Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are really the Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookies! With this recipe, you do not need to chill the cookie dough, you do not need brown sugar, and I'll show you how to soften butter quickly. These crispy-around-the-edges, soft cookies are ready in 30 minutes from start to finish!

If you want chocolate chip cookies that are flavorful, very chocolatey, and ridiculously easy to make, then you've come to the right place!

With only 8 ingredients and 30 minutes, you'll have delicious cookies to enjoy whether for Christmas or anytime you want some cookies.

Love cookies? Also check out my tried and proven Homemade Shortbread Cookies, Danish Butter Cookies, and Lemon Shortbread Cookies!

Jump to:

• Truly Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Recipe Testing Process
• Ingredients For Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookies
• How To Quickly Soften Butter For Cookies
• How To Make The Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Variations
• Expert Tips
• Recipe FAQs
• Best Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookies!
• More Cookie Recipes To Check Out
• More Homemade Dessert Recipes To Try
• Recipe

Truly Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is what happens when you grab a cookbook to flip through the pages in the evening. You see a really good cookie photo that causes you to run into the kitchen and make easy chocolate chip cookies!

You see, these are not called the easiest chocolate chip cookies for nothing. They can be baked at the spur of the moment. I switched up the cookie recipe I saw to make it quick and easy. Plus I'm not a fan of loads of sugar in chocolate chip cookies so I had to make the recipe my own.

A random cookie picture is seen. Craving sets in. Precious runs to the kitchen. 30 minutes later, chocolate chip cookies are made and she is one happy girl eating some warm cookies and drinking a glass of cold milk. Ah, life is good!

Recipe Testing Process

I published this recipe a few years back and it worked well then. Then back in 2020, when I made the recipe again, it wasn't just working as I wanted it to. I am sure some of you experienced this too and I apologize.

So this year I really zoomed in and focused on this recipe, making it several times and tweaking it until I finally achieved the chocolate chip cookies I am super proud of.

In the last few days, I have baked about 12 batches of chocolate chip cookies. Baking each batch came with learning something new.

I have experienced all sorts of cookies: not-soft-enough cookies, overmixed-dough cookies, cookies that spread too much, cookies that don't have enough chocolate chips, and the list goes on.

A tedious process but in the end very rewarding because I now have a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I hope will bring joy to your home. One that I hope you will make each year and each Christmas. And one that you can confidently share with your family and friends.

Special thanks to my daughter, Salma for her invaluable contributions during recipe testing. Salma is only 10 but that girl has a future with food! She helped mix one batch of cookie dough and helped taste the cookies together with my other girls and make suggestions.

So, friends, I present to you my new and improved chocolate chip cookies.

Ingredients For Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookies

You only need 8 ingredients for these chocolate chip cookies. This recipe makes 2 dozens of cookies. Here are the ingredients you need:

Here are some notes on key ingredients:

• Butter: Good quality butter is key when making cookies as the butter you use can make or break the cookies. I love getting organic butter for my cookies. The butter should be softened, not melted.
• Sugar: Granulated sugar not only provides sweetness but also contributes to the structure of cookies. I have tried making cookies with less sugar and the texture of the cookies turn out way off.
• Egg: One egg helps bind the dough together, without which the dough will be weird and crumbly.
• Salt: Enough salt in the cookie dough balances the sugar well, resulting in really tasty cookies. I use a good one teaspoon of salt in this recipe. Yes, one teaspoon.
• Chocolate chips: Semi-sweet chocolate chips tend to work best with sweet cookies. But you could also use milk chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips. You need enough chocolate chip cookies to inundate the dough so that every bite contains chocolate chips.
• Vanilla: A good one tablespoon of vanilla extract adds flavor to the cookie dough. Check out my homemade vanilla extract recipe.

How To Quickly Soften Butter For Cookies

Here are my tried and proven methods for softening butter quickly to use in a cookie recipe:

1. In a zipper bag: Unwrap the quantity of butter you need and place it in a zipper storage bag or slidder storage bag. Close the bag with its zipper or slider. Place the bag on the countertop and hit the butter several times using a rolling pin until it softens. Tear open the bag from its sides, clean out the butter using a spatula, and proceed with the recipe.
2. In a mixer: Cut the cold butter into half-inch thick slices and place the cut butter into the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on low for 3 minutes or until the butter softens. Proceed with the recipe. In the case of this recipe, add the sugar and start creaming together the sugar and butter.
3. In the microwave: Microwave one stick of butter for five to ten SECONDS to soften the butter. Be careful with this method as the microwave could quickly melt the butter.

How To Make The Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookies

1. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.

2. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla extract and mix to combine then add the flour and mix to form a dough.

3. Add chocolate chips and combine.

4. Scoop the cookie dough and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Press more chocolate chips onto the scooped cookie dough.

Hint: after scooping the cookie dough, take each piece and mold it into a neater ball with your hands. This will make the cookies have more even shapes after baking.

5. Bake the cookies in a preheated oven for about 8 minutes then let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 2-5 minutes before transferring them to a cookie rack to cool completely.

Hint: The cookies will be extremely soft and doughy in the middle once they come out of the oven. This is totally okay. The cookies will set as they cool.

Variations

• Bigger cookies - To make bigger cookies, use two to three tablespoons of cookie dough to form one cookie and bake them for about 10-12 minutes. A lesser number of big cookies will fit on one cookie sheet so you'll have to bake them in several batches.
• Adding nuts - Add ¾ cup of chopped walnuts or other nuts to make nutty chocolate chip cookies with some crunch from the nuts.
• Chocolate - Try using chocolate chunks instead of chocolate chips, chopped chocolate instead of chocolate chips, or a combination of chocolate chunks and chips, or a combination of M&Ms and chocolate chips.
• Chewier cookies - Add one more egg to the cookie dough, swap half of the granulated sugar for brown sugar, then chill the cookie dough for one hour before scooping and baking.

Also, check out my Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies and my Easy Coconut Macaroons.

Expert Tips

• Creaming the butter and sugar: Creaming the butter and sugar is an important process that aerates the mixture and adds rise as the cookies bake. Cream the mixture until the butter and sugar mixture goes from an off-white-looking color to a brighter white-looking color. It takes about 3 minutes to achieve this using a stand mixer on medium speed.
• Better cookie shapes: After scooping the cookie dough, using a cookie scoop, use your hands to form the scoops into rounder balls. This makes for more even-looking cookies after they are baked.
• Never overbake cookies: When the cookies are done, they will be slightly brown around the edges but will still look doughy around the middle. They will also be very soft to the touch. Resist the temptation to place them back into the oven. They will be set as they cool. Overbaking the cookies will make them toughen up, resulting in hard cookies.
• Chilling the dough: If you over-soften the butter and the cookie dough turns out too soft, or for whatever reason, your cookie dough turns out too soft, refrigerate the dough before proceeding. If your dough is too soft, your cookie dough will spread too quickly creating a mess. So in that case, refrigerate the dough for one hour first before proceeding. Or scoop the cookies onto a baking sheet and refrigerate for 30 minutes before baking.
• Freezing cookie dough: To freeze cookie dough, place scoops of cookie onto a baking sheet, flash freeze the scoops for one hour then place the scoops into an airtight bag and freeze for up to a month. To bake frozen cookie dough, let the cookie scoops rest on a baking sheet at room temperature for one hour then proceed to bake. You might need to bake frozen cookie dough for an additional minute or 2.
• Even baking: Bake cookies in the middle rack of the oven. Some ovens are hotter than others so rotate the baking sheet halfway through for even baking.

Recipe FAQs

Best Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookies!

You'll love this recipe for the easiest chocolate chip cookies! They are:

• Sweet
• Chocolatey
• Vanilla-y
• Quick to make
• Well-loved by both kids and adults.

More Cookie Recipes To Check Out

If you love cookies then check out the following cookie recipes here on the blog:

Hope you guys enjoy the easiest chocolate chip cookies recipe. They are the best!

More Homemade Dessert Recipes To Try

• Vanilla Pound Cake
• Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream (VIDEO)
• Easy Chocolate Covered Strawberries
• Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream
• No Churn Coconut Ice Cream
• No Churn Strawberry Ice Cream
• Lemon Pound Cake
  

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