• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

RecipeTin Eats

Fast Prep, Big Flavours

  • My RecipeTin
  • NEW cookbook!
  • Recipes
  • Recipes By Category
    • Iconic + cult classics
    • Mains
      • Chicken
        • Chicken mince
      • Beef Recipes
        • Ground Beef (Mince)
      • Pork
      • Lamb
      • Turkey
      • Shrimp / Prawns
      • Salmon
      • Fish recipes
      • Salad Meals
    • Quick and Easy
    • Soups
    • One Pot – One Pan
    • Stewy slow-cooked things
    • Slow Cooker
    • Sides
      • All
      • Salads & veg
      • Show Off Salads
      • Rice (all)
      • Fried rice recipes
      • Rice (plain)
      • Potato
    • Pasta
      • All
      • Pasta bakes
      • Pasta salads
    • Sweet
      • Cakes
      • Candy
      • Cheesecakes
      • Cupcakes & Muffins
      • Cookies
      • Puddings & Cosy Desserts
      • Bite Size
      • Pies
      • Slices & Bars
      • Frosting & Icing
      • Ice cream
    • Cuisine
      • Asian
        • All
        • Stir fries
        • Noodles
        • Soups
        • Chinese
        • RecipeTin Japan 🇯🇵
        • Korean
        • Modern Asian
        • Thai
        • Vietnamese
      • French
      • Greek
      • Indian
      • Italian
      • Mediterranean
      • Mexican
      • Middle Eastern
      • South American
    • Dietary
      • Gluten Free
      • Low Calorie
      • Vegetarian
    • Other Categories
      • BBQ
      • Breakfast
      • Burgers
      • 🎄Christmas
      • Cocktails
      • Party Foods
      • Rice Recipes
      • Roasts
      • Sandwiches & Sliders
    • Recipe collections
    • Cookbook recipes
  • My Food Bank
  • About
    • Me
    • RecipeTin Meals
    • My Cookbooks
      • Tonight (NEW!)
      • Dinner
    • Free Recipe Books
    • Contact
    • Nitty Gritty
      • Policy: Use of Recipes & Images
      • Privacy & Disclosure
Home Baking

My easiest Chocolate Chip Cookies (Soft!)

By Nagi Maehashi
350 Comments
Share
  • Copy Link
  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • WhatsApp
Published2 Jun '17 Updated12 Jun '25
Jump to
Recipe

A terrific chocolate chip cookie recipe that is dangerously easy and makes soft, buttery cookies! No creaming butter, no beater required, no refrigeration, no rolling dough into balls and these are not too sweet. The hardest part is waiting for the cookies to cool. Watch the video and see my mother getting in trouble for trying to swipe one off the tray!

Miracle SOFT Chocolate Chip Cookies that are almost impossibly easy - no creaming butter, no beater, no refrigeration, no rolling dough. These are magical! www.recipetineats.com

Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe

A long awaited reader request…. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had people writing in asking for my chocolate chip cookie recipe!

In truth, I was sitting on it because I wanted to make sure I tested it properly for different measures in different countries. If you’ve ever tried a cookie recipe written by someone in another country and had it fail miserably, chances are that it’s because of the difference in cup, tablespoon and teaspoon measures between countries. As an example, 1 standard Australian cup of flour is 150g/5.3 oz whereas 1 standard US cup is 120g / 4.5 oz.

For most recipes, the difference between measures is not enough to affect the recipe or the difference is proportional across the whole recipe so it still works fine. However, for baking recipes, you really have to be careful. Especially cookies and cakes.

So that’s a little tip for you when using baking recipes – check the country of origin of the writer. If it’s not your country, proceed with caution! 😉

Oh – in case I forgot to make it really clear – yes I’ve tested this recipe using Australian & rest of world cups (all exc US are very similar) and US cups and weight measures.

Oh – and this is based on a Cooks’ Illustrated tried and tested recipe. That always helps!

Miracle SOFT Chocolate Chip Cookies that are almost impossibly easy - no creaming butter, no beater, no refrigeration, no rolling dough. These are magical! www.recipetineats.com

This chocolate chip cookie recipe may be a little different to most you’ve come across. It’s unique in that there’s no creaming butter, no electric beater is required, there’s no refrigeration of the dough (unless it’s stinking hot where you are!) and there’s no rolling dough.

Dump and mix. The batter will be quite soft at first because of the melted butter, but after 5 minutes or so, it firms up into a soft dough that can be scooped onto the baking tray and it holds its form perfectly. Using an ice cream scooper with a lever (seriously handy kitchen utensil – cookies, pancakes, MEATBALLS), it’s super quick to dollop the dough into perfect round mounds that spread into beautiful round cookies.

I’ve tried to capture how soft these cookies are in the recipe video (below the recipe). I hope I’ve succeeded. I also hope I’ve succeeded in showing you how straight forward these are to make.

Dangerous. I should have called these Dangerous Choc Chip Cookies.

Happy weekend everyone! – Nagi xx


For Cookie Monsters 🙋🏻‍♀️

  • Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

  • 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

  • Shortbread Cookies

  • Anzac Cookies

  • Ricciarelli (Italian almond cookies)

  • Byron Bay copycat cookies – Choc Chunk, White Choc Macadamia and Chewy Choc Fudge

Miracle SOFT Chocolate Chip Cookies that are almost impossibly easy - no creaming butter, no beater, no refrigeration, no rolling dough. These are magical! www.recipetineats.com

PS That moment when I smack my mother’s hand in the video….. I have been wanting an excuse to do that all my life….

PPS This recipe makes big cookies about 10cm/4″ wide. I have a cookie baking session planned this weekend and plan to test out different sizes for bake times and will update the recipe! <– Said baking session took place, recipe updated for directions for small cookies!

PPPS I don’t know why it is but my recipes always seem to come out with odd numbers. This recipe makes 13 cookies. THIRTEEN. My trays fit 6 each perfectly. Which means I have to have a third tray…..for just ONE cookie. 🙄


Watch how to make it

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe video!

Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.

Miracle SOFT Chocolate Chip Cookies that are almost impossibly easy - no creaming butter, no beater, no refrigeration, no rolling dough. These are magical! recipetineats.com

Soft Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Author: Nagi
Prep: 10 minutes mins
Cook: 22 minutes mins
Total: 32 minutes mins
Sweet
Western
4.97 from 166 votes
Servings13
Tap or hover to scale
Print
  • 206
RECIPE VIDEO ABOVE. These may well be the easiest chocolate chip cookies in the world! These are big, soft, buttery and are made without a beater, no creaming butter, no refrigeration required and no rolling the dough into the balls. Adapted from Cooks Illustrated. Makes 13 large or 26-30 small. {This recipe will work no matter which country you live in – see Note 5. High altitude baking – see Note 6.}

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups plain / all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ½ tsp baking soda (bi carb soda)
  • 175g / 12 tbsp unsalted butter , cut into 2 cm/ 4/5″ cubes (1.5 US sticks / 6 oz)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar , packed (light or dark) (Note 1)
  • 1/2 cup caster sugar (US: granulated sugar)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips , separated (US: semi sweet chocolate chips or chunks)
Prevent screen from sleeping

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 180C / 350F (standard) or 160C/320F (fan / convection). Place oven shelf in the middle of the oven.
  • Line 2 trays with baking / parchment paper.
  • Whisk the flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl.
  • Place the butter in a large heatproof bowl. Microwave until the butter is almost fully melted (25 sec for room temp butter, 40 sec for fridge cold butter on high).
  • Whisk to finish melting the butter. (Note 2)
  • Add brown and white sugar, whisk energetically for 15 seconds.
  • Add egg, yolk and vanilla, whisk well for 15 seconds.
  • Add flour mixture and mix until flour is almost fully incorporated.
  • Add 1 cup chocolate chips, stir to disperse and flour is fully incorporated. Batter will be quite loose.
  • Stand for 5 minutes for batter to firm up a bit so it is scoop-able into mounds. (Note 3)
  • LARGE COOKIES: Scoop up a level ice cream scoop / 3 tbsp / 1/4 cup (Note 4) and place on baking trays 5cm / 2″ apart – 13 balls. Top with remaining choc chips (these remain on surface once baked = prettier).
  • SMALL COOKIES (26 – 30): Scoop up 1.5 tbsp (heaped tbsp measure) OR 1/2 an ice cream scoop (this works well). Place on baking trays 4cm / 1.75″ apart, top with choc chops.
  • Bake 1 tray at a time. LARGE COOKIES: Bake for 8 minutes, then rotate the tray and bake for 3 minutes (11 minutes in total). SMALL COOKIES: Bake 6 minutes, turn then bake 3 minutes (9 min total). The cookies should be just golden on the edges and pale golden on top. They will be slightly puffed up.
  • Cool on the tray – they finish cooking. They will lose the puffiness while resting. Dig in and get your cookie fix!

Recipe Notes:

1. I switch between light and dark brown sugar, I use whatever I have. If I had both, I probably use light over dark more often. The flavour difference is not noticeable to me. Light brown sugar will produce a slightly paler cookie which does suggest its softness.
2. If the butter is fully melted in the microwave so it’s transparent when you take it out, the cookie is not quite as soft. Not a deal breaker, just a little tip that makes a difference!
3. FIRMING UP BATTER: While the butter is warm, the batter is quite loose (see video). Standing for just 5 minutes firms up the batter, turning it into a soft cookie dough so when you drop mounds onto the tray, they stay in a mound shape. If it is super hot where you are, you may need to refrigerate for a bit.
4. A standard ice cream scooper is 3 tablespoons. The ones with levers like what I use in the video are a terrific utensil that I use more frequently for things like cookies, pancakes and even meatballs more than I do ice cream!
You can also make smaller cookies and I will update this recipe with a guide for baking times for different size cookies in the near future – there are cookie baking plans for this weekend!
5. HIGH ALTITUDE BAKING – a reader at 7200 ft reported that this worked perfectly with the sugar reduced to 3/4 cup (total).
DIFFERENT COUNTRY CUPS: No need to do any calculations to adjust, this recipe will work no matter which country you are in with the exception of Japan, please use weights provided.
Background: Measuring cups and teaspoons can differ between some countries. For most recipes, the difference is not material enough to affect the recipe. However, for baking recipes, it does make a difference. I’ve tested this recipe with US cups, Aussie cups (which is very close to rest of world) and weights. No difference!
6. STORING: Keeps great for 3 days in an airtight container and they freeze well too. Dough keeps great in the fridge for 3 days – it will firm up so roll into balls and place on tray, then add 1 minutes to the bake time. Cooked cookies freeze great – defrost before serving.
7. HIGH ALTITUDE BAKING: I’m thrilled to share that a reader, Marg (4 June 2017) who lives at high altitude (985 m/3200 ft) made the following adjustments: reduced total sugar to 1/2 cup (1/4 each brown and white), increased oven to 170C/340F, and used 2 eggs (to avoid having left over egg white). She said  the cookies spread a bit because she used 2 whole instead of 1 yolk + 1 egg per recipe, but they were not flat, were soft and she didn’t miss the sugar. Would love to hear if anyone at high altitude makes this using 1 whole + 1 yolk + Marg’s other adjustments!
The Cooks’ Illustrated recipe I adapted my recipe from doesn’t prescribe exact adjustments, but provided a guideline which Marg based her adjustments on: “For High-Altitude Baking: Problem: Cookies spread too much in the oven. Solution: Use less sugar. Increase the oven temperature and decrease the baking time. Problem: Cookies are too dry. Solution: Add an extra egg or yolk.”
8. This is adapted from a Cooks’ Illustrated recipe. I reduced sweetness (plus this made it a touch softer), cut out a step to brown butter (which they do to add more flavour which I don’t miss when I exclude) and I reduced the butter a touch which I find makes the dough slightly quicker to make and consistently yields a better scoop-able dough without affecting the butteriness of the cookie. So…erm, I did actually change it quite a bit over the years. This recipe is my idea of a perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie that happens to be very simple to make!
9. Yes, this makes 13 large cookies. It is so annoying because my trays fit 6 each! Nutrition is per giant cookie, halve it for small cookies.

Nutrition Information:

Serving: 74gCalories: 325cal (16%)
Keywords: Chocolate chip cookie recipe
Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @recipe_tin.

Life of Dozer

At the coffee shop responding to messages and recipe questions on my site…..and Dozer wanting to know what I’m writing. That’s a nice way of saying he’s being annoying, shoving his face onto my computer!!

Previous Post
Super Easy French Onion Soup Dip
Next Post
Carne Asada

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!

Read More

Free Recipe eBooks

Join my free email list to receive THREE free cookbooks!

Related Posts

Mini cinnamon muffins

Mini cinnamon muffins

Peanut butter stuffed brownies

Peanut Butter Stuffed Brownies

Red velvet cheesecake

Red Velvet Cheesecake

More Baking

Reader Interactions

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Cooked this? Rate this recipe!




350 Comments

  1. Lyn says

    May 18, 2023 at 8:29 pm

    Yep, Nagi – another winner of a recipe! Delicious. Looking forward to trying additions like nuts and so on – and melted chocolate zig-zags over the top. Still delicious “as is”. x

    Reply
  2. Heidi says

    April 21, 2023 at 11:44 am

    5 stars
    So good

    Reply
  3. Denise Ing says

    March 20, 2023 at 5:05 am

    5 stars
    Once again, Nagi for the win. I love this recipe because you don’t need to roll the cookies!

    Reply
    • eva says

      June 7, 2023 at 5:25 pm

      5 stars
      i sold these at my school and people loved them so so much THANK YOU 💗💗💗💗💖💖💖🩷💕

      Reply
  4. Natalie Williams says

    February 15, 2023 at 5:51 am

    5 stars
    For me it took me longer to prepare the cookies than it did to bake them. They were amazing. My mom and dad could not keep their hands out of the cookie jar. LOL
    I will definently make these again.

    Reply
  5. Sass says

    January 15, 2023 at 1:54 pm

    5 stars
    A winner! Made with the 8 year old for her midnight feast sleepover treat.

    Reply
  6. Holly says

    January 15, 2023 at 11:51 am

    5 stars
    These came out so good! I followed the recipe exactly and they came out so huge and beautiful it was hard to wait for them to cool. Thank you for sharing Nagi!

    Reply
  7. Frances Paino says

    January 7, 2023 at 12:23 pm

    5 stars
    I’m teaching my 10 year old grandson to cook. This was a great recipe because he could do nearly all of it himself. I just did the hot things. They are delicious.

    Reply
  8. Tabbie says

    December 23, 2022 at 1:31 pm

    5 stars
    Has my foodie sister’s picky approval and she doesn’t even like sweets. Added a tsp of cinnamon and adds a nice hint of flavor.

    Reply
  9. Kay Saye says

    December 10, 2022 at 8:15 am

    Hi Nagi
    I,m thinking of making a large batch of choc chip cookies and I am going to freeze them ,would this work well as a dough ?
    cheers Kay

    Reply
  10. angie says

    November 23, 2022 at 9:00 am

    5 stars
    Hello nagi your cookies look delicious i can’t wait to try them 🙂

    Reply
  11. Shaz says

    October 9, 2022 at 7:36 pm

    5 stars
    Love this recipe. My 11 year old daughter Is regularly making this recipe. She even reheated it in the microwave for 10 seconds in the following days and it was like they were fresh out the oven! Delicious

    Reply
  12. Lauren says

    October 3, 2022 at 9:12 pm

    5 stars
    Best cookie recipe! I’ve made this twice now and have to say it’s by far the easiest cookie recipe I’ve ever tried. They came out absolutely perfect. The only problem is how easy it is… I’ll be making them too often!

    Reply
  13. Chantel Cullen says

    August 12, 2022 at 8:47 am

    5 stars
    My 5 year old “helped” me bake these, though she just wanted to eat the choc pieces and leftover dough! They turned out so nice we handed them out to her neighbourhood friends.

    Reply
  14. Vikki says

    August 2, 2022 at 5:59 pm

    Made these and they were great! Question- what is the best way to defrost? Just leave them out? Reheat in oven from frozen? Thanks!

    Reply
  15. Amelia says

    July 5, 2022 at 9:09 am

    Nagi this recipe turned out so good! I topped them with M&Ms for colour and they came out excellent! Everyone was saying how they were like expensive cafe cookies. Thanks so much for your recipes, they are legit life changing!

    Reply
  16. Jenny says

    May 12, 2022 at 1:43 pm

    5 stars
    Your recipes never fail! Love all the extra tips and tricks. Made these cookies today, so yum and not too sweet. Thank you Nagi xx

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      May 12, 2022 at 1:56 pm

      They are super popular at RecipeTin Meals too! Enjoy!! N x

      Reply
  17. Kay says

    April 6, 2022 at 1:21 pm

    Hi Nagi – I’m excited to try this chocolate chip cookie recipe! My question is- Can this recipe be used as is for a cookie cake? (I think a cookie cake is more popular in the US then other places) Do you know if I put this enter batch into a 8 or 9 inch pan, can I make a cookie cake out of this? So I’d basically be making one extra large cookie instead of 13? Also – need to add some walnuts. Will that be okay? My husband has requested a cookie cake for this bday. Thank you so much!
    Kay
    p.s – my kids and I make and enjoy your moist vanilla cake recipe!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      April 6, 2022 at 4:37 pm

      Hi Kay – yes this should work as a cookie cake but I don’t know how long you will need to bake it as it will take longer than smaller cookies! N x

      Reply
  18. Maddy says

    March 13, 2022 at 2:46 pm

    5 stars
    Once again, another recipe that turned out fantastic!! I can always rely on your recipes Nagi! Thank you x

    Reply
  19. Nadia says

    February 26, 2022 at 4:13 pm

    5 stars
    Nagi, all your recipes are so reliable. I knew I wanted soft choc chip cookies and I’m so glad I checked to see if you had one.

    You go above and beyond to make sure your recipes are perfect, and they usually are!

    Reply
    • Nagi says

      February 27, 2022 at 2:02 pm

      Thanks Nadia – that means a lot. I work REALLY hard to be sure that all of my recipes work before I post them! N x

      Reply
  20. Aj says

    February 23, 2022 at 2:45 pm

    5 stars
    Hot damn these were delicious! Made these with my little man(3). Super easy, quick and kept his attention till the end.
    Agree, hardest thing was waiting for them to cool!

    Reply
Newer Comments
Older Comments

Primary Sidebar

Hi, I'm Nagi!

I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative! Read More

Free Recipe eBooks

Join my free email list to receive THREE free cookbooks!

Meet Dozer

Official taste tester of RecipeTin Eats! Meet Dozer
As Featured On

Never miss a recipe!

Subscribe to my newsletter and receive 3 FREE ebooks!

Subscribe
Recipes
  • All Recipes
  • By Category
  • Collections
About
  • About Nagi
  • About Dozer
  • RecipeTin Meals
Related
  • RecipeTin Japan
Help
  • Contact
  • Image Use Policy
© RecipeTin Eats 2025
  • Privacy Policy & Terms
Site Credits
Maintained by Human Made Designed by Melissa Rose Design Developed by Once Coupled
All Rights Reserved

Subscribe to my newsletter

Sign up and receive 3 FREE EBOOKS!