Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies, Dairy-free

These from scratch Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies are chewy, soft, melt-in-your mouth dairy-free cookies made with olive oil instead of butter. They have the just right cookie texture and come together in less than 30 minutes!

These olive oil cookies have been our go-to dairy-free chocolate chip cookie recipe for years now. They are actually our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe of all time because they are soft and chewy and always satisfy that gooey chocolate chip cookie craving.

We make them every year on Christmas Eve. We also make them when friends come over and they are always a hit. And no one ever guesses that they are made without butter. If you want to try a white chocolate version of these, try our white chocolate chip cookies.

Why you will want these cookies:

• They are pillowy yet gooey.
• They have a nice brown sugar sweetness to them.
• They are toddler approved.
• They take less than 30 minutes from start to finish.
• You only need 8 ingredients!
• These no butter chocolate chip cookies are a great dairy-free dessert! It is great for those with a dairy intolerance or allergy.
• They are made with olive oil and don’t have the heaviness that can come with using butter in baking.

Recipe Ingredients:

• flour– unbleached all purpose flour is what we recommend using for this recipe.
• olive oil– use a good quality extra virgin olive oil for this recipe. If you want a light olive oil flavor, use a light tasting olive oil.
• brown sugar– any type of brown sugar works, but we like using ones that are golden in color because they have a richer flavor.
• egg and egg yolk– you need an extra egg yolk in this recipe because it affects the texture and chewiness of the overall cookie.
• dairy-free chocolate chips– Enjoy-life, HU chocolate and Trader Joes have good dairy-free chocolate chip options.

See recipe card for full information on recipe quantities.

Additions/ Substitutions:

• Instead of regular flour, you can use gluten-free flour.
• Instead of olive oil, you can use avocado oil.
• Instead of brown sugar, you can use coconut sugar, BUT you’ll have to change the amount of oil you use.
  • If you use coconut sugar, you need to add 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil or 2-4 Tablespoons of apple sauce to the recipe so that it isn’t as dry. Coconut sugar doesn’t hold moisture as well as brown sugar, so you need to add more oil.
• Instead of chocolate chips, you can use chocolate candies.

Step by step cookie instructions:

Step 1

Step 1– In one bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt together.

Step 2

Step 2– In another bowl, mix together the olive oil, brown sugar, egg, egg yolk and vanilla.

Step 3

Step 3– Add the dry ingredients into the wet ones and mix with a handheld mixer until a dough forms.

Fold in chocolate chips.

Step 4

Step 4– scoop up the dough, roll the ball of dough in your hands and then place on a cookie sheet.

Then bake.

Expert Tips and Tricks

• Measure the flour correctly. Scoop the flour into the measuring cup and level it with a knife.
• The batter for these cookies are thick and dry. That is why it is important to roll these cookies with your hands before putting them on the cookie sheet. The act of rolling them between your hands makes it all stick together and gives them a better texture.
• The chocolate chips won’t all mix into the batter. Take the leftover chocolate chips and add them to the tops of the cookies before baking.
• Use a light olive oil if you want a lighter flavor. The oil will be lighter in color. If you want a stronger olive oil flavor, then use a darker colored oil.
• Don’t over-bake the cookies! They will be light in color and hard on the bottoms when done.

Recipe FAQs:

The short answer is yes. BUT it does change the recipe a bit.

Brown sugar results in a really chewy, soft cookie texture. Brown sugar has a rich sweetness thanks to the hint of molasses that is inside of it. Which also results in a really great classic cookie flavor.

Coconut sugar adds a nice caramel or toffee taste to the cookies. It also is less refined than brown sugar and has a lower glycemic index.

BUT coconut sugar doesn’t hold moisture as well as brown sugar, which results in the cookies being a bit more dense and a little drier than if brown sugar was used.

So if you use coconut sugar in this recipe, you need to add 1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil or 2-4 Tablespoons of apple sauce to the recipe so that it isn’t as dry.

Yes! It’s a lighter replacement for butter, vegetable oil, or canola oil.

Normally no. But if you use olive oil instead of butter, don’t use milk, and use dairy-free chocolate chips, then they can easily become dairy-free

Yes! Once the have been baked and cooled off, wrap them up individually and freeze. Then take them out of the freezer and let them reach room temperature or microwave them for a few seconds.