Really Easy No-Egg Cookies

A quick recipe for sweet, buttery no-egg cookies with just 4 ingredients.

Back in March 2020, when the first lockdown hit and the world stopped spinning as we knew it, I couldn’t get any eggs for weeks. In among all the panic-buying of toilet paper and pasta, the eggs had also disappeared. Presumably everyone had bought them to make banana bread.

And so, sadly eggless but in need of a bit of baking therapy (and as I hate banana bread), I fell back on an egg-free cookie recipe texted from a friend. It turned out to be one of the most useful recipes ever: it’s really simple, takes minutes, doesn’t need a mixer, freezes well, and you can add in all sorts of extra ingredients depending on what you have.

I’ve made these so many times since then, most often in the form of chocolate chip cookies, but with a variety of other fillings too. It’s become one of our most-used baking recipes, and it produces golden cookies within half an hour of you even starting to think about making cookies.

What’s in no-egg cookies?

This recipe uses just 4 ingredients: butter, sugar, flour and condensed milk. You don’t even need a mixer: just make sure the butter’s soft before you begin and you can make these cookies with just a bowl and a wooden spoon.

Can you freeze this no-egg cookie dough?

Yes, it freezes really well. I find this recipe makes quite a lot of cookie dough so I often freeze half of it in a plastic tub for later, and it always turns out great.

Ideas for added ingredients

I usually make these cookies with chocolate chips, as requested by my kids. But I’ve also made them plain, with icing on top, with added raisins, smarties or marshmallows, or various combinations. Here are some ideas for added ingredients:

• Choc chips or white choc chips
• Raisins and oats
• Cranberries and/or chopped dried apricots
• Smarties or M&Ms
• Glacé cherries
• Caramel/fudge chips (these salted caramel ones are great)
• Mini marshmallows
• Or leave them plain and add icing and sprinkles on top

Easy No-Egg Cookies Recipe

Ingredients

225g softened butter
225g caster sugar
170g condensed milk
250g self-raising flour

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160^oC / 320^oF and line two baking sheets with baking parchment, or grease them well.
2. Mix the softened butter, sugar and condensed milk together in a bowl with a wooden spoon, until there are no lumps of butter remaining.
3. Add the flour and mix in gently.
4. Add any mix-ins, like chocolate chips etc, and fold in.
5. If you’re freezing any dough for later, put it in an airtight container and freeze. When you take it out, thaw completely before using.
6. Form the dough into balls about the size of a walnut. You should get about 32 out of the whole batch.
7. Place the balls, well-separated, onto the baking sheets and for about 15 minutes until starting to turn golden. Don’t put them too close together as they spread out. (If you prefer your cookies softer, reduce cooking time for a minute or two. If you prefer them crunchier, increase cooking time for a minute or two.)
8. Cool on the tray for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack.

Keep a batch of this dough for no-egg cookies in the freezer and you can have fresh, warm cookies whenever you like.

You might also like: Foolproof Chocolate Cake