Looking for a more nutritious spin on a traditional homemade cookie? Try these olive oil chocolate chip cookies! While still decadent, these cookies are a bit more nutrient-dense thanks to the use of whole wheat flour and olive oil.
They have a bit of a fruitier, earthier flavor compared to traditional butter-based cookies – but that’s something we enjoy. If you’re a fan of the flavor complexity of a high-quality olive oil, you’ll love these cookies. They’ve been a favorite of mine during the holidays this year!
Ingredients
Here’s a photo of the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe, along with selected ingredient notes:
- Olive oil – As a nutritious fat option, olive oil is an excellent choice for baked goods. It’s packed with heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, as well as a variety of polyphenols which have health-promoting effects. In fact, one polyphenol called oleocanthal has been shown in research to reduce inflammation and may also play a role in brain health and reduced risk of cancer.
- Sugar – You’ll use both brown sugar and granulated sugar in this recipe. If you’d prefer making a sugar-free version of these cookies, you can use a 1:1 substitute. I’ve used Lakanto Golden successfully with this recipe (however note that any sweetener with erythritol can lead to a cooling mouthfeel in the finished product).
- Chocolate chips – I think dark chocolate chips work best in this recipe, but feel free to use whatever you personally prefer. You could also use something like Lily’s baking chips if you’d prefer no-added-sugar chocolate chips.
Instructions
This recipe is quite simple to make! You’ll find a helpful overview with photos here, but the complete recipe can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Start by mixing together the olive oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. I prefer using a stand mixer for this, but you could also use a hand mixer instead (or you could whisk by hand). You want everything to be well-combined, like this:
Next, place your flour (spooned and leveled), baking soda, and salt in a small bowl. Stir them together to evenly distribute the salt and baking soda.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined.
Fold in the chocolate chips. Your dough should look like this – not too wet, not too dry, and easily scoopable.
Portion out the dough on a parchment lined baking sheet by a heaping tablespoon. If the dough is a little crumbly, you may find it easier to form balls of dough by hand rather than using the heaping tablespoon.
Once all the dough is portioned out on the baking sheet, press down on each slightly to flatten it about halfway down.
Sprinkle each with sea salt. This is optional, but highly recommended!
Now bake ‘em for about 10-12 minutes, and let cool on the pan. Enjoy!
Recipe FAQ
Here are some common questions that may come up as you prepare this recipe:
Olive oil doughs are very sensitive to flour measurements. If the flour was packed into the cup instead of spooned and leveled, the dough can get dry and crumbly. If it’s slightly crumbly, you can likely still form the dough into balls by hand and bake according to recipe directions. However, if it is very crumbly, try adding an extra tablespoon of olive oil to increase the moisture content.
This can happen if the olive oil was slightly mis-measured, or if your eggs happen to be slightly larger than normal. If this occurs, simply add an extra tablespoon of flour.
Not exactly. Olive oil cookies have hints of flavor from the oil itself. This can vary considerably depending on the type and quality of oil. A high-quality oil should provide a slightly fruity, earthy undertone. This pairs very nicely with the rich dark chocolate and sea salt.
Yes. Portion out the dough and place the entire baking sheet in the freezer. Let freeze for 1-2 hours, then transfer the frozen dough balls to a food storage bag or container. You can bake them directly from frozen; you may need to add an extra 1-2 minutes compared to the normal baking time.
Yes, just choose dairy free chocolate chips. The rest of the recipe is dairy free as written.
More Cookie Recipes
Looking for more tasty treats? Try one of these options:
- Chocolate-dipped almond flour shortbread cookies
- Healthy banana peanut butter cookies
- Pumpkin oatmeal breakfast cookies
- Double chocolate banana cookies
- Coconut flour peanut butter cookies
I hope you enjoy these olive oil chocolate chip cookies as much as my family does! If you get a chance to try them, feel free to leave a recipe rating or comment below.
Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 ⅛ cup whole wheat flour (spooned and leveled*)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips (or chocolate chunks)
- Coarse sea salt for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl, combine the olive oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Beat well using the paddle attachment on a stand mixer or using a hand mixer.
- In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir to evenly distribute the dry ingredients, then pour them into the bowl of wet ingredients. Mix until combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chips (or chunks). Use a heaping tablespoon to scoop the dough onto the parchment-lined baking sheets.** Press down slightly on each ball, flattening it about halfway down. Sprinkle each with a pinch of sea salt.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes. Remove and let cool on the pan. Enjoy!
Notes
- For reference, ⅛ cup = 2 tablespoons.
- *This recipe is sensitive to the flour measurement. If the flour is packed into the cup (instead of spooned and leveled), the dough can become dry and crumbly. If that occurs, try adding an extra tablespoon of olive oil.
- On the flip side, if the cookie dough looks too wet, add an additional tablespoon of flour. Sometimes this can occur if the oil measurement was slightly off.
- **If the dough does not scoop easily via a heaping tablespoon, or is a little crumbly, form balls of dough in your hand instead. The dough may want to crumble a bit but you’ll find that if you press it firmly in your hand, you’ll form a solid ball.
Nutrition
Share: What’s your favorite kind of cookie to bake? If you tried this recipe, what did you think?
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I tried these cookies as a quick recipe! They are delicious. One thing I would say is that they were a bit crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. After leaving them for a while they did become quite hard but are delicious when microwaved and topped with vanilla ice cream!
Quick question could you replace the oil in the recipe with butter?
Glad you enjoyed them! I haven’t tried replacing the olive oil with butter but I imagine it should work fine since that’s what most cookie recipes use! 🙂