These are the perfect chocolate chip cookies! Soft, buttery cookies that are loaded with puddles of melted chocolate with crisp edges and soft centers. No chilling the dough, no mixer required, and the cookies will be baked and ready to eat in under 30 minutes!
Why this is my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe
To me, this is the simplest chocolate chip recipe possible – you know, aside from buying a premade log of dough. But in addition to being simple…
- These are easy chocolate chip cookies. Truly. No complex ingredients or weighing of ingredients.
- You don’t need to chill the dough, which means you’ll be shoving warm cookies in your face ASAP. I know we have the same priority here, my friends.
- You don’t need a hand or stand mixer – just a whisk and a wooden spoon (or spatula).
- We’re using melted butter, which speeds things along – and is why we don’t need the mixer!
- You don’t need to roll the dough into balls – you can just scoop them right onto the baking sheet. No muss, no fuss.
- They’re huge and crinkly with a crisp edge and soft, chewy centers and are loaded with puddles of delicious, ooey, gooey chocolate.
Ingredients for no chill chocolate chip cookies recipe
- Unsalted butter: The key here is using melted butter that has cooled a bit before adding it to the dough. By melting the butter we’re able to speed up the process of making the dough, and eliminating the need for a mixer. I exclusively use unsalted butter so that I can control the amount of salt in my recipes myself, but if you use salted butter you’ll want to omit or adjust the amount of salt in the recipe according to your own tastes.
- All purpose flour: Just 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of plain old white flour, measured properly, gives just the right amount of substance to these cookies. Too much flour results in thicker, sometimes cakey cookies – which have their place! – but aren’t what we’re going for with this recipe.
- Baking soda: We’re using just enough of this classic leavener that will interact with the brown sugar to add a bit of lift during the baking process. Don’t add more baking soda to add more lift – too much baking soda can result in a metallic aftertaste, and that is definitely not what you want!
- 2 kinds of salt: We’re using table salt or kosher salt in the dough, and flaky sea salt on top for the perfect sweet and salty combination. Not a fan? Just leave the flaky sea salt off the top – but still include the salt in the dough!
- Brown sugar: Light brown sugar interacts with the baking soda the way we want, and it lends softness, moisture and a deeper flavor to the dough.
- Granulated sugar: We’re using a combination of white and brown sugar in the dough because it gives the perfect amount of golden color to your finished cookies. Using only white sugar is a bit bland and results in a pale cookie, and using only brown sugar can be almost gritty in texture.
- Egg: Make sure you’re using a room temperature egg to easily incorporate it into the dough. If it’s still cold, it can be a bit more difficult to combine, which can result in accidentally overmixing the dough.
- Vanilla extract: Use a good quality vanilla extract! Vanilla is important to a great chocolate chip cookie, and using a low quality or imitation vanilla extract is just doing yourself a disservice. High quality pure vanilla extract, bourbon vanilla extract, or even vanilla bean paste (aff link) are all great.
- Chocolate: Another area where quality matters! They are chocolate chip cookies, after all. I’m a big fan of using chopped dark chocolate, but you can use chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate as well. I personally find milk chocolate to be too sweet. You can also easily use semisweet, bittersweet or dark chocolate chips as well – or a mix of any of the above for more complex flavor!
6 Tips for the perfect chocolate chip cookies
1. Let your butter cool in a different bowl from what you heated it in. I transfer my melted butter directly to the mixing bowl I’ll be adding the sugars to, and I set the bowl in a cool place in the kitchen while I prep the rest of the ingredients. If you leave it in the bowl you used to melt it, it will retain the heat and take longer to cool.
But I’m going to let you in on a secret… I’ve added the melted butter to my dough only a couple minutes after it’s been melted and was still warm, and my resulting cookies were still freaking delicious. They were a tad bit oilier just out of the oven and I needed to wait a few extra minutes for them to set, but in the end they were just as good as when I followed my own instructions!
2. Don’t overmix your dough. When you’re adding the dry flour mixture to the wet mixture, only stir until everything has just combined. It’s even okay if you still see a couple streaks of flour, because you’ll get that combined when you fold in the chocolate chips. It’s important not to overmix the dough because it can result in a tougher cookie that doesn’t spread as much.
3. Use high quality vanilla extract and chocolate. I mentioned this above, but it’s worth repeating. The vanilla and chocolate are going to be stars of the show, and you want the flavor to be the best you can get.
I recommend high quality pure vanilla extract, bourbon vanilla extract, or even vanilla bean paste (aff link).
And for chocolate, I recommend using chopped dark chocolate, but you can use chopped semisweet or bittersweet chocolate as well. I personally find milk chocolate to be too sweet. You can also easily use semisweet, bittersweet or dark chocolate chips as well – or a mix of any of the above for more complex flavor!
4. Add a few chocolate chips to the top of each cookie before baking. This is mostly for the sake of presentation, but also because it means more chocolate and getting as much chocolate as possible in a recipe is basically always my goal ;)
5. And add flaky sea salt to the top of each cookie. Not a lot – just a little pinch over the top of the dough before you stick them in the oven. You could also wait until the come out of the oven instead, and add a little pinch across the top while they’re still warm and setting.
6. Remove them from the oven while the tops are still puffy. As long as the edges are set and golden, you can take them out of the oven and let them set on the baking sheet – they’ll continue to absorb some of the residual heat from the baking sheet, and get those gorgeous crinkles and soft centers as they cool. This ensures they’re not overbaked, which would result in a tougher, crunchier cookie.
How many cookies does this recipe make?
The recipe makes 8 large cookies using a large cookie scoop (aff link), which is about 3 Tablespoons worth of dough.
You could also use a ¼ cup measuring cup to portion out your dough, and you’ll likely end up with 6 or 7 slightly larger cookies. This is a case of the bigger, the better! If you make them smaller, you’re not going to get the same spread and texture as the large size. There’s a reason the big, bakery style chocolate chip cookies are a classic favorite!
How to store chocolate chip cookies
You can store baked cookies for up to 1 week at room temperature and keep them nice and soft, as long as you do it properly!
- Make sure the cookies are completely cooled before storing.
- Place the cookies in an airtight container
- Place parchment or wax paper between layers of cookies to keep them from sticking together
You can even add a slice of white bread to the container to help the cookies retain their moisture! The cookies will absorb the moisture from the bread, and it will help keep them soft longer.
Can I freeze chocolate chip cookies?
Absolutely, you can. Not only can you, I highly recommend that you do! Even though the dough comes together quickly and easily, you can’t beat the ease of just grabbing one or two balls of dough from the freezer to bake and have a nice warm cookie when a craving hits.
To freeze the dough before baking, portion the dough into balls as instructed and then place them on a baking sheet and put that in the freezer. Let them chill for about an hour and then transfer the dough balls to a freezer-safe plastic bag or other freezer safe container. You can keep the dough stored for up to 3 months in the freezer.
When you’re ready to bake them, just bake them directly from the freezer – no defrosting necessary. Add a couple minutes to your baking time, and you’re golden! Pun totally intended, by the way.
To freeze baked cookies, let them cool completely according to the instructions in the recipe card first. Then wrap them individually in plastic wrap, and store them together in a freezer-safe container for up to 2 months. When you’re ready for a snack, let them thaw at room temperature for about 20 minutes, or pop them in the oven at 250°F for a few minutes if you want them warmed up.
Can I make the dough ahead of time?
Definitely! You can make the dough and store it covered in the fridge up to 1 day ahead of time.
Just be aware that chilled dough won’t spread as much as when the dough is freshly mixed. I recommend scooping the dough onto the prepared baking sheet and letting it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes prior to baking for the best results.
After you’ve made this recipe, please consider coming back to share your experience with others by leaving a comment below with a star rating!
No Chill Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon kosher or table salt
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 ¼ cup chocolate, roughly chopped (semisweet, bittersweet or dark chocolate) or chocolate chips, divided
- Flaky sea salt, for topping (optional, but highly encouraged)
Instructions
- Melt butter on the stovetop or in the microwave, and transfer to a large mixing bowl to cool while you prep the rest of the ingredients.
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line two baking sheets with nonstick silicon mats or parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In the large bowl with the cooled melted butter, add light brown sugar and granulated sugar and whisk to combine.
- Add the vanilla and egg, whisk until smooth and combined.
- Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and use a sturdy wooden spoon or spatula until just combined – don't overmix!
- Gently fold in 1 cup chopped chocolate – save the other ¼ cup for topping each cookie.
- Use a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) — or a ¼ cup measuring cup for slightly bigger cookies) — to scoop out even portions of dough onto prepared baking sheets. I usually only add 3 cookies to each baking sheet as they do spread quite a bit – but you can probably get away with 4.
- Top each cookie with a few more of your reserved chocolate chips for a nice presentation, and add a sprinkle of flaky sea salt (optional, but recommended).
- Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack for 11 minutes, or until the edges are set and golden and the tops are puffy – they'll set and crinkle as they cool.
- Remove from the oven and let cook on baking sheets for about 10 minutes (I just let them set until the next batch of cookies is done), then transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Enjoy!
Jean
This recipe is the absolute BEST!! I bake these all the time now!
I added 3/4 cup of oats and baked mine for 14 minutes, I like my cookies a little more on the crunchy side but they are still soft inside.
I also use this recipe for baking other type of cookies such as ginger cookies, just added ground ginger and cloves. I also use this for my oatmeal raisin cookies. Of course I leave out the chocolate chips. ;-)
And when I bake these just for ME, I add coconut and chopped walnuts.
Leslie Kiszka
I’m so happy to read this, thank you so much for sharing!
Ruth
You know how people change the entire recipe and then post a negative review? I’m here to do the opposite.
I’m lazy. I don’t want to haul out the stand mixer to make a small batch of cookies, and I’d prefer not to wait while they chill. So I tried this recipe, and I was very pleased with the results.
But I had this bag of mixed chocolate chips and mint chips, and I didn’t think they would be so great in a butter-vanilla base. I wanted chocolate. So I did what the Internet allows me to do, which is read several recipes and borrow ingredients and methodologies from two or three of them.
Lazy me wanted to use this no-mixer, no-chill, no creamed butter methodology on a chocolate cookie. I added half a cup of cocoa powder to the melted butter, as one recipe instructed (adding the cocoa to the butter instead of the dry ingredients is supposed to make the cocoa “bloom”). Then I followed the rest of the recipe, omitting the extra two tablespoons of flour and the vanilla (just because I’m not a big fan of vanilla in my chocolate), and using the mint chips.
The result was some delicious, easy cookies. They did not spread as much as the original version, but they probably would if another two tablespoons of flour was omitted.
And if you are want your cookies even faster, or you don’t want to heat up your kitchen, you can use an air fryer! I got one for Christmas and I’ve been experimenting with it. Based on another recipe, I tried five, six and seven minutes at 350; they were all done, just a little harder/less chewy with each minute. They were indistinguishable from the ones I baked conventionally.
This just shows that chocolate chip cookies don’t have to be a big deal. The recipes all have the same basic ingredients (flour, sugar, butter, egg, baking soda + add-ins). They have slightly different proportions and slightly different methodologies, but they can be mixed and matched and still produce a delicious cookie. So why not use this great easy recipe!