookies to hand out on xmas day at church. Instead my family enjoyed the lot! This recipe is perfect. We halved the choc chips & placed a choc button in the middle of each. I hope I never lose this recipe.
Jessie @ Life As A Strawberry
Wahoo! So happy you liked them, Shar! Thanks for letting us know how they turned out (and we promise the recipe isn't going anywhere!)
Kaysha van der Heyden
Love these! I added some flakey salt on top as soon as they came out of the oven, perfection and I like the coconut flavor.
Jessie @ Life As A Strawberry
So happy you like them, Kaysha! Salt on top is the best!
Tom
I like to use coconut oil when making canna oil. This recipe worked great for making chocalote chip cookie canna coconut oil edibles. Thank you
Kia
Thanks exactly why i wanted to try this!
Christine
This recipe is such a gem, I had to take a minute to rate it and thank you! I'm a very experienced baker and these are among the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had.
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry
Hi Christine, thank you for the great compliment!
Wendy
I am going to try these! Hubby just decided butter is out of his diet.I have been using coconut oil but not for cookies. We love our cookies! I love my cookies chewy in the middle, no milk.
Selene Cole
Just tried these and they are awesome. A few changes though to make them a bit more healthier. I used just one cup of brown sugar and for the flour, I did 1 cup white, 3/4 cup almond flour, 1/4 cup flax and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour.
Jessie @ Life As A Strawberry
So happy you liked them, Selene! Thanks for sharing your substitutions with us!
Good
Didnt really like it a little to cocunuty for me but thanks
J.M.
I've gotten so many compliments on these delicious cookies! I have a question, though. If I were to do a variation to turn it into an oatmeal - chocolate chip - coconut oil cookie recipe, should I just substitute some of the flour for oatmeal? Any ideas about what proportion of flour vs. oatmeal I should use? Thanks!!
Jessie @ Life As A Strawberry
I haven't tried these with oatmeal so I can't say for sure! You can certainly give it a try, though - let us know how it turns out if you do!
Suzy
Truly got told over and over again how these are the best chocolate chip cookies I ever made. Even after three days they were still soft and delicious. Only reason they lasted that long without being eaten is because I had two in a ziplock that I forgot about lol. Awesome recipe
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry
Hey Suzy, thank you!
Renee
Great recipe. I added 4 tablespoons of peanut butter, 1/2 cup more of flour and cut the sugar to two 1/2 cups. Yum
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry
Hi Renee, that sounds amazing!
Profesora H-B
I may never use butter in chocolate chip cookies again after tonight! These are DELICIOUS. I only had 3/4 cup of chocolate chips, and it didn't really matter.
Jessie @ Life As A Strawberry
Wahoo! We're so happy you liked them - thanks for letting us know how they turned out!
Margaret scarberry
Can you bake them just on a cookie sheet if you don't have parchment paper or silacone?
Jessie @ Life As A Strawberry
Absolutely! They don't tend to stick to a plain baking sheet, but you can always rub the baking sheet with a bit of coconut oil or cooking spray to help them release cleanly. Hope that helps!
Sylvia MacDonald
Can you use vegetable oil instead of the coconut? Allergies
Jessie @ Life As A Strawberry
Absolutely! This recipe works with vegetable or canola oil, and we also have a dark chocolate chunk cookie recipe that uses olive oil that we love: https://www.lifeasastrawberry.com/salted-dark-chocolate-olive-oil-cookies/ Hope that helps!
Kerry Harris
We used 1/2 cup less sugar ...added 2 spoons honey and coconut in stead of chocolate chips...yummy
Jessie @ Life As A Strawberry
So happy you liked them, Kerry! Thanks for sharing your substitutions!
Amanda
Recipe was great! I actually used 1/2 cup less of each the white and brown sugar. They taste a little bit lighter but still good if people prefer/need less sugar!
Jackie @ Life As A Strawberry
Hi Amanda, thank you for sharing!
Katie Coleman
The best. Truly. I am an avid baker and this is the best diary free chocolate chip cookie recipe. I made zero modifications to the recipe. Thanks so much for posting!
Jessie @ Life As A Strawberry
Wahoo! We're so happy you liked them, Katie - thanks for letting us know how they turned out!