Why you’ll love these dairy free chocolate chip cookies!
Baking is one of the hardest things to do once you’ve gone dairy free. There are so, so many recipes out there that require milk, butter, or – my least favorite to replace – yogurt.
But, I’ve got your back. I’ve tested out many of those dairy free chocolate chip cookies, and we’ve decided that these are our favorite.
They’re texture is most like the butter-based cookies of our childhood and they flavor is the closest we can find. In fact, I’d say it’s dead on.
That’s mostly because of the vegetable shortening I replaced the butter with – it’s my favorite substitute for butter when baking – and allergy friendly chocolate chips.
Ingredient notes:
- Dairy free butter – I’ve used both vegetable shortening and dairy free chocolate chips for this recipe. You can easily swap vegan butter or coconut oil for the shortening if that’s what you have on hand just be sure to let it soften a bit.
- Dairy free chocolate chips – These are usually available at most grocery stores, but sometimes they are located in the organic section rather than the baking aisle. If you’re unsure, just read the label and look for milk listed as an ingredient.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
How to make chocolate chip cookies without butter
Mise en place. Preheat your oven to 350˚F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Measure out all of your ingredients before you begin mixing. This helps make sure you don’t miss anything.
Whisk your dry ingredients. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. Set the bowl aside for later.
Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the shortening and sugars until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and the eggs, one at a time and beat until they’re incorporated.
Combine the dry and wet ingredients. Add the flour to the mixing bowl, about 3/4 cup at a time, scraping the sides as needed.
Once that is all mixed, you’ll need to stir in the chocolate chips. You can also add about 1/2 cup chopped nuts if you want.
Scoop the cookies. Use a cookie scoop to shape the dough into 2 tablespoon sized balls and place them on the cookie sheet about and inch or so apart.
Bake for 11 – 13 minutes – or until the tops of the cookies have set. They should still be super soft when you take them out, especially if you want them to be chewy.
Let them cool. Remove the cookies from the oven and leave them on the baking sheet for a few minutes. Then transfer them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
More dairy free cookies: rocky road cookies / chocolate chocolate chip cookies / soft sugar cookies / sprinkle cookies / almond crescent cookies / no bake chocolate oatmeal cookies
Frequently asked questions
If you want to replace butter in chocolate chip cookies, you have several options. Since chocolate chip cookies typically use softened, but not melted butter, I recommend using vegetable shortening, vegan butter, or softened coconut oil for a 1:1 replacement.
Traditional Nestle chocolate chips aren’t dairy free, but they recently came out with a line called Simply Delicious that are top 8 allergen free, which means they are dairy free. If you’re unsure, be sure to check the ingredients list.
More dairy free chocolate recipes: dairy free fudge / olive oil brownies / dairy free chocolate pudding / dairy free hot chocolate / chocolate zucchini muffins / chocolate raspberry tart
Eggs are not dairy.
But, if you thought eggs were a dairy product, you are not alone. It’s common misconception that stems from the fact that eggs are sold in the dairy section at the grocery store and they usually need to be refrigerated, which is something we often associate with dairy. See more: Are eggs dairy free?
The Best Dairy Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup vegetable shortening*
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup dairy free chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat shortening and sugars at medium speed until light and fluffy – about 2 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until combined. Add flour mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time, mixing until incorporated, scrapping sides as needed.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, drop 2 tablespoon balls of dough onto cookie sheet. Bake for 10 – 11 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Repeat steps 6 – 7 to bake remaining cookies.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Omg these r amazing i make them with my nieces all the time. Sooo yummmm
I made these gluten free by using 1 c. gluten free quick oats and 1 1/2 c. Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 baking flour in place of the 2 1/2 cups flour. They were delicious! I loved the texture – crisp on the outside, chewy and soft on the inside, just how a good chocolate chip cookie should be. The flavor wasn’t quite as good as I hoped though, I missed the butter, as I always do in dairy free baking. I think next time I may try half shortening, half Earth Balance buttery sticks to help with that. But overall they were a really great basic chocolate chip cookie that tasted very close to the “real deal”. Hard to come by in our family full of allergies! Thank you!
My son was newly diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophasgitis and I just made these. They are AMAZING and I’m so glad I can still make him some yummy treats. I’m a chef and have not had to deal with a dairy allergy before so I’m having fun learning and trying new things. I used half Earth Balance and half vegetable shortening and 2 1/4 c for and they were perfect! Thank you again!
We made the chocolate chip cookies, used semi sweet and dk chips plus walnuts, so great, all the family luv’d them and didn’t know they were dairy free, thanks:)
Theses cookies are amazing!
I was hesitant after I took a small taste of the dough, but the cookies came out fantastic!
As someone who is allergic to dairy (I get postnasal drip from dairy), these cookies are quite good. Sure, I miss the buttery flavor of a cup of butter; however, it sure beats having snot run down the back of my throat, making me cough and needing to run for a Claritin 😉
Thank you for this. Oh, I’ll try the recipe this weekend once I get all my ingredients!
I didn’t have baking powder so omitted it and they still turned out great. Made with Enjoy Life chocolate chips. A winner!
I LOVE the Enjoy Life chips though! I’ll have to try the others some time.
Thank you again for such amazing recipes!