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This soft olive oil sugar cookies recipe uses olive oil and apple sauce instead of butter to create dairy-free sugar cookies. In less than 30 minutes, you can have the most delicious soft and chewy no butter sugar cookies ready to and waiting. They are sure to be a crowd pleaser !
These dairy free sugar cookies are my newest homemade sugar cookie obsession. They are pillowy, light, and chewy. They taste just like regular soft sugar cookies but with a lightened-up air to them. And they are simple and quick to make. They take less than 30 minutes to make!
I love using olive oil to replace butter in this cookie recipe. If you love baking with olive oil, check out my Olive Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies, Cottage Cheese Cookies, Olive oil banana bread, or my Olive Oil Pumpkin Cake.
Table of Contents
Why this recipe works
- It is a delicious sugar cookie recipe without butter. For a more classic butter cookie, try my Sable cookies.
- They are no chill sugar cookies that are soft and chewy.
- They are sweet but not heavy
- They are light and airy and yet perfectly satisfying.
- They are dairy-free, but taste like regular sugar cookies. That is why I love making cookies with olive oil instead of butter. You get great taste and texture but without having to use butter.
Recipe Ingredients
- flour– unbleached all purpose flour is best for this recipe.
- baking soda AND baking powder– you need both in this recipe and they are used to help the cookies rise.
- olive oil– extra virgin olive oil is my go-to for this recipe. Make sure you are using a light flavored olive oil, that is lighter in color. Try my olive oil brownies if you are craving a chocolate treat!
- apple sauce– make sure it has no added flavors or sugars.
- sugar– organic cane sugar is my favorite to use for sugar cookie recipes.
- coarse sugar– to dunk the cookie dough into before baking (optional)
To get a full list of the ingredients, check out the recipe card at the end of the post.
Additions/ Substitutions
- Instead of olive oil, you could use avocado oil.
- Add sprinkles to the dough before baking OR roll the dough into course sugar prior to baking.
- Instead of apple sauce, you can use pear sauce.
Step by Step Cookie Instructions
Step 1: Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl. This includes the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in one bowl.
Step 2: Mix the wet ingredients with a hand-held mixer. This includes the olive oil, sugar, egg and vanilla. Then mix the wet and dry ingredients together until a dough forms.
Step 3: Use a small cookie scoop to gather the dough.
A small cookie scoop grabs about 1 Tablespoon worth of dough. Put the dough onto a cookie sheet OR you could grab some coarse sugar and dunk your cookie dough balls into it before putting them onto a cookie sheet.
Step 4: Bake!
How to decorate them:
- You can dunk the cookie dough in coarse sugar before baking.
- You can sprinkle the dough with sprinkles.
- You can frost them.
- If you want to keep the cookies totally dairy-free, you could use a dairy-free frosting like one from Mrs Jones.
- You could also use regular frosting if that works for you. Store bought or homemade frosting works great.
Recipe FAQs
Cover and keep at room temperature for 4-5 days.
Yes, just make sure to use a 1-1 gluten-free baking flour.
Yes, it helps with the texture of everything. However, if you can’t have apple sauce, you can try pear sauce.
Other olive oil baking recipes that you’ll love:
If you love chocolate, then you will love these Chocolate Chocolate Chip Sea Salt Cookies. It’s not for the faint of chocolate heart!
These Paleo Almond Flour Brownies with Olive Oil are delicious brownies with a gluten-free and dairy-free twist.
These Banana Oatmeal Muffins Made with Olive Oil are the ultimate breakfast muffin that tastes amazing with some almond butter on top.
These gluten free chocolate chip cookie bars are the ultimate decadent gooey cookie dessert.
Did you try this recipe? Please leave me a ⭐ review below!
Soft Olive Oil Sugar Cookies (Dairy-free)
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup apple sauce
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Optional- coarse sugar to roll the dough in before baking
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together with a fork.
- In another bowl, mix the olive oil, sugar, egg, apple sauce and vanilla with a hand held mixer.
- Pour half of the dry ingredients into the bowl of the wet ingredients and mix with your hand-held mixer. Add the other half of the dry ingredients and mix again. You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl as you do this.
- Using a small cookie scoop, or a spoon, scoop out 1 Tbs sized balls of the dough and place on a cookie sheet.
- Note: if you want to roll the dough in coarse sugar, do this prior to placing the balls of dough on a cookie sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, then remove the cookies from the oven and let them sit on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to cool on a cookie rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Followed the recipe, and it turned into cake.
I am very disappointed.