No Chill Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
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!
Stef said: “Hi! It’s Mother’s Day today and my daughter and I decided last minute to make cookies after dinner. Since it was so last minute, and tonight is a school night, I was very happy to come across this no chill recipe. These cookies were quick, but oh soo good! Crispy and chewy at the same time. I’m a good cook, but horrible baker, so if I can pull these off, anyone can! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐“
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.
- No chilling required! If you were looking for a chocolate chip cookie recipe without chilling… so was I. So 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).
- These are melted butter chocolate chip cookies, 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 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!
How to make chocolate chip cookies
Step 1: 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.
Step 2: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
Step 3: 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.
Step 4: Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and use a sturdy wooden spoon or spatula until just combined – don't overmix!
You'll notice there are still a few streaks of flour in there and that's okay! We're about to stir in the chocolate chunks, so that will take care of the remaining mixing that's needed.
Step 5: Get ready to add your chocolate. I like to use a combination of chocolate chips and chopped chocolate baking bars because the chocolate bar pieces melt into little delicious puddles, and the chips retain their shape a bit more. The variety in each bite is wonderful.
Step 6: Gently fold in 1 cup of the chocolate – save the other 1/4 cup for topping each cookie.
You only need to get it a few stirs to fold in the chocolate because, again, we want to avoid overmixing the dough.
Step 7: Use a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) — or a 1/4 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.
What you see in the picture above is chocolate chip cookie dough balls that were about to get a flash freeze before I store them in the freezer for Future Leslie to enjoy :)
Step 8: 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).
Step 9: 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 cool on baking sheets for about 10 minutes (I just let them set until the next batch of cookies is done),
Step 10: Transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely.
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.
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 they 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, which is about 3 Tablespoons worth of dough.
You could also use a 1/4 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 place them 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 of 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.
FAQs
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, and 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.
Yes! To freeze the dough before baking, portion the dough into balls as instructed and then place them on a baking sheet and place them 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 of 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.
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.
In the case of this recipe, you don't want to chill it! But with most other recipes, if you don't chill the dough the dough is too warm and will spread too much in the oven.
You're going to burn your mouth on very hot melted chocolate! As tempting as it may be, you need to let them cool down before you start snacking.
It depends on the temperature in the room in which they're cooling after being baked, but with this recipe I find after about 15-20 minutes they're usually cool enough to eat.
In the case of this recipe, you'll want to leave them on the baking sheet for 10 minutes to cool and crinkle before moving them over to a wire cooling rack.
Leaving a comment and star rating is a great (and free) way to support Stress Baking. After you've enjoyed this recipe, click on the stars below and leave a comment to share your experience – thank you!
No Chill Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled (no longer warm)
- 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.1/2 cup (113 ½ g) unsalted butter
- 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.1 cup (125 g) + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour1/2 teaspoon (½ teaspoon) baking soda1/4 teaspoon (¼ teaspoon) kosher or table salt
- In the large bowl with the cooled melted butter, add light brown sugar and granulated sugar and whisk to combine.1/2 cup (113 ½ g) unsalted butter1/2 cup (110 g) light brown sugar1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
- Add the vanilla and egg, whisk until smooth and combined.1 1/2 teaspoons (1 ½ teaspoons) pure vanilla extract1 egg
- 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 1/4 cup for topping each cookie.1 1/4 cup (218 ¾ g) chocolate
- Use a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) — or a 1/4 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).Flaky sea salt
- 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 cool 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!
Video
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition Disclaimer
The provided nutrition information is generated by an automatic API and does not take variations across specific brands into account. This information is provided as a general guideline and should not be treated as official calculations. Learn more here.
I just wanted to say THANK YOU for including the measurements of the specific ingredients in your instructions section, saving me the time of scrolling up and down endlessly was absolutely a game changer. The cookies were so good I will definitely be making these again and again! Everyone needs a no chill cookie recipe in their arsenal, thank you for creating this so I can add it to mine.
I’m so glad that you love the cookies, and that you like the recipe card setup as well! :)
My roommate and I are obsessed with this recipe….so
obsessed that we made it three times this week !! and now her boyfriend is obsessed too. unbelievable I know, but we just couldn’t get over how delicious the cookies are for so little effort. I ALWAYS chill my cookie dough but this recipe gave me the texture I wanted without the extra step. talk about instant gratification !! anywho definitely give this recipe a try and add skor bits for a little extra oomph :)
Sounds awesome, so glad that you liked it! :)
Hi! It’s Mother’s Day today and my daughter and I decided last minute to make cookies after dinner. Since it was so last minute, and tonight is a school night, I was very happy to come across this no chill recipe. These cookies were quick, but oh soo good! Crispy and chewy at the same time. I’m a good cook, but horrible baker, so if I can pull these off, anyone can!
I’m so glad that you enjoyed them (and happy belated Mother’s Day!)
in all my years of baking I have never seen a runny dough like this. I had to add an entire extra cup of flour to the dough to get the thick consistency it should have had from the start. Flavor was okay. was wanting to try a no chill recipe but wish I had stuck to the recipe I know best.
Sorry to hear that was your experience, I’ve been making these for years and I’ve never run into that situation myself. It sounds like the butter was too warm or maybe just even your kitchen in general, but either way I hate to hear it.
Wow— why are people so hateful about how their cookies turned out. I appreciate the time you put into posting this recipe and all for free. Thank you. Don’t listen to all the negativity. You are awesome.
Thank you for the kind words, Beth <3
you took the words right out my mouth! terribly runny.
It sounds like the flour was undermeasured, the butter was too warm, or that the temperature in the oven was too high (or a combo).
I’d like to encourage you to read my tutorials about calibrating your oven and how to properly measure ingredients, and give it another try:
https://stressbaking.com/how-to-calibrate-your-oven/
https://stressbaking.com/how-to-measure-ingredients-for-baking/
The metric measurement for the flour is way too low. my dough was still runny with 250g plus 2 tbsp flour. My butter was cooled as well. I had to up it by another cup to get the same consistency that the picture showed. I’m still waiting for them to come out of the oven and I even chilled the dough for 15 minutes as I was concerned they would spread too much. So far they’re looking OK, but this is a regular problem with American recipes that simply use conversion calculators to make a metric list rather than measuring and weighing the exact amount themselves.
I’m sorry to hear that the conversion calculator gave you trouble and I will provide that feedback to the developer of that particular application. I’m also sorry to hear you felt this was worthy of 3/5 stars due to the trouble with the conversion – that’s certainly not the experience I want readers to have, particularly for a tried and true recipe such as this one.
I, like most other American recipe developers providing free recipes, use the standard US measurements and the built-in conversion calculator as a guide for my non-US readers as I do not use metric measurements when developing my recipes since my typical audience does not use a scale to weigh their ingredients and prefers standard US measurements in cups, tablespoons, etc.
They turned out really good! I had a challenge in my foods and fabrics class and I had to add ramen.. so I decided to make these cookies with it! They were so good even with the ramen blended up inside. I had one problem and it was that they were a little raw inside but I fixed that! Ty for this amazing recipe!!
I’m new to baking, why is my dough runny? They spread so much it turned into one big cookie! But tastes delicious!
I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor! It sounds like either your butter was still too warm, your flour was under-measured, or maybe a little of both. You want the butter to be melted, but no longer hot to the touch. And if you’re new to measuring ingredients, measuring things like flour can be tricky – take a look at this post in my Baking Basics series for tips: https://stressbaking.com/how-to-measure-ingredients-for-baking/ Hope that helps!
I too didn’t want to pull out the mixer or have to chill dough. After dealing with a stressful day at work, I just wanted an easy chocolate chip cookie recipe that didn’t spread and tasted good. This was it! Thanks so much!
You get it! Thanks so much for coming back to share your experience, so glad that you liked them!
I’m not sure why my cookies spread so much. so frustrating when this happens. I notice this when cookie recipes don’t have both baking powder and baking soda, rather than just the soda. Are they supposed to puff up a lot? otherwise they were very good tasting!
It sounds like the butter might not have been cooled enough before it was added to the rest of the ingredients, or the flour may have been undermeasured. Either way, I’m glad you liked the taste!
Best chocolate chip cookie recipe ! I’ve tried so many and they all come out cakie or meh.
This one was perfect!
I LOVED that we didn’t have to chill them.
I used a small scoop and it made 20 cookies.
This will be my go to cookie recipe from now on! Definitely recommend!
I’m so glad you like them – happy holidays!
Tried these with butterscotch chips plus 1 Tbls of creamy peanut butter, So yummy!
Oh, that sounds freaking awesome – so glad you liked them!
I absolutely love these cookies! But I am a type one diabetic and I appreciate the nutrition facts but I need their serving size please!! ❤️❤️
A serving is 1 cookie!
Had a tough day today & needed a cookie recipe that was no chill because to be honest, my patience was just not existent. I stumbled upon your recipe & site for the first time ever & you made my day better. Thank you for the awesome recipe.
I’m so happy to hear that this recipe made your day better – that’s the best compliment I can receive!
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.
I’m so happy to read this, thank you so much for sharing!
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!