Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Butter (No Chill!)
This post contains affiliate links. Read the full disclosure here.
These chocolate chip cookies without butter might be the easiest recipe ever! They’re super soft, gooey and there’s zero dough chilling time. Plus, they’re ready in just 20 minutes!
There is truly nothing better than a warm-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookie! These butterless cookies are made with oil but they are still just as soft as the classic version with butter!
These chocolate chip cookies without butter are the perfect recipe to make if you’ve run out of butter or if you’re dairy free! These cookies taste so good that you won’t even believe they’re made without butter.
Why You’ll Love These Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Butter
- There’s zero chill time for the cookie dough, so the cookies are ready to eat in just 20 minutes.
- Because this is a cookie recipe without butter, the cookies are naturally dairy free (as long as you use dairy free chocolate chips!). You can also make these cookies gluten free or vegan so they can cater to various food preferences.
- Each cookie has a soft and gooey middle but crisp edges – the perfect cookie!
Ingredients Needed
- Oil: I recommend using a neutral oil like sunflower oil or vegetable oil. Coconut oil will work but it will give a coconut flavor and when I tested this recipe with coconut oil, the cookies weren’t as soft.
- Egg: I’m using an egg but if you’re vegan you can use a flax egg instead.
- Flour: I’ve tested this recipe with all purpose flour, but if you’re gluten free you can use gluten free all purpose 1-1 baking flour.
- Baking Soda: this is going to help the cookies rise! Make sure your baking soda hasn’t expired and don’t swap it out for baking powder.
- Chocolate Chips: use any chocolate chips you like here. You can also use a chopped up chocolate bar.
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350°Fahrenheit and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Step 2: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Step 3: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a handheld mixer, combine the oil, light brown sugar and white sugar together until light and fluffy.
Step 4: Add in the egg and vanilla extract, beating until just combined.
Step 5: Mix in the dry ingredients until a dough starts to form. Stir in the chocolate chips.
Step 6: Using a medium cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop out 1.5-2 tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough and place on the prepared baking sheet, keeping them 3-4 inches apart.
Step 7: Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 8-11 minutes. Remove from the oven when the edges have set but the middle looks underbaked. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Expert Tips
- I always, always recommend using a kitchen scale to weigh your ingredients, especially your flour! It’s really easy to add too much flour if you’re using measuring cups, leading to dry cookies. If you are using measuring cups make sure you use the scoop and level method.
- Sprinkle the cookies with sea salt when they’re fresh out of the oven for a salty-sweet kick!
- Don’t overmix the cookie dough, as this will give you tougher and dense cookies. Stop mixing as soon as you’re stirred in the chocolate chips.
- Use a large biscuit cutter or mug to gently scoot each freshly baked cookie on the baking sheet so they’re the perfect round shape.
Storage Instructions
Store these cookies without butter in an airtight container or ziploc bag at room temperature for 5-6 days.
To freeze, place the baked cookies in a freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Let thaw at room temperature before enjoying.
More Recipes Without Butter 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 Butter
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (157 g) vegetable oil, sunflower oil, or refined coconut oil (melted or room temp), (SEE NOTES if using coconut oil)
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (105 g) light brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 2 cup + 2 tbsp (268 g) all-purpose flour
- ½-¾ cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate , (I use semisweet)
- flakey sea salt, for sprinkling on top
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 coconut oil and sugars, mixing until light and fluffy (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 and mix until just combined.
- Use a medium cookie scoop or spoon to make 1.5-2 tbsp 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. They will look under-baked in the middle! Remove from the oven and leave them on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
The calorie information provided for this recipe is an estimate. The accuracy of the calories listed is not guaranteed.
Amazing! 5 stars is not enough. Loved this recipe! I’ve never left a review on a recipe but this one was perfection.
This is so sweet! Thank you so much!
AMAZING! I didn’t have baking soda so I subbed with baking powder and tripled it. I also added 3 tbsp of chia seeds and hemp seeds, and added some leftover Halloween chocolates (chopped up.) I love the texture, so fluffy and not too sweet, you can really taste the vanilla. I am adding this recipe to my recipe book ASAP! Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, thank you!
They’re so yummy!! And it was also an easy recipe, so it wasn’t hard to make them at all. I must say that the first batch I made was a tiny bit too oily, so the next time I made them, I only added 150g of oil, which made it a lot better. Other than that, it’s an amazing recipe!
These are AMAZING!! I have to stop myself from eating all of them! I was worried about the dough being oily (as I read in another person’s comment), so I added only 120g of sunflower oil. The dough was easy to work with and the texture of the cookie is perfect. This will be my go to from now on (butter in South Africa is quite expensive) 😁
So glad these worked out for you! Thank you!
Why does it recommend using a kitchen scale “especially for your flour”, but then the recipe only gives amounts in cups? I feel like I’m missing something?
You can find metric measurements on the recipe card, just click the metric tab next to the Ingredients heading and it’ll switch to grams from US customary.
I was VERY pleasantly surprised by this recipe! I wasn’t sure I’d like it, but found myself craving cookies and had no butter…gave this recipe a try and it’s a keeper for sure!! These are really good!!! Followed the recipe exactly, no alterations, and they came out perfect!
So glad you enjoyed these! Thank you for your review!
My dough came out so oily. I used olive oil and measured everything exactly. I used fresh milled flour from soft white berries and let it sit for a while to let the flour absorb and my goodness. The chocolate chips won’t stay in the dough 😅. I packed into a cookie dough scoop (to squeeze out some oil) and baked 3 at a time at 425-400 the first batch because my oven doesn’t heat at the right temps I set 😑 so the 2nd attempt was the next 3 cookies at 350° and this time the dough had longer to absorb. Both times the cookies came out beautifully. They are not dense. They have great body to them. They are not at all flat like everything else I’ve made. This is the first cookie dough recipe that has worked out for me and I’m so tickled. I’ll be using half a cup of oil next batch of dough I make to see if that helps any! Absolute win. 4 * because it’s too much oil. I’ll update next time I bake this recipe with the oil mod.
Other than needing to flatten my scoops a little they have turned out great. The joys when you miss calculate how much butter you needed for a 14 day period and you are a 6hr return trip from a shop.
Butter free cooking for the win.
Made a double mixture and it made 50 cookies.
Essy, delicious and fast!
I never leave reviews but these were truly worth the time! I’ve been hunting for a butter free choc chunk cookie recipe for a long time & this one is absolutely superior! 10/10 & will be making them again & again x
So happy to hear this! Thank you Kylie🩵
Quick easy and tasty
Amazing! Buttery, soft and delicious, I used part oil, part applesauce and part margarine and shared it with my friends on Valentine’s Day!
Thank you for your review 🩵
I accidentally put a bit too much flour and the batter ended soft of breaky but when i baked them, they were a 10/10. I froze some of it to bake later. 100% would do again.
yum but took 1h prep not 10min
I got distracted and used 3/4 TABLESPOONS instead of teaspoons… was very salty but still tasted good. Likely much better with correct measurements 🫣
Oh no, sorry to hear that! Hopefully it works out better for you next time 😉
I accidentally used CUPS of salt 😂😂
My best friend came over to help me bake and the cookies turned out very good!😋😁
My dough was a bit greasy, but it still tasted good, and the baked cookies came out perfect! Nice and crispy edges with soft middles, and not at all dry. Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
So happy to hear these worked out for your! Thank you for your review Sarah!
Recipe worked well with coconut oil! Thank you! Made these today and had to hide some so we didn’t eat them all. Haha I’m new to cooking and baking without butter, so I’m grateful for easy recipes like this that aren’t really different than if it had butter.
Hi Danielle! Happy to hear these worked out for you! I appreciate your feedback 🩵
These are absolutely delicious! I used avocado oil and white whole wheat flour, and they still taste absolutely decadent and delicious. Mine puffed up quite a bit (in a good way). My kids are currently gobbling these, and I am definitely saving the recipe :)..
Hi Jess! So glad to hear these were a hit with your kids! Thanks for your review!
I used this recipe several times and both times I’ve used it my dough would be really greasy and crumbly and wouldn’t combine. The cookies taste amazing despite the dough not combining.
Hi Marina! Are you using metric measurements? That would be my first question. I haven’t had this problem and haven’t heard it from other readers so it may be a that the ingredients are slightly off measurement-wise.
I had that same problem. I was able to fix it by adding 2 tablespoons of milk.
The best cookies I ever made!!! Doubling the batch today!!
perfect for when low on ingredients
Really good especially when I added coconut.
So happy you enjoyed these! Thanks for your review!