Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies
These easy chocolate chip cookies only require 6 ingredients: butter, flour, sugar, egg, salt, and chocolate chips!
Overview
- Skill Level: Beginner
- Techniques Used: The Creaming Method for Cookies
These are the easiest chocolate chip cookies and can be in the oven in less than 10 minutes with very few ingredients.
While I love a fancy and over-the-top cookie, like my favorite recipe for ultimate chocolate chip cookies, sometimes I just don’t have the energy and time. This is the recipe that will appease your cookie craving with the littlest effort!
NOTE: If you are wanting an easy vegan recipe, check out my post specifically for Easy Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Why We Love this Recipe
- Only six ingredients that you likely already have in your pantry!
- No baking soda or baking powder required! Perfect for when you run out of either!
- It creates very classic chocolate chip cookies with slightly crisp edges and a soft and chewy center.
- It’s all made in one bowl! No need to mix dry ingredients separately.
Ingredients and Substitutions
While you will find many recipes that include a lot more ingredients than this one. This simple chocolate chip cookie recipe only requires the basic ingredients that are necessary.
Fat (Butter)
Butter is the most traditional fat used in making chocolate chip cookies, however, some recipes will also call for shortening.
Butter adds to the richness, tenderness, and moistness of the cookie. Additionally, the water content in the butter will evaporate out in the oven helping to lift and leaven the cookie.
This recipe is created for the use of regular butter, salted or unsalted. You can substitute margarine, shortening, or vegan butter, but the texture and results will vary.
Note: It is traditional to use softened butter for cookies and to cream it together with the sugar. However, if you do not have a mixer you can use melted butter. Make sure the butter is not hot and stir it together with the brown sugar. This will result in thinner cookies but it will also make them a little chewier!
Sugar
Sugar obviously works to sweeten the cookie, but it also adds to the structure and texture. Brown sugar gives a cookie more chewiness due to its molasses content while white sugar will keep a cookie crisp.
This recipe calls for the use of only brown sugar. You can use light or dark brown sugar depending on what you have on hand or your preference for texture. Light brown sugar will produce a cookie that has slightly crispy edges while dark brown sugar will give you very soft cookies. Granulated sugar does not tend to work well in this specific recipe.
Egg
An egg works to help bind the ingredients together as well as add moisture and tenderness. Eggs also help to leaven (make things rise) which is why this recipe works without the help of baking soda or baking powder.
This recipe has been made successfully with vegan egg substitutions (such as Ener-G egg replacer, flax egg, or chia egg) however, results will vary. Baking is science! Check out my recipe for 6 ingredient vegan chocolate chip cookies if you are looking to veganize these!
Flour
Flour is the main structure of chocolate chip cookies. One of the best things about this recipe is that you can use all-purpose flour (plain flour), self-rising flour, or bread flour. All of them work!
All-purpose flour will give you a very classic chocolate chip cookie like you might associate with the Nestle Tollhouse recipe. Self-rising flour will give you a cakier cookie, while bread flour will give you a chewier cookie.
It is very important that you measure your flour correctly so that your cookies have the right texture. I recommend either measuring your flour by weight using a kitchen scale or measuring using the spoon and level method. To do this lightly spoon it into measuring cups (do not pack down!) and level the cup off with a knife. This will give you enough flour without getting too much!
Chocolate
You can’t make a chocolate chip cookie without chocolate! Of course, chips are the most classic choice, but chocolate chunks or chopped chocolate work as well! Chips will hold their shape more and don’t get quite as melty. I find that the best chocolate chip cookies use chopped chocolate or chunks which will create those chocolate puddles that are so decadent!
The type of chocolate used is where you can really customize the flavor here! Semisweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips are what kids tend to prefer more. But if you’re making these for adults go ahead and grab that bittersweet chocolate or dark chocolate! Hey, you could even use white chocolate chips! Whatever you decide don’t forget the glass of milk!
Salt
Salt is a necessity in any baked good as the flavor will be completely flat and taste overly sweet without it! If you used salted butter or self-rising flour, then the dough will already have salt in it. However, if you used unsalted butter and all-purpose flour or bread flour then you definitely need to add a bit of salt.
You can use fine sea salt, kosher salt, or table salt in these cookies. I prefer to use non-iodized salt in all of my baking, but use what you have on hand. I also love to sprinkle a bit of course salt over the top before they are baked to really give a kick of that salty
Note: If you do need to bake without salt due to health reasons, the cookies will bake up absolutely fine without it!
Optional Ingredients
Vanilla extract is very common in chocolate chip cookies and can absolutely be added if you have it on hand and want the flavor. I call it an optional ingredient because it is not needed for the structure of the cookies and the flavor is still great without it!
You can also always add nuts like pecans or walnuts if you like! I like to toast them on the stove for a few minutes in a dry pan over medium heat before adding them to my dough as it really improves the flavor of the nuts.
Tips and Tricks for Perfect Cookies
- Scoop your dough with a cookie scoop to get cookies that are all the same size and perfectly round!
- Pull your cookies out of the oven when you see golden brown edges but the center still looks slightly underbaked.
- Let your cookies cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes to solidify before moving them to a wire rack. They will continue cooking slightly.
- For the perfect chocolate chip cookie look, add a few chips or chunks on top of the balls of dough before baking.
Troubleshooting
Here are some common issues people tend to encounter when making chocolate chip cookies and how you can remedy them!
Why are my cookies spreading too much?
Cookies spreading too much is typically a result of your oven not being hot enough or the pan being overcrowded. It can also happen if there is too much butter in the dough, but that is not as common of a problem.
If you end up with flat cookies, make sure your oven is really up to temperature by using an oven thermometer. Also, make sure you keep the oven door shut until right towards the end of the baking process and only put about 9 cookies per cookie sheet.
Why aren’t my cookies spreading out enough?
If your cookies are staying in mounds and not spreading out during the baking process this can be an issue with your oven temperature being too hot or too much flour in your dough. Make sure you measure your flour either by weight or use the spoon and level method, making sure you do not pack it down into your measuring cup. You can also turn down the heat in your oven slightly to help them spread more.
How do I keep my cookies soft after baking?
To keep your cookies soft and moist after baking make sure you do not overbake them. You should remove them from the oven when the edges are set and the middle still looks slightly underbaked. I also find that storing them in an airtight container will help soften them more.
Some recipes will call for an extra egg yolk to help keep cookies soft, but I find this typically isn’t necessary. Proper storage is really the biggest contributing factor to keeping cookies soft.
Other Easy Recipes
If you like this easy chocolate chip cookie recipe, you might like these other easy recipes!
Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies
These easy chocolate chip cookies only require 6 ingredients! With only butter, flour, sugar, egg, salt, and chocolate chips you can make great chocolate chip cookies!
Ingredients
- 113 grams (½ cup, 1 stick) softened butter, salted or unsalted (room temperature)
- 150 grams (¾ cup) light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 150 grams (1 ¼ cup) all-purpose flour
- 150 grams (1 cup) chocolate chips or chunks, any kind your prefer or have on hand
Instructions
Prep:
- Measure out all of your ingredients.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF/175ºC.
- Prepare a sheet pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
To Make the Cookies
- In a medium bowl with a hand mixer, or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream together the butter (113 grams/ ½ cup) and brown sugar (150 grams, ¾ cup) until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Alternatively: if you do not have a mixer you can melt your butter until it is liquid but not hot and mix it together with the sugar. This will give you a thinner and chewier cookie.
- Add the egg (1 large) and vanilla (1 teaspoon), if using, to the butter mixture and mix until incorporated.
- Stir in the flour (150 grams, 1 ¼ cup), salt (¼ teaspoon), and the chocolate chips or chunks (150 grams, 1 cup) just until combined. Do not mix for a long time after adding the flour, it will create cookies that are too tough or cakey.
- Scoop the dough into mounds about 2 tablespoons each onto the prepared cookie sheet. Do not put more than 9 cookies per sheet.
- Bake one sheet at a time at 350ºF/175ºC until set on the edges and the middle still looks a little bit undercooked. About 8-12 minutes. (these cookies do not brown as much as other cookies because of the lack of baking soda or baking powder.)
- Allow to cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack. Cookies will continue to cook on the sheets for a few minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool completely before storing in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Make-Ahead Dough:
- This dough works very well to make ahead and keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container to bake off when you would like fresh cookies. I like to pre-portion it into balls of dough and then bake straight from the refrigerator adding 1 more minute to the bake time.
- You can also portion out the dough and put the dough balls store in the freezer in a ziplock bag for up to 3 months. To bake from frozen, reduce the baking temperature to 325ºF/160ºC and increase the baking time to 15-18 minutes.
Notes
- Flour: If you do not have all-purpose flour on hand you can substitute in self-rising flour or bread flour. If you use self-rising flour leave out the salt.
- Butter: You can use melted butter if you prefer a chewier cookie and do not have a mixer. Make sure it is not hot before stirring together with the brown sugar.
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Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0
355 Comments on “Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies”
Made these. Just came out of the oven, I have a picture but nowhere to post. They look good. I ended up baking mine for 15/18 minutes. I also added a cinnamon sugar mix to mine. I would have followed the 2tbs mounds but I wanted a nice amount of cookies. So I used a little less than 1 tbs and it still only gave me a dozen.
Not very sweet by any means. Very moist, dense, like airy. I think that’s the proper term. All in all I would say not too bad for a quick recipe. Just wish the dough was sweeter and more.
I found that this recipe was not very sweet. Although they tasted okay, it was lacking the overall cookie taste to me. I also added half a teaspoon of baking soda and powder and they came out very fluffy which I preferred.
Hi Kara! These are meant to be “in a pinch” cookies for people with few ingredients on hand and needing cookies quickly. If you want cookies with more flavor I would suggest trying out my best chocolate chip cookie recipe or my soft and chewy cookie recipe!
Very simple to make and so good. We didn’t have any left.
So glad to hear you enjoyed them Georgia!
DELICIOUS!!! I babysit three toddlers and they get fussy quick. One day, the oldest (5) asked for cookies so, to keep down the fussing, I searched for an easy recipe and this one was perfect. I recommend it for any quick cookie crisis.
Thanks so much, Dee Dee! Glad you enjoyed it!
Perfect for what it is. I used butter with canola oil added because that’s all I had on hand. This is possibly my first time ever making cookies from scratch, and my husband and I both think they turned out good.
We’ve been making these cookies for awhile, in fact it’s my go to recipe now. We absolutely love them for their taste and their simplicity! I always double the recipe and they never last long. Marvelous cookies, baker & recipe. Thank you for these 🙂
That is so great to hear Misty! Thank you for sharing! <3
My new go to cookie recipe! I used self- rising flour instead of all-purpose flour and omitted the salt. Super moist cookies!!
So glad you enjoyed them Connie! <3
Can I use oil or mix salted butter with unsalted cuz I have less unsalted butter
Hi Sofia! Oil is not a good substitute for solid fat in baking. The recipe states you can use salted or unsalted butter for this recipe. So if you all you have is salted you can use that and you do not need to add the pinch of salt into the recipe.
Why dough came out sticky i added more flour didn’t work now its sitting in the fridge
I made the easy chocolate chip cookies my family loved them I liked all the cooking tips that you gave also. I look forward to try and more of your recipes they all look delicious. Thank you
So glad you enjoyed them!
Just wanted you to know – I’ve had this recipe saved for about four years – and I STILL use it time and time again! Such a great recipe!!!
That’s so great to hear Samantha! Makes my heart happy! <3
These were great!! This recipe shows up for a google keyword “self-rising flour cookies”, so I made them with self-rising flour without thinking. They came out wonderfully – nice consistency, fluffy, with really good flavor. Thank you!!
That’s so great to hear Mia! So glad you enjoyed them!
I think I did something wrong.
Oh dear, John! It looks like there was not enough flour in your dough. Was the dough very wet? Also possible that your oven was not cooking hot enough so all the butter melted before the cookies could set. Do you by chance have an oven thermometer in your oven?
These were amazing and simple to make, I used a mix of chocolate chips and chunks and it worked out perfectly, though I did add a few extra tablespoons of flour in to get the batter to thicken up, the outcome was amazing! Definitely making these for Christmas.<3
That makes me so happy Ashley! Thanks for sharing your picture! The look great!
Very yummy but only made 10 cookies. If I’m putting in effort to bake it’s nice to have a bit more of a result.
Hi Rosie! Make sure you are creaming your butter and sugar together well until light and fluffy. This actually increases the volume of the dough. This recipe is also easy to double if you want more cookies. Glad you enjoyed them!
I am looking for eggless gluten free cookies which I made by incorporating coconut flour , sorghum flour and corn flour and I also used honey instead of sugar so can you tell me the correct ratio of flours. Does using honey instead of sugar taste good??
Hi there! I’m sorry but this style of baking isn’t really my expertise. I really focus more on traditional baking so I’m not really sure what ratios you should use. You can use honey instead of sugar if you like in baking, but it definitely changes the texture!
I made these yesterday they were easy and delish.
Hi Mia! I’m so glad you enjoyed them and I love your picture! <3
Great recipe. I love how simple it is
I’m so glad you enjoy it Jennifer! <3
im gonna make it again cause it was good
I’m so glad you enjoyed them Mia! <3
These are our new favorite cookie. They are so quick and easy with minimal ingredients that it is not a huge ordeal to make .
Love them- thank you for sharing.
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoy these cookies Olivia!
I have been making these for several years. They used to be 5 ingredient ones :). They taste great and I havent seen the need for a more complicated recipe.
The prep and cook time is however not correct. Overall, 30-35 min at least. Probably abit more till you can eat them.
Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Glad you enjoy them!
So surprised this recipe didn’t have any soda in it.First time baking this and they’re better not too sweet opposed to,too sweet!
So glad you enjoyed them Viola!
I love these cookies I’m not much of a baker but these cookies could make anyone enjoy baking thank you for sharing this great story about how you came up with the idea but the only bad thing about this is it takes allot of butter and there’s too much but overall if it were up to me I would put this recipe in a cookbook
I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed these cookies Aaron!
These came out great! I didn’t have any vanilla or chocolate chips so I improvised with 1tsp bourbon and chopped up leftover Halloween candy (Hershey’s chocolate and Reece’s pieces) . Definitely a good cookie to make with minimal ingredients.
Glad you enjoyed them Nicole!
These are my favorite chocolate chip cookies to make! Do they freeze well?
they came out pretty good, although i think they could use more flavor. it could be because i used milk chocolate chips. also wondering if i could add Hershey chocolate baking powder to up the chocolate flavor. if so, how much? i topped mine with a simple chocolate frosting (powdered sugar, butter, milk, vanilla, Hershey powder) which brought them over the top.
WHAT ABOUT ADDING HERSHEY POWDER TO INCREASE THE CHOCOLATE FLAVOR? IF SO, HOW MUCH? I MADE A SIMPLE CHOCOLATE FROSTING(MILK,HERSHEY POWDER, BUTTER, VANILLA, POWDERED SUGAR)
Thanks for this! Loved the recipe. My 6 year old baked the cookies with some guidance yesterday. They came out really well . Thank you.
Quick question: My cookies were a little thin and not fluffy. They tasted great though and I kinda prefer the thinner version. Should I add baking powder next term if I want a more fluffier version, or any other ingredient?
That’s so great to hear! If you want them to be fluffier, then adding the baking powder will definitely help that! That is what I would suggest. I would use 1/2 tsp for this amount of dough.
They were terrible! Taste more like flour then anything else. Very disappointing!!
Hi Mel! So sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy these cookies. Since this is a tested recipe made many times with success, I would love to help you troubleshoot! The way you describe the cookies makes me believe that you may have ended up with too much flour in your dough. Make sure that when you measure your flour you fluff it up with your spoon, lightly spoon it into the measuring cups without packing it down at all, and then level it off.
I cannot cook to save my life – but these turned out oh so perfectly!
I didn’t have any chocolate chips – so I used cacao powder and maple syrup. Sprinkled with sea salt before I popped them in the oven. They turned out delicious! Very addictive. Beautiful!
I’m not much of a baker but I made these with my 7 year old daughter, she thought they were so good she has been raving about them to everyone and now wants us to open a cookie store.
That’s so great to hear Megan!
Can this dough be either frozen or kept for sometime in the fridge?
I’d love to have a batch on hand at most times.
Hi Ann, yes you can do that. I would suggest that you go ahead and scoop them into cookie dough balls and store that in the fridge or freezer. You can store the raw dough in the fridge for up to 3 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months. Increase the baking time, just keep an eye on them.
Can you use gluten free flour with this recipe?
I would recommend substituting a gluten free blend like Bob’s Red Mill’s gluten free baking flour or cup4cup flour.
Super easy, super good! My 3 year old grandson and I made these today. I added 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of caramel chips. We will make these again and again!
I’m so glad to hear that you and your grandson enjoyed them! I love the idea of using caramel chips! Sounds delicious!
My sister keep on taking the cookies from me even when it just cook.. and the sad things is that she didn’t leave me abit
Oh no! I guess you’ll have to make them again for yourself! 🙂
I love this recipe, I think I’ve made about 4 batches in the past few weeks haha. I use cut up milk and white chocolate instead of chocolate chips. I also use granulated sugar and it turns out fine (I’m living in Switzerland and brown sugar is really hard to find)
These turned out great! I doubled the recipe, and because it was doubled I relied on the fact that it was a “use what you have” methodology —only had the equivalent of one cup of brown sugar so added the extra half cup in white. I also used the self rising flour, tossed in about a half teaspoon of cinnamon and toasted pecans. I made larger cookies using an ice cream scoop and they baked about fifteen minutes. I wish you could see how beautiful they look… like bakery cookies with the crinkled surface. I will definitely keep this recipe on hand!
That is so great to hear Wendy! Your rendition sounds amazing!
Just made these tonight. Very quick and easy. They taste good although they have a very fluffy airy texture to them..very different from your classic cookie. A little odd for me but my boyfriend loved them.
So glad to hear that your boyfriend loved them!
They taste like they have a little bit of peanut butter in them. Really good flavor and simple to whip up in a pinch. Even better when there’s too much month at the end of the money and you want to give the kiddos a little treat and there ain’t a lot in the cupboard.
Sweetness is just right.
Thank you for sharing.
Can I make these WITHOUT Chocolate?
Yes, you can leave out the chocolate chips if you like or replace them with something else. Nuts, or dried fruit.
Haven’t used this recipe for awhile. It’s is fabulous and the cookies don’t last an hour in our house. Simply the best.
Hi, I just backed some cookies but somehow the texture inside is a bit funny. The inside is quite dry and crumbly..
Baked
Hello! I’m interesting in trying these as all of the comments seem to love them and the instructions are so perfectly simple but I’d like to know, will plain flour work instead of all-purpose-flour?
Hi I’m interested in making these because of how many people are happy with the results but I don’t have all-purpose flour, only plain. Will the recipe still work?
I made these and got 12 large cookies out of one batch.
The family loved it. Will be making more today.
So glad to hear they were enjoyed by your family!
I found that 1 cup of chocolate chips is too sweet for me! However, it tasted good and easy to make. I will make it 1/2 cup next time.
I made mini cookies and baked it in my oven toaster for like 5-6 minutes and it turned out great.
Tastes like pure flour
Hi Arya,
It sounds like you likely put a little too much flour into your cookies if they taste like that. It is very easy to do when measuring by volume instead of weight. Highly recommend getting a kitchen scale and measuring by weight instead! If you do want to use a measuring cup, make sure you lightly spoon it into the cup without packing it into the cup at all, then level it off. They shouldn’t taste like flour!
i like cheese and internet memes. iwant to be a turtle for christmas. I want to eat ur child.
these were soooooo good! instead of adding melted butter then cooling the dough I added melted butter and 1/4 cup more flour and more sugar. 10/10
I really appreciate that you post easy versions of your recipes. It can be tough to find kid friendly recipes that don’t disappoint on flavor and texture. I made these with my two year old twins today and last weekend we made your easy oatmeal raisin cookie recipe. Both turned out great! Thanks!
Followed recipe to the exact word and they came out more like scones than cookies. I think it’s too much flour in the recipe.
Hi Mack, I’m sorry you didn’t like them! Were you able to weigh out your flour using a scale?