Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is a simple chocolate chip cookie recipe that makes super soft chocolate, super yummy chip cookies - no mixer necessary, no chilling needed.
I've made a lot of chocolate chip cookies. A lot a lot. Probably more cookies than I should say. Sometimes, I break out my mixer and make a recipe like my brownie cookie recipe that needs time to chill.
Other times, I want cookies five minutes ago. When those cookie cravings hit, I need a simple, easy, go-to cookie that I can whip up in just a few minutes.
This Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe is just such a recipe. The cookies can be made from scratch in less than 20 minutes, and there's no need to get the mixer out or to chill the dough. All of which make this the simplest chocolate chip cookie recipe.
What Makes This the Simplest Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe?
This recipe uses just a few basic ingredients - flour, sugar, baking soda, salt.
Also, it is so fast and so easy - no mixer needed, no chilling required - that the cookies can be mixed up and baked in less than twenty minutes.
How To Make Chocolate Chip Cookies
For this recipe, you're going to start by melting the butter. The butter shouldn't be sizzling hot. If you're not sure how hot is too hot, you'll want it about 90% melted, and then you'll whisk it until it finishes melting.
Once the butter has melted, whisk in the sugars until well-combined. Mix in the vanilla extract and egg.
Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in just until combined. You don't want to overmix the dough.
Stir in the chocolate chips, and then scoop the dough. Place about 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet.
Bake until the cookies are set on the edges but slightly underdone in the middle, about 7-10 minutes.
Slightly under-baking the cookies helps to keep them soft. Since oven temperatures can vary, you may find that you need to adjust the baking times.
Can I Use an Electric Mixer?
Sure! You can use one if you would prefer. I do recommend mixing in the flour by hand, though, to avoid overmixing the dough.
Tips/FAQ
There are over 1,000 comments and questions on this recipe. I've added this section to answer some of the common questions in the hope that it saves people from having to try to sift through all of those comments. If you have a question that isn't answered below, please feel free to ask!
- Gluten Free: I haven't tried it, but I've heard from several people who have used a measure-for-measure gluten-free flour in this recipe, and they've said that it worked well. However, I haven't heard from anyone regarding other flours, such as almond flour.
- Butter: This recipe begins with melted butter. I prefer to use salted butter, but you can use unsalted butter if you prefer.
- The butter should just barely be melted. That means that it shouldn't be sizzling hot or browned.
- If you're worried about getting it too hot, melt the butter about 90% of the way and then whisk it until it is completely melted.
- Sugars: This recipe uses both brown sugar and granulated (white sugar). If you would like to use only brown sugar, check out my brown sugar chocolate chip cookie recipe.
- Using only granulated sugar will give you crispier cookies.
- For this recipe, you can use either dark or light brown sugar. Dark brown sugar will give you a slightly richer flavor.
- Measuring Flour: If you aren't weighing your ingredients, I can't recommend that enough. If you are using measuring cups, be sure to sift or stir the flour before measuring. Flour packs easily and using too much flour in cookies will give you dry, crumbly dough and cookies that don't spread.
- Salt: Kosher salt is a larger-grain salt that isn't as "salty" as table salt. If you're using table salt, be sure to use ¼ teaspoon.
- Please note the measurements on the salt. I've seen people who have commented that the cookies were salty, and it turned out that they had used several times the amount of salt that the recipe calls for.
- Chocolate Chips: I use semisweet chocolate chips. You can use dark, bittersweet, milk, or white chocolate chips.
- People have used all sorts of mix-ins, like M&Ms or other candy and chip combinations, in this recipe.
Tips For Making Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
The best way to make soft chocolate chip cookies is to slightly under-bake the cookies. In order to slightly under-bake the cookies, the edges should look set (but not brown).
The center of the cookies should look soft and even a little puffy still. This trick will help to keep your cookies nice and soft.
Kitchen Tools I Use When Making Homemade Cookies
Here are some of my must-have kitchen essentials that help to make this recipe even easier.
Whisk: A good whisk doesn't have to be expensive, but it's a kitchen must-have for really combining ingredients like the melted butter and sugars.
Cookie Scoop: I use my cookie scoop so often that I bought a second one. It's great for scooping cookies, mini muffins, and even meatballs.
Silicone Spatula: A great all-purpose spatula is a must-have. They're great for incorporating dry ingredients that are harder to whisk in and scraping the bowl.
Kitchen Scale: Using a kitchen scale is easier than measuring with measuring cups. It's also more accurate! I was a holdout for a long time, but now I love using my kitchen scale.
More Easy Cookie Recipes!
More Easy Cookie Recipes!- Chewy Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Thick Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you’ve tried this easiest chocolate chip cookie recipe, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below. I love to hear from people who've made my recipes!
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Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar packed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour¹
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt2
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- Microwave the butter for about 40 seconds. Butter should be completely melted but shouldn't be hot.
- In a large bowl, mix butter with the sugars until well-combined.
- Stir in vanilla and egg until incorporated.
- Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Please read the recipe note about properly measuring flour.
- Mix dough until just combined. Dough should be soft and a little sticky but not overly sticky.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Scoop out 1.5 tablespoons of dough (medium cookie scoop) and place 2 inches apart on baking sheet.
- Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until cookies are set. They will be puffy and still look a little underbaked in the middle.3
Video
Notes
- Be sure to fluff and then scoop and sweep to measure the flour. Too much flour will result in a dry or crumbly cookie. For the ingredient measurements by weight, please click "metric" directly underneath the ingredients.
- Or ¼ teaspoon table salt.
- Don't over-bake the cookies, or you won't end up with soft cookies. Several people have said that they've needed to bake the cookies for longer. Since oven temps can vary, I suggest starting with the listed baking time and increasing the time as needed.
- If you're interested in the chocolate version of these cookies, you can find that recipe here.
- Nutrition facts are estimates.
Nutrition
Published 8/16/16. Updated with new photos and tips 10/3/18.
Adapted from Pinch of Yum.
Ahnika Johnson
I haven't even finished baking this yet, but I'm already in love. Do you have any other recipes?
Kate
Thanks! I do! What type of recipe are you looking for?
Terry
I used this recipe again without any substitutions and the cookies came out perfect. I 4x the recipe but still, the cookies came out soft and chewy! Glad I tried this recipe again.
Kate
Thank you! I'm glad that they worked out well for you!
hi
whats omit?
Kate
Hi! Omit means to leave out.
Lori
Oh my gosh these are the best chocolate chip cookies! Thanks so much for your tip about the temperature of the butter. I think that’s where I went wrong in other cookie recipes. The butter was too hot and the cookies flattened.
Kate
Thank you! I'm glad that that tip helped!
Jess
These are yummy! I swapped 1/2 of when white sugar for brown because that's my preference but still had super yummy soft chocolate chip cookies! I've made them 3 times now and found the recipe to be very forgiving. I have found 12min to be the minimum for cook time, giving them more stability with just a slight browning on the bottom. The only negative I would say is that they are so soft that they don't have any bite to them texture-wise, even cooking them longer, but they are fluffy and tasty still. Definite go-to for cookies under 20min start to finish.
Judy
Can you share info. on the cookie scoop that you use? What size, where did you buy? Thank you.
Kate
Hi! I have two different brands of 1.5 tablespoon (medium) cookie scoops. I have the OXO good grips cookie scoop and prep solutions. I've had both cookie scoops for several years, and they've both held up well. I mention this because the prep solutions cookie scoop is about half the price of the OXO. I purchased both of them on Amazon. Hope that helps!
Haylee
I forgot to add brown sugar,
but they were still pretty good.
FOLLOW THE RECIPE!!
Kate
Thanks!
Emory
Hi! I am planning on making this. Wondering if I should use light or dark brown sugar?
Kate
Hi! You can use either. I use light brown, but dark brown sugar will also work.
Lee
Hi,
Don't have vanilla extract, ok to omit?
Thanks!
Kate
Hi! Yes, you can omit it if need be.
Kait
I loved this recipe the first time last week, but the second time I made them today (on my lunch break!) they blew my mind. Legitimately the best cookies I've ever had in my life on the second attempt. Only thing we did differently was a little less chocolate chips, maybe slightly over half a cup. ( I like the ones with minimal chips and we were running low anyway)
I'm seriously dumbfounded how the second round was perfection when the first round was already so great. My advice to anyone is to stick with this recipe and try it multiple times til it produces the best chocolate chip cookies you've ever had!
Best recipe, thank you!!
Kate
Thank you so much! I'm glad that you were able to find a version that works perfectly for you!
Anay Munje
This was an amazing recipe and I have used this for many celebrations and gotten great feedback. Thank You!
Kate
I'm so glad that the cookies have been a hit!
Anisah
Amazing cookies!! I was able to make these in under a hour and VERY EASY CLEAN UP:)
Kate
Thank you so much!
Msrevah
Mine came out flat. I should add that I don’t bake often. 🥴
Kate
Hi! Would you like help troubleshooting for next time?
Linda
Kate,do you mean to measure sifted flour? I don’t understand “fluff”, “scoop” and “sweep” the flour. Really want to make these cookies!
Kate
Hi! You can sift or stir the flour. Since flour compacts, it's important to break it up before measuring it. You can either scoop the flour out or spoon the flour into the measuring cup, taking care not to pack the flour. Sweeping is just leveling the flour off with the back of butter knife or similar kitchen tool. Please let me know if you have any more questions!
Brittany
I tried so many recipes and this was by far my favorite. These cookies came out amazing! Thank you for the recipe😁
Kate
Thank you so much!
Kelci
Excellent recipe. The flour thing is important, also note the salt is kosher so half it if using table salt. Great recipe! Thanks!!
Kate
Thank you so much!
Nikki
I used whole wheat flour instead and still turned out great!! Thank you so much!!
Kate
Thanks for sharing that tip! I'm glad that they worked out well for you!
Gen
Firstly, I am not a Baker. These were sooo easy. I changed nothing except that I baked for 12 minutes for the first batch and 11 minutes for the second. Everyone loved them and I came out looking like I knew what I was doing 😆, so clearly this recipe was absolutely 💯 percent impressive😋. Many kudos to the creator.
Kate
I'm so glad that they worked out well for you!
Gloria
My family and I loved these cookies. They were so easy to make and tasted so good. Not to sweet but delicious. This is a recipe I will keep in my favorite recipe file box. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Kate
Thank you!
Lily
I LOVE THIS RECIPE (and no I didn't leave caps lock on). Legitimately it is really good and recommended to everyone. I baked these cookies for a group and everyone enjoyed them. 100% goodness!
Kate
Thank you so much!
Alli
SO GOOD!!! I am not a baker - I don’t love it, and I’m not great at it… lol. But I do love sweets! Last night I was craving chocolate chip cookies something fierce and Googled “quick easy chocolate chip cookie recipe” hoping to find something that didn’t even require a hand mixer (I also don’t like cleaning up the MESS from baking). These did NOT disappoint! So yummy! Bookmarked and will definitely make again. No changes to this recipe, perfect as is!
Kate
Thank you! I'm glad that you liked the cookies!
Gen
Stupendous recipe as said before. One question: can you use all brown sugar instead?
Kate
I haven't tried using all brown sugar in this recipe. If you try it, I'd love to hear how it turns out!
Gen
So I tried this awesome recipe with all brown sugar and it turned out so well that I like it better with the brown.
Brooke
I've been using your recipe for years and I haven't left a review. This is the easiest cookie recipe and the cookies are always tasty. Sometimes I add milk chocolate chips or white chocolate chips.
Kate
I'm so glad you like the cookies! Thanks for leaving a comment!
Chels
BEST EVER RECIPE, SERIOUSLY!!
Kate
Thank you!!