These chocolate chip cookies are crispy on the edges and soft and chewy in the center. They are super easy and quick to make with no hassle, no mixer, and no chilling needed! This is a small batch recipe that can be easily multiplied into a larger batch so that you can make it for when you want to treat yourself or when you want to please a crowd!
Of all the cookies, soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies with a crispy edges have a soft spot in my heart because they were the highlight to our school lunches growing up.
This chocolate chip cookies recipes makes them just the way I remembered them! And the bonus?! This is a super easy recipe that requires no mixer and no chilling, so that you can enjoy these cookies in less than 25 minutes!
If you're looking for more chocolate recipes, also check out our matcha white chocolate cookies, nama chocolate, flourless chocolate soufflé, and 2 ingredient condensed milk truffles!
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Ingredient notes
Please scroll down to the recipe card for the ingredient quantities!
- Melted and cooled unsalted butter - Always use unsalted butter so that you can easily control the saltiness of your end result. This recipe calls for melted butter because we are making chewy chocolate chip cookies.
- Brown sugar and granulated white sugar - A blend of brown sugar and granulated sugar gives our chocolate chip cookies the perfect balance between crispy, soft, and chewy. Personally, we prefer dark brown sugar over light brown sugar.
- Salt and vanilla extract - These two are the extra accents added to chocolate chip cookies to give them extra layers of flavor.
- Egg - The egg adds richness to the cookies, makes the cookies more moist, and adds a little fluffiness to the cookies.
- All-purpose flour - This is the perfect flour for making cookies. All-purpose flour gives cookies the chew they need without making the cookies tough or cakey.
- Baking soda - This is the leavener used to give these chocolate chip cookies some lift. Baking soda also gives the cookies that golden color and light crisp on the outside.
- Chocolate chip or chunks - Can't make chocolate chip cookies without chocolate! Feel free to use either chocolate chips or chop up some chocolate bars. We recommend semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate.
How to make these chocolate chip cookies
Please scroll down to the recipe card for the full recipe and instructions!
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Also prepare a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
2. Mix together wet ingredients. Into a mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, white sugar, and butter. Then, mix in the egg, followed by salt and vanilla extract.
3. Add the dry ingredients. Mix in the flour and baking powder until just combined. DO NOT over-mix.
3. Add the chocolate. Either add the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bar into the dough and fold until roughly combined.
🌟 Pro tip: To get those picture perfect chocolate chip cookies, don't add all of the chocolates into the cookie dough. Instead, reserve some chocolate chips or chunks to garnish the tops of each cookie. This way, the cookies will always have some chocolate on top.
4. Portion the cookie dough. Using cookie scoops, portion and place the cookie dough balls on the prepared sheet pan. Make sure to leave room between each cookie dough. For large cookies use a 4 ounce cookie scoop, and 1 ounce cookies scoops for regular size, small cookies.
5. Bake the cookies. Place the tray of cookies into the oven and bake until the outside is set and the edges look golden brown, about 18 to 20 minutes for large (4 ounce) cookies and 10 to 12 minutes for small (1 ounce cookies).
6. Enjoy! Remove the tray from the oven and immediately sprinkle some flakey salt on top of the cookies, if you'd like. Let the cookies cool for at least 5 minutes and enjoy!
Recipe tips
- Don't over-mix the cookie dough. Over-mixing will result in tough, dry cookies.
- Cool the butter. After melting the butter, make sure it's not too hot before adding all the ingredients! If the butter is too hot, it could scramble the eggs or result in really flat cookies.
- Leave room between cookies. These cookies will spread a bit while baking, so make sure to leave at least 1 to 2 inches in between, or you'll get one sheet of cookies.
- Make sure the oven is properly preheated. We recommend getting an oven thermometer so that you know what temperature is inside the actual oven. The preheat setting is not always accurate and usually need an extra 5 to 15 minutes to heat the oven to the correct temperature.
Chocolate chip cookie troubleshoot
Flat cookies
- Oven temperature too high. If the oven is too hot, the dough will spread before the cookies can form any structure on the inside. We recommend using an oven thermometer so that you'll know what the actually oven temperature is inside.
- Dough is too warm. Make sure to let the melted butter cool before using. If necessary, chill the dough before baking. During the summer, or when the weather is hot in general, the dough can often become too warm.
- Not enough or expired baking soda. The baking soda will give the chocolate chip cookies some lift. Check to make sure it is not expired by mixing it with some vinegar. If the baking soda bubbles, it is good.
- Not enough flour. If too much butter or not enough flour was used in the cookie dough, the dough will be too loose and will spread a lot while baking. Use 1 to 2 tablespoon more flour if needed.
Cookies won't spread
- Dough is too cold. If you chilled the dough or is using frozen dough, the dough may be too cold to spread. You will most likely have to bake the cookies a few minutes longer. We highly recommend letting the frozen cookies thaw at room temperature before baking.
- Too much flour. Accidentally using too much flour in baking is a common occurrence. It will cause the cookie dough to become too dry, which means less spreading. If measuring flour with US measuring cups, we recommend fluffing the flour first. Then, spoon the flour into the measuring cup, and finish by scraping off the excess with a straight-edge, like a butter knife. For best accuracy, we recommend a kitchen scale.
Cookies are hard
- Oven temperature too high. If the oven temperature is too high, the chocolate chip cookies can easily become over-baked. We recommend getting an affordable oven thermometer to keep the oven temperature in check.
- Baked for too long. If these chocolate chip cookies get baked too long, they will lose their gooey, soft, and chewy centers. Don't over-bake them!
- Cookie dough over-mixed. Over-mixing will cause these cookies to become tough. This applies to any cookies and most batter. Fold the flour into the cookie dough just until combined and no more dry flour is visible.
- Too much flour. Using too much flour can cause the cookie to become dry and and hard. Make sure to measure the flour properly!
Storage
These chocolate chip cookies will last up to 5 days at room temperature and frozen for up to 2 months. Just make sure to keep them in airtight containers for both storage methods.
How to freeze cookie dough
This chocolate chip cookie dough freezes really well, if you happen to have leftover dough or want to make the dough ahead of time. The chocolate cookie dough can be good up to 6 months if stored properly in the freezer.
Simply portion the cookie dough as you would normally, and arrange them onto a sheet pan lined with parchment or cling wrap. Place the cookie dough in the freezer and let chill until completely frozen. Once the cookie doughs are frozen, store them in freezer bags.
To bake, arrange the frozen cookie doughs on a parchment lined sheet pan and let it warm up at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours, or until thawed, before baking.
FAQ
The elements that make these chocolate chip cookies chewy are the brown sugar, melted butter, and egg yolk. The granulated white sugar and baking soda give the cookies a nice crisp on the outside.
The secret to making moist and chewy chocolate chip cookies is using melted butter and a good ratio of brown sugar to granulated white sugar. Also, using extra egg yolks instead of a whole egg can also make chocolate chip cookies more moist and chewy.
You can use either light or dark brown sugar. Personally, we are more partial to dark brown sugar because it's more flavorful and makes a chewier chocolate chip cookie.
Nope! Our chocolate chip cookie recipe does not require chilling the cookie dough. However, if your kitchen is really hot or if the cookie dough feels too warm, chill the dough before baking to prevent the cookies from spreading too much.
If you’ve made this recipe or any recipes from our blog, please tag us on Instagram using #twoplaidaprons! You can also tag us in your Instagram stories using @two_plaid_aprons. We would love to see your creations! It absolutely makes our day! 🥰
📖 Recipe
Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled (or ¾ stick)
- ½ cup dark brown sugar packed (light brown is okay too)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt (optional: plus more for finishing)
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup bittersweet chocolate chips more or less to your preference (or chopped chocolate bars)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare a half sheet pan lined with parchment paper.
- Into a mixing bowl, whisk together brown sugar, white sugar, and melted butter until well combined. Add the egg and mixed well. Whisk in the vanilla and salt.
- Add the flour and baking soda to the bowl and fold with a rubber spatula until just combined and no more dry flour is visible. DO NOT over-mix!
- Add the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bars and fold to combine.
- For large cookies (4 ounces):Using a 4 ounce cookie scoop, or 4 scoops of regular size cookie scoop, portion the cookie dough and place each at least 2 inches apart on the sheet pan. Bake the cookies for about 18 to 20 minutes, until the outside of the cookies are set and just starting to turn golden brown.
- For small, regular size cookies (1 ounce):Using a regular cookie scoop, portion and place each cookie dough at least 1 inch apart on the sheet pan. Bake them for about 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are just set on the outside and are starting to turn golden brown.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool for 3 to 5 minutes. Enjoy!
Notes
- This is a small-batch recipe that can be easily multiplied if you wish to make a larger amount. All ingredients can be multiplied normally.
- Pro tip: Reserve some of the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate to place on top of the cookie dough to get those photo perfect chocolate chip cookies!
- Add-ons - Feel free to add your desired additions, such as chopped nuts, to the cookie dough!
Amy says
Hi!
Oh these cookies look so good! Love to make some. Could you possibly list the ingredients in grams in conversion from the cup measurements? I prefer using the kitchen scale instead of cups for better accuracy.
Thank you in advance!
Mei says
Hi Amy!
Sorry about that and thank you for catching it for me! We usually share a metric version, but I had totally forgotten to add the conversion. There should now be a US customary and metric button right above the ingredients that you can toggle to switch between the two measurements. Happy baking!
Mei❤️