Everything we love about chocolate chip cookies but this time, no dairy and no butter! Olive oil (or any flavorless oil if that’s your preference) takes butter’s place in these crispy edged-chewy middle cookies.
Recipe Origins
A few months ago my brother asked me for a chocolate chip cookie recipe without butter. I thought of this olive oil cookie recipe but it’s not really meant to hold up chocolate and would probably make very flat cookies with that addition. I directed him to a ‘olive oil chocolate chip cookie’ recipe from another blogger I’d made a few years ago but he pointed out it had butter in it too. I sent him another one but it was a bit fussy for him so I was like, well, I suppose I could develop one?
At first I thought I’d small batch the recipe but that would require using an egg sub or portioning an egg, and I found that I liked them best with the whole egg since it added the water and the richness of flavor to the dough.
These are, honestly, just delicious. I didn’t miss the butter at all and the texture was spot on with crispy edges and a chewier middle. Paired with dark chocolate it’s a winning combination. I’ve started to make these whenever I have a ccc craving, just because they’re easy (no softening or creaming butter) and they just deliver exactly what I want from a cookie.
Recipe Ingredients
Olive oil: You will taste the olive oil in the cookies so use something you like! Extra virgin olive oil has a stronger flavor but a ‘light’ or just virgin olive oil will be more mild.
Sugar: We’re doing a mix of brown sugar (you can use light or dark) and fine granulated.
Vanilla: use a good quality pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste.
Egg: One large egg.
Flour: all purpose flour of a medium protein content (like 11%).
Chocolate: I think dark chocolate is great here, paired with the olive oil. Use good quality chips or chop up your favorite eating chocolate bar.
How to make olive oil chocolate chip cookies
Whisk together the egg and sugars.
It’s going to start out dark and thick but as you whisk, and keep whisking, it will turn light and airy
Slowly whisk in the olive oil; as you whisk pour it in. Then once it’s all in, whisk well to ensure it’s fully emulsified.
Stir in the flour and baking soda (here I’d switch to a rubber spatula otherwise the dough just gets caught in the whisk) but don’t bother fully mixing it in just yet
Add the chocolate then stir until you don’t see any flour bits
Cover to seal and rest the dough for about an hour on the counter. This time is crucial for the wet ingredients to hydrate the flour. You’ll notice after the rest the dough is more ‘even’.
Preheat the oven and prep the pans. Scoop the cookies onto the pan leaving enough space for them to spread.
Bake until golden on the edges.
FAQ on Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies
Should I use Chocolate Chunks or Chocolate Chips?
Big chocolate puddles come from a chocolate bar that was chopped up, and smaller round bits are from chocolate chips. What’s the difference besides shape?
If you’re chopping up a chocolate bar you’re getting chocolate sans ‘anti-melting’ ingredients so it’s smoother. It’ll melt quicker in the oven and push the dough out so it spreads more. Chocolate chips, designed to not fully melt, mostly hold shape in the cookie. The cookies will spread a bit less with chocolate chips.
Most importantly? Choose something you like to eat! Taste the chocolate before you add it to the dough.
How long should I bake the cookies?
Cookies that are less brown and have spread less, have spent less time in the oven. They tend to be more evenly baked, and I pulled them out before they really started browning on the edges. The result was edges that weren’t very crispy and had a little less of that ‘toffee’ flavor.
The bigger, darker cookies (actually scooped the same size!) were baked for another 2 minutes. This led to a more generous spread, crispier edges and took us further down the maillard reaction so the taste was deeper and more toffee like (more delicious tbh!).
Watch the cookies and decide what you want: take them out early if you want a softer chewier cookie, or give them a couple more minutes if you want more crisp or even crunch.
Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies – a Gluten Free Variation
I have successfully made this recipe gluten free by swapping out the all purpose flour for oat flour with some small adjustments: use 195g or 1 ¾ cups oat flour (instead of the 1 ½ cups ap) and reduce the baking soda to ¾ teaspoon.
Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chewy middle, crispy edged chocolate chip cookies made with olive oil and dark chocolate. A simple, one bowl recipe and no butter needed.
Prep Time: 15 minutes mins
Cook Time: 12 minutes mins
Rest Time: 1 hour hr
Yields: 12 large cookies
5 from 4 votes
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Ingredients
- 130g or ⅔ cups brown sugar light or dark
- 50g or ¼ cup fine granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt half the amount if using table salt
- 100g or ½ cup olive oil use an olive oil you like the taste of, can also sub with a flavorless oil like avocado or canola oil
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 180g or 1 ⅓ cups cups all purpose flour if using cup measurements, shake the flour over the cup to fill then level it
- 150g chocolate chips or chopped chocolate reduce or increase the amount of chocolate to your taste - use dairy free chocolate if you want the cookies to be fully DF
Method
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the sugars and egg until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes.
Add the salt and vanilla and whisk to combine.
While whisking, slowly pour in the olive oil. Once it’s all in, whisk vigorously until you have a smooth shiny mixture.
Add the flour and baking soda, and stir until it’s half combined. Add the chocolate and stir until the dough is mixed and no flour streaks remain.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap to seal and leave on the counter for 30-60 minutes. This time is essential for the flour to hydrate. After this you have the option to transfer the bowl to the fridge and chill overnight.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line two greased baking sheets with parchment paper.
Use a 1.5 or 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the dough. Leave a 1 inch diameter around each dough ball so the cookies can spread.
Bake until the edges are golden and the center is set, depending on the size of your cookies this can take 10-12 minutes (13 if you like dark brown crispy edges).
Let cool on the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a plate.
Once completely cool, store in an airtight container.
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3 comments
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What do you think of this recipe?
LOVE LOVE LOVE these cookies! They are a new favorite. Love the slight taste of olive oil in them! Thank you for this recipe.Reply
This recipe works really well. Everything as expected. Definetly recommend for dairy free cookie lovers.Reply
Glad to hear it Marie, thank you for giving it a go =)
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