Chocolate Chip-less Cookies
These are your favorite chocolate chip cookies, minus the chocolate chips. Think you’ll miss the chocolate? Think again!
These chocolate chip-less cookies have been on my site for years now and it’s amazing how many people love them. Whenever I first describe them to people I always get strange looks.
Why would you make chocolate chip cookies without the chocolate chips???
The reason is that they simply don’t need it, these cookies have so much fabulous flavor all on their own. They’re rich and buttery, with lots of nutty and butterscotch-y flavor thanks to brown butter and plenty of brown sugar. These cookies are crisp on the outside, with no chocolate chips to break up the velvety texture on the inside. One bite is all you’ll need to be convinced, I swear!
Table of Contents
- Melted brown butter is the star of this recipe
- Also, no mixer required!
- Can I add chocolate chips?
- Other cookie recipes to make today
- Chocolate Chipless Cookies recipe
Melted brown butter is the star of this recipe
Since this recipe actually starts with melted butter (instead of butter at room temperature), it only make sense to brown the butter first. Why not kick the flavor up a notch, right?
baking tip:How to brown butter
- Add cubed butter to saucepan over medium low heat (cubing the butter first allows it to melt more evenly).
- Butter will melt and start to foam. Stir frequently with a rubber spatula, scraping the bottom of the pan.
- Continue to cook butter until you see brown specs in the butter and it has a nutty aroma.
- Remove from heat immediately and pour it into a heatproof container. If left in the pan it will continue to cook and burn.
- Use the melted browned butter right away or put in the fridge for later use.
Also, no mixer required!
This cookie recipe is a little different from other chocolate chip cookie recipes. Not only does it start melted butter, but it also is mixed completely by hand. I borrowed this cookie recipe from Cook’s Illustrated and I love how easy it is.
- Mix melted browned butter with sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla until combined. The mixture will be very soft and greasy.
- Add eggs and egg yolk one at a time, mixing for about 30 seconds after each addition. You’ll notice the mixture lightens in color and starts to thicken.
- Wait for a few minutes, then mix again for 30 more seconds. This will lighten the color and texture even more.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt and stir until combined. This will take a few minutes mixing by hand, but it will com together to make a thick cookie scoop.
- Portion onto cookie sheet and bake for 9-11 minutes.
- Add coarse see salt to warm baked cookies, if desired.
Just when I thought there was nothing new to do with chocolate chip cookies! You have to give these a try, I promise you’ll fall in love too.
Can I add chocolate chips?
I get this question all the time, and the answer is— yes of course! If you can’t bear to leave out the chocolate, or if you want to turn this into your go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe, feel free to add 1-2 cups of whatever kind of chocolate chips or chunks you like.
(To be completely honest, I add chocolate chips sometimes too.)
Other cookie recipes to make today
- Monster Cookies
- Caramel-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe was originally published June 2015.
Chocolate Chipless Cookies recipe
Chocolate Chipless Cookies
Ingredients
- 10 tablespoons (140 grams) unsalted butter
- ¼ cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (160 grams) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 ¾ cup (210 grams) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Coarse salt , for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In a small saucepan set over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to cook the butter until it turns golden brown, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes.
- Pour browned butter into a large bowl and add the sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla. Stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Add the egg and egg yolk, stirring for 30 seconds after each. Let batter rest for about 5 minutes, then stir vigorously for about 30 second. Batter should lighten in texture and color.
- In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the cookie batter all at once and stir until no streaks of flour remain.
- Drop dough by rounded tablespoon onto the prepared sheet pan. Bake until cookies turn golden around the edges but centers aren’t completely set, about 9-11 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes on the pan, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
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Hi! This is my all time favorite cookie recipe. I make them all the time back in the states, i recently moved abroad and forgot to bring my cup measures with me :/. So I have been using the metric system, dL and mL. The first time I made them they came out super flat I think the proportions were off since I had to translate cups to dL and France doesnt really sell brown sugar like in the states so i used all white sugar, still tasted good though. I was wondering if could transfer the recipe to mL and dL for me? I know it is a big ask, and no worries if you cant! Thank you! Love love love your recipes!
Hi Kelsey! I’m so happy to hear you love these cookies too, they’re also one of my faves! I include weight measurements in grams precisely so my international friends can make my recipes too. Since ml is a volume measurement (just like cups) and won’t change for different ingredients, it is just a simple math equation. Google is always a good help making the conversion. And I’m afraid I don’t even know what dL is, sorry! Best of luck! 🙂
This cookies are a family favourite. I make them all the time 🙂
When made correctly, best cookies EVER!! I have converted many a chocolate chip lover ??
This literally my first “from scratch” recipe EVER! and they came out amazingly perfect and they taste exactly how I wanted them to!
Thank you for sharing this!
Yay! Thanks for the feedback Jonathon, so happy to hear you enjoyed these cookies!
I made these last night and they were a hit! Didn’t even last 24 hours. My boys loved them. ?
Just made these and love them! I love how light they are. Not overly buttery. Thank you for the recipe!
Is the recipe 1 whole egg and an additional egg white? Maybe be a silly question.
May be*
I also make brown butter for my chocolate chip cookies, Domino makes a maple flavored pourable sugar. Try that instead of brown sugar, Be aware it is lighter per cup so yu may have to add a bit more. I always make my chocolate chipless cookies with chopped toasted nuts, either pecans walnuts or macadamia nuts. Also great with dried cherries added as well
I have not liked chocolate chips since I was young. I am always on a hunt for chocolate chip cookies w/o the chips. People always ask do you mean a sugar cookie, no. I like the flavor of the chocolate chip cookie dough but not the chips. A friend made them with walnut or a bit of oatmeal for texting.
I hope this is the chip-less chocolate chip cookie recipe you’ve been looking for!
I didn’t have vanilla but am pregnant and was desperate to try these cookies. I figured worst case my husband gets sent to the store for either vanilla or premade cookies lol! I ended up adding an extra 1/4 cup brown sugar to help make up for that missing vanilla taste and omg these are amazing. You can’t even tell I didn’t use vanilla! I could cry tears of joy they are so good. Definitely a new favorite. Thanks for the fantastic recipe from baby and me ?
My cookies did not flatten and they just baked as round balls which I didn’t want. And they looked more like sugar cookies than chocolate chip cookies (darkness and smoothness)
Hmm, that’s not supposed to happen! If you’d like to troubleshoot what went wrong, feel free to reach out. 🙂
I love love love these!!!
Would this recipe still work if you let the dough sit in the fridge for a day or so?
Absolutely! The flavor should be even more developed, with lots more butterscotch nuttiness from the brown butter.
My husband has been asking me for years to make chocolate chip cookies w/o the chips! I told him the recipe wouldn’t work – that it would have to be changed! THANK YOU for figuring it out! These were delightful – I did add pecans to half the batter! And that worked as well!
You are so right. I was going off her chocolate chip browned butter recipe and omitted chips and they weren’t as good as this recipe. This one rocks with no chips.
I made these but I added a 1/2 a cup of pecans and made them in bars. They were excellent