Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies (Soft, Chewy, No Chilling)

These easy chocolate chip cookies are soft in the middle, chewy all the way through and lightly golden at the edges, and they need no mixer and no chilling. The method uses melted butter, more brown sugar than white, an extra egg yolk and a spoonful of cornstarch — four small choices that add up to a thick, bakery-style cookie. From bowl to cooling rack takes about 25 minutes. If you are craving chocolate in a hurry, our 3-ingredient Nutella cookies are even quicker.

Why you'll love this

• No mixer, no chilling. Melted butter means you can mix by hand and bake right away.
• Soft, chewy centres. Brown sugar, an extra yolk and cornstarch keep them tender.
• Golden edges. The classic contrast of crisp edge and soft middle.
• Ready in 25 minutes. Perfect for last-minute baking.
• Freezer-friendly dough. Bake a few at a time whenever you want warm cookies.
• Endlessly adaptable. Swap in chunks, nuts or other chips.

Key ingredients & how to use them

• All-purpose flour — 280 g, spooned into the cup and levelled. Packing flour into the cup makes dry, cakey cookies.
• Cornstarch — one and a half teaspoons. It softens the flour’s gluten and gives a thick, tender centre.
• Baking soda — one teaspoon for spread and golden colour.
• Melted butter — 170 g, cooled for 5 minutes. Melted butter gives a chewier cookie than creamed butter.
• Brown and granulated sugar — more brown sugar (150 g) than white (100 g). Brown sugar adds moisture and a caramel flavour; white sugar helps the edges crisp.
• One egg plus one yolk — at room temperature. The extra yolk adds fat and chew.
• Vanilla — two teaspoons of pure vanilla extract.
• Chocolate chips or chunks — 225 g of semi-sweet. Chunks give bigger pools of melted chocolate.

How to make it (step by step)

1. 1

   Heat the oven and line a tray

   Heat the oven to 175°C (350°F) and line one or two baking trays with parchment.

2. 2

   Whisk the dry ingredients

   In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt. The cornstarch is the secret to a soft, thick centre.

3. 3

   Mix the butter and sugars

   In a large bowl, whisk the melted, slightly cooled butter with the brown and granulated sugars until smooth and glossy. Butter that is still hot will make the dough greasy and the cookies spread, so give it 5 minutes after melting.

4. 4

   Add the egg, yolk and vanilla

   Whisk in the egg, the extra yolk and the vanilla until the mixture is creamy and lighter in colour. The extra yolk adds richness and chewiness.

5. 5

   Combine wet and dry

   Add the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula just until no flour streaks remain. The dough will be soft and thick. Overmixing develops gluten and makes the cookies tough.

6. 6

   Fold in the chocolate

   Fold in the chocolate chips or chunks, saving a handful to press on top of the dough balls for a bakery look.

7. 7

   Scoop and bake

   Scoop rounded balls of about 3 tablespoons onto the trays, 2 to 3 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden and the centres look slightly underdone — they set as they cool.

8. 8

   Cool

   Leave the cookies on the tray for 5 minutes to firm up, then move them to a rack. Eat warm, or cool completely before storing.

Troubleshooting

• The cookies spread too much. The butter was too hot or the flour was under-measured. Cool the butter and spoon and level the flour.
• They are cakey. Too much flour or overmixing. Measure carefully and stop mixing as soon as the flour disappears.
• They are hard. They were overbaked. Take them out while the centres still look a little soft.
• Flat and greasy. The dough was too warm. If your kitchen is hot, chill the scooped dough for 15 minutes.
• Pale cookies. Bake a minute or two longer, or use more brown sugar.
• Uneven baking. Bake one tray at a time on the middle rack.

Why these cookies stay soft

Texture in a chocolate chip cookie comes down to moisture, fat and gluten. Melted butter coats the flour more thoroughly than creamed butter, which limits gluten and gives a dense, chewy bite rather than a cakey one. Brown sugar is slightly acidic and holds onto moisture, so the cookies stay soft for days. The extra egg yolk adds fat and emulsifiers for a fudgy centre, and the cornstarch interrupts gluten even further, keeping the middle thick and tender.

Finally, pulling the cookies out when the centres still look a little underbaked lets carryover heat finish them on the tray. Bake them until they look completely done and they will be crisp and hard once cool.

Serving ideas

Serve the cookies warm with a glass of cold milk, or sandwich a scoop of vanilla ice cream between two for an ice cream sandwich. For a bake sale, pair them with our fudgy brownies.