Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
The Best No Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe makes a delicious dairy free dessert. It’s an easy recipe with crispy edges and a chewy center – A classic Chocolate Chip Cookie!
We all love classic chocolate chip cookies – with butter – to make that chewy but tender cookie we all love. But lactose intolerance affects 44% of Canadians which makes having desserts made with dairy hard to digest (What is Lactose Intolerance, Canadian Digestive Health Foundation, 2022).
I am personally lactose intolerant (although I can digest some dairy) so I want to create desserts that are dairy free.
Of course, I had to start with Chocolate Chip Cookies. Maybe I am biased, but these are best cookies, you won’t miss the butter version!
Why Bake Butterless Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe
- Made with Vegetable Shortening
- Makes the best chocolate chip cookies with basic ingredients
Ingredients for No Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Golden all vegetable shortening: Vegetable shortening is a replacement for butter in this recipe. Use the Golden All vegetable shortening (Crisco brand) to have a golden brown look to your cookies.
White Sugar: Sugar sweetens the cookie dough and gives these perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe the crispy edge.
Dark Brown Sugar: This type of sugar is great to make delicious cookies and it helps create a chewy texture.
Egg: Use a room temperature egg. The egg binds all the ingredients together.
Strongly brewed coffee: Optional, but compliments the chocolate well!
Vanilla extract: Important flavouring!
All purpose flour: All purpose flour is preferred, I have not tested this recipe with other types of flours.
Baking soda: The leavening agent.
Salt: To balance the sugar and sweetness.
Enjoy Life Semi Sweet 100% Real Chocolate Mini Chips: This recipe uses two types of Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips. I like the variety, but you can use one or the other.
Enjoy Life Semi Sweet 100% Real Chocolate Chucks: Chocolate Chucks add in more chocolate in every bite!
This Butterless Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe makes 11 Cookies!
How to Make Butterless Chocolate Chip Cookies
Mise en place: Prepare two cookie trays with parchment paper, set aside.
Dry Ingredients: Stir together all purpose flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl, set aside.
Wet Ingredients: Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, mix together vegetable shortening, white sugar and brown sugar on a low speed. A thick paste will form then add the egg, brewed coffee and vanilla extract. Continue to mix with the hand mixer until fully combined.
Combine together: Add in the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients, fold together until almost all of the flour mixture is mixed in to form a cookie dough.
Chocolate chips: Fold in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed in the cookie dough and all the remaining flour is fully combined.
Chill: Chill the cookie dough for 20 minutes. Preheat the oven temperature to 350°F.
Scoop: Using a cookie scoop, scoop the dough to form cookie dough balls and place on the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake: Bake for 10 minutes, rotating the pans halfway of the baking time. Remove from the oven, the edges should be firm but the middle of the cookie will be soft (this creates a chewy cookie). Let the cookies rest out of the oven, on the cookie sheet, for another 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to completely cool.
Garnish: Add mini chocolate chips or chocolate chucks on top of the cookie right out of the oven.
Enjoy: Sprinkle flake salt on top of the cookies and enjoy!
What Is the Best Substitute for Butter in Chocolate Chip Cookies?
There are several substitutes for butter in Chocolate Chip Cookies:
- Vegetable shortening (like this recipe!)
- Coconut oil
- Vegetable oil (any neutral oil)
Can I use Crisco instead of butter?
Yes! This recipe uses Crisco Golden All Vegetable Shortening instead of butter. This is the best no butter chocolate chip cookies recipe using shortening!
Crisco has less water than butter, so this homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe adds in extra liquid.
The 2 teaspoons of strongly brewed coffee makes up for the water content in butter and adds extra flavour!
Another point to add about Crisco, cookies with shortening may become hard after a day or so (meaning it won’t remain tender like regular chocolate chip cookies with butter).
So, store the cookies in an airtight container and microwave the cookies before eating for soft cookies!
Tools Required
- Electric mixer (stand or hand held)
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Large bowls
- Spatula
- Cookie Scoop
- Cookie sheets
- Parchment paper
- Wire rack
💡 Ashley’s Expert Tips
- For best results, always weigh your ingredients. If you do not have a scale and you need to measure your ingredients, use the “scoop and level” method.
- The “scoop and level” method is to use another scoop to pour the ingredient into your measuring cup. Then use a flat surface (like a spatula or wooden spoon handle) to scrape off any excess ingredient from the top of the measuring cup.
- However, for dark brown sugar, this method is not used. Instead, dark brown sugar needs to be “lightly packed” into the measuring cup. Carefully read the recipe for these types of notes!
Follow me on Instagram! @ashleycbakes
Cookies spreading too much?
If the cookies are spreading too much while baking follow these tips:
- Chill the cookie dough for 20 minutes.
- If baking multiple batches, let the baking trays cool in between.
- Separate the cookie dough balls about 2 inches away from each other.
Cookies not spreading?
If the cookies are not spreading, lightly tap the bottom of the baking tray.
How to Store Homemade Cookies
After the cookies are completely cool, store these delicious chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Because of the shortening, the cookies may harden. Microwave the cookies to soften them!
Check out my other Dairy Free Recipes
Soft Guyanese Coconut Buns
Moist Carrot Cake with Raisins
The BEST No Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1⅓ cup (180g) All Purpose Flour spooned and levelled
- ¼ tsp Baking Soda
- ¼ tsp Salt
- ½ cup (114g) Crisco Golden All Vegetable Shortening
- ¼ cup (55g) White Granulated Sugar
- ¾ cup (139g) Dark Brown Sugar lightly packed
- 1 Egg
- 1 tsp Water or Strongly Brewed Coffee
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- ½ cup Enjoy Life Semi Sweet 100% Real Chocolate Mini Chips
- ½ cup Enjoy Life Semi Sweet 100% Real Chocolate Chucks
Instructions
- Prepare 2 cookie trays with parchment paper, set aside.
- Stir together flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl, set aside.
- Using a hand mixer, mix together Crisco Golden All Vegetable Shortening, white sugar and brown sugar until completely incorporated, a thick paste will form. Add in the egg, strong brewed coffee and vanilla extract, mix with hand mixer.
- Add in the dry ingredient mixture to the wet ingredients, fold together until almost all of the flour is mixed in to form a cookie dough. Add the Enjoy Life Semi Sweet 100% Real Chocolate Mini Chips and the Enjoy Life Semi Sweet 100% Real Chocolate Chucks and fold together until evenly distributed in the cookie dough and all of the remaining flour is fully combined.
- Chill the cookie dough for 20 minutes, Preheat oven to 350°F.
- By hand or using a cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough to form cookie balls and place on prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the pans half way9. Remove from the oven, the edges should be firm but the middle will be soft. (this creates a chewy cookie). Leave on the cookie tray for another 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to completely cool.
Notes
- Chill the cookie dough for 20 minutes.
- If baking multiple batches, let the baking trays cool in between.
- Separate the cookie dough balls about 2 inches away from each other
Pin for Later:
These look amazing! Cookies with chewy centers with crispy edges are my favorite!
Yes those are my favourite too!!
Yum! Cookies made like this are the BEST. I could eat them all day!
OMG! same here 🙂
you had me at no butter!! really tasty treats
Thank you! These cookies taste amazing without butter!
Love this butter-free recipe!
Thank you! No butter is good (and maybe a bit healthier??)
These were just as good as cookies made with butter! We all loved the. Thanks for a great recipe.
Yay, amazing to hear
love that these are butter free! they come out great and are so good!
The most delicious cookies! Huge hit with my friends and family too 👌🏻🍪
My grandma used to make all of her cookies with shortening! Ah, the memories. Definitely saving this recipe!
So good I nearly ate the whole batch!
The added coffee is a fantastic flavor addition to these cookies. What a great recipe!
I love the caramel like flavor they got from the dark brown sugar. So good!
These look ridiculously goooood! Love a good chewy center!
These cookies are incredible! 10/10 making again!
What a great cookie! I’m about to make my second batch, the first one disappeared quickly!
Growing up Mom always used shortening when making cookies. They were our absolute favourites! This brings back so many good memories.
Fantastic chewy choco chip cookies. It’s great they are already dairy free. I just used a flax egg and made them vegan. Yummy.
this no butter chocolate chip was amazing .thanks
I would never have thought that cookies without butter can be so good! Absolutely obsessed with these!
These cookies were so delicious, they disappeared in a flash! The kids are asking me to make them again! So good with the crispy edges and chewy center, just how we like them!
Yay! I’m happy that everyone liked the cookies!
Whipped up a batch of these this afternoon and they did not disappoint! Turned out perfectly moist and delicious; exactly what I needed to cure my sweet tooth!
After making these cookies over the weekend, I don’t think I’ll need another chocolate chip cookie recipe ever again! They were amazing!!
Okay, I didn’t even know you could make cookies without butter, but these don’t seem to be missing a thing. I’m excited to try a healthier version that will be great for my friends who are lactose intolerant.
I love using shortening in my homemade chocolate chip cookies! These look like perfection. 🙂
Yum! I love that these are dairy-free! The addition of coffee is so good.
I love the addition of coffee. Super yum cookies.