If you love a cookie that’s chewy and stays chewy for days, these Ultimate Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies are for you! We’re making them without butter and using Crisco instead, which gives them an irresistibly crispy outside and an insanely soft inside.
And they are packed to the gills with chocolate chips. Like, chocolate chip overload. In a good way.
But! These Ultimate Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies are better. I swear. And it’s because of the Crisco. Let’s get to business.
Baking with Crisco vs. butter
We taste tested two versions of this recipe – one made with Crisco and one made with butter. We all agreed that the Crisco version actually tasted more “buttery”, i.e. light and crispy outside, than the version that had actual butter. And the inside stayed softer for longer.
A cookie made with Crisco will hold its shape better during baking than a cookie made with butter, so it will spread less. And bonus, you don’t have to chill the dough, so there’s less time between you and your cookie enjoyment. Dairy free bakers, rejoice!
What’s in these Ultimate Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Here is what you’ll need to bake these no-butter cookies:
- all-purpose flour
- dark brown sugar
- Crisco vegetable shortening
- semisweet chocolate chips
- eggs
- milk
- vanilla extract
- baking soda
- salt
Can you make these Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies dairy free?
By using Crisco instead of butter in this recipe, the cookies will be almost dairy free. All that’s left is to swap almond or coconut milk in for regular milk, and you’ll have completely dairy free cookies.
Most semisweet chocolate chips on the market are already dairy free, but always be sure to check the labels.
Can you make these Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies gluten free?
By replacing the all-purpose flour in this recipe with a gluten-free flour blend, you can have the ultimate gluten free chocolate chip cookies. Find a flour blend that you can use in a 1-to-1 ratio as regular flour. My favorite is Cup4Cup.
Should you use light brown sugar or dark brown sugar?
The difference between light and dark brown sugar is in the amount of molasses in them. Dark brown sugar contains almost twice the amount of molasses as light brown sugar. Most of the time, it’s okay to use light and dark brown sugar interchangeably.
Molasses is a key component to the chewiness of a cookie. The more molasses, the softer and chewier it’s going to be. So for these Ultimate Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, I grab for the dark brown sugar for maximum chewiness.
For more cookies recipes, try these:
For more chocolatey recipes, try these:
Ultimate Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (Without Butter)
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups flour
- 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar firmly packed
- 3/4 cup vegetable shortening
- 1 egg
- 2 Tbsp. milk
- 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. salt
- 3/4 tsp. baking soda
- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Beat together the vegetable shortening and sugar until fluffy. Add the milk, vanilla and egg, in that order, and continue to mix until well combined.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips.
- Drop batter in rounded tablespoons onto the baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes until light golden in color. Remember that the cookies will continue to bake on the baking sheet for a few minutes after you remove them from the oven. Allow them to cool completely on the baking sheet.
Could the milk be omitted or replaced with a non-dairy milk? This would be the first dairy-free chocolate chip cookie I’ve found if so!
Yes! Easily!