The Easiest No Chill Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

I have made chocolate chip cookies using this recipe for over 10 years. It’s one that originally started its life in an old cookbook – I’ll check when I’m next back home to see which one exactly – and over those 10 plus years I have tweaked and adapted it to make it more suitable for my taste buds.

The reason I say this is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe is down to its simplicity. I can get up on a Sunday morning at 9am and have fresh coffee and cookies to nibble in bed half an hour later. I’ll take that win!

Some folks will fret that the timing isn’t exact. My response to you is that you’re going to be stood near your oven making the hot drinks, so the moment you smell the cookies, you know they’re about done. Fret not my friends!

Kitchen Bits You’ll Need

Gather a few basic items to help you prepare your delightful chocolate chip cookie dough:

• Kitchen scales
• Bowl
• Measuring cups & spoons
• Microwaveable bowl (to use if your butter needs softening)
• Wooden spoon
• Sieve (or flour squishing thingy in my photo below!)
• Baking sheet
• Baking paper

Ingredients You’ll Need

Let’s look at the ingredients you will need to make this super simple chocolate chip cookie recipe!

Butter

Yep, while this is the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipes, they are not vegan friendly I’m afraid. You could substitute a non-animal-based butter, but we’re going to be using an egg as well… 

Sugar

We want the dark brown sugar for these cookies. It’s soft and delicious and why use anything else? I mean, you could. Substitute it for white sugar if that is all you have, but I find the dark brown type makes the cookies less sweet. Which is what I’m all about.

Egg

One egg is what you’ll need, and I use mine right from the fridge.

Vanilla Extract

I don’t always add this, as I’ve often run out, but when it is in the cupboard a dash of vanilla adds some yumminess to this cookie dough.

Chocolate

I do not use chocolate chips. They’re mass manufactured and full of sugar which will spoil the cookies. Instead, I use a bar of dark chocolate. I aim for the 70% dark organic one from the local shop, but you can use any chocolate you have in the cupboard.

At the end of the day, the end justifies the means, and if the aim is homemade chocolate chip cookies in bed on a Sunday morning, go all in with whatever you have!

Flour

Plain is the name of this game. You can probably use self-raising, but I am so conditioned to use plain + baking powder that it’s my go to now.

Baking Powder

The stuff that makes the cookies somewhat poufy. I use this one imported from the UK (because the only type I can find here is in tiny sachets and not very cost effective).

Salt

We don’t need much but we do want the salt in this recipe to be fine rather than coarse.

Specific Ingredient Amounts

• ½ cup / 120g butter (slightly softened)
• ⅔ cup / 120g sugar (the soft dark brown type)
• 1 egg, beaten
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3.5oz / 100g bar of dark chocolate, roughly chopped
• 1 ¾ cups / 200g flour (all-purpose / plain)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Substitutions To Consider

Non-dairy butter: You can substitute the butter for a plant-based alternative.

Sugar: If you prefer a sweeter taste, opt for white sugar. This also gives the cookies a little more crisp when I’ve made this switch.

Chocolate: If you’re not a fan of the bitterness that can come from dark chocolate, substitute it for a milk chocolate option instead. You may want to cut back a little on the sugar though.

Making The Easy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

Alrighty, we can now crack on with getting this chocolate chip cookie dough ready! Start by pre-heating your oven to 325ºF / 170ºC / gas mark 3 and line a baking tray with paper.

Step 1: Take the softened butter, dump it in a bowl with the sugar and cream them together. You can use a power mixer thing if you have one. I don’t because I enjoy using an old wooden spoon.

Step 2: Next, mix in the egg and vanilla.

Step 3: Add the chopped chocolate. I like to add at this stage while it’s still wet, as it makes it easier to evenly distribute the chocolate throughout.

Step 4: Sift in the flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl, and stir to combine. You may need to get your hands involved to really combine all the ingredients.

Step 5: I like to roll the cookie dough on a flat surface to make a log shape, which I can then cut slices from. This makes it easier to store in the fridge and bake a couple cookies fresh each morning.

You can also scoop a spoon of dough instead. Whichever you go with, pop the cookies onto a lined baking sheet. Allow space between them for the cookies to spread!

Step 6: Baking the cookies is simple, and you don’t need a degree to get them right. When I bake them immediately from room temperature they need less baking time. When they’re baked as slices cut from dough straight from the fridge, they need longer. I bake them for 13 minutes at gas mark 3.

However, this all depends on the thickness of your cookies. The thinner they are, the quicker they’ll cook. The thicker they are, the longer they’ll need – and at a lower temperature or a lower position in the oven!

A base guide is to bake the cookies in the preheated oven as follows:

• From room temperature: approximate 8 minutes
• From the refrigerator: between 11 and 13 minutes

The chocolate chip cookies are ready when they have poured up and are slightly golden on the edges. Once ready, slide them off the hot tray and onto a cooling rack or small plate to cool before scoffing.

Serve Them With

I like to eat them warm from the oven, with a hot coffee. My fiancé prefers a hot cup of tea. Whichever your choice, enjoy them warm with the chocolate still melty, and you’ll be convinced that these are the best chocolate chip cookies you’ve ever made. Nom.