If you have ever stood in front of your open fridge, all set to make cookies, only to realize you are out of eggs, this eggless chocolate chip cookie recipe is the one you want bookmarked. These are ultra soft, chewy, and honestly just really great cookies. You will not miss the egg. There is also no chill time, so you can go from deciding you want cookies to eating one in about 30 minutes.
I did not tell my kiddo I had changed anything while I was testing these. She ate one, then another, and declared them the best cookies ever. That was all the confirmation I needed.
As someone who has developed over 70 dessert recipes for this website, with more than 20 of them being cookie recipes, and who has been baking for over 30 years, I have high standards when it comes to cookies, and I have strong opinions about what makes a good one. And these are GOOD. They are essentially our tried and true chocolate chunk cookies with two adjustments: heavy cream in place of the egg, and a pinch of baking powder to help with lift.
These are also a great option if you are baking for someone with an egg allergy, or sending something in for a school treat or a bake sale where you cannot always ask about allergies ahead of time. Having a chocolate chip cookie recipe without eggs in your back pocket makes those situations a lot easier.
You’ll Love These Egg Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
No chill time. The dough goes straight from the bowl to the baking sheet. Start to finish, you are looking at about 30 minutes.
Soft and chewy all the way through. Skipping the egg actually works in your favor here, and these stay soft for days.
Made with what you already have. No specialty egg replacer required. The swap uses something that is probably in your fridge right now.
Allergy friendly and bake sale ready. These eggless cookies are great to have in your back pocket when you are baking for a crowd or for someone who cannot have eggs.
Why We Use Heavy Cream Instead of an Egg
There are a lot of ways to replace an egg in a cookie, and we tried this a few ways before landing here. Heavy cream won, and the reason is pretty practical. It is something we almost always have on hand, and if we are out of the actual heavy cream, there is always half and half in the fridge for my husband’s coffee. Whole milk works too. All of them add fat and richness, which is exactly what you want in a chocolate chip cookie.
Here is why the other common options did not make the cut for us:
- Applesauce works, I bake with it a lot (see our applesauce zucchini muffins, whole wheat applesauce waffles, etc.), and the flavor it adds is fairly subtle, but it’s still there. It is not quite the classic chocolate chip cookie taste we were after.
- Mashed banana is the same story, only more so. The banana flavor comes through clearly, and it pulls these in a direction we did not want.
- Flax and water makes a fine egg replacement, but ground flaxseed is not something most people keep in the pantry, and the whole point of this recipe is that you can make it right now.
- Full fat coconut milk is a solid option and very close to heavy cream in results. I just do not usually have it on hand, and I don’t like opening a whole can to use three tablespoons of it.
Ingredients for Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Salted butter. Softened, though a little melted is completely fine. Salted butter brings enough saltiness to balance the sugar.
- Granulated sugar. Helps the edges set and gives the cookies a little crispness where you want it.
- Brown sugar. This is where the chew comes from, along with a nice molasses depth.
- Heavy cream. Our egg replacement. Half and half or whole milk work here too, whichever you have.
- Vanilla extract. Rounds everything out and makes the cookies taste like cookies.
- Salt. Sharpens the sweetness and keeps these from tasting flat.
- Baking soda and baking powder. Our chocolate chunk cookies use just baking soda, but without an egg in the mix, these need a little help with lift. That is what the baking powder is doing here.
- All-purpose flour. The backbone of the dough.
- Chocolate chips. Use whatever you love. We have been having fun with a mix lately, and there is more on that below.
You’ll find all measurements and the full step by step instructions in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Soften the Butter, Don’t Melt It
You’re looking for butter that’s soft enough to press a finger into but still solid. Because in our first step, creaming the butter a sugars together (which just means beating them together until the mixture turns light and fluffy), you’re whipping tiny air pockets into the butter. Those pockets expand in the oven and give your cookies lift. Butter that’s gone liquid can’t hold air, so any melted spots aren’t doing that job. This matters more in an eggless recipe than a standard one, since there’s no egg helping with structure and the creaming step is carrying more of the load.
You can let your butter soften at room temperature if you have time, otherwise place it in a large microwave-safe mixing bowl, soften the butter in the microwave (this takes about 30 seconds from being cold the fridge).
Helpful Equipment
A stand mixer or electric hand mixer makes quick work of the dough, but doing this by hand is completely doable. Grab your favorite wooden spoon and put those muscles to work. A medium cookie scoop is what we use to portion and shape the dough, and it keeps everything the same size so the cookies bake evenly. And you’ll need a spatula to get your cookies off the sheet cleanly and efficiently.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Eggs
Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 375°F and set your baking sheets aside for when the dough is ready (lining with parchment paper is optional, do not grease).
Cream the butter and sugars. Add both sugars to the softened butter and beat until the mixture is light and creamy. I like to do this with my stand mixer and paddle attachment, but you can also use an electric hand mixer or a wooden spoon and a little muscle.
Add the remaining wet ingredients and mix to combine. Pour in the heavy cream and vanilla extract and mix until fully combined.
Stir in the dry ingredients to make your dough. Slowly stir in the salt, baking soda, baking powder, and flour until a dough forms.
Add the chocolate chips. Stir until they are well distributed throughout the dough.
Scoop. Using a medium cookie scoop (or roughly 2 tablespoons), scoop the dough onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each ball. Gently press extra chocolate chips on to the tops of the cookie dough balls if desired.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Pull them when the edges look set and are just turning golden brown. For the chewiest cookies, do not overbake. They keep setting up once they come out of the oven.
Cool. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy! Enjoy warm or at room temperature.
Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookie Variations
- Change up the chocolate. Use any kind of chip you like. We have been doing about three quarters regular semi-sweet chips plus mini chocolate chips lately, since we always seem to have a bag of minis open from making our mini chocolate chip muffins. Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, chunks, white chocolate, or half chips and half M&Ms all work. Have fun with it.
- Add nuts. Chopped walnuts or pecans stirred in with the chocolate add a nice bit of crunch.
- Finish with a sprinkle of flaky salt. A small pinch of flaky sea salt on top of each dough ball before baking plays really well against all that chocolate.
- Make them bigger. Use a large cookie scoop and add a couple of minutes to the bake time for bakery-style cookies.
- Use unsalted butter. If preferred (or if it’s what you have on hand), swap the salted butter 1-for-1 with unsalted butter and increase the amount of salt to ½ tsp.
Expert Tips for Making Egg Free Cookies
Do not overbake. This is the single most important thing. Pull them when the edges are set and the centers still look slightly underdone. They finish setting on the hot pan.
Softened butter, not melted. This matters more here than it does in a recipe with eggs. Creaming works by beating air into solid butter, and those tiny air pockets expand in the oven to give your cookies lift. Melted butter cannot hold air, so any part of the stick that goes liquid in the microwave is not doing that job. In most cookie recipes the egg picks up some of the slack, but there is no egg here, which means the creaming step is carrying more of the load. Aim for butter soft enough to press a finger into and still fully solid.
Keep your scoops the same size. A cookie scoop is worth it here. Evenly sized dough balls means everything on the sheet finishes at the same time.
Give them room to spread. About 2 inches between dough balls. Any closer and you will end up with one very large cookie, which is not the worst outcome but probably not what you were going for.
Let them sit on the pan for a few minutes. Moving them too soon means they may fall apart on the way to the cooling rack. A few minutes of rest firms them up enough to transfer.
How to Store Egg Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. These can also be frozen either before or after baking.
Freezing the Dough
Make the dough as directed, then scoop it into balls onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper. Chill them in the freezer for about an hour. Once the dough balls are cold and solid, transfer them to a large freezer bag labeled with the recipe title, the date, and the baking temperature. Freeze for up to 3 months.
You can bake these straight from frozen. Place the frozen dough balls on a baking sheet and add 2 to 3 minutes to the baking time in the recipe card.
Freezing Baked Cookies
Prepare and bake the eggless cookie recipe as directed. Then ensure the cookies are completely cool before they go anywhere near the freezer. Store them in large freezer bags or an airtight container for up to 3 months, separating the layers with parchment paper so they do not stick together. When you are ready for them, thaw in the refrigerator or on the counter at room temperature.
Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe FAQs
Not in a way anyone has noticed. My kiddo ate these during testing without being told anything had changed and called them the best cookies ever. The heavy cream brings fat and richness, which is a lot of what an egg contributes to a cookie in the first place.
Yes. Half and half or whole milk both work well. What matters is the fat, so I would skip skim milk and most non-dairy milks if you want the same texture.
No, and that is part of the appeal. Scoop it and bake it. If you would rather chill it, the dough will keep in the fridge for a couple of days, and you may just need to add a minute to the bake time if you are baking it cold.
There are no eggs in the recipe itself. As always, check the labels on your chocolate chips and other ingredients for cross-contamination warnings if you are baking for someone with a serious allergy.
Usually too-warm butter or too little flour are the issue(s). If your butter got fully melted rather than just softened, let the dough sit for a few minutes before scooping. And measure your flour by spooning it into the cup and leveling it off rather than scooping straight from the bag.
Love This Recipe? Try One of These Easy Cookie Recipes Next!
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Soft and Chewy Egg Free Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Stand Mixer – OR- Electric Hand Mixer -OR- Wooden Spoon
Ingredients
- ½ Cup salted butter, softened (a little melted is ok)
- ½ Cup granulated sugar
- ½ Cup brown sugar
- 3 Tablespoons heavy cream (or half & half, or whole milk)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 + ½ Cup all-purpose flour
- 1 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 375°F and set your baking sheets aside for when the dough is ready.
- Soften the butter. If you didn't set your stick of butter out to get to room temperature (I rarely do….), simply place it in a large microwave-safe bowl and soften it in the microwave. From refrigerated, this takes about 30 seconds. You want it soft enough to press a finger into, but not melted.½ Cup salted butter, softened
- Cream the butter and sugars. Add both sugars to the softened butter and beat until the mixture is light and creamy (I like to use a stand mixer with paddle attachment). This step is what dissolves the sugar and works air into the butter, and it makes a real difference in the final texture.½ Cup granulated sugar½ Cup brown sugar
- Add the remaining wet ingredients. Pour in the heavy cream and vanilla extract and mix until fully combined.3 Tablespoons heavy cream1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Stir in the dry ingredients. Slowly stir in the salt, baking soda, baking powder, and flour until a dough forms.¼ teaspoon salt½ teaspoon baking soda¼ teaspoon baking powder1 + ½ Cup all-purpose flour
- Add the chocolate chips, mixing until they are well distributed throughout the dough.1 Cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Scoop. Using a medium cookie scoop (or roughly 2 tablespoons), scoop the dough onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving about 2 inches between each ball. Gently press extra chocolate chips on to the tops of the cookie dough balls if desired.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Pull them when the edges look set. For the chewiest cookies, do not overbake. They keep setting up once they come out of the oven.
- Cool. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for a few minutes, then move them to a wire rack to cool completely. Or eat one warm, which is the correct choice.
Notes
- Mix up your chocolate. We love using three quarters regular semi-sweet chips plus mini chocolate chips, since we always seem to have a bag of minis open from making our mini chocolate chip muffins. Dark chocolate, chunks, white chocolate, or half chips and half M&Ms all work. Have fun with it!
- Add nuts. Chopped walnuts or pecans stirred in with the chocolate add a nice crunch.
- Finish with flaky salt. A small pinch of flaky sea salt on top of each dough ball before baking plays really well against all that chocolate.
- Make them bigger. Use a large cookie scoop and add a couple of minutes to the bake time for bakery-style cookies.
- Use unsalted butter. If you’d prefer to use unsalted butter (or that’s what you have in your fridge), swap the butter 1-for-1 and increase the amount of salt to ½ tsp.
Meredith says
These cookies are SO GOOD!! You don’t even miss the eggs.