Chewy Oatmeal Cookies Without Butter
These chewy oatmeal cookies without butter will absolutely surprise you! These cookies are perfectly chewy and just slightly crisp around the edges. They’re finished with a sprinkle of flakey sea salt for the perfect bite!
Five Star Review…
“This is an excellent oatmeal cookie recipe, the salt on top really pulls everything together! A new favorite for sure!”
– NATHAN
A good cookie or muffin is a thing of glory. You’ll also love:
RECIPE INGREDIENTS
You’ll need the following ingredients to make these easy oatmeal cookies without butter (cookies with oil):
INGREDIENT NOTES
Oats: Old-fashioned oats or “rolled oats” work best. Quick cooking oats can be used in a pinch.
Oil options: I never thought you could make a good cookie without BUTTER! But it turns out, oil gives the cookies such a nice, chewy texture — my family prefers these!
Use a light, unflavored oil. I have tested this recipe with light olive oil, vegetable oil, canola oil, and avocado oil.
Hands-down, my favorite is avocado oil! Readers have also been successful using coconut oil.
Sea salt: I love using Maldon’s sea salt flakes, but any coarse salt is great. It’s just for sprinkling on top!
HOW TO MAKE OATMEAL COOKIES WITHOUT BUTTER: STEP BY STEP
Here are some quick visual instructions. Remember that full instructions with exact ingredients will be in the recipe card below!
EXPERT TIPS
- Underbake: Error on the side of under baking these cookies–they will continue to cook when you take them out of the oven. I start watching carefully at about the 10 minute mark until I see the edges JUST start to darken.
- Refrigerate: Pop the dough back into the fridge in between batches to ensure it stays cool.
- Storing: Store baked cookies in an air tight container for up to 5 days.
Casey’s Top Tip: In order to prevent parts of the cookie from cooking too quickly (the edges), chill the dough for at least 15 minutes before baking. Also, resist the urge to put another batch of cookies on a hot cookie sheet! Wait until the cookie sheets are completely cooled before adding another batch of dough.
Delicious Variations
- Oatmeal raisin cookies (without butter): After adding in the oats, flour and baking soda, stir in 1/2 to 1 cup of raisins.
- Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (without butter): Hands down my family’s favorite! After adding in the oats, flour and baking soda, stir in 1/2 to 1 cup of chocolate chips.
- Nut lovers: Add in 1/2 to 1 cup of crushed walnuts and/or pecans for a little crunch.
Did you try this recipe?
Let us know your thoughts these oatmeal cookies without butter by leaving a star rating below or sharing it on Instagram!
Thank you! ~ Casey
Chewy Oatmeal Cookies Without Butter
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup avocado oil can sub vegetable oil, canola oil (See Note 1)
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar light brown sugar or dark brown sugar both work great
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 1/2 cups old-fashioned/rolled oats See Note 2
- 1-2 tsp sea salt or flakey salt for sprinkling
Instructions
- Prep: Line cookie sheets with parchment paper, silicone mats or spray with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Combine wet ingredients: In a medium bowl, combine oil, white sugar, brown sugar, egg and vanilla. With a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together for 1 minute until all ingredients are well-combined. No need to over mix, as it may cause the cookies to spread too much.
- Add dry ingredients: To the wet ingredients mixture, add flour, baking soda and oats. With a large spoon, gently stir until all ingredients are well-combined.
- Chill: Refrigerate the dough for 10-15 minutes. This keeps the cookies from spreading too much. While the dough is in the fridge, preheat oven to 350°F.
- Scoop: Using a tablespoon or a #60 cookie scoop, form the dough into balls that are about 1 tablespoon each. Place on baking sheet a good distance apart because these cookies will spread a bit. I put 8 cookies on each cookie sheet.Quick Tip: Pop the remaining dough back into the fridge in between batches to ensure it stays cool.
- Bake: Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes until edges are slightly browned and the center is still a bit soft. Sprinkle cookies with sea salt/flakey salt immediately after coming out of the oven. Cool for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack or just devour them right off the baking sheet!
Notes
Expert Tips
-
- Underbake: Error on the side of under baking these cookies–they will continue to cook when you take them out of the oven. I start watching carefully at about the 10 minute mark until I see the edges JUST start to darken.
-
- Refrigerate: Pop the dough back into the fridge in between batches to ensure it stays cool.
-
- Be patient: DO NOT place cold cookie dough on a hot pan. It will cause the cookies to spread too much and the edges to be thin and dark. Allow your pans to cool completely before starting another batch.
-
- Storing: Store baked cookies in an air tight container for up to 5 days.
These cookies are a FAMILY FAVE! My kids love when I add chocolate chips 🙂 Hope you love them as much as we do! XO ~ Casey
I added the craisins and found the results to be awesome. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Very good. It was hard to keep together, so I wet my hands to form into a ball, it worked perfectly.
Loved this recipe! I use coconut oil and add craisins or chocolate chips.
So yummy
I ran out of butter so this recipe was great! I did however replace the vanilla with honey and it added a little more oomph to it. 10 out of 10 my husband loved them!
the sprinkle of course salt on top is a game changer !
Such a great recipe. Tnx
Can I add chocolate chips to the batter?
Absolutely!!! Great idea! Let us know how it turns out! xo
Thank you for sharing the recipe! I also made the cookies with a few tweaks. Used EVOO, 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup coconut sugar. I added 1/4 cup water because the batter seemed too dry, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1-1/2 cups butterscotch chips. I had to flatten the cookies half way through baking because they didn’t spread.
Great flavor and texture. Husband and neighbors loved them!
I just made these with some minor tweaks & they came out great.
I used olive oil but reduced it by a tbsp. Reduced the sugars to ½cup each, but the dough turned out too dry so I added 1 tbsp of honey mixed with 1 tbsp of warm water & the consistency turned out just nice.
I put the dough in a zip top bag and rolled it out (1.5cm thick) before chilling, and used a small round cookie cutter.
I was aiming for a crispier cookie so I flattened the cookies a little and increased the temp (180°C) after testing the 1st batch that it didn’t spread/flatten too much.
Nevertheless, this is a GREAT cookie recipe that can be customised with a simple tweak.
Thanks so much! =)
Great oatmeal cookie recipe, your step-by-step instructions were very helpful and the result was outstanding! Can’t wait to make it again!
Love baking and a new oat cookies recipe are always good to try! Thank you for the recipe!
Chewy and Crispy and I love the flaky sea salt flavor to these healthy Oatmeal cookies. Your recipe is definitely a healthier version of no butter in it too.
This is an excellent oatmeal cookie recipe, the salt on top really pulls everything together! A new favorite for sure.
We made these cookies over the weekend and they turned out perfectly! Super delicious too!
Oatmeal cookies are my absolute favorite and these did not disappoint. I love how the edges are crisp and the middle chewy. Serve with a glass of milk for pure perfection!
Hi! Can I use olive oil instead? Coconut?
Hi Jacey!
The lighter the oil, the better, otherwise the cookies become too dense. Coconut and olive oil are heavier oils. It will definitely work but may change the texture of the cookies. If you try it, please report back and let us know! XO ~ Casey
Delighted to find an oil version. Chilling the dough ( it was 5 degrees F outside!) really helps. I have to admit I put a little bit of whole flax seed in.
I followed the recipe to the letter and even left the cookie dough in the refrigerator in between batches but the cookies flattened out and practically burned around the edges…..although they look bad they still have a great taste but don’t know what happened….maybe my oven cooks too quickly and I should try and turn the oven down to maybe 325 or 300…..I did have them on parchment paper….do you think that might have been the problem?
Hi Karen, Yes it’s dependent on your oven–i don’t THINK having them on parchment paper should matter! You have to take them out of the oven when the centers are still a bit soft….they will continue to cook outside the oven and that will prevent the edges from burning. You could try 325 and start at 7 minutes and watch them carefully. Also, when you cook your batches, make sure your cookie sheets are completely cooled before adding a new batch so there is no carryover cooking from the hot pan. Glad they tasted good though!! XO ~ Casey
So easy and so yummy. I could eat these all day!
Perfect chewy oatmeal cookies! Thanks for the easy to follow recipe and photos.
What a great recipe and I never missed the butter delicious!
The price of butter is going sky high at the moment, so this tasty recipe is a keeper! Will make it again and again!
Flavour was good however this were too crumbly and didn’t hold their shape even with 30 mins of chilling
Ran out of butter and found this! Never tried an oatmeal cookie without butter, but the oil worked great – super moist and easy too!
Sugar content is very high. Cookies came out too sweet. Will try once more but with half the stated amount.
Great! Let us know how it turns out– I always think one of the beauties of cooking at home is you can adjust everything to your taste! XO ~ Casey
Love love this recipe. However will have to cut down on the sugar next time as myself and friends found it was way too sweet.
Hi Sarah! So glad you enjoyed it! Yep, one of the beauties of cooking at home is being able to adjust things to our liking! Love it! XO ~ Casey
CAME OUT AMAZING!
Such a great oatmeal cookie recipe!
I made these last night–loved them, especially with that touch of flaky sea salt on top!
Loved these so much! There’s really nothing better than warm oatmeal cookies straight from the oven!
Love how easy these fabulous looking oatmeal cookies are to make. Can’t wait to make them with my grandkids.
We really like this recipe. Never knew it was this easy to make. Will be trying without further delay!
So they are in my fridge cooling. I got them out and they just fall apart into a loose pile when I put on the cookie sheet? Followed instructions
Hi Dawn,
Try taking the dough balls into your hands and pressing the dough together to form your ball. You can also roll them between your hands to form the balls and that should help them stay together a bit better. The dough is fairly sticky as there isn’t a lot of flour in this recipe so wondering if there was something that went wrong…
I had the same issue. Chilled for 30 minutes but crumbly instead of goey “dough”. I found that they didn’t flattern when forming the balls with my hands, so I flattened with a fork halfway through cooking. Perhaps my egg wasn’t large enough for the lacking liquid? I knew a butterless cookie recipe would have flaws!
Does your “dough” look sticky like it does in the process photo above?
Perfect oatmeal cookies!!!
My kids and husband loved them
Thank you❤
Yay! So glad they worked your family, Melissa! XO ~ Casey