Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies | Two Plaid Aprons (2024)

Published: Mar 27, 2020 / Modified: Dec 7, 2022 by Mei / This post may contain affiliate links / 6 Comments

These chocolate chip cookies are crispy on the edges and soft and chewy in the center. They are super easy and quick to make with no hassle, no mixer, and no chilling needed! This is a small batch recipe that can be easily multiplied into a larger batch so that you can make it for when you want to treat yourself or when you want to please a crowd!

Of all the cookies, soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies with a crispy edges have a soft spot in my heart because they were the highlight to our school lunches growing up.

This chocolate chip cookies recipes makes them just the way I remembered them! And the bonus?! This is a super easy recipe that requires no mixer and no chilling, so that you can enjoy these cookies in less than 25 minutes!

If you're looking for more chocolate recipes, also check out our matcha white chocolate cookies, nama chocolate, flourless chocolate soufflé, and 2 ingredient condensed milk truffles!

Ingredient notes

Please scroll down to the recipe card for the ingredient quantities!

• Melted and cooled unsalted butter - Always use unsalted butter so that you can easily control the saltiness of your end result. This recipe calls for melted butter because we are making chewy chocolate chip cookies.
• Brown sugar and granulated white sugar - A blend of brown sugar and granulated sugar gives our chocolate chip cookies the perfect balance between crispy, soft, and chewy. Personally, we prefer dark brown sugar over light brown sugar.
• Salt and vanilla extract - These two are the extra accents added to chocolate chip cookies to give them extra layers of flavor.
• Egg - The egg adds richness to the cookies, makes the cookies more moist, and adds a little fluffiness to the cookies.
• All-purpose flour - This is the perfect flour for making cookies. All-purpose flour gives cookies the chew they need without making the cookies tough or cakey.
• Baking soda - This is the leavener used to give these chocolate chip cookies some lift. Baking soda also gives the cookies that golden color and light crisp on the outside.
• Chocolate chip or chunks - Can't make chocolate chip cookies without chocolate! Feel free to use either chocolate chips or chop up some chocolate bars. We recommend semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate.

How to make these chocolate chip cookies

Please scroll down to the recipe card for the full recipe and instructions!

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Also prepare a sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

2. Mix together wet ingredients. Into a mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, white sugar, and butter. Then, mix in the egg, followed by salt and vanilla extract.

3. Add the dry ingredients. Mix in the flour and baking powder until just combined. DO NOT over-mix.

3. Add the chocolate. Either add the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bar into the dough and fold until roughly combined.

🌟 Pro tip: To get those picture perfect chocolate chip cookies, don't add all of the chocolates into the cookie dough. Instead, reserve some chocolate chips or chunks to garnish the tops of each cookie. This way, the cookies will always have some chocolate on top.

4. Portion the cookie dough. Using cookie scoops, portion and place the cookie dough balls on the prepared sheet pan. Make sure to leave room between each cookie dough. For large cookies use a 4 ounce cookie scoop, and 1 ounce cookies scoops for regular size, small cookies.

5. Bake the cookies. Place the tray of cookies into the oven and bake until the outside is set and the edges look golden brown, about 18 to 20 minutes for large (4 ounce) cookies and 10 to 12 minutes for small (1 ounce cookies).

6. Enjoy! Remove the tray from the oven and immediately sprinkle some flakey salt on top of the cookies, if you'd like. Let the cookies cool for at least 5 minutes and enjoy!

Recipe tips

• Don't over-mix the cookie dough. Over-mixing will result in tough, dry cookies.
• Cool the butter. After melting the butter, make sure it's not too hot before adding all the ingredients! If the butter is too hot, it could scramble the eggs or result in really flat cookies.
• Leave room between cookies. These cookies will spread a bit while baking, so make sure to leave at least 1 to 2 inches in between, or you'll get one sheet of cookies.
• Make sure the oven is properly preheated. We recommend getting an oven thermometer so that you know what temperature is inside the actual oven. The preheat setting is not always accurate and usually need an extra 5 to 15 minutes to heat the oven to the correct temperature.

Chocolate chip cookie troubleshoot

Flat cookies

• Oven temperature too high. If the oven is too hot, the dough will spread before the cookies can form any structure on the inside. We recommend using an oven thermometer so that you'll know what the actually oven temperature is inside.

• Dough is too warm. Make sure to let the melted butter cool before using. If necessary, chill the dough before baking. During the summer, or when the weather is hot in general, the dough can often become too warm.

• Not enough or expired baking soda. The baking soda will give the chocolate chip cookies some lift. Check to make sure it is not expired by mixing it with some vinegar. If the baking soda bubbles, it is good.

• Not enough flour. If too much butter or not enough flour was used in the cookie dough, the dough will be too loose and will spread a lot while baking. Use 1 to 2 tablespoon more flour if needed.

Cookies won't spread

• Dough is too cold. If you chilled the dough or is using frozen dough, the dough may be too cold to spread. You will most likely have to bake the cookies a few minutes longer. We highly recommend letting the frozen cookies thaw at room temperature before baking.

• Too much flour. Accidentally using too much flour in baking is a common occurrence. It will cause the cookie dough to become too dry, which means less spreading. If measuring flour with US measuring cups, we recommend fluffing the flour first. Then, spoon the flour into the measuring cup, and finish by scraping off the excess with a straight-edge, like a butter knife. For best accuracy, we recommend a kitchen scale.

Cookies are hard

• Oven temperature too high. If the oven temperature is too high, the chocolate chip cookies can easily become over-baked. We recommend getting an affordable oven thermometer to keep the oven temperature in check.

• Baked for too long. If these chocolate chip cookies get baked too long, they will lose their gooey, soft, and chewy centers. Don't over-bake them!

• Cookie dough over-mixed. Over-mixing will cause these cookies to become tough. This applies to any cookies and most batter. Fold the flour into the cookie dough just until combined and no more dry flour is visible.

• Too much flour. Using too much flour can cause the cookie to become dry and and hard. Make sure to measure the flour properly!

Storage

These chocolate chip cookies will last up to 5 days at room temperature and frozen for up to 2 months. Just make sure to keep them in airtight containers for both storage methods.

How to freeze cookie dough

This chocolate chip cookie dough freezes really well, if you happen to have leftover dough or want to make the dough ahead of time. The chocolate cookie dough can be good up to 6 months if stored properly in the freezer.

Simply portion the cookie dough as you would normally, and arrange them onto a sheet pan lined with parchment or cling wrap. Place the cookie dough in the freezer and let chill until completely frozen. Once the cookie doughs are frozen, store them in freezer bags.

To bake, arrange the frozen cookie doughs on a parchment lined sheet pan and let it warm up at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours, or until thawed, before baking.

FAQ

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