Seriously, the easiest chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. Melted butter, one bowl, no mixer, no chilling. Phenomenal soft and chewy cookies, every time. (Jump to Recipe)
I’ve had a go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe for a long time. Like, since I was 12. This is not that.
This is better.
The thing about chocolate chip cookies is that everyone loves them, but no one can agree on the correct recipe. For some people, that may not even be a question that’s relevant — i.e., why would you bother arguing about it when we could have scooped pre-made dough out of a Toll House tub and baked it by now — but since you’re reading this, I’m guessing you’re not one of those people. So let’s talk about it.
I’ve done a fair amount of reading about chocolate chip cookies. They’re deceptively simple, yet they require the building of complex flavor and can be extremely finicky. Recipe authors have suggested using bread flour because of its higher protein content (and thus better chewiness), adding an extra egg yolk for richer flavor, browning the butter (because ok, brown butter is delicious), chilling the dough for 2 days to build more flavor, using a mixture of super expensive chopped dark chocolate instead of chocolate chips so it melts throughout, adding cornstarch to keep cookies thick, various ratios of brown sugar to white sugar for optimal flavor and softness…I could go on, but doesn’t it seem like a cookie this simple, this classic, should not be so complicated???
The problems don’t stop there, though.
Once you’ve decided on a certain recipe, there is the method, and it must be done correctly or else your cookies may suck. Creaming soft (but not too soft) butter and sugar. At a certain speed, for a certain time. Adding 1 (or 2??) eggs, which are at room temperature of course (because everyone thinks that far ahead). Adding just enough flour and not mixing it too much, otherwise you’ll overdevelop the gluten and your cookies will be too dense. Chilling the dough for an hour, or two hours, or two days, depending on your recipe. Scooping and rolling precise little mounds. Bah!
My other major gripe about most chocolate chip cookie recipes is how MANY cookies they make. I don’t know about you, but I don’t need 3-4 dozen cookies from one recipe, and I resent the fact that I have to keep pulling sheets in and out of the oven for 45 minutes. When you live in a small apartment, there’s only so many places to put cooling cookies. I admit that it’s not a terrible problem to have, but still.
All of this is to say, that one night I was really, really craving cookies (as one does) and really didn’t want to go through the aforementioned rigamarole. I just wanted soft, melty, chewy cookies, NOW.
So I cut my normal recipe in half, threw caution to the wind and melted the butter, stirred everything together with a fork in one bowl, and hoped for the best. And honestly….they weren’t the best I’d ever had, but they weren’t bad. They spread more than I’d have liked, but certainly didn’t suffer in the way I’d assumed they would. So I started tinkering.
Like the annoying recipe authors I mentioned before, I tinkered with the brown/white sugar ratio, and added flour to make up for the moisture of the melted butter. I increased the salt because it sets off the chocolate sweetness so well. And after a couple rounds of testing (poor us), I came up with what I consider to be the easiest chocolate chip cookie recipe there is.
Here’s why these are the easiest chocolate chip cookies:
- You use melted butter – no waiting around for butter to soften.
- You stir everything together in one bowl – no mixer necessary.
- Because you’re stirring by hand, you’re very unlikely to over-mix the dough (a common cookie problem).
- NO CHILLING REQUIRED! Hallelujah.
- The recipe makes only 20 cookies! No waiting around for an hour for all your cookies to be done.
I’ve now made it at least 5 times, in a number of temperature and time circumstances, and it hasn’t failed me yet. That’s more than I can say for most cookie recipes I’ve tried, to be honest. I gave my friend Colleen a plate of them for her birthday, and her text the next day says it all: “These are the BEST DAMN COOKIES I’VE EVER HAD!!!”
I couldn’t agree more.
Seriously, the easiest chocolate chip cookies I've ever made. Melted butter, one bowl, no mixer, no chilling. Phenomenal soft and chewy cookies, every time.
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup granulated (white) sugar
- 1 large egg (cold or room temperature, both are fine)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (see notes below on how to measure flour correctly)
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips (more if desired)
- Coarse sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)
-
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
-
In a large microwave-safe bowl (or a small saucepan on the stove), heat the butter until just melted. Whisk in the two sugars until thoroughly combined (I like to use a fork as my whisk). Let the mixture cool for a minute, then whisk in the egg and vanilla extract until smooth.
-
Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over top of the mixture and stir in, then add the flour and stir it in until fully combined and a smooth dough is formed. Fold in the chocolate chips.
-
Drop the dough by rounded tablespoons (if you have it, a #40 tablespoon cookie scoop is perfect for this) onto cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart. The dough should make approximately 20 cookies worth.
-
If desired, sprinkle additional coarse sea salt over top of the cookies (you can also do this after they're baked). Bake for 9-10 minutes. NOTE: the cookies will look underdone, but they'll firm up as they sit.
-
Let cookies cool on sheet for at least 5 minutes, then cool completely on a rack. Store, tightly covered, at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Recipe adapted from my sea salt chocolate chip cookies.
Note on measuring flour: for best results, please make sure you use the "spoon and level" method for measuring flour, rather than using your measuring cup to scoop flour directly from the bag. The spoon and level method produces a lighter cup of flour, while scooping from the bag produces a packed, heavier cup that will prevent the cookies from spreading as they should. If you haven't heard of this method before, Sally's Baking Addiction has a great tutorial!
Like this recipe? Please rate it and leave a comment or tag me on Instagram @katiebirdbakes, and sign up for my email list to receive my recipes straight to your inbox every time I post!
UH-MAZ-ZING! I, too, was looking for a quick, no mixer needed, choc chip cookie recipe and came upon yours… and soooo glad I did! I had these whipped up in less than 5 minutes. I am a novice cake baker, so I have TONS of cake flour, and used that instead of AP flour. I also didn’t have any brown sugar (what?!?), so I used all white sugar (extra fine). After I scooped out about a dozen cookies, I decided to add in some unsweetened natural cocoa powdered and chopped pecans to the remaining batter – so glad i did this too :-). The regular choc chip cookies were tender and soft with great flavor. My chocolate chocolate chip pecan cookies had such a rich flavor, and I left these in a bit longer as I like more of a crunchy cookie, and while it wasn’t as crunchy as I would have liked, it was still delish! Thanks Katie, for posting this and taking the time to figure out this recipe. Will definitely put this in my arsenal!
Wow. First time I’ve ever been compelled to leave a comment on a baking blog’s recipe. I also found this recipe due to a cookie craving and wanted a solid cookie, instead of those lame mug cookies. But having baked my fair share of cookies, I knew I needed room temp butter… who has time for that though?? So I searched for a recipe that used melted butter. I was about to give up making cookies before coming to this absolutely perfect recipe, because there were so many recipes that traded off the simplicity of melted butter with the complexity of something else. Like, browning the butter or adding an extra egg yolk. Finally I came across this recipe. I was pretty skeptical it would yield a great cookie (sometimes simple recipes are too good to be true) but I gave it a try anyways because it was bound to be better than a mug cookie (one of those too good to be true recipes). I’m so glad I did because my cookie craving was satisfied and I now have a new go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. The texture and taste is amazing and I love how easy it is to make! Thanks so much for sharing!
Hi Katie,
I’m staying in an Airbnb, i.e. no mixer on hand. This recipe looks perfect.
Question- can I make in advance and freeze?
Hi Wendy – yes, you can absolutely do that! You can either freeze the scooped dough and bake whenever you’re ready (adding a minute or two to the baking time) or you can bake them and then freeze them well wrapped in foil. Just let them thaw for a couple hours at room temperature and they should be good to go! Hope you love the recipe.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on blog. Regards
These were the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made!
I doubled the dark chocolate chips and I didn’t put the salt on top, that’s just my preference.
Recipe and cooking temps and time were perfect!
That’s so great to hear, Kiky! Thank you for the feedback and glad you enjoyed them!
Great cookie, so easy. I appreciate a recipe that doesn’t take a lot of effort but is good!
Thank you so much, Danielle! I agree – easy cookies are the best!
These cookies are amazing…and I’m a seasoned baker and chocolate chip cookie maker.
I stumbled on the recipe after searching for “one bowl cookies” bc I had a craving and no time.
They came out absolutely perfectly! Soft, fluffy, flavorful, and complex tasting but so easy to make. I followed the recipe exactly, the batter looked soft so I did refrigerate the dough for a few minutes before baking—but baked the second batch with NO chilling and they two batches were exaty the same!
Easy to follow, perfect amount of cookies(I have 3 kids and it was still pleanty for a few days dessert).
I will make these again and again!
Oh my gosh, thank you for this wonderful review Tina!! You made me tear up! I am so happy you enjoyed these with your family.
Hi! This recipe looks amazing! Can it also be used as a base cookie recipe? Like if I wanted to make it a sugar cookie, would I just leave out the brown sugar/chocolate chips? And if I wanted to make it a double chocolate cookie, could I just add coco powder?
Hi Crystal – this would be a great base cookie for changing up your mix-ins, like chocolate chips and nuts and dried fruits. As long as you keep the total amount of mix-ins under 1 cup you should be ok. As far as changing the sugar, you can substitute an equal amount of granulated sugar for the brown sugar and it will work just fine. Changing up the flour for cocoa powder can get a little dicey, though – I would start by replacing 1/2 cup of flour with 1/2 cup of cocoa powder and see what happens. Let me know if you try it!
We stumbled upon your recipe and so glad we did. It’s superb! My 12 year old daughter was wanting to make a quick cookie for Santa; with just a bit of guidance, these cookies came out perfect. They truly are delish! We substituted Andes chocolate mint pieces instead of chocolate chips. SO EASY SO TASTY! Thank you bunches!
Yay! Thank you so much – I’m so glad they worked for you (and for Santa!).
KATIE!You’re cookies were so awsome.I had a really fantastic time enjoying those cool chocolate chip cookies.Such a wonderful recipe you’ve given me.OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!Thank you very much:D
YAY! Thank you so much. So glad you enjoyed them!
these cookies were awesome. super easy to make and so delish. thank you very much
Thank you so much, Sharyn! So glad you enjoyed them.
Good Afternoon! I tried your recipe and by far was it the MOST AMAZING chocolate chip cookies ever!!!!!! They were the easiest to make and all the ingredients were “ideal” to have in the cabinet! Thank you soooo very much!
Omg! Thank you so much for that amazing review!!!
Hi Katie, my daughter and I just made these and they are phenomenal. Thank you so much for a recipe that from inception to eating took less than half an hour!
That’s so great to hear, Dave! Thank you!!
I just made these cookies yesterday with my 5 year old granddaughter. I will never use another recipe other than yours! Soft and chewy, just the way my family likes them. Thank you so much for sharing!
Yay! Thank you so much Stephanie – so glad you enjoyed them!
Hey Katie! Do you think this dough can be frozen before baking? Or should it be made just before baking.
Thank you!
Hi Dana – this dough can be frozen after you scoop it into the individual cookie balls. Just put them on a plate and put in the freezer until they’re frozen, then keep them in a freezer bag. You can bake them right from frozen – just add a couple minutes to the baking time! Hope you enjoy!
Hi Katie,
I definitely want to try this recipe!
Have you tried adding nuts to the mix? I’d like to add walnuts but am not sure how to adjust the recipe accordingly? Would you add more fluid or use fewer chocolate chips?
Cheers
Caro
Hi Caro – I think I would start with half walnuts and half chocolate chips (so 1/4 cup of each). If you want to increase the amount, try doing 1/3 cup of each. Let me know how it turns out!
Hi Katie,
I tried out the recipe with 1/4 cup walnuts and 1/3 cup chocolate chips. It was awesome!
I put all the dry ingredients in layers in a pretty 20 ounce jar and gave it to my mother in law as a Christmas present. I used vanilla sugar instead of vanilla essence. She only needs to add butter and eggs and form the cookies. It was a great little extra gift!
Thank you so much for this great recipe!
Cheers, Caro
Thank you so much, Caro! What a great idea to make it into a gift!
So strange, mine didn’t flatten at all! Of course they still taste amazing (eaten in minutes) though but seems a little odd compared to other cookies I’ve made. You think it’s because I touched them too much when forming them or I put the egg in too early?
Hi Brittney – the lack of spreading was likely because of the way you measured your flour. If the flour is packed too tightly in the measuring cup, it soaks up more moisture than a lighter cup of flour and prevents the cookies from spreading. See this tutorial from Sally’s Baking Addiction on the correct way to measure flour using the spoon and level method!
I want to try these. Thanks for sharing. Will it make a big difference if I use salted butter and then leave the salt out?
Hi Yvette, yes that would work fine! Hope you enjoy!
Oh. My. God. Katie. I’m new to baking and I say that as a way to politely let you know that I usually suck at baking. But these cookies. Oh my god Katie. These cookies. They melt in my mouth. So easy to make. I even accidentally set the oven too high and they’re still out-of-this-world delicious (took them out from 375 at 7 minutes 30). 5/5 would overeat to the point of cardiac arrest ❤️❤️❤️
Bob, you just made my day!! I am SO glad you love these just as much as I do!
Also a lawyer/blogger. Now retired and loving this other life. You are a terrific writer and like you, I LOVE figs and chocolate chip cookies. I am in foodtographyschool also but you have outpaced me by miles!
Aww thank you so much Jane! I’ve seen you in the facebook group and love all your contributions. Thank you so much for the comment – I do love that I get to flex my writing muscles on here too. Hope you are enjoying retirement!!
Made them today easy and very good a Thank you.
Thank you so much Bessie! I’m so glad you enjoyed them.