Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies (2024)

These easy chocolate chip cookies are made with olive oil instead of butter, this will be a total game changer!

These cookies are so good, you’ll swear they are gourmet and I promise you won’t even miss the butter!

Chocolate chip cookies have always been and will always be a favorite. they’re a cookie that has withstood the ages and continues to be America’s favorite. But have you ever had chocolate chip cookies with olive oil? These olive oil cookies are a simple and easy twist to that iconic choc chip cookie and they’re a twist worth trying (and soon!)

This recipe I am sharing today isn’t aimed at fixing anything, just looking at chocolate cookies with a new perspective. These cookies always yield the BEST results. have the best texture, they are crispy on the edges but soft and chewy in the middle. You won’t even be able to tell that these were made without butter and they’ll definitely become your go-to cookie recipe!

Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Butter?

While many of us don’t think of using olive oil in place of butter or vegetable oil in baked goods like cookies it works surprisingly well. Only the most refined taste buds can tell the difference. Olive oil is a healthier fat to use than vegetable oil or butter and it can give your baked goods a lighter texter. Swapping out the butter in this recipe makes it dairy free, a little healthier, and a whole lot of tasty.

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• Brown sugar
• Granulated sugar
• Eggs
• Vanilla extract
• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Chopped walnuts
• Chopped dark chocolate

For the exact measurements needed, please see the recipe card below.

How To Make These Easy Chocolate Cookies

This recipe starts by combining olive oil and brown sugar together in a large bowl or stand mixer. I used a full 2/3 cup of olive oil for these cookies. Vanilla is stirred in next.

Add the eggs one at a time until well blended.

Fold in dry ingredients along with chopped walnuts and chopped dark chocolate.

One thing you will notice is the dough will be crumbly, not creamy like traditional cookie dough. No need for alarm, shape your dough into cookie balls and you’ll be fine, I promise!

Scoop or shape your dough with your fingers into balls and place them on a lined baking sheet.

The cookies will take about 14 minutes to bake.

Allow the cookies to cool for 1-2 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

Substitutions

• You can use butter if you really want to. These cookies taste great with olive oil or butter and you can swap them out by simply replacing the olive oil with room temperature unsalted butter (or omit the salt and use salted butter).
• Different nuts or no nuts. I enjoy these easy chocolate chip walnut cookies as-is but you can swap out the walnuts for almonds or even hazelnuts and they’ll still taste great!

Variations

• Different chocolates. Use white chocolate chips in addition to the dark chocolate or in place of the chocolate.
• Tasty add-ins. Peanut butter and toffee chips can also be used.
• Make them more gourmet. A sprinkling of sea salt on top would compliment the flavors wonderfully

Recipe Tips

• This isn’t your typical cookie dough. Unlike regular doughgs that have softened butter blended in, and look creamy, but this dough won’t look like that. When this dough has finished coming together it’s going to look a bit crumbly and that’s totally okay! The dough will bake up perfectly.
• Storage. These cookies will keep for up to a week if kept stored in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months in an airtight container. Just thaw when you’re ready to eat.

FAQs

What Is The Best Olive Oil to Use?

While a robust flavored extra virgin olive oil is delicious in savory foods, it can be too overpowering in baked foods, especially delicate baked goods.

Remember, you are using olive oil in place of mild-tasting vegetable or canola oil and butter. Try to use a mild or smooth flavored olive oil as they tend to have more buttery or fruity undertones.

How Do I Swap Out the Butter For Olive Oil Other Recipes?

In a recipe that calls for vegetable oil, it is ok to change out the vegetable oil with olive oil in equal amounts.

If a recipe calls for melted butter, use, 3 tablespoons of olive oil for each 1/4 cup of melted butter that the recipe calls for. There is no hard and fast rule when it comes to swapping out the olive oil for softened butter.

Lots of cookie recipes call for 1 cup of butter, I would replace that with 3/4 cup of olive oil. If a cookie recipe calls for 3/4 cup of butter then use 1/2 cup of olive oil…so you are roughly reducing the butterfat by 1/4 cup.

Want more cookies? Try these Olive Oil and Lemon Zucchini Cookies, Browned Butter Salted Chocolate Cowboy Cookies. Triple Chip Banana Cookies and one of my favorites; Cinnamon Brown Sugar Cookies or these Chocolate Chip Brown Sugar Cookies!