Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Brown Sugar

Craving chocolate chip cookies but don’t have any brown sugar? Then these chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar is exactly what you’re looking for! You’ll be surprised how close these cookies are to classic chocolate chip cookies.

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About The Recipe

Before I share this recipe, I just want to emphasize that if you do have brown sugar, make chocolate chip cookies with that. Because you’ll never achieve that chewy, delicious texture of chocolate chip cookies without it. Here’s my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. With that being said, if you enjoy your cookies on the cakeier side, you should definitely try this recipe!

This chocolate chip cookie recipe uses all the ingredients a regular chocolate chip cookie recipe would, except for brown sugar. That’s right we aren’t adding anything new into the recipe.

How does not using brown sugar effect the texture of the cookies?

A classic chocolate chip cookie recipe uses both brown and white sugar. Brown sugar is what gives cookies they’re signature chewy and moist texture. It also contributes to the rich, caramel-like flavor and helps the cookies to spread out and develop a slightly crispy edge while remaining soft and chewy in the middle.

So not using brown sugar results in a slightly cakeier cookie, but this recipe makes cookies that are very close to the classic. It’s a great alternative to when you want to make cookies but don’t have brown sugar on hand.

The cookies are not too thick, they’re slightly chewy, and have a soft center and crispy edges, so basically they’re delicious! Plus you do not need an electric mixer to make this recipe.

What You Need To Make This Recipe

Butter: you’ll need softened unsalted butter. It’s very important to use softened butter otherwise it’s going to be very difficult to combine with the sugar. Here’s a tip to quickly soften butter.

Granulated sugar: since this is chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar, all you need is regular granulated sugar.

Egg: make sure to use a room temperature egg for the best results.

All purpose flour: I have only made this recipe with all purpose flour.

Baking soda: this helps the cookies rise and spread in the oven.

Salt: adding a bit of salt balance the overall sweetness of the cookies.

Chocolate chips: you can’t make chocolate chip cookies without chocolate chips! Of course you could also use chopped chocolate instead. This will give you pools of melted chocolate in your cookies!

How To Make Chocolate Chip Cookie Without Brown Sugar

Step 1: Cream together softened butter and sugar. You can do this by hand with a spatula or use an electric hand/stand mixer. If you butter is soft it’s very easy to do by hand.

Step 2: Add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated.

This is a picture after combining the egg and vanilla into the butter (I know it looks the same as the first pic!!!)

Step 3: Add in the dry ingredients and fold until almost combined.

Step 4: Add in the chocolate chips and fold everything together until all the flour is incorporated into the butter. Cover and chill the cookie dough for at least 30 min or up to overnight, see details below.

Step 5: Once chilled, use a medium sized cookie scoop (~1.5 tbsp) or a spoon to scoop the dough onto a lined baking tray. Leave at least 2 inches of space between each cookie. Top with some more chocolate chips and bake at an oven preheated to 180 °C / 350 °F for 10-12 minutes.

Step 6: Once your cookies are baked let them cool down on the baking tray for at least 10 minutes, before transferring them onto a cookie rack to cool completely.

Storing/Freezing The Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Brown Sugar

Store the chocolate chip cookies an air-tight container at room temperature for up to a 4-5 days.

To freeze the cookie dough: scoop the cookie dough on to a baking tray lined with parchment paper and freeze for 2 hours. Then transfer the frozen cookie dough balls into a freezer safe bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature and bake as usual.

To freeze baked cookies: wrap the baked cookies in a layer of aluminum foil then store in a freezer safe bag and freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature and microwave for 30 second to warm up the cookie if you’d like.

Pro Tip

If you have a convection oven (oven with a fan setting), reduce the temperature by 20 degrees.
Here’s an easy hack to quickly soften butter: cut the butter into small cubes and place them onto a microwave safe bowl, then microwave at 20% power in 10 second intervals until the butter has softened (it should take about 20 seconds in total). Now you can use it to make you cookies!
Don’t overbake the cookies, when the cook time is over the cookies will look undone, that’s exactly how they should look. The cookies will finish cooking while they sit on the baking tray for a few minutes. They’ll also look white because they don’t have brown sugar, so do not bake your cookies for longer than 12-13 minutes.
Measure you flour correctly! Adding too much or too little flour will change the texture of the cookies dramatically. Spoon the flour into the measuring cup and level it off using the back of the spoon.
Chilling the cookie dough is mandatory in this recipe otherwise the cookies will spread way too much, especially because there’s no brown sugar. Cold dough results in a thicker cookie, so make sure to chill the dough for at least 30 minutes or 15 minutes in the freezer if you’re short on time. You could also make the cookie dough ahead of time and refrigerate it overnight, see how here.
Top the warm baked cookies with some flaky sea salt for and extra kick of flavor!

FAQ’s

Can I make the cookie dough ahead of time.

Yes you can make the dough the day before, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you’re ready to use it. It might be a little hard when it comes out of the fridge, so let it sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes to soften it up a bit. Then shape and bake them the same way.

Why did my cookies spread so much?

The most likely cause for that would be that you did not chill your cookie dough enough or at all! Popping your dough in the fridge allows the fats to cool. As a result, the cookies will expand more slowly, holding onto their texture. If you skip the chilling step, you’re more likely to wind up with flat, sad disks instead of lovely, thick cookies.

Why are the cookies cakey?

This recipe makes cookies that are only slightly cakes, in fact the cookies are quite chewy considering they do not contain brown sugar which is the main ingredient to make chewy, moist cookies. So if you want chewy cookies, use this recipe instead.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Without Brown sugar

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Recipe Card

Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Brown Sugar

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 12 min

Total Time: 52 min (includes chill time)

Course: Dessert

Servings: 14 cookies

Calories: 216kcal

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Ingredients

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened (150g)
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp. granulated sugar (175g)
1 large egg, room temp.
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (210g)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chocolate chips or chunks

Equipment/Utensils

Large bowl
Spatula
Medium sized cookie scoop (1.5 tbsp) or a spoon
2 baking trays lined with parchment paper

Instructions

In a large bowl combine softened butter and granulated sugar. Use a spatula or an electric mixer to beat them until creamy, 1-2 min.
Add in the egg and vanilla extract and mix until fully incorporated.
Next add in all-purpose flour, salt, and baking soda. Fold until almost combined.
Finally add in chocolate chips and fold together until all the ingredients are fully incorporated and there are no streaks of flour in the cookie dough. Save some chocolate chips for the top. (The cookie dough will be slightly sticky.)
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 min.
Once the cookie dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 180 °C / 350 °F and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
Use a cookie scoop or a spoon to scoop the cookie dough onto the lined trays, make sure to leave at least 2 inches of space between each cookie. Add on some more chocolate chips and bake for 10-12 minutes. You’ll know they’re done when the sides are just starting to brown, but aren’t golden and the cookie will look white as they do not contain brown sugar. They will look underbaked but that is normal, it will continue to bake on the tray
Once bakes let the cookies cool down on the tray for 10 minutes before transferring them onto a cooling rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 216.21kcal

Total Fat: 11.08g

Carbs: 28.07g

Sugars: 16.03g

Protein: 2.36g

Sodium: 133.31mg

Fiber: 0.78g

** Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more. **