Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies — You won’t miss the butter at all in these coconut oil chocolate chip cookies! They’re so soft and ever so slightly chewy. Dangerously good!
Ultra Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies … Without Butter!
If you think cookies made without any butter mean making a sacrifice in the taste department, think again. No butter, no problem. You definitely won’t miss it.
These coconut oil chocolate chip cookies are very similar to my favorite Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. I loved them and wanted to see what would happen if I omitted all the butter and replaced it with coconut oil.
The results? Big success. It’s hard for me to say which cookie is ‘better.’ They’re similar, yet different, and both will leave you with your hand caught way too many times in the cookie jar.
Both versions are insanely soft and moist, with slight chewiness around the edges and at the base. There’s nothing crispy or crunchy about them, although you could bake the cookies longer if you’re looking for crunchier cookies.
Ingredients in Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies
For these seriously addicting chocolate chip cookies with coconut oil, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Melted coconut oil
- Light brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Instant vanilla pudding mix
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
How Does Swapping Butter for Coconut Oil Affect a Cookie’s Texture?
I find in general that cookies made with coconut oil are heavier, denser, and not as light as those made with butter.
It’s a function of oil versus butter; oil is just denser and heavier. It’s not a bad thing, but if you want a light, delicate, airy cookie, these aren’t that.
These chocolate chip cookies that are made without butter are wonderfully weighty and thick so you can really sink your teeth into the pillowy soft interiors dripping with chocolate!
How to Make Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies
Making chocolate chip cookies with coconut oil instead of butter is just as quick and easy! Here’s a look at how the no-butter chocolate chip cookies are made:
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the oil, sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well combined.
- Add the flour, pudding mix, baking soda, optional salt, and beat on low speed until just combined.
- Mix in the chocolate chips.
- Using either a large cookie scoop or your hands, form 12 equal-sized balls.
- Chill the dough before baking. It’s absolutely crucial for thick, puffy, full cookies. If you bake with warm dough, your cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter and the coconut oil will render them oil puddles rather than cookies.
- Once chilled, transfer the cookie dough balls to a baking sheet and bake until slightly golden around the edges.
Cookie Dough Tip
After getting the dough to the point where you add the dry ingredients, it’s super weird looking and does not look like ‘dough’. It’s shaggy and looks like shredded Play-Doh bits piled loosely in the bottom of a bowl. It’s both oily and dry, and you’ll think something is horribly wrong, but it’s fine.
If your dough is absolutely not coming together, and is fluffy, fuzzy, or too dry, drizzle in 1 tablespoon of coconut oil at a time until it comes together. Do this as a last resort because it can make the dough oily.
Frequently Asked Questions
The coconut oil chocolate chip cookies do NOT taste strongly of coconut. If you’re thinking piña colada, Hawaiian Tropic, tropical vacation, Seven Layer Bars type of in-your-face coconut flavor, no, not at all. It’s very subtle.
If anything, I think coconut oil creates cookies that taste a bit sweeter than butter-based cookies.
Yes, the instant vanilla pudding mix is a must in this recipe! You want to get the instant mix, not the cook and serve kind (and also don’t get sugar-free).
You don’t actually make the pudding according to package instructions, you just add it to the cookie dough and treat it like a dry ingredient.
Without having tried it myself, I can’t say for sure. Like I said, I really love the subtle flavor the coconut oil adds to these cookies, so use it if you can.
I don’t recommend doing that since the dough becomes hard as a rock once chilled. It’s really hard to shape cookie dough once it’s chilled, so follow the recipe instructions as I’ve written them for best results.
I’ve never made these no-butter chocolate chip cookies with any flour but all-purpose, so I can’t speak to how well these will turn out if you use a gluten-free flour or whole wheat.
I definitely don’t recommend using coconut flour in this recipe, as it acts like a sponge and will make the dough incredibly dry.
Tips for Making Coconut Oil Cookies
Measuring the coconut oil
Your coconut oil MUST be liquid before you measure it out. Coconut oil becomes liquid when it’s warm, so you may need to heat yours for a few seconds in the microwave to get it to the right consistency.
Shaping the cookie dough balls
When shaping the cookie dough into balls, you need to compress and compact the dough by squeezing it and it’ll come together. Don’t be afraid to really squeeze it!
As a bonus, your hands will be wonderfully moisturized from the coconut oil and it’s some of the best raw cookie dough I’ve ever had. I’ve sampled tons and I’m alive.
Bake time
Be careful not to over bake these cookies. They’ll likely still be pale and glossy in the very center when you take them out of the oven, but that’s okay!
I baked the cookies for 11 minutes, but if you choose to make smaller cookies, you’ll need to bake for less time. How much less? I don’t know.
The secret to these cookies is keeping them a touch underbaked, which I think is the secret to most good cookies.
Pin This Recipe
Enjoy AverieCooks.com Without Ads! 🆕
Go Ad Free
Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup melted coconut oil, in liquid state, measured like you measure canola, olive, etc. oil
- ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- one 3.5-ounce packet instant vanilla pudding mix, not sugar-free and not ‘cook & serve’, no substitutions
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- one-12 ounce bag, 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Trader Joe’s)
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or large mixing bowl and electric mixer) combine the oil, sugars, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well combined, about 2 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flour, pudding mix, baking soda, optional salt, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the chocolate chips, and beat on low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds. Mixture will look shaggy and like shredded Play-Doh bits, and is both oily and dry; this is okay.
- Using a large cookie scoop, 1/4-cup measure, or your hands, form approximately 12 equal-sized mounds of dough by compressing, compacting, and squeezing until the dough comes together; don’t be afraid to really squeeze it.*
- Place mounds on a large plate or tray, flatten slightly (when properly chilled, cookies don’t flatten much while baking so flatten them now), cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, up to 5 days. Do not bake with unchilled dough because cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading. Make sure the cookies are in the exact shape you want them before chilling, because it’s exceedingly difficult to re-shape them after chilling.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I bake 8 cookies per sheet) and bake for about 11 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked, pale, and glossy in the center; don’t overbake. Cookies firm up as they cool. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before serving. I let them cool on the baking sheet and don’t use a rack.
- Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
©averiecooks.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited.
Even More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes:
Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies – You won’t miss the butter in these olive oil chocolate chip cookies!! They’re soft and chewy, loaded with chocolate, and have a unique flavor from the olive oil but it’s not overpowering!
Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies — My gold standard Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe for over two years.
Soft M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies — These cookies are a Pinterest hit and so good!
Softbatch Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies – Move over butter, cream cheese keeps these cookies soft and extra thick
The Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies — Soft, chewy, loaded with chocolate, and they turn out perfectly every time! Totally irresistible!!
Soft and Chewy Oatmeal Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies — No butter in these soft, moist, chewy cookies that have tons of texture from shredded coconut and oats, and are loaded to the max with chocolate
Averie,
Love your website and printed out a bunch of recipes to try. two quick questions – when you says melted coconut oil – do you measure it out (ie 1/2 cup) and melt it (via microwave) or do you melt then measure 1/2 cup?
also – before I found your website, I made choc chip cookies with coconut oil, followed the recipe to a “t” and they came out flat. just awful looking. any suggestions why? I am not new to baking but new to coconut oil. (and as far as the flat cookies, i am crumbling them up and putting them in homemade fudge)
thanks!
Get 1/2 cup of oil in the cup like you’d measure 1/2 cup olive oil, canola oil, etc. Do what you need to do so there’s 1/2 cup liquid-state oil.
Here’s a cookie-baking tips/tricks post. Everything I said is also applicable for baking with coconut oil.
https://www.averiecooks.com/the-best-soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/
I seem to have missed the part of step 5 that stated to have the dough in the shape desired before cooking. It is not 4 hours later and my dough is hard as a rock :( will it be possible to form into balls after thawing?
More than likely it will be okay but…that’s why I made sure to note that! Because yes after a very short time, the coc oil will cause the dough to turn rock hard! Good luck!
I made these with a few adaptations: whole wheat flour instead of regular, coconut sugar replacing the regular sugar, and 70% dark chocolate bars chopped up. Small modifications to make them healthier….and they are AWESOME!
Glad to hear your swaps worked out great! Thanks for the info about what you did! It may help someone else who sees this!
I made these cookies and it is now my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe ever!!!! I’m on a bit of a diet though, and I would like to know the nutritional information per cookie…do you have this information? Thanks!!
Glad you’re enjoying them. Please see #4 here for stats https://www.averiecooks.com/faq
I absolutely love cooking and baking with coconut oil. …I have been wanting to try all sorts of pastries with the oil and I’m so glad to have found your post. I tried rock cakes just this weekend with virgin coconut oil instead of butter and although it was looking a bit flaky and so not like dough…the baked product turned out splendid. Will definitely try this cookie recipe for the kids ;) ;)…
Glad that you’re a fan of baking with coconut oil, too! I have soooo many recipes that call for it. In the related recipes section of this post, there are tons of coconut oil baked goods
https://www.averiecooks.com/2014/08/cream-cheese-filled-pumpkin-bread.html as well as those I linked to in this post. I really don’t use canola or olive oil anymore. Almost always coconut oil!
I absolutely love cooking and baking with coconut oil. …I have been wanting to try all sorts of pastries with the oil and I’m so glad to have found your post. I tried rock cakes just this weekend with virgin coconut oil instead of butter and although it was looking a bit flaky and so not like dough…the baked product turned out splendid.
Just made these today and they are the best cookies I have ever made! Even my husband, lifetime dairy devotee, loved them. Thanks for such a detailed recipe!
I love hearing things like this…best ever, even from a lifetime dairy devotee! Well that’s awesome and glad you guys love ’em!
Mmm these cookies look amazing and I love that you incorporated coconut oil! I always have a jar on hand as it has so many other uses as well as cooking & baking.
If I get some time to try both cookie recipes I’ll let you know which one I preferred!
Feel free to check out my baking blog as well if you have some time :)
http://www.forloveofbaking.com
Sydney Sun
hey can i use regular oil rather than using coconut oil.. and add coconut flakes
I haven’t tried other oils nor adding coconut flakes so not sure what will happen.
I’ve got a Costco-sozed bottle of coconut oil that needs some using up, and I think I’ve found just the right recipe to put it to good use! Yum, I’m totally making these soon :)
Perfect!
My (soon to be) 2 year old has all the common allergies and I wanted to make him a cookie cake for his birthday so I decided to try these. The cookies came out fantastic! I refrigerated them for about 5 hours prior to baking and they baked beautifully, didn’t flatten or undercook. I used an egg replacer, Enjoy Life morsels, and gluten-free all purpose flour (Red Mill). It was a bit sweet for me, and, despite having a great love for coconut, I thought the coconut oil taste was pretty strong, but my son enjoyed them, he’s used to the coconut flavor! How much longer would I need to bake it for a cookie cake? Overall, these cookies were a success! Thanks for the recipe!!!
Glad to hear that egg replacer, Enjoy Life morsels, and gluten-free all purpose flour (Red Mill) worked well. It can depend on the brand of coconut oil with how strong it tastes and I even find some brands, that different jars will taste differently, which is to be expected I guess given it’s a ‘natural’ product. Baking as a cookie cake, well, I’d just smoosh it into the pan and bake til it looks done. Maybe 20-25 minutes depending on how big the pan is, how thick the cake is, etc. Glad your son enjoyed these!
Because of the health benefits of cooking/baking with coconut oil, my family and I have almost completely switched over to coconut oil! (with the exception of olive oil, when it’s not heated) This seems like a recipe to try!
Silly question, but do you actually make the pudding according to the box then add that or just the powder mix?
You don’t actually make pudding; you just dump the mix in with the flour, baking soda, and mix it all up as a dry ingredient. Treat it like flour :)
Oh good!!!! I just put them in the fridge!!! Thanks so much!!!
I’ve been baking cookies my whole life and this recipe is the worst I’ve ever come across. It should not be this difficult to form a cookie. I feel like I’ve wasted half my flour rations.
I’m sorry that they were difficult to make. Many people have had great luck, myself include, but because this dough is oil-based, not butter-based, it’s not like traditional cookie dough. Sorry for your trouble.
I love baking with coconut oil! It is great , especially for cookies! Will be trying the m&ms recipe !
wuh-oh! I made these and accidentally left out the pudding! without the pudding I got the “hairy” texture you described, however after i added in the pudding it became a veryyy wet dough. I am not really sure what to do with it. I am just going to stick it in the fridge and hope itll bake okay tomorrow! (maybe ill add more flour? HELP!)
If you added things out of order and already beat in the flour, i.e. developed the gluten, then went back in and beat in the pudding mix, there’s really no telling what will happen or could happen. I would say try to compact the dough into balls (even if it’s wet) and add more flour if you think it needs it; use your judgment. And then chill the dough before baking! Hopefully things work out!
I made these cookies and they were really good but I must have messed up somewhere because the texture was almost gritty, as if the sugar had not fully dissolved. Any suggestions?
I would say maybe just stir longer with the oil, egg, sugars before adding the dry ingredients to make sure the sugar is REALLY dissolved and incorporated because they shouldn’t taste gritty. Simple fix!