These Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pomegranate are a deliciously wholesome spin on the classic! Made with whole grain flour and coconut oil, these easy cookies are perfectly soft, slightly chewy, and require no chilling.
I was a brownie girl for 27 years. No question. But I can say with confidence that I took a turn to the cookie side in my 28th year.
For the past few months, rich and gooey chocolate chip cookies with salt on top are all I want after dinner. No banana bread, no muffins, no ice cream. Chocolate chip cookies only, dude.
I’ve made a zillion cookie recipes, and I’ve loved most of them. The amazing thing about these soft and buttery heaven-sent Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies is that you don’t have to chill them. I actually tried chilling them and baking them for 14 minutes and they turned out just fine, but not any better than the version I popped right in the oven. Isn’t that magical?
I used my favorite whole wheat pastry flour in this recipe. I get the big bag and keep it in the fridge so it lasts longer. I use it in pancakes and banana bread and all the baking things. It keeps these Coconut Oil Chocolate Cookies light and fluffy but still 100% whole grain which IMO, is super legit. You can totally use all purpose or regular whole wheat flour instead, if you’d like. I haven’t tried these with gluten-free flours (almond flour and coconut flour will not work) but I assume a gluten-free all purpose flour would be just fine. I haven’t tried it, so leave a comment if you do!
A note on flour (and this goes for all recipes): don’t dunk the measuring cup in the bag. You don’t want the flour packed in! Set your little measuring cup on the counter and gently spoon in the flour before leveling it off with a knife. This results in anywhere from 30-50% less flour. That’s a big difference! Cookies that stay in a stiff ball and don’t spread out are a dead giveaway that there was too much flour. Over-beating the egg can also cause stiffness. Look, we’re learning things!
Your dough should form like little mini dough balls that come together into a big ball when you smush it together. See photos above for reference of what your dough should look like. Now let’s address baking time. These Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies should look puffy and a little underdone. I took mine out after 10 minutes for the first batch and 12 minutes the second batch and actually preferred 12 minutes. Just don’t over-bake! This isn’t a crunchy cookie recipe. That would be rude.
Now let’s talk coconut oil. It should be nice and hard, not softened or melted. If it’s in your pantry in the winter like mine was, it should be the right consistency. If it’s soft from sitting by a stove or something, put it in the fridge to firm up. Now, since I have a feeling someone may ask, I have not tried these cookies with coconut sugar. Coconut sugar tastes less sweet than brown sugar so do me a solid and embrace the sheer COOKIENESS of this recipe and use brown sugar. And don’t use less of either of the sugars! Sugar isn’t just for sweetness here; it’s also important for structure. AKA your cookies won’t set up if you funk with the sugars, mmmmk?
I added pomegranate to these insanely amazing Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies for a festive pop of color (oh hi, it’s December) but I was pleasantly surprised with how much I adored the tart flavor and texture. Such a delight! You could of course leave them out if you’re feeling like a chocolate only kind of cookie. I get you. I’ve been there.
Now tell me. What else are you baking this season? Can we do a virtual cookie exchange?! Someone bring me the chewy iced gingerbread women ones, please!!
- ½ cup solid coconut oil (not melted)
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg (sub 1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water for vegan version)
- 1½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1½ cups whole wheat pastry flour* (or all purpose flour, spooned and leveled, NOT packed)
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp fine sea salt
- ½ cup pomegranate arils**
- ½ cup chocolate chips
- Course salt, for topping
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- If using a flax egg, whisk together flax and water in a small bowl and set aside.
- Using a stand mixer or electric beaters, beat coconut oil with the sugars until creamy (for me this took about 2 minutes). Add vanilla and egg (or flax mixture) and beat for 15 seconds, or until just incorporated.
- Add flour, baking soda, and salt and mix until just combined. The dough will look a bit crumbly but should form nice balls when you touch it (see photos for reference). Stir in chocolate chips and pomegranate by hand.
- Roll dough into 16 balls and place on two cookie sheets. Bake pans, one at a time, for about 11-13 minutes. Do not over bake! They will look a bit underdone in the middle. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes to set up, sprinkle with salt, and dig in.
**If omitting pomegranate, you can add ¼-1/2 cup more chocolate chips.
I love coconut oil in my food, it adds such a fragrant flavour to the whole thing! This sounds wonderful, though I’m intrigued about pomegranate in cookies. Sounds very interesting, could be a great combination! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
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Me too! So much yummy butteriness. Enjoy!
I believe I have everything I need except pomegranate seeds! I froze the last of the fresh ones I had from Thanksgiving, but I was already planning on getting more. I hope to make these for a pre-Christmas dinner that Matt, my sister, her husband, & I are enjoying together!
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Spoiler alert: you can totally make them without the pom seeds and they’ll still be amazing 🙂
So excited to try these Alexis! Any recommendations for the egg replacement to make them vegan? Thank you!
Yay! This recipe will work with a flax egg. Stir together 1 tbsp flax with 3 tbsp water and let sit for 5 minutes. Then proceed with recipe. Enjoy!
I made these today and they’re awesome! I made them vegan with 1/4 cup pumpkin puree instead of an egg. I don’t have a stand mixer so I just used partially softened vegan butter instead and it worked perfectly. Thank you for this great recipe Alexis!
I just made these! I used all purpose flour and the vegan flax egg, and they turned out great! Quick, easy, and delicious! 10/10 definitely recommend!
I made these today with my standing mixer, white whole wheat flour and an egg. They were great!! Always great work Alexis!
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I hope you’re feeling better, Alexis. These cookies look fab and I’m glad you’re “embracing the cookie-ness of these cookies” by using real LIVE sugar haha. A year ago, I would’ve panicked at the mention of something that wasn’t xylitol or coconut sugar: now I love baking CC cookies weekly and enjoying them nightly with a fab glass of warmed milk. Yay for recovery ❤️ I didn’t make the recipe but five stars for your amazing healthy food relationship modeling. Thanks for fulfilling what a nutritionist should actually do: inform and empower people about nutrition, not fear monger about “the one food that will destroy your health.” So much love for you & your journey
Seriously enjoyed reading this recipe! Such a cute way of writing and a great sense of humour!
I’ve been wanting to try coconut oil in a cookie recipe so now I just might have to!
I made these with Bobs Red Mills GF All Purpose Baking Flour and they turned out great!! I also decided to use coconut sugar instead of cane sugar. Love the pop of flavor with the pomegranate!
I’m so glad they worked with that flour! Thanks for letting me know, Katie 🙂
I find measuring flour and sugar with a kitchen scale yields the best results.
Can you provide the amount of flour this recipe requires in grams? Same for sugar…?
I don’t own a kitchen scale but feel free to google!
Made these and they turned out delicious, but I definitely need to make them again!! I had to put them in the fridge for a little bit because my oven was full and they were melting, so they didn’t turn out gooey and soft, but they are still delicious 🙂 going to try again in a few days!
I froze some for 30 min then baked them for 14 min and they turned out great! But yes try again 🙂
Made these with the flax egg but they didn’t expand at all and took a bit longer to cook. Has this happened to anyone using the flax? I always have issues using flax as a replacement in baking and I don’t know if it’s just me! xx
Hi, Georgina! Yes, I tested them with a flax egg and they came out just like the original version. Did you measure the flour correctly? I wrote about this a bit in the post but typically a stiff cookie that won’t spread is a result of too much flour. Hope that helps!
Yep, used a spoon to measure the flour, definitely didn’t pack it in!
Do you reckon this would work with frozen pomegranate seeds? I froze a load to use as snacks for the kids but wondering if they would work in this recipe? Hmm. Maybe I’ll give it a try and report back!
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Baked these cookies last night and they were a big hit in my house! Loved the fact you do NOT need to chill the dough. So much less time consuming which is great with the holidays coming up!
I used all purpose flour, added a heaping half cup of pomegranate, along with 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and nutmeg. I think next time I make these I’ll add in 1/4 cup of shredded coconut. Note: I used frozen pomegranate and also did not add the salt on top at the end and they still tasted delicious and had that nice soft chewy texture 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Baked these last night and they were a huge hit in my house! Love the fact you do NOT need to chill the dough. Making these cookies is very quick and easy, especially with the holidays coming up this is important. Every minute counts!
I used all purpose flour, heaping 1/2 cup of pomegranate, 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and nutmeg. I also used frozen pomegranate and they turned out perfect! Didn’t even add the additional salt on top.
Recommend this recipe even if you are not short on time 🙂
Thanks for sharing!!
I am a lover of all things pomegranate so I had to try out this recipe! I followed the directions perfectly and these cookies could not have been better! They are delicious and I love how easy they were to make! Definitely going to be making this again 🙂