These thick and chewy Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies are made with coconut oil instead of butter and the resulting recipe is absolutely delicious!
Chocolate chip cookies without butter
If you’ve never tried coconut oil chocolate chip cookies, you’re in for a treat.
The cookies turn out soft, sweet, buttery and irresistible. The recipe can absolutely compete with all classic chocolate chip cookies.
Bring a bunch of these to your next party or event and watch them disappear!
Readers also love this Chocolate Mug Cake
Watch the Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe video above
Ingredients for Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies
To make the super easy recipe, you will need flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, chocolate chips, coconut oil, pure vanilla extract, and your choice of milk.
The recipe can be egg-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, refined sugar-free, and vegan.
Spelled flour, oat flour and white all-purpose flour are suitable here. I didn’t try whole wheat flour in this recipe.
For low carb and keto coconut oil cookies, try these Coconut Flour Cookies or the Almond Flour Keto Chocolate Chip Cookies listed in the recipe box below.
The sugar can be coconut sugar, unrefined turbinado sugar or evaporated cane juice, brown sugar, or regular white sugar. Xylitol or granulated erythritol will most likely also work well in sugar-free cookies, but I haven’t tried either of those options.
Would you like to add cocoa powder? Try these vegan double chocolate chip cookies.
Or, for oatmeal raisin cookies, choose oatmeal as your flour of choice. Replace some or all of the chocolate chips in the oatmeal cookies with raisins or even dried cranberries.
How to make cookies with coconut oil
Before you start, make sure that all the ingredients (especially the milk) are not cold.
The coconut oil should be runny. If it’s rock hard or has a peanut butter-like consistency, place the oil in a warm place or in the microwave for a few seconds to soften.
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and remove a nonstick baking sheet.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients. Then stir in the remaining ingredients until a cookie dough texture is formed.
The batter will be dry at first, so keep stirring. After about a minute or two, it should magically turn into cookie dough.
Form the cookie dough into a large ball with the coconut oil. Now break off smaller pieces and roll them into cookie balls with your hands.
Place the balls on the baking sheet. Since they hardly spread, you can press them into biscuit molds before or after baking. Or leave them as chocolate chip cookie balls. It’s up to you.
Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for eleven minutes. Remove from the oven and allow the biscuits to cool completely (at least ten minutes). This is important as they will become significantly firmer as they cool.
Storage tips for chocolate chip cookies
The best way to store chocolate chip cookies is to let them cool first.
Once cool, I like to place the cookies on a serving plate or airtight container and enclose the entire plate in a large Ziploc or cover the container with a lid.
This keeps the coconut cookies soft and chewy, even without butter.
The coconut cookies are great to take to parties or events as they are easy to carry. Wrap them in a large container, with a layer of parchment paper between each cookie layer.
They also make great gifts!
If you’re short on time, you can also make the coconut cookie dough ahead of time and roll it into cookie balls. Place the raw cookie dough balls in an airtight container so they are not touching. Place a sheet of parchment paper between each layer and freeze until ready to use. No thawing is required before cooking. Just increase the baking time by two minutes.
Still craving cookies? Make banana oatmeal cookies
Can you taste the coconut oil?
The really great thing about coconut oil is that you can control whether or not you want to taste the coconut flavor.
If you don’t want your cookies to taste coconut at all, buy refined coconut oil. It is made from dried coconut meat and processed over high heat. This type of oil has a neutral taste.
Unrefined coconut oil is made from fresh coconut meat and is only minimally processed. It adds a touch of tropical coconut flavor to your baked goods.
Look for coconut oil at most health food or regular grocery stores, including Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Target, Walmart, Giant, and Safeway.
Tips for baking with coconut oil
Unlike olive oil or vegetable oil, coconut oil can be in either liquid or solid form.
It has a melting point of around 75 degrees Fahrenheit and will solidify at cooler temperatures, making it a great substitute for butter in recipes.
When baking with coconut oil, make sure all other ingredients are at room temperature. For example, using cold milk can cause the coconut oil to become rock hard when mixed with the milk.
If you need to microwave coconut oil to liquefy it, allow the liquefied oil to sit for a few minutes before stirring it into the cookie dough. Otherwise, the chocolate chips in the batter could melt and create a marbled effect. Then again, who could say no to marbled chocolate chip cookies?
After adding the oil and forming a dough, I recommend rolling it into balls and baking immediately. If you refrigerate the dough, the coconut oil will make it firmer, making it difficult to roll into balls until it comes back to room temperature.
Create the recipe using a food scale
If you prefer to make chocolate chip cookies with a food scale, using gram measures instead of cups and tablespoons, here are the amounts to use:
120 grams flour, 100 grams sugar, 60 grams coconut oil, 15 grams milk of your choice and 40 grams chocolate chips. Also, remember to add baking soda and salt.
The recipe was adapted from my Tahini Cookies and Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies.
- 1 Cup White, spelled or oatmeal (for low carb try these keto cookies)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/2 Cup Sugar, also unrefined if desired
- 1/4 Cup chocolate chips
- 1/3 Cup coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon milk of your choice
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
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*Measure a cup of loosely packed flour. Then take out a tablespoon and discard it. (Measure 110 grams if you have a food scale.) Be sure to read the coconut oil baking tips above before making this recipe.Preheat the oven to 325 F. Stir the dry ingredients in a bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients until a dough forms. It will be dry, so keep stirring for at least a minute, then it suddenly turns into a cookie dough texture. Roll into balls. Place the cookie dough balls on a cookie sheet and shape into cookie shapes. Bake 11 minutes. Allow the coconut oil cookies to cool completely before handling as they will firm up significantly as they cool. Once they’re completely cool, I like to place them on a plate and seal the entire plate in a large Ziploc. They’re super soft and chewy the next day!View nutritional information
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