One of the most common requests I get is more recipes without butter (vegan butter, of course!).
Similarly to my tahini choc chip cookies, this olive oil chocolate chip cookie recipe solves the need to track down vegan butter. Made using easy-to-find, simple ingredients, most of which are pantry staples, and the dough doesn't require chilling time!
If you love baking with fruity olive oil, try my orange olive oil cake and pistachio lemon olive oil cake next!
🧾 Ingredients
Here's everything you need to make vegan olive oil cookies:
Ingredient Notes
Find the complete list of ingredients, quantities, and instructions in the recipe card at the end of this post.
- Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: Use a good quality olive oil for the best results. If you aren't a fan of the fruity slightly floral taste of EVOO, opt for virgin olive oil instead for a less intense flavor.
- Sugar: A combination of light brown sugar (for moisture and flavor) and granulated sugar (for crisp edges) is needed here. I use light Muscovado sugar which is essentially unrefined cane sugar.
- Non-Dairy Milk: I used soy milk, but almond or oat milk are great options, too. Just make sure you go for unsweetened milk.
- Vegan Plain Yogurt: While optional, this adds a hint of tang and makes the cookies spread a tad more. If you want to simplify the recipe you can omit the yogurt for another tablespoon of plant-based milk.
- Good Quality Dark Chocolate: I used equal parts bittersweet 70% chocolate and 60% semisweet chocolate. I recommend using a chocolate bar rather than baking chocolate chips so you get big dark chocolate chunks!
- Vanilla Extract: Use a high-quality pure vanilla extract for the best flavor, not vanilla essence.
- Sea salt: This enhances the other flavors in the cookies and balances their sweetness.
🔪 Instructions
Here are step-by-step images showing how to make this delicious olive oil cookie recipe. Please refer to the detailed printable recipe card at the end of this page for full measurements and written instructions:
Start by whisking the wet ingredients in a large bowl (brown sugar, granulated sugar, olive oil, non-dairy milk, non-dairy yogurt, and vanilla extract). The baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt are whisked in next to make sure they are evenly distributed throughout the cookie dough.
Next fold in the flour in two parts, stop folding while there are still some visible streaks or pockets of flour after the second increment. This avoids overworking the dough as it will be mixed further in the next step!
Add the majority of the chopped chocolate pieces, (reserving a couple of tablespoons for the next step) and fold until mixed through.
Use a cookie scoop to divide the cookie dough into 12 portions and place them on baking sheets lined with parchment paper, leaving a couple of inches between each cookie.
Stud the balls of dough with the remaining chocolate which will create melty chocolate pools during baking. Bake between 10-12 minutes, until the outer edges are lightly browned.
Pull the tray from the oven and scoot around the edges of the cookies with a large cookie cutter or glass for nice rounded edges. After 5 minutes, transfer them to a cooling rack and sprinkle flaky sea salt over the tops of the cookies.
💭 Recipe Tips
Sprinkle salt while the cookies are warm. This helps the salt stick to the warm cookie dough and melted chocolate!
Scoot the edges of the cookies while warm. I found that these cookies bake pretty uniformly as they have a little more flour than my other vegan cookie recipes which helps them hold their shape while baking. However, to get the *perfect cookie* shape, I always run a large cookie cutter around the edges.
Freeze cookie dough balls for freshly baked cookies on demand! If you don't want to use them all at once, you can freeze them for later. Place them on a plate with parchment in a single layer and freeze for one hour, then transfer them to a sealed container or freezer bag and store them in the freezer for storage. Bake as usual, just add a minute or two to the bake time.
💬 FAQs
Store the finished cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for around 5 days, or refrigerate for up to 10 days.
Absolutely! This recipe makes 12 cookies but you can halve the ingredients to make 6.
I haven't tested this, sorry! The recipe is designed to work with standard all-purpose flour, so if you want to try it, I would suggest trying an all-purpose cup-for-cup blend (such as King Arthur measure for measure).
🍪 More Vegan Cookies
📖 Recipe
Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies (No Eggs, No Butter)
Ingredients
- 108 g (½ cup) light brown sugar
- 75 g (¼ cup + 2 tablespoons) granulated sugar *organic, note 1
- 100 ml (⅓ cup + 4 ½ teaspoons) extra virgin olive oil *note 2
- 1 tablespoon non-dairy milk *note 3
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened plain vegan yogurt *note 4
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon sea salt + extra flaky salt for garnish
- 220 g (1 ¾ cups + 1 tablespoon) all-purpose flour
- 150 g (5.3 oz) vegan dark chocolate roughly chopped *note 5
Instructions
- Prepare: Preheat your oven to fan 160°C/conventional 180°C. Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Mix wet ingredients: Add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, olive oil, non-dairy milk, non-dairy yogurt, and vanilla extract and whisk to combine.
- Add the baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt and whisk again briefly to combine.
- Fold in flour: Using a rubber spatula fold half the flour into the dough. Then add the second half of the flour and fold until almost combined with a few visible streaks of flour.*note 6
- Add chocolate: Add 120g of the chocolate chunks (reserving a few tablespoons for garnish) and fold them through the cookie dough.
- Shape: Use a 2.4"/6cm cookie scoop to separate the dough into 12 portions. Place the cookie dough balls on the lined sheets - leave at least 2 inches of space between each ball of dough as they will spread whilst baking! If you only have one tray, bake them in batches.Stud the cookies with most of the remaining chocolate chunks.
- Bake: Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes. Then use a large cookie cutter or glass to carefully round off and shape the edges of the hot cookies. Sprinkle the tops with flaky sea salt.Let the cookies sit on the baking trays for 5 minutes, then carefully slide them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Granulated Sugar: Use organic sugar if US-based to ensure it is vegan-friendly.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Use good quality oil for the best flavor. The taste will shine through, so use light olive oil if you prefer a more subtle flavor.
- Non-Dairy Milk: I use soy milk, but you can also use almond or oat milk.
- Vegan Yogurt: This makes the cookies spread slightly more. You can substitute it for an extra 1 tablespoon of non-dairy milk.
- Dark Chocolate: I use half bittersweet 70%, and half semisweet 60%.
- If your mixture is on the dry side, you can add another tablespoon of plant-based milk.
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