These olive oil chocolate chip cookies are ready in half an hour, with dark chocolate chunks and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. Extra virgin olive oil gives this cookie dough a unique flavor - no butter required!
Editor's Note: This recipe was originally published in 2018. It was updated in 2025 to include gram measurements, additional notes, and new photos.
These salted dark chocolate olive oil cookies are an elegant twist on classic chocolate chip cookies! They're a perfect blend of delicate, crispy edges and rich, chewy centers.
We're using high-quality extra virgin olive oil instead of butter here, which gives these cookies some earthy, fruity undertones that pair beautifully with chopped baking chocolate and a pinch of flaky salt.
(Are these cookies a little extra? Sure. But also: If there's a time to be a little extra, that time is dessert, yes?)
Ingredients
For a full ingredients list and exact quantities, scroll to the recipe card below.
This is a fairly straightforward recipe, but we want to highlight a few things before you jump in:
- Extra virgin olive oil replaces the butter in this recipe. Use fresh, high quality, extra virgin olive oil (we love EXAU olive oils) for the best flavor.
- Dark chocolate. We recommend bittersweet or dark chocolate in the 50-75% cacao range. In these photos, we used two 60% Ghirardelli chocolate baking bars.
- Flaky Sea Salt. A pinch of sea salt after baking (we love Maldon or Jacobsen salt!) takes these olive oil cookies over the top.
Use a kitchen scale
Measuring dry ingredients by volume (with cups) is notoriously unreliable: Because each person measures one cup a bit differently, it's easy to accidentally use too much flour, sugar, etc., and alter the texture of your cookies (see an example in our cinnamon cookies recipe).
For accurate results, use a kitchen scale to follow the gram measurements in the recipe below. No kitchen scale? Measure your flour with the scoop and level method for best results!
Variations and Substitutions
- Swap the olive oil for melted butter (similar to our chocolate chip cookie recipe with melted butter), canola or vegetable oil, or melted coconut oil (à la our butterless chocolate chip cookies).
- Use semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of chopped baking chocolate if you like.
Instructions
Whisk eggs, sugars, vanilla, and olive oil together in a large bowl until you have a smooth mixture. Add the rest of the dry ingredients and stir until just combined, then fold in the chopped baking chocolate.
Pro Tip: Reserve a few pieces of chopped chocolate, and press them into the tops of the cookies just before baking for an elegant look.
Use a cookie scoop to portion out your cookie dough (in these photos, we used a 3 Tablespoon scoop). Place cookie dough balls an inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake until golden brown, and sprinkle a bit of flakey sea salt over the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven! Transfer baked cookies to a wire cooling rack.
Pro Tip: This recipe makes quite a few cookies. You will likely need to bake them in batches and reuse the pan several times!
Storage
Store baked and cooled dark chocolate cookies in an airtight container on the counter for 2-3 days. Past that, they'll start to dry out. The flaky salt will also draw some moisture out of the cookies as they sit, which can alter the texture after a few days.
These cookies freeze well: Store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost on the counter for an hour or two when you're ready for them.
FAQs
Yes! For a thin, lacy cookie with exceptionally crispy edges, you can increase the amount of olive oil in this recipe.
You may need to experiment a bit to find your perfect ratio! We've tested this cookie recipe with up to 300 grams of olive oil, which produces a very thin, lacy, crispy cookie that spreads out quite a bit in the oven (pictured below): 
The olive oil here isn't overpowering, but you WILL taste it in these cookies: So use a high-quality extra virgin olive oil that you like the flavor of! (If you aren't a fan of olive oil, we'd recommend trying our melted butter chocolate chip cookies instead.)
For best results, use extra-virgin olive oil that is FRESH: Look for oil with a harvest date (often printed on the bottle) within the last year, and try to use it within a few months of purchasing. While we often think of olive oil like a shelf-stable product with no expiration date, it can actually change very quickly. If your oil is old, or if it's been exposed to a lot of light or extreme temperatures, it can turn bitter or rancid (which doesn't make for good cookies!)
If you're unsure about the quality of your olive oil, give it a taste before you start baking! If you don't like the taste of it, don't use it in these cookies.
We love splurging on these olive oils from EXAU, but you can also find excellent options on a budget! Learn more: The Best Supermarket Extra-Virgin Olive Oils.
Yes! Mix the dough as directed, scoop it into dough balls, and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Transfer refrigerated cookie dough balls directly to a lined baking sheet, and bake normally.
To freeze cookie dough, scoop the dough into balls and place them on a baking sheet or large plate lined with a piece of parchment paper, waxed paper, or a nonstick baking mat. Place the cookie dough in the freezer for 2-3 hours, until frozen solid. Transfer frozen cookie dough balls to an airtight container and return to the freezer until you're ready to bake.
To bake frozen cookie dough balls straight from the freezer, we recommend reducing the oven temperature to 350° F (a lower temp helps frozen cookies spread out more evenly!)
Pro Tip: You can also use these make-ahead methods for our pistachio white chocolate cookies, everything cookies, and chocolate chip pecan cookies!
Yes! If you prefer to use a stand mixer or hand mixer in your baking, you can certainly use those appliances for this recipe.
If you only want a few cookies, we recommend following our small batch chocolate chip cookie recipe, which yields just 6 cookies.
You can swap up to 100 grams of the all purpose flour in this recipe for whole wheat flour without altering the texture too much. You can also try our whole wheat chocolate chip cookie recipe!
📖 Recipe
Salted Dark Chocolate Olive Oil Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: Makes 18-20 large cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Description
Soft and chewy olive oil cookies with dark chocolate chunks and a sprinkle of sea salt.
Ingredients
- 160 grams high-quality extra virgin olive oil (¾ cup)
- 4 grams vanilla extract (1 teaspoon)
- 2 eggs
- 150 grams sugar (¾ cup)
- 150 grams brown sugar (¾ packed cup)
- 330 grams all purpose flour (about 2 ¾ cups when measured correctly by scooping and leveling)
- 2 grams kosher salt (½ teaspoon)
- 6 grams baking soda (1 teaspoon)
- 8 ounces dark or bittersweet baking chocolate, roughly chopped (see recipe notes)
- 8 grams flakey sea salt (2 teaspoons)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375° Fahrenheit. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together olive oil, vanilla, eggs, sugar, and brown sugar.
- Add flour, kosher salt, and baking soda to bowl; mix until just combined.
- Fold chopped chocolate into the dough with a spoon or spatula. Note: If you like, reserve some chocolate pieces to top the cookies just before baking.
- Use a 3-Tablespoon cookie scoop to portion out the dough; place each dough ball 1 inch apart on your prepared sheet pan. Note: This recipe makes quite a few cookies; you will likely need to work in batches.
- Bake cookies at 375° F for 10-13 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. Remove cookies from oven and immediately top with a sprinkle of flakey sea salt.
- Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Store cooled cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
Please use a kitchen scale. Measuring by volume (with cups and teaspoons) is notoriously unreliable. The volume measurements provided above are approximate. For best results, use a kitchen scale and follow the gram measurements provided above!
A note about chocolate. In the photos above, we used two 60% Ghirardelli Baking Chocolate Bars. Use semi-sweet chocolate chips in place of chopped chocolate if you prefer. We love Ghirardelli or Lindt Chocolate bars for this recipe!
If you have the time, bring your eggs to room temperature (or at least take them out of the fridge a few minutes early) before mixing this cookie dough. Cold eggs can make the olive oil seize up a little bit, which can discourage the cookies from spreading as evenly.
For thinner or crispier cookies, you can add a bit of extra olive oil. We have tested this recipe with up to 300 grams of olive oil, which yielded a very thin, lacy, crisp cookie. You may need to experiment to find your perfect ratio!
Chill the cookie dough if you like. For a chewier, denser cookie, chill cookie dough in the fridge for 30 minutes before scooping and baking. For an aged cookie with even deeper flavor, you can scoop the cookie dough ahead of time, store cookie dough balls in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days, then bake normally.
When to add the flaky salt. A previous version of this recipe added flaky salt to the cookie dough balls before baking; we have amended the instructions to add the flaky salt immediately after baking after years of additional testing and input from our recipe testing team. But you can honestly add the salt at either stage! Our team agreed that adding salt after baking makes it easier to control the distribution of salt, and better preserves the salt's bright, briny quality (but the difference is pretty minor - so add the salt whenever you like!)
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 283
- Sugar: 21.1 g
- Sodium: 319.5 mg
- Fat: 13.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 37.2 g
- Protein: 3.4 g
- Cholesterol: 21.4 mg
Anna
This is the perfect recipe! I used this when I didn’t feel like getting butter from the store and they’re delicious. I still use this recipe when I do have butter and I also add toasted walnuts. I’m picky about cookies so I’m glad I don’t have to keep searching for a good recipe!
Team Life As A Strawberry
YIPPEE! We love to hear that you've found your favorite cookie recipe!
Jay
These were amazing. I used coconut sugar (happened to be what I had available), and 2/3 the amount chocolate (which was still plenty). Although the dough seemed dense when mixed. Once baked the cookies were light, fluffy and bit chewy with a nice hit of chocolate and salt. I live these use olive oil and not butter. Thanks for posting!
Team Life As A Strawberry
YIPPEE! We're so happy that you loved these cookies!
lee
I made these twice and love them, but have noticed that the bake time seems a little short. I've baked them in two different ovens, and it's possible that both ovens run a little low. I found that I had to bake them for more like 15-17 minutes to get them to get golden brown - 12 minutes left them pale, even though the texture was good. Is this just because they don't have butter in them?
Team Life As A Strawberry
We're so happy you love them! It is possible that your oven temperature runs a bit low, but you're also correct that the traditional golden-brown of chocolate chip cookies is partly due to the butter content. Olive oil needs to get to a higher temperature than butter before it will turn brown, so these cookies will be only lightly browned when they're fully cooked!