Everyone loves chocolate chip cookies, but I don’t think anyone loves them more than me! That’s why I knew, if there was one recipe that I needed the perfect version of, it was these easy chocolate chip cookies.
I’m the ultimate cookie monster, and chocolate chip cookies might just be my favorite dessert of all time. This is the basic chocolate chip cookie recipe I always come back to. It’s adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s salted chocolate chunk cookies, with a few changes to make it even simpler: a little less chocolate (so there’s more cookie dough around every bite), no third sugar to buy, and a bake at 350°F (180°C).
No bread flour, no brown butter, no fancy sugars and no fuss. You don’t need special chocolate, just regular chocolate chips. You’ll get the most amazing soft and chewy cookies with crisp golden edges.
I bake these every year for Layla and Fahad’s school carnival, and they sell out every year. I have people who message me and reserve them for the event!
If you love a cookie moment as much as I do, try my mini chocolate chip cookies for little hands, or my coconut sugar chocolate chip cookies for a deeper caramel flavor.
What makes this a great Every Little Crumb recipe:
- Pantry basics only: all-purpose flour, white and brown sugar, butter, eggs. No specialty flours or sugars.
- No fuss method: no melting or browning butter, no sifting.
- Soft and chewy: golden edges with a soft center every time.
- Make-ahead freezer dough: bake only what you need and freeze the rest for the next cookie craving.
- Your chocolate, your way: chips, chunks, milk or dark, it all works.
Ingredients you need to make the best, easy chocolate chip cookies:
- Unsalted butter: softened, no need to melt.
- Brown sugar: I like a mix of light and dark. Light brown sugar gives the classic golden color, and a little dark brown sugar adds a more complex, toffee-like flavor. You can use either/or.
- White sugar: the original recipe uses a third sugar (turbinado/demerara). I just use a little extra white sugar to keep this as fuss free as possible.
- Eggs: at room temperature so they mix in smoothly.
- Vanilla extract: as good a quality as you can find!
- Flour, baking soda and salt: no need to sift.
- Chocolate chips or chunks: semi-sweet is my default, you can also use a mix of dark and milk chocolate, and chopped up chocolate instead of chips.
- Flaky salt (optional): for topping, I really think this gives such an edge to the cookies.
How to make no fuss chocolate chip cookies:
- Step 1: Add the softened butter, brown and white sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer.
- Step 2: Mix on medium speed for a full 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Step 3: Add the eggs and vanilla to the creamed butter/sugar mixture.
- Step 4: Mix briefly until just combined.
- Step 5: Add the baking soda and salt to the flour in a bowl.
- Step 6: Whisk briefly until just combined.
- Step 7: Add the flour to the dough in the stand mixer bowl.
- Step 8: Mix on low briefly until just combined.
- Step 9: Add the chocolate chips.
- Step 10: Mix again until just combined.
- Step 11: Scoop the cookie dough into balls a couple inches apart on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
- Step 12: Bake 11-12 minutes until edges are golden brown but centers are still a little soft.
Pro Tip
Time how long you are creaming the butter and sugar for. 5 minutes is a long time, and you might think you are ready 2 minutes in, but you really want the full 5 minutes to get the perfect chewy texture.
Do I need to chill the dough before baking?
According to the original recipe, no. However, I really hate thin cookies that have spread out too much and I’ve found that chilling the dough is a really good way to prevent this from happening. I like to chill the dough for at least 30 minutes, and turn on my oven to heat once the dough is in the fridge.
If short on time, you can even form the dough into balls and stick them in the freezer to harden before baking.
How to serve:
I absolutely love having chocolate chip cookies warm, fresh from the oven, with a glass of cold milk, or a cup of chai karak. That’s why I only ever bake as many cookies as we want to eat right away, and freeze the rest of the cookie dough balls later.
Storing extra cookie dough:
Cookie dough can be stored for up to 5 days in the fridge. In order to avoid opening the fridge every couple of hours and snacking on raw dough, I usually freeze the cookies individually portioned.
You form the chilled dough into rounded cookie dough balls, place them on a baking sheet into the freezer until they’ve frozen individually at which point you can add them all to a large freezer safe bag together without them sticking to each other. Whenever you need, just reach into your emergency cookie dough stash and bake up fresh cookies to enjoy warm. I firmly believe cookies should ALWAYS be enjoyed warm.
If you did end up baking a bunch of cookies and have leftovers, you can store the cookies in an airtight container for 4-5 days.
Beginner chocolate chip cookie variations:
- Take it up a notch: We call these party cookies. I make and shape the dough the same way, then before baking press in some potato chip chunks, mini pretzels, m&ms, whatever fun toppings we have. So good!
- Dark chocolate: swap in bittersweet chocolate chunks for a less sweet cookie.
- Nutty: fold in chopped walnuts or pecans.
- Scoopable cookies: Try this incredible dessert made with underbaked cookie dough and topped with ice cream.
Expert tips and tricks:
- Make sure the butter and eggs are at room temperature, so they cream together properly without lumps.
- Weigh your ingredients (especially the flour) if possible, because that gives much more accuracy with the measurements.
- Don’t let cookie dough enter the oven if the dough is too warm and not firm enough, because that’s a recipe for cookies spreading and thin flat cookies. Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes or even overnight to make sure it holds its shape before entering the hot oven.
- Bake on the middle rack of the oven to ensure even cooking on the bottom and top.
- Take out of the oven when golden brown on the outside and still soft on the inside, they’ll firm up as they cool.
Top Tip
Bake only what you need and freeze the rest as dough balls. You’ll always be about 12 minutes away from warm cookies.
Recipe FAQs:
You can bake straight away (cookies may be a little flatter) but I really prefer you give the cookies at least a 30 minute chill, you can preheat the oven while you wait.
Yes, you can use all light brown or even all dark brown sugar- but the color of the cookies will be darker with all dark brown sugar.
Don’t overbake! As soon as the edges are golden, remove them from the oven, even if the centers are still soft. They’ll harden as they cool. Also, store in an airtight container so they don’t become stale quickly.
If you liked this recipe, you might like:
Pairing:
These are my favorite things to pair with chocolate chip cookies
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟rating in the recipe card and a comment!
Stay in touch with me through social media @ Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook. Don’t forget to tag me when you try one of my recipes!
No Fuss Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Electric Mixer
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened 226 g (2 sticks)
- 1 1/2 cups tightly packed brown sugar (I like using 1/2 light brown and 1/2 dark brown, but you can use whatever combination or type you want 300 g total
- 1/3 cup white sugar 70 g
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour 440 g
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- heaped 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips or chunks 340 g
- flaky salt for topping, optional
Instructions
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, or a handheld mixer, cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar for 5 minutes on medium speed until light and fluffy.
- Once five minutes is over, add in eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt, and mix until combined. Add these dry ingredients to the butter mixture on low speed, and mix until just combined.
- Directly to the bowl of the stand mixer, add the chocolate chips or chunks until just combined. Place bowl of dough in fridge for at least 30 minutes to chill.
- While dough is chilling, heat oven to 350°F (180°C). Portion dough out into 1.5-2 tablespoon sized dough balls on parchment paper lined baking sheets, at least 2 inches apart. You can press a couple chocolate chips onto each ball to make them look prettier. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until golden brown on the edges but still soft in the center.
- Sprinkle flaky sea salt on each cookie if desired, then cool until cookies firm up. Enjoy warm!
Video
Notes
- Use all light or all dark brown sugar if that’s what you have. Dark gives a deeper toffee flavor.
- Weigh the flour (220 g) for the most accurate results.
- Any chocolate works: chips, chunks, milk or dark.
- Bring the butter and egg to room temperature before you start.
- Don’t skip the chill. Warm dough spreads into thin, flat cookies.
- Pull the cookies when the centers still look soft. They firm up as they cool.
- Baked cookies will stay soft for 2-3 days in an airtight container at room temperature.
- Cookie dough keeps up to 5 days in the fridge.
- Freeze dough balls individually on a tray, then store together in a freezer bag. You can bake straight from frozen, you’ll probably add just a minute to bake time.
