The Best Sugar Cookie Recipe Without Butter
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Here is my recipe for sugar cookies without butter, one of many no-butter cookie recipes here on The Frugal South!
I personally love a classic cutout sugar cookie.
But I hate chilling the dough, rolling it out, and cutting out all of my cookies. Who has time for that outside of the holidays?
Turns out you can make a delicious sugar cookie without butter or any extra steps!
Read on for all of the details and get my recipe below…
Soft Sugar Cookies Without Butter Basics
Soft sugar cookies are such a classic treat.
They are slightly crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside with a subtle vanilla flavor. They have to be the perfect comfort food!
My super easy soft sugar cookie recipe even uses oil instead of butter, so you don’t have to check the fridge to see if you have any butter before you make them.
Did you know that vegetable oil is actually six times cheaper than butter?
So these cookies are both frugal and delicious.
This oil sugar cookie recipe uses the following seven basic ingredients that most folks can find in their house:
- all-purpose flour
- white sugar
- salt
- baking soda
- vegetable oil
- vanilla extract
- eggs
If you have these ingredients on hand then you can make these delicious cookies.
Tips for No Butter Sugar Cookies
I bake ALL of my cookies on a silicone baking mat like this one from Target.
It prevents the cookies from sticking and is so much easier to clean.
I’ll never go back to dirty pans or parchment paper again. My silicone baking mat and silicone muffin pan might be my most-loved kitchen items.
Do not worry if the dough feels oily. The cookies will turn out great regardless.
Your hand will get slightly oily when rolling the dough balls.
Making the dough into balls (I use a small ice cream scoop to keep them the same size) and rolling them in sugar is essential to these turning out perfectly.
Don’t skip this step even though is it slightly annoying! The work with be worth it, I promise.
It’s also very important to remove the cookies from the oven when they still seem a bit soft. They will harden as they cool.
I repeat: do NOT overbake these cookies!
They will get too hard and difficult to eat.
Sugar Cookies No Butter: Variations & Substitutions
There are MANY substitutions and variations you can make on these soft sugar cookies!
Here are some common substitutions people have tried and that appear to work:
- Using almond flour or gluten-free flour in place of all-purpose flour
- Use rice bran oil, olive oil, or avocado oil in place of vegetable oil
- Replacing the teaspoon of vanilla extract with 1/2 tsp of almond extract
- If you have butter on hand instead of oil, you can definitely use that instead. Just make sure it is soft or slightly melted.
I hope you enjoy the best sugar cookie recipe without butter below! Any questions? Please leave a comment below or send me a message on The Frugal South’s Facebook page.
Soft and chewy sugar cookies with no butter. No chilling, rolling, or cutting out. No Butter Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
Instructions
I did 3 eggs instead of the two in the recipe. I also use olive oil, but only used 1/2 cup. I put the oven at 350 and did 15 minutes in the oven.
☮️❤️👽
@Jess, Why, was it to replace other ingredients due to dietary preferences
Had a random late night sugar cookie craving & no butter! This recipe was easy and they turned out SO well! Definitely recommend.
Made 1/2 batch perfect snack
@Dennis, I, too made 1/2 batch. I added a tiny bit of almond extract along with the vanilla. Also added 1/2 tsp cinnamon and rolled them in cinnamon sugar. Baked for 10 minutes.
P.S. I had to use self rising flour because I was out of all-purpose. Just didn’t use baking soda. They turned out great.
they were okay texture was nice, looks really pretty, melted in my mouth, Although; I wasn’t a fan of the flavor definitely could have tasted better I can really taste the oil.
P.S. I wasn’t sure whether the cookies need to be flattened a bit but I haven’t found this in the recipe, so I googled and found out that yes, after you place them on the cooking sheet, you should slightly flatten them. I used a bottom of a glass. They turned out just right!
@Oksana,
I used a fork and flattened mine slightly, too. They turned out very nicely, with a crackled top and golden brown bottoms. Crisp on the edges and tender and chewy in the middle. I will keep this recipe!
These cookies are phenomenal! Thank you.
Thank you for this great recipe! We are dairy free in my house due to an allergy and these were perfect! Great texture! Quick to make too, so this momma was happy!
@Melanie, Hi, I just found out that I am dairy free too. And can’t wait to try these for Valentine’s. I love sugar cookies well especially for special occasions🥰
Thank you for leaving a comment since that really helps me😉🥰
added date pieces and pancake syrup. extremely yummy
PERFECT!! Thank you. These are delicious. Who can afford the butter for cookies these days?
These are amazing and easy to make!! I gave a few to some of my siblings and one of my moms and they all loved them too.
@Rowan, for a moment I read that you have some cookies to your siblings and 1 single cookie to your mom and was confused 😂 had to re-read your comment
i did a couple tweaks to this like 2 cups of flour and preheat to 350 and they stayed really nice and soft in the middle , absolutely love