These chocolate chip cookies without butter are perfect when you want soft, chewy cookies but don’t have any butter on hand. Made with oil instead, these cookies bake up thick, tender, and loaded with chocolate chips. They can be made traditionally, whole wheat, gluten-free, dairy-free and/or vegan.

If you’ve already tried my Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies, this is the oven version made with oil instead of butter. It’s just as easy and just as delicious.

People seem to love my Oatmeal Cookies Without Butter so much that I figured I’d make some no butter chocolate chip cookies! And they came out amazingly well.

What’s To Love

No butter needed – perfect when you’re out or want a dairy-free option.
Soft and chewy texture with lightly crisp edges
Easy pantry ingredients you likely already have on hand
The dough freezes well so you can bake a few at a time. It’s the only way I can save myself from eating the whole batch in one sitting!

Ingredients

Please scroll down for the full recipe. These are just some notes on select ingredients.

Canola oil – neutral oils work best in this recipe. Canola oil and vegetable oil are the easiest options and give the most classic cookie flavor. You can also use light olive oil if you don’t mind the olive oil flavor, but avoid anything with a strong taste since it can affect the final flavor of the cookies. Ensure your oil is fresh as older oil can develop an “off” scent that becomes more prominent once heated.
Eggs – use room temperature eggs for best mixing. You can use chia eggs for a vegan version.
Sugar – I tried using coconut sugar in the gluten-free version and the cookies had a slightly gritty texture. They also didn’t hold together quite as well. I haven’t tested coconut sugar with regular flour, so I haven’t listed it as an official option. If you try it, I’d love to hear how it turns out.
Flour – all-purpose flour, white whole wheat flour or a 1-to-1 gluten-free blend (see notes below).
Chocolate chips – semi-sweet is recommended, but you can use dark or milk chocolate if you prefer. As long as your chocolate chips are dairy-free, these cookies are too.

How Can You Make Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Butter?

It’s really easy. You just replace the butter with oil!

Beat the oil and sugars together. It’ll look greasy and weird, but it’ll come together once you add the remaining ingredients.
Mix in the eggs and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the baking soda and salt.
Then fold in the flour just until combined.
And now the chocolate chips!
Form 1/4 cup (75 gram) dough balls and place them 4 inches apart on the sheet, pressing extra chocolate chips on top.
Bake for 12-16 minutes until edges are lightly browned.

Tips for Success

Don’t overmix the flour – once you add the dry ingredients, mix only until the white streaks disappear to keep the texture tender rather than cakey.
Use a kitchen scale – for the most consistent results, weighing your dough balls ensures every cookie bakes at the same rate.
Do not overbake or the cookies will lose their soft texture.
If your cookies spread too much, chill the dough for 20-30 minutes.
Press extra chocolate chips on top before baking for a bakery-style look.
Let the cookies cool completely on the pan so they set properly.

Gluten-free Option

King Arthur Flour Gluten-free Measure for Measure Flour is the best option here. The texture is almost exactly like the all-purpose flour version, just like with my Cocoa Oatmeal Cookies.

You can also use Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Gluten-free Baking Flour, as a substitute for all-purpose flour, but the result is a bit sandy. They’re still super delicious, though!

I’d save that for my Dark Cocoa Cake or Gluten-free Pie Crust and stick with King Arthur for these cookies.

Since I’ve only tested the brands mentioned, I can’t say how other 1-to-1 mixes would perform. I do know for sure that single flours like buckwheat, almond, coconut or oat flour wouldn’t work. Whatever you use needs to be a 1:1 sub for all-purpose flour.

Storage and Freezing

Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
You can freeze the baked cookies for longer storage.
To freeze the dough, roll into balls and freeze for up to 3 months.
Bake from frozen (or let thaw overnight in the fridge), adding an extra minute or two if needed.

Source

This recipe was adapted from an Epicurious chocolate chip cookie recipe, with several changes to improve texture and flavor.

The sugar was reduced, one egg was removed, and the amounts of baking soda and salt were slightly decreased.

The vanilla was increased for a stronger flavor, resulting in thicker, chewier cookies that are still perfectly sweet without being overly sugary.

❤️ Have you tried these chocolate chip cookies without butter? ❤️

Please leave a ✍️ review and ⭐ rating to let me know how they turned out. I appreciate it so much! 💛

Close-up photo of a perfect chocolate chip cookie made without butter that is loaded with chocolate chips.

5 from 1 vote