These olive oil cookies feature a chewy middle, crisp edges and a slightly crinkled appearance. They’re insanely simple to make and perfect for dunking in milk, tea or coffee. The optional addition of lemon makes them light and bright tasting to balance their subtle sweetness.
Everyone should have a go-to cookie recipe for when the craving strikes. I think many people choose a good old fashioned chocolate chip cookie in those instances, but I’m going to try and convince you that these olive oil cookies should be that recipe.
Using olive oil in cookies instead of butter results in a fine, almost cake-like crumb. They’re incredibly simple with a unique texture and short ingredient list. If you need something to dunk in your afternoon tea, coffee or milk, I can’t think of a better option.
Why You’ll Love These Cookies
- Baking with olive oil as the fat for cookies means there’s no need to soften butter! This is a great time-saving hack when it comes to baking.
- They’re a wonderful blank slate to which you can add extracts, zests or herbs for flavor.
- Adjusting the baking powder allows you to easily play with the final shape of the cookie.
- Their crispy edges, soft cake-like middle and subtle sweet taste is a a combination everyone will like.
Ingredients To Make Olive Oil Cookies
Olive oil — The recipe calls for 100 mL (or 3.4 ounces) of olive oil so make sure to use a good quality oil as you will taste it in these cookies — that’s the point!.Extra virgin, cold pressed and organic olive oil in a dark amber glass bottle should steer you in the right direction.
Sugar — Both granulated and light brown sugar are used together to achieve the perfect sweetness in the cookies.
Vanilla extract — A touch of extract brings nice flavor to each cookie.
Eggs — You’ll just need 1 large egg for this recipe.
Flour — I developed this recipe with gluten-free all-purpose flour. Feel free to substitute regular all-purpose flour if desired.
Xanthan gum — If your gluten-free flour doesn’t have this ingredient already in it, make sure you don’t skip adding it. A little goes a long way, but it’s essential to bind the ingredients together in the absence of gluten.
Baking powder — This helps give rise to the cookies. Using a little bit less as noted in the recipe card below will give you a flatter, more crinkled looking cookie.
Salt — Every cookie needs salt to bring out the flavor!
Lemon zest — This is optional but I tend to add it each time I make this olive oil cookie recipe. The brightness of lemon zest pairs so nicely with the earthy olive oil. You can also use orange zest.
How To Make Easy Olive Oil Cookies
As always, the full recipe ingredients and directions are down below in the recipe card, but here’s a visual rundown of the recipe to show you each step.
Start by preheating the oven to 350°F and lining two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Combine the olive oil, sugars, vanilla and egg in a large bowl. Use a handheld electric mixer to mix the ingredients until combined and the sugar is fully dissolved.
Add the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt and lemon zest (if using). Use a spatula to stir together until well combined.
Use a medium cookie scoop (or about 2 tablespoons) to portion the cookie dough out. Roll into balls then place on the baking sheet, leaving plenty of room between the cookies as they will spread while baking.
Bake for about 11 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden brown. Don’t over bake the cookies as they will set once removed from the oven during the cooling process.
Allow the olive oil cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to finish cooling completely.
Optional Glaze
While I don’t think the cookies need it and it sort of takes away from tasting the olive oil in the cookie, you can opt to glaze these cookies after cooling.
A lemon or orange glaze is my suggestion:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Fresh orange or lemon juice — just enough to make a thick glaze.
You can either drizzle the glaze on top of the cookies or dip them into it. You’ll want a slightly thinner glaze (use more juice) for the drizzling and a slightly thicker (use less juice) for dipping.
Topping the glazed extra virgin olive oil cookies with the zest of whatever citrus you used is a nice aesthetic touch too. Or go all out and add a candied lemon slice!
Storing The Cookies
Any leftover cookies can be kept in an air-tight container or tin at room temperature for up to 3 days. The cookies can be frozen for up to 2 months. Let them thaw at room temperature before serving.
Optional Add-Ins and Suggestions
I love how these cookies serve as a blank slate. They’re wonderful baked off just as they are but can easily be jazzed up a bit too with some simple additions.
- Herbs — My original recipe from over 10 years ago included rosemary in these cookies (I got the idea from these rosemary chocolate chip cookies). I took it out to make it a more basic recipe in this update but I stand by it being a lovely addition to the cookies. Minced fresh rosemary, thyme and even sage are all wonderfully complementary to the olive oil taste in the cookies.
- Other zests — Besides lemon, you can do orange, grapefruit or any other winter citrus zest you like. If you’re glazing the cookies, use the juice for the glaze as well.
- Turn these into ice cream sandwiches — Use less baking powder to make the cookies flatter. When they come out of the oven, reshape them into a perfect circle using the glass method referenced in this cranberry chocolate chip cookie recipe. Let the cookies cool completely then scoop vanilla ice cream onto the bottom of one and press another cookie on top to create an ice cream sandwich. Just like these lemon zucchini ice cream cookie sandwiches.
- Stuff them — Instead of ice cream, try something else like buttercream or curd.
- Dust them with coarse sugar — This is a simple decoration that adds elegance and sweetness to the finished cookie. Add the sugar to the tops of the cookies before baking.
More Similar Baking Recipes
Savory muffins are another great way to use olive oil in baking. These zucchini feta olive oil muffins and sun dried tomato leek muffins are two recipes that showcase its versatility.
If you’re looking for more subtle lemon baked goods, try these strawberry lemon scones or lemon chia mini muffins.
And, these gluten-free peanut butter cookies are another classic cookie recipe that proves you can’t go wrong when sticking with the basics.
Olive Oil Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3.4 ounces olive oil
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup gluten-free flour
- 1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1 teaspoon baking powder, or 3/4 teaspoon for a flatter cookie
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- Zest of 1 lemon, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two greased baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a mixing bowl, use a hand-held electric mixer to whisk the olive oil, sugars, vanilla and egg until combined. Add the flour, xanthan gum, salt and optional lemon zest. Using a rubber spatula, mix until well combined.
- Scoop 2 tablespoons of the mixture into a mound or use a cookie scoop, roll into balls, and place on the prepared baking sheets leaving a 2-inch gap in-between so the cookies can spread a little in the oven.
- Bake for about 11 minutes or until slightly golden at the edges. Don’t over cook as they will firm up as they cool. Allow to cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a cooling rack.
Notes
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- fresh lemon or orange juice – just enough to make into a glaze of your desired consistency.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
What gluten-free flour can be used?
I like Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free 1 to 1 flour.
this recipe looks so interesting… i would have never thought i’d link olive oil, lemon, and cookies in one sentence. i’ll be trying this soon!
– katie at http://www.ohshineon.wordpress.com/
I love the flavor in these cookies, it’s definitely an odd combo but it works :)
I am obsessing about lemon and rosemary lately, but I’ve never thought to combine the two. What a delicious recipe!
these look so good! such an innovative recipe!
I don’t cook with rosemary that often but I’m definitely not opposed to it. I LOVE it in breads and with chicken. I’ve never tried it in a dessert though – those look yummy :)
I’m trying to get on board with rosemary! I heart it on potatoes so maybe I’ll play with it some more? LOVE the idea of a sweet lemony rosemary cookie! =)
xoXOxo
Jenn @ Peas & Crayons
Are you taking your photos on the floor? BTW I’m still freaked out by assgrass.