Ever get to 3pm and think “I just need a cookie and a hot drink right now.”? Us too. If there’s one thing we can all agree on, it’s that chocolate chip cookies really just make a day better and can help lift the mood when you reach that afternoon slump. But, what happens when you go to the cupboard to gather your ingredients and – oh no! You realize you’ve run out of brown sugar?

Rather than a trip to the store, we’ll let you in on a little secret: you definitely don’t need brown sugar to make chocolate chip cookies. In fact, white sugar does the trick. White sugar’s a pantry staple and can be used instead of brown sugar when that sugar craving hits. Thankfully, we have just the thing – Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Brown Sugar! Read on for the super-simple, deliciously crispy recipe. 

But First, a Bit About Sugar, and How It Affects Your Cookie... 

Chocolate chip cookies are such a simple creation, and have been an American staple snack for nearly 100 years. But have you ever wondered how they came to be such a popular treat? Well, back in the 1930s, a woman named Ruth Wakefield invented the classic cookie for her Massachusetts restaurant, the Toll House Inn. Sound familiar? It proved very popular, and the chocolate chip cookie as we know it today was born, becoming a baker’s delight all around the world. While there are many variations of the recipe, to this day many chocolate chip cookie recipes call for brown sugar, because that’s what Ruth used way back when.

The Secret To Making Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Brown Sugar

Despite how delicious Ruth’s cookie recipe is, it’s definitely not necessary to use brown sugar to make a great chocolate chip cookie. In fact, white sugar can work just as well! Standard white sugar will make your cookies crunchier – so if you love a crisp cookie, it’s perfect.

But what’s the difference between the sugar varieties? Well, brown sugar offers a flavor more like caramel, simply because brown sugar has molasses added to the sucrose base. Molasses will make cookies softer and richer, and give a more cakey, crumbly texture. Light brown sugar contains about half the molasses dark brown sugar has, so the general rule is the darker the sugar, the more intense the flavor. 

White sugar, on the other hand, is straight sucrose. Although there’s myths about it being bleached, this isn’t true – sucrose is white and occurs naturally in plants and fruits. Most table sugar is made by extracting the sucrose from sugar cane and sugar beets. A bonus of white sugar in a chocolate chip cookie is that it makes the cookies perfect for dunking – they’re a bit harder, so they don't fall apart as easily. You know what that means – no soggy pieces of cookie in the bottom of your mug! We love to dunk our cookies in this iced vanilla oat latte. 

Infuse Your Cookies Easy with LĒVO

Now, what’s extra-special about the recipe we’ve included here is that it’s infused using a LĒVO II – the perfect kitchen counter device for making edibles, and infusing food with your favorite herbs. You can get yours right here and learn all about flower consumption in our really informative guide, perfect if you’re new to making your own flower infusions.

In this recipe, we use flower-infused butter for an extra-special cookie, but you can just use normal butter if you’re looking for a more family-friendly treat! The great thing about a LĒVO is that you can infuse any oil or butter with any herb – whether you love rosemary-infused olive oil, or prefer the fun of flower hour. 

Now, with all this talk of cookies, you might be hungry. So here’s our delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Brown Sugar recipe – we hope it becomes a much-loved addition to your kitchen.