Ok, bear with me on this.
Clearly I am not the site you come to for “healthier choices”.
I completely understand my place in your life. Really.
And today isn’t necessarily about “health”.
It’s about options.
Still with me?
Because options are always good to have, yes?
Think about packing for vacation…clearly you need “feeling fat” options, or “lazy” options. On the other side of the coin, you also pack, “Hot mama” options or “hair up” options.
Shoes also…high heels, flats and even flip flops all to match one outfit makes sense to me. There are just too many variables on vacation to be locked into one shoe selection.
Same rules apply to cookies.
While butter is always my fat of choice, sometimes it’s nice to broaden the horizons.
I mean, what if you run out of butter and you MUST MAKE COOKIES?
It can happen, I’ve been there.
So all in the name of research I decided to give grapeseed oil a chance.
The idea for these came from my recent trip to Austin where a company called Pompeian had a booth set up with a Chocolate Chip Cookie taste test. One with Grapeseed Oil and one with Butter.
Low and behold I thought the grapeseed oil cookie was better. I kinda felt like a major cheater.
And while their cookie was good, I knew I could make it better.
So I went ahead and tried a Grapeseed Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies baking experiment at home. And I’ll tell you it was muy successful. That means it worked.
Since we’re going there, I guess I should tell you that word on the street is that grapeseed oil is a pretty healthy fat. Here are the details…
(And for the record, this post is not sponsored by anyone or anything but my own pure curiosity)
- Grapeseed Oil contains about twice as much Vitamin E as Olive Oil.
- It has zero trans fats and is non-hydrogenated
- It has zero cholesterol and very little saturated fats
- It has the highest concentration os omega-6 polyunstaurated fat
Honestly, if you’re eating Chocolate Chip Cookies you probably don’t care so much about any of this…but I thought I would share. It makes me feel smart.
Also, after a little google action on my part, it seems like the standard sub for oil to butter is 3/4 oil to 1 cup butter…so that’s what I did. I imagine you could use light olive oil, canola oil or coconut oil too.
The cookies are pretty straightforward, and added bonus, you don’t have to wait for your butter to come to room temp!
I started with dark brown sugar…
And also some granulated…
2 eggs…
And of course vanilla.
Nope, I never measure vanilla. Seriously people, you’re not gonna add too much, I promise.
Also, since you’re not getting any real flavor from the oil, as you would butter, it’s nice to add a little extra vanilla. Just sayin.
Next add in your oil…
It makes a pretty dough.
When you use oil or melted butter in you get glossy chocolate chips. Three cheers for glossy chips!
Ok, weirdo…don’t really cheer.
Also, no chilling required. Score!
They bake up just about as pretty as you can imagine…
Only thing, they don’t get as brown around the edges as a butter cookie would, so you have to be sure not to over bake them!
So clearly I’m not telling you to ditch the butter, but I will DEFINITELY make these again. They taste great, look pretty and honestly most people would never know the difference!
I bet you could take these one step further and use (gasp!) Whole Wheat Flour!…What is happening to me??
Grapeseed Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies
Description:
bakes 3 dozen cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 Tbsp vanilla
- 3/4 cup grapeseed oil
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 2 cups chocolate chips
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 375°
- Line baking sheet with parchment paper
- In bowl of stand mixer combine both sugars, eggs and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes on medium until light in color.
- Turn mixer to low and add in grapeseed oil. Beat until evenly combined.
- With mixer on low add in baking soda, salt and flour. Stir until evenly combined.
- Fold in chocolate chips.
- Drop heaping tablespoon sized portions of dough onto prepared baking sheet 2 inches apart.
- Bake 9-11 minutes until edges are golden. Don’t over bake.
- Allow to cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to continue cooling.
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I never measure vanilla either! And I love that you did this for me so now I know. Because sometimes you really do need chocolate chip cookies, like, pronto. Pinning!
I made these last week for a picnic. They were a huge hit. (I only used 1 Tbls of vanilla because I was scared 2 was a typo. Turned out fine!) 🙂
http://lifestooshorttoskipdessert.blogspot.com/2013/07/grapeseed-oil-chocolate-chip-cookies.html
LOVE using coconut oil for baking! Gives such a subtle but great flavor! Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite to use it in.
These look great, and I know they must be delicious, but…all the people saying grapeseed oil is healthy. It’s not really. It’s extremely processed, has more fat per TB than butter, and it’s higher in polyunsaturated fat, which when heated can cause inflammation and wreak havoc all throughout the body.
I bought grapeseed oil yesterday and I plan to make these
Ok, I made these, but used King Arthur’s white whole wheat flour instead of regular white flour. My family loved them–husband is very health conscious, and son is a avid weight trainer, who is going to college for a BS degree in Personal training. He doesn’t eat cookies, but did try one, and said if he was to eat a cookie, this would be the one.
Love to hear this!! Thanks for the feedback 🙂
These look perfect! They don’t look any different then the “normal” cookies! Gonna try them, I love the idea of sneaking in “healthy!”
So great to see your recipe using grapeseed oil!!!! Chocolate cookies must be in the air, because I just posted my recipe, which also used my new grapeseed flour (now that is another story) totally gluten free for those who need the extra help!
http://grapeseedoil.com/Recipes/Flour/chocchipcookies.html
I’d love you to try our grapeseed oil – Salute Sante! Grapeseed Oils – we are up for Outstanding Oil at the Fancy Food Show in NY at the end of the month – check out http://www.grapeseedoil.com and like us on facebook
Grapeseed oil is such a cool ingredient! I really want to try these 🙂
My sad little pantry always needs to be flexible because my lack of stockpiling ingredients…Thanks for the idea 🙂
Oooo, this makes me uber-curious!! Guess I need to find me some grape seed oil!! Thanks for this, never really heard of this oil before!
I am all about anything that can justify me eating cookies – if a healthy oil does that, then I am all in!!
I more healthy recipe is great once in a while!! What a great idea to use grapeseed oil! I cook with it all the time but have never baked with it before.
I loved tasting the difference between the two cookies at BHF and I’ve been cooking with grapeseed oil since the conference! These cookies look awesome! And it definitely looks like you improved the cookie =)
These look beyond delicious! I’ll definitely be giving this recipe a try!
Nothing will ever replace butter for me, but since your cookies look amazing, I am willing to try baking mine with grapeseed oil. Hurray for healthy cookies.
The ones at BH tasted good but were way too puffy for me…these look flat and perfect. LOVE!!!!
I’m so glad you posted this, Shelly! I keep reminding myself to look for a way to replicate those amazing cookies from Pompeian at BlogHer. Yours look amazing! Definitely trying them soon.
These look fabulous! Even if they are a little bit healthier!
Cookies look wonderful! I love subbing grapeseed oil in recipes!
What a gorgeous bake! I love these! And love the healthier option!
Haha, options are always good and these look great! 🙂
Grapeseed oil and whole wheat flour? I’m there! It’s summertime and I need to indulge a bit smarter so these cookies are just perfect!
hello i am love your blogs a lot and tried some of your recipes they turned out great we dont have grapeseed oil in my country should i use reply please i can not resist for long.
You could use any light flavored oil in its place…like Olive Oil, Coconut oil, Canola…
These are pppeeeerfecttt! I love that measuring cup by the way!
These look so doughy and moist!! Oh my gosh, I love them already!! Such a genius idea!
Hi there again, sorry for my question,i missed the portion in your blog that says ” you can also use canola oil etc….my bad, skipped a line sorry! Thanks anyways, i ammgoing to try it ..(“,)
Last week I posted choc chip cookie sticks that I made with oil, rather than butter. It’s amazing that sometimes you don’t miss the butter. Sometime it’s key, but clearly in your cookies, they don’t look like they’re missing a thing. So pretty!
Hi thanks for the recipe, i am curious so i am thinking of making a batch, but the problem is grapeseed is hard to find, and if i fnd one. Iam very very sure it is very expensive…hmmm wonder if i can use veg oil instead, what do u think? Thanks & love your site!!!,
No problem, actually they sell grapeseed oil at my local supermarket now, so I am sure it’s in most…and it honestly isn’t too expensive…along the same price as peanut oil. BUt yes, certainly try it with any oil you’d like!
I love baking cakes with grapeseed oil…now I can’t wait to try cookies!
we started using grape seed oil a couple years ago and haven’t looked back. it is so much more healthy and doesn’t have the smell or strong taste that olive oil has. We also get garlic infused grape seed oil for cooking as well.
I know! I tasted those cookies..they were good!! They are really amazing people with the oil…it’s not a joke!
I plan on trying them. Everyone in this house with the exception of me is a black belt in karate, weight lifter, healthy food only type person. I do use King Arthur’s unbleached white whole wheat in all of my baking instead of white flour. It is great.
ooo perfect timing! Looking for dairy free cookies to make for my BF’s coworker who has a severe diary allergy. This would be perfect
Ok..I totally dont believe you that the grapeseed cookie was better than the butter cookie. We you feeling alright when you tasted them? Did you have jet lag? Did you burn your tongue, in-turn damaging your taste buds? I mean, were talking about butter here. Gold.
Ok , I have a suggestion….bake me a batch of these, ship them to me and I will either agree or call you bat sh*t cray cray.
Either way, I still love you.
Oh and the whole wheat flour…..I am just gonna blame that one on lack of air pressure on the cabin on the plane.
HA! I didn’t say I tried whole wheat flour… and also, honestly the cookies are good! I couldn’t believe it! They don’t have that crispy, buttery edge, but honestly, they are super soft. I wouldn’t turn one down 😉
I’m totally into this! I agree, options are always a good idea!