Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chewy middle, crispy edged chocolate chip cookies made with olive oil and dark chocolate. A simple, one bowl recipe- no butter needed.
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.
Making the dough ahead of time
If you want to make the dough and bake it (or some of it) later on, prepare the cookie dough until the point of scooping. Portion the dough onto a parchment lined plate or small baking pan and freeze the dough balls. After about ten minutes they should be solid. Transfer them to a freezer safe ziplock bag.
When you’re ready to bake the cookies, set them on the baking tray and allow them to come to a cool room temperature before baking. Bake as directed.
Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies
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.
Did you make this recipe?
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These came out so delicious! I followed everything as stated and added 1 tbl lemon zest to the batter and added walnut pieces to the tops before baking. My family loved them, thanks for the recipe
I don’t usually comment on recipes, but these are honestly the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made and the fact that they use olive oil is a big plus! I follow the Mediterranean diet, so I used whole wheat flour and almond flour and honestly, they are amazing!
Do yourself a favor and try this recipe! Wow. I followed the ingredients and instructions, and THANK YOU. I’ve tried sooo many chocolate chip cookie recipes. This is IT. Kudos, Sam!
I’m grain-free so I used a scant more than 1/3 cup each of buckwheat, coconut, and almond flours. It is less than the 1 and 1/3 called for because grain-free tends to be drier.
They turn out great!
The first time I made them, I confess that I was afraid to use olive oil, so I used Avocado oil. The second time I put on my big girl pants and used Olive oil. Both work well, and I love the flavor the Olive oil gives them.
Great recipe!
Had to go dairy free for my breastfeeding baby and was really missing cookies in my life. Can confirm these more than hit the spot and I even feel better after eating them than I do after eating those made with butter. I don’t advise eating the cookie dough though, that was a bit too much like licking olive oil for me.
These are seriously the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made OR tasted! This will be my “go to” from now on. I made it exactly as written (maybe a bit scant on the sugars as I find cookies are often waaay too sweet and they don’t need to be especially if they have choc chips in them). I let it rest for 30 minutes and then put the bowl in the fridge while my oven heated to 350. Consistency was great for scooping. I made 22 smaller cookies.
Woooow these are super delicious and my go to chocolate chip cookies recipe for now on. Thank you so much for sharing this delightful recipe!
Another perfect cookie recipe by Sam!! I love the subtle taste of olive oil and the texture of these. So delicious!!!
These were delicious! I made them a lot smaller (about 1 heaped tsp of dough), and baked in the airfyer for 10 mins at 160. I got about 25 biscuits from one batch. Also used milk chocolate choc chips with extra virgin olive oil & they tasted divine. Thanks!
These are the BEST choc chip cookies. After going dairy free while breastfeeding my baby I struggled to find great dairy free baking. But these are such a huge hit in our house – I’ve probably made them a dozen times and never get sick of them. I use the Whittaker’s (NZ) 50% Dark Choc to make them totally dairy free and they are just perfection. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe! I have made many different chocolate chip cookies over the years and this is by far the BEST I have ever made. I used the Bertoli extra light tasting olive oil paired with Guittard Dark Chocolate chips. The flavor was heavenly and the texture of the baked cookies divine.
this is so wonderful to hear! I love those dark chocolate chips too. Thank you for the review =)
This is an amazing recipe- not only do the cookies taste amazing, they are gorgeous out of the oven perfectly browned and not too plump, and not a puddle. These cookies are actually better for you too because olive oil has fewer saturated fats and more heart-healthy fats than butter. This will be my new go to chocolate chip cookie recipe. I used dark chocolate cut with a knife not chips. Thank you for this recipe!
Thrilled to hear you loved them Jen!
You do not need to hydrate the four, if you’re only adding oil to flour without any water, the flour does not need to “hydrate” because oil does not hydrate flour in the same way water does; oil primarily coats the flour particles, not allowing them to absorb water and develop gluten, so technically, there is no hydration happening when only using oil.
Eggs are over 75% water and play a big role in hydrating the flour. Published your comment without the rating since you clearly didn’t make the recipe and simply commented because you thought you were ‘educating’.
loved these!!! I love all your recipes but haven’t gotten around to commenting yet. made these exactly as written and was pleasantly surprised by how delicious cookies can be even without butter. thank you for all the amazing recipes!
I think these are my favorite chocolate chip cookies, period! I used half olive oil, half canola oil, and let them rest on the counter for 30-40 minutes before baking. They are absolutely delicious, and are perfect for dairy-free situations without compromising on taste at all! Thanks so much for this recipe! My friends all thank you 🙂
I just made these and they are absolutely delicious! I did use avocado oil. I also used a Bourbon vanilla paste in place of vanilla extract. I also added zest from one orange and a half a teaspoon of cinnamon. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
Delicious!!!
I used avocado oil instead of olive oil, and this is now my go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies! The first time I added the chocolate chips later than recommended, which created more work to get the chips to stay in the dough. Adding the chocolate chips before the dry ingredients are not fully incorporated is definitely the way to go.
I followed the recipe but substituted the flour with 150g of whole wheat flour and 30g of almond flour. And substituted the two sugars with pure cane sugar but less 1/4c. Had to add 1/3 coconut milk to hydrate the flours more.
Came out scrumptious, not overly sweet and more nutritious.
The cookies turned out pretty! But girl, adding 1 teaspoon of baking soda is just not it. My cookies had a weird sour-y, bitter taste because of it. Whoever is following this recipe, don’t add baking soda and definitely not a whole teaspoon of it. Add baking powder! It’s perfect for baking cookies as well as cakes.
baking soda and baking powder have different functions; baking soda encourages spread of the cookie while baking powder would cause them to rise up (and thus have a more muffin/cakey texture. I like my cookies fudgy, not muffin-like. If you had a strange after/bitter taste it could be the variety of olive oil used which has that accent.
I swear by these cookies. I first found the recipe when I was low on butter and baking powder and my husband wanted something sweet. I know make a double batch every couple weeks. But I have a question. I am now low on olive oil, I think. and I was thinking of making these for a wedding. Would they still if I used a mix of oils or olive oil and butter?
So happy to hear you love them! Butter is going to change the texture and spread of the cookies; they’ll spread less and be less chewy. I’d either use another oil to make up the difference or opt for a full butter chocolate chip cookie (most recipes are like this, including several of mine).
i made these using bobs red mill 1:1 gluten free flour and forgot to add vanilla and these still turned out amazing. my new go to recipe for sure
Didn’t have any butter at home but really wanted to make some CCC. So I found this recipe and it is AMAZING. I am doing a second batch ATM because they were literally gone in minutes!! The only thing is (which is prob on me) that my batter was both times extremely runny although I held on the exact measurements. Idk what I do wrong. Tastes still amazing!
This recipe is amazing! The cookies are excellent. I did not alter the recipe at all. I have a dairy allergy and this is now my chocolate chip go-to recipe.
A household staple for us now! Delicious and easy!
Love to hear it! Thank you Grace =)
LOVE LOVE LOVE these cookies! They are a new favorite. Love the slight taste of olive oil in them! Thank you for this recipe.
This recipe works really well. Everything as expected. Definetly recommend for dairy free cookie lovers.
Glad to hear it Marie, thank you for giving it a go =)