Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe Without Brown Sugar

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This easy chocolate chip cookies recipe without brown sugar is incredibly simple to make. With just basic ingredients and two bowls, you’ll have warm, home made chocolate chip cookies ready to enjoy in under 30 minutes. Perfect for when you’re craving cookies but don’t have brown sugar hiding in your pantry!

I’ve tweaked the classic chocolate chip cookies recipe we all grew up with, and honestly? This easy recipe for chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar is just as good! You’ll love how the vanilla really shines through, and there’s no skimping on chocolate chips.

Can you make chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar?

YES!!! and you basically have three options:

1. You can just substitute dark brown sugar for the brown sugar. Your cookies will have a stronger toffee/caramel flavor and a darker color, but the end result will be close to the classic chocolate chip cookie recipe.
2. You can just make classic chocolate chip cookies and substitute white sugar for brown sugar – and I’ll show you how to adjust the white sugar amounts– they’ll just be slightly crisper and lighter in color.
3. You can add molasses, honey or maple syrup to make up for the lack of brown sugar, giving you a more classic chocolate chip cookie taste and texture.

• Classic flavor: Vanilla plus chocolate – Yum!
• Loads of chocolate chips 😉
• Quick and easy to make: No complicated ingredients or steps, perfect for a last-minute baking session.
• No fancy equipment: Just basic kitchen tools and simple ingredients.
• Crowd-pleaser: Loved by nearly everyone, these chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar are always a hit at parties or gatherings.
• Customize with different toppings and mix-ins

Taste of chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar

Chocolate Chip Cookies no Brown Sugar Ingredients

• All-purpose flour – do NOT use self raising.
• Baking soda – Make sure your baking soda is not out of date, otherwise your cookies might not rise like they should.
• Salt – I use sea salt.
• Unsalted or salted butter – softened, for that yummy buttery taste.
• White sugar (aka granulated sugar or plain white sugar). The classic chocolate chip cookies are very sweet, even though I have cut down the amount of sugar by just a little. This is because somehow, when you only use white sugar, the cookie tastes sweeter! To balance this, I cut back on the amount of white sugar used.
• Vanilla extract – you can use imitation vanilla, but it won’t taste quite as nice.
• Eggs – Large, fresh eggs are best. I have not tested this with flax eggs.
• Chocolate chips or chocolate chunks. I prefer semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you can use milk chocolate chips or white chocolate chips as well. Or you can buy your favorite chocolate bar and chop it up yourself 😋 Because chocolate chips are the star of the show here, the quality of your chips will influence the final cookie. You can use a good quality Belgian chocolate bar or Belgian chocolate chips and your cookies will be extra special!
• Cinnamon – Optional, but it does bring out the chocolate flavor!
• Molasses, maple syrup or honey (Optional) – this will give it more of the classic chocolate chip cookie taste and texture, but the
• Chopped nuts (Optional)

Substitutions and Additions

White sugar – Granulated, normal, organic, caster, fine, superfine all work, but be sure to weigh the sugar if you are using anything besides granulated (normal) sugar, because you will get “more” of the caster or fine sugar in a cup than regular granulated sugar.

Molasses, maple syrup or honey – If you don’t have brown sugar, you can recreate the brown sugar taste in the chocolate chip cookies by adding one tablespoon of molasses (or maple syrup or honey) for every cup of sugar you use. (But yes, you absolutely can just use white sugar without molasses in this easy recipe for chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar).

For best results, use molasses. White sugar is basically just brown sugar without the molasses 🙂

But honey or maple syrup will also get you closer to that traditional chocolate chip cookie taste and texture.

Nuts, white chocolate chips, M&M’s are all good additions to this easy chocolate chip cookie recipe without brown sugar!

How to make chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar

1. In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together the dry ingredients: the flour, baking soda, cinnamon (optional) and salt. Set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, beat with an electric mixer, the softened butter, granulated sugar, and your chosen liquid sweetener (molasses/maple syrup/honey, if using) until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

4. Add vanilla extract and on medium speed beat in eggs one at a time until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in the molasses, honey or maple syrup if you are using it.

5. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined.Make sure you scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Don’t over mix.

6. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pro tip: save a couple tablespoons of semisweet chocolate chips for the end. I sometimes find that as I get to the last of the dough, I have more dough than chips and if I have saved a few extra chocolate chips for the end, I can put them in if I need them.

7. Refrigerate the dough for at least one hour if you want an extra chewy cookie. I mostly can’t wait 😂, so I am showing you both versions. The white sugar only version where I chilled the dough for an hour – and you can see that it is higher and chewier. And the chocolate chip cookies with white sugar and molasses – no chilling the dough time, and a slightly flatter cookie, but still very delicious.

7. Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space between each cookie and put into your preheated oven.

8. Sprinkle with a tiny bit of sea salt. Believe it or not, this balances the sweetness of the cookie!

8. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden brown. Watch them carefully starting at 9 minutes – they might cook a bit faster than you expect without the brown sugar. And remember to take them out when they look almost done.

9. Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

If you look really, really closely at the cookies on the left, you can see that the top chocolate chip cookie dough balls are slightly darker than the bottom ones. This is because the top ones have that tiny bit of extra molasses added to them.

But as you can see from the photo of the baked chocolate chip cookies on the right, this makes a big difference in the color of the cookies.

Tips and Notes

• Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour if you want a chewier cookie and deeper flavor. Overnight is best. But you can absolutely just bake them right away! They will still be delicious!
• For evenly sized cookies, use a cookie scoop if you have one (but only if you have refrigerated your dough – if you haven’t, then the dough will be too sticky for a cookie scoop. Just use a spoon then or use the cookie scoop and a spoon to fish out the dough from the scoop.)
• Cream the butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes. This creates tiny air pockets that help cookies rise and become light (this process is called mechanical leavening). These air pockets expand during baking, giving cookies a more tender, less dense texture.
• Make sure you use softened butter. Cold butter won’t incorporate the air pockets into the dough as well. The ideal butter temperature is when it’s soft enough to leave a slight indentation when you press it, but not so soft that it’s greasy or melting. You should be able to make a light fingerprint in the butter, but it should still hold its shape.
• Don’t over bake the cookies!!! These cookies don’t have the brown sugar which adds to the moistness of the cookie. If you over bake the cookie, it can become quite crisp and dry. It’s best to make a test run and bake 2-3 cookies and see how they turn out. Ovens can be a bit finicky and temperatures are not always accurate.
• You want to take out the cookies when they look slightly underdone, as they will continue to bake on the baking tray when hyou take them out of the oven.
• And you should probably also rotate the cookies once midway to ensure more even baking. I need to do this, otherwise the cookies on the far right side get way too brown compared to the rest of the cookies 🙂
• Cool your cookies on a cooling rack or plate. After you take them out of the oven , let them cool on the baking sheet for a minute or two and then use a spatula to move them to a cooling rack or plate, otherwise they will continue to bake on the hot baking sheet.
• Use kitchen scales if you want the best results. Of course, if you are just whipping them up for a bunch of hungry teenagers for youth group like I did last Friday, then just use your measuring cups. They will not care if the texture is not perfect. There are plenty of chocolate chips to mask any baking or mixing mistake.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Made Without Brown Sugar

Marissa

This easy recipe for chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar is perfect for when you’re craving cookies but don’t have brown sugar hiding in your pantry! Using simple ingredients, these homemade cookies are ready in less than 30 minutes.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 11 minutes mins

Course Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 24 cookies

Calories 165 kcal

Equipment

• 2 Medium bowls
• 1 Baking sheet
• 1 Parchment paper
• Measuring cups and spoons
• 1 Sifter to sift the flour and baking soda together
• 1 medium cookie scooper

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 1/8 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup and 1 Tbsp (135 grams)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup 1 sticks salted or unsalted butter, softened (6 tablespoons or 113 grams)
• 1/2 + 1 tbsp cups granulated sugar 113 grams
• 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
• 2 tablespoons molasses OR 2 tablespoons maple syrup OR 2 tablespoons honey Optional
• 1/3 cup chopped nuts Optional
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt For sprinkling (Optional)

Instructions

 

• Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a baking tray with parchment paper or silicone mats.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In a separate bowl, beat with an electric mixer, the softened butter, granulated sugar, and your chosen liquid sweetener (molasses/maple syrup/honey, if using) until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
• Add the molasses, maple syrup or honey if using.
• Add vanilla extract and on medium speed beat in eggs one at a time until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined. Make sure you scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Don’t over mix.
• Fold in the chocolate chips. Pro tip: save a couple tablespoons of semisweet chocolate chips for the end. I sometimes find that as I get to the last of the dough, I have more dough than chips and if I have saved a few extra chocolate chips for the end, I can put them in if I need them.
• Drop rounded tablespoons of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches of space between each cookie and put into your preheated oven.
• Sprinkle with a tiny bit of sea salt. Believe it or not, this brings out the sweetness of the cookie!
• Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges are lightly golden brown. Since we’ve adjusted the sugar content, watch them carefully starting at 9 minutes – they might cook a bit faster than the original recipe.
• Let cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Notes

• For evenly sized cookies, use a cookie scoop if you have one.
• For a softer, chewier cookie, refrigerate the dough for at least an hour, and preferably overnight. But yes, you can bake them right away!
• The dough can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours if you want to bake them later.
• Let the baking sheets cool completely between batches.
• Measure the ingredients with a scale if you can.
• Cream the butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes. This creates tiny air pockets that help cookies rise and become light (this process is called mechanical leavening). These air pockets expand during baking, giving cookies a more tender, less dense texture.
• Make sure you use softened butter. Cold butter won’t incorporate the air pockets into the dough as well.
• Don’t over bake the cookies. These cookies don’t have the brown sugar, which adds to the moistness of the cookie. If you over bake the cookie, it can become quite crisp and dry. It’s best to make a test run and bake 2-3 cookies and see how they turn out. Ovens can be a bit finicky and temperatures are not always accurate.
• And you should probably also rotate the cookies once mid-way to ensure more even baking. I need to do this, otherwise the cookies on the far right side get way too brown compared to the rest of the cookies 😅
• Cool your cookies on a cooling rack or plate. After you take them out of the oven, let them cool on the baking sheet for a minute or two and then use a spatula to move them to a cooling rack or plate, otherwise they will continue to bake on the hot baking sheet.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookieCalories: 165kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 2gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 17mgSodium: 154mgPotassium: 84mgFiber: 1gSugar: 17gVitamin A: 132IUVitamin C: 0.02mgCalcium: 13mgIron: 1mg

Keyword easy, quick

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

From the Garden

I went to my friend’s house today to pick some plums and saw these beautiful hydrangeas 🙂

I know they have absolutely nothing to do with chocolate chip cookies, but they were so beautiful, I could not help but share them 🥰

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