I don’t have plans to write a scientific paper any time soon, but these chewy, chocolate-studded cookies would be a worthy subject of study. (I think I’ll also need to study these Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies.) Plus, then I’d be required to test multiple “samples” and repeat my “experiment” a few dozen times, just to be certain my theories were correct. All in the name of science, of course.
Using Coconut Oil in Cookies
To make these cookies, I followed a fairly standard chocolate chip cookie formula, but instead of creaming softened butter together with the white and brown sugars, I used room-temperature coconut oil, which has a similar consistency. As I discovered, however, baking cookies with coconut oil is not just a simple 1:1 swap. The recipe required a few important tweaks in order to achieve that elusive soft, chewy chocolate chip cookie texture.
The dough must be chilled prior to baking. Coconut oil is still softer than butter, so if you skip this step, the cookies will spread and run wild all over the baking sheet. Chilling the dough ensures the cookies are nicely thick and delightfully chewy.Cornstarch. Cookies made with oil instead of butter often suffer from being too thin and crispy for my taste, so to combat this effect, I employed a little trick I originally learned from Sally: I added cornstarch. Cornstarch gives the coconut oil cookies extra lift and keeps them soft.A touch of milk. Coconut oil tends to produce dryer baked goods than butter. One tablespoon of milk does the trick to keep these coconut oil cookies melt-in-your-mouth marvelous.White whole wheat flour. While not a requirement for these cookies, swapping white whole wheat flour for part of the all purpose flour (like in these Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies) is one of my favorite ways to make my baked goodies a bit more wholesome. I shared a plate of these with our neighbors, and no one suspected my little trick.
Coconut Oil Cookies vs. Classic Butter-Based Cookies
Now that we’ve discussed the baking specifics, let’s turn our attention to the true question I know inquiring, cookie-loving minds need to know about the recipe: how do chocolate chip coconut oil cookies compare to a classic, butter-based chocolate chip cookies?
Texture-wise, the two are almost identical. These cookies are definitely easier to over bake, however, so be sure to watch your oven very carefully and remove the cookies when they are barely set.Taste-wise, the two are different, but each is excellent in its own way. In butter-based chocolate chip cookies, the two ingredients I taste the most are butter and chocolate; in the coconut oil cookies, it’s the brown sugar that shines, and I actually found myself noticing the chocolate flavor more prominently too. In fact, biting into a coconut oil cookie almost made me feel like a super taster, because I could detect ingredient nuances that had previously been masked by the butter. It was glorious and surprisingly empowering.
(FYI: Despite the name, coconut oil cookies do not taste like coconut. All you’ll detect is brown sugar richness, chocolatey goodness, and classic cookie happiness, which I’m convinced has a flavor all its own. For cookies with a hint of coconut flavor, try Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies, which adds a bit of shredded coconut.)
More Delicious Cookie Recipes
Peanut Butter Banana CookiesCranberry Oatmeal CookiesAlmond Flour CookiesChocolate Ginger CookiesHealthy No Bake CookiesWhole Wheat Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
Tools Used to Make This Recipe
Best-ever cookie sheetsSilcone baking matsCookie scoop
Conclusion: While I won’t be giving up butter chocolate chip cookies for life, I’m thrilled to have this healthier chocolate chip cookie recipe in my repertoire. Soft and chewy with plenty of chocolate and spectacular flavor, I hypothesize that you’ll love them too!
