Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Brown Sugar
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These chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar are soft, gooey, and just as delicious as classic chocolate chip cookies! Made using just 8 ingredients, with no chill time, and ready in 16 minutes!
If there is one thing that chocolate chip cookies have in common, it’s that they pretty much all have brown sugar in them. Well what if you ran out of brown sugar but you still want cookies?! Don’t worry, these chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar are here to save the day!
These chocolate chip sugar cookies taste just like a classic chocolate chip cookie, and use just the right amount of flour, granulated sugar and butter to achieve that soft texture that typically requires brown sugar! You can make these cookies using either dairy free butter or regular butter too!
Why These Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Brown Sugar Work
- These cookies are ready in 16 minutes – they seriously couldn’t be easier! The dough doesn’t even need to chill.
- They freeze really well both before and after baking!
- If you find yourself running low on ingredients, you can still make these cookies! All you need are 8 simple pantry ingredients to make this recipe.
- If you want thicker cookies, you can easily just chill the dough overnight and bake the next day!
Ingredients Needed
- Flour: This recipe calls for all-purpose flour, and hasn’t been tested using any other flour.
- Butter: You can make these cookies dairy free by using dairy free butter, or you can make them using regular butter!
- Vanilla extract: I recommend using real vanilla extract if possible, as it gives the cookies so much flavor!
- Chocolate chips: You can use semisweet, dark, or milk chocolate chips. You can even use white chocolate chips (if you’re making these dairy free, use vegan white chocolate chips). I also like to chop up a chocolate bar and use chocolate chunks instead of chips!
- Egg: These cookies have not been tested with any egg substitutes.
Step By Step Instructions
Note: Full ingredient measurements and instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.
STEP ONE: Preheat the oven to 350°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, then set aside.
STEP TWO: In the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment or using a handheld mixer, beat butter and sugar until light in color and fluffy (around 1-2 minutes).
STEP THREE: Add in the egg and vanilla extract, then beat until the mixture is just combined, being careful not to over-mix. Mix in the dry ingredients, then stir in the chocolate chips.
STEP FOUR: Use a medium cookie scoop or spoon to form the dough into 1.5 tablespoon sized balls, placing them on the baking sheet, 3-4 inches apart. Bake one sheet at a time for 8-11 minutes, or until the edges look set and have just begun to darken – but are not golden brown! The cookies will look under-baked! Let cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.
Expert Tips
- Properly measure your flour: Please use a kitchen scale or the scoop and level method to properly measure your flour! This is the most common baking mistake I see and the cookies will be as soft and chewy as they should be if you over-measure your flour.
- Do not over-bake the cookies! Leaving the cookies in the oven even one minute too long can lead to over-baked cookies. These cookies don’t rely on brown sugar for their soft and chewy texture, but instead rely on the right baking time! If you want cookies that stay soft for days, keep an eye on the cookies and when in doubt, it’s better to take the first batch out too early, than too late! The edges will have a tiny but of color but will not be fully golden brown.
- Top the cookies with extra chocolate chips to create gooey pools of chocolate on top of them!
Storage Instructions
To get that fresh out of the oven texture in the days after the cookies have been baked, pop one in the microwave for 5-10 seconds. They will now be gooey and warm again, but be sure to eat them right away or else they will harden after being microwaves.
Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
The baked cookies can stored in a freezer bag and frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature when you’re ready to eat them.
To freeze the cookie dough, scoop it balls with a cookie scoop and place them on a parchment lined plate in the freezer until they are firm. Transfer them all into a ziploc freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months.
Allow the dough to soften a little before baking. They will require 1-3 more minutes of baking time and the edges will get golden brown (unlike when you bake the cookies directly after making the dough).
More Recipes That You’ll Love
If you make this recipe, let me know how it went in the comments below, I’d love to hear from you! You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook so I can check it out!
Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Brown Sugar
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (158 g) butter, softened, (regular or dairy free)
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1¾ cup (218.75 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ½ cup (100 g) chopped chocolate or chocolate chips , (regular or vegan)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a standing mixer with the paddle attachment or a handheld mixer, combine butter and sugar, mixing until light and fluffy (around 1-2 minutes).
- Add in the egg and vanilla extract, and beat until just combined (do not over-mix!).
- Mix in the dry ingredients until a dough forms. Stir in the chocolate chips and mix until combined. SEE NOTES
- Use a medium cookie scoop or spoon to make 1.5 tablespoon sized balls and place them on the baking sheet around 3-4 inches apart.
- Bake the cookies (one sheet at a time for even baking) for 8-11 minutes. Remove them from the oven when the edges look set and have just begun to darken on the edges – but the edges should not be golden brown! It is very important that these cookies are under-baked in order for them to stay soft. They will look under-baked (but will continue to bake on the baking sheet) and very pale, because there is no brown sugar in the recipe. Remove from the oven and leave them on the baking sheet for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Equipment
Video
Notes
The calorie information provided for this recipe is an estimate. The accuracy of the calories listed is not guaranteed.
These cookies were a hit! I actually used the recipie to wrap around some nutella fillings, they were out in under a day. Will certianly come back to this recipie!
If you dont have enough butter oil works!
The nutella filling sounds delicious! Thank you for your review!
Great recipe! Easy and delicious.
I needed something to bake with my kids on a very frigid day and this recipe delivered chocolate chip cookies with everything we had at home. I used mini chocolate chips and walnuts. At the 8′ mark, they were puffy and pale still, so I banged the cookies on the counter to get them to flatten out and crisp up and continued baking for 3′. Thanks for making our afternoon sweeter.
Love this! Thank you for your review!
Trust the process . The cookies look really white, and feel really soft, but they will set soft and chewy. Would recommend making smaller cookies because you get a lot more than 8; I got more than 30! Pretty good recipe
###maddawg the baker🐶❤️🐶🤪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪
Thank you for your review, so happy you enjoyed these!
I loved it you know you can actually make this as a cromres or a s’morkie you know it was so cool my family loved it it is like s’mores but with cookies instead of the crackers
Cookies are good…. They just taste like they are missing something…
so easy and sooooo delicious!!
I’ve been looking for a good cookie recipe, love this one excited to make my next batch I would recommend this recipe 🍪🍪🍪☺️😁
This recipe really came through for me in a bind. I needed to make chocolate chip cookies last minute and didn’t have any brown sugar. The baking tips were helpful in this recipe and I’ll use this again! Everyone has different preferences for chocolate chip cookies – these cookies came out fluffy but still a little crisp on the edge. I tend to like my chocolate chip cookies a little thicker, so I’ll have to try freezing this dough as recommended for thicker cookies. All in all – solid cookie recipe to keep on hand when you’re out of brown sugar!
Happy to hear this! Appreciate your thoughtful review!
Turned out great – googled if you could make chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar and found your recipe. It’s exactly like another reviewer said, it’s like a sugar cookie and chocolate chip cookie had a baby.
So happy you found what you were looking for! Thank you for your review!
I’m lost on why you suggest using a kitchen scale but don’t provide weight measurements, only volume measurements. I prefer to find recipes with weights and agree that weighing is the best. This recipe could be improved with that info. Thanks! Yes I could convert.
I suggest a kitchen scale because you can find metric (weight) measurements on the recipe card 😊. You just click the metric tab next to the Ingredients heading and it’ll switch to grams from US customary.
Amazing!
These are the best cookies ever!
Thank you for your review 🩵
Used this recipe but substituted the flour for gluten free 1:1 baking flour and they turned out perfect! (Let the dough rest in the fridge for half and hour) Absolutely delicious!
Thanks Hope!
Hi! I’m doing the same, was your batter also less dough like before refrigerating it?
Thanks!
First time ever making chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar and I must say these were very good. I followed the recipe exactly except I browned the butter (for a more intense flavor) and let it cool before creaming with the sugar. I had to add back in 32 grams more of butter due to the browning process and the water evaporation. I also chilled the dough for a couple of hours for a thicker cookie. With all said and done, I think this recipe is a keeper. Thanks for delight. Joe C.
Thank you for your review Joe! Glad you enjoyed these cookies!
Fixing to try this one
Mmm, delicious it’s like a sugar cookie and a chocolate chip cookie made a baby. Added 1/4 cup coconut just because. Bookmarked this one!
Thanks for rating this recipe Jody 💕
This is the best cookie recipe that I have seen. I was looking for something to bake and came across it. Thank you very delicious and yummy 😋
Hi Carolyn! So happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe 🩵
Delicious! Chewy with gooey chocolate, buttery, just fabulous. Will make again.
these tasted amazing! my family went crazy for these cookies. thank you!
Hi Ari! Very happy to hear your family enjoyed these! I appreciate your view ✨