No Chill Chocolate Chip Cookies (Quick Recipe) - Fifteen Spatulas (2024)

This is my go-to Chocolate Chip Cookie, with a soft and gooey middle, crisp edges, and a generous helping of chocolate chips. No chilling or wait time required.

No Chill Chocolate Chip Cookies (Quick Recipe) - Fifteen Spatulas (1)

Having tried a zillion chocolate chip cookie recipes over the past 10 years, this one has solidified its place as the most satisfying for what I want in a cookie.

I know this is quite subjective.

Frankly, there are many different styles, sizes, and textures for chocolate chip cookies and I enjoy many of them.

But there are a few qualities that are most important to me, which I’ll share below.

For me, these conveniently fast no chill chocolate chip cookies also happen to be the very best chocolate chip cookies!

Demand #1: I don’t want to wait for chilled dough – I want cookies NOW

I’ve played around with “aging” chocolate chip cookie dough after reading articles about how much better it makes the cookies.

Is it better?

Maybe a little, but truthfully, I care most about how fast a recipe is. I hate waiting for doughs to chill. I am impatient. Me want cookie NOW.

So this recipe is quick. There’s zero chill time whatsoever, and you don’t even have to set out butter ahead of time to soften, as this recipe uses melted butter.

And the flavor is still plenty delicious without “aging.”

No Chill Chocolate Chip Cookies (Quick Recipe) - Fifteen Spatulas (2)

Demand #2: I want multiple textures in one cookie, not just soft, or just crispy

Sure, every once in a while I’ll crave those crispy Tate’s-style cookies that are completely crunchy the whole way through, but my ideal cookie has crispness, softness, and gooeyness.

I want it all.

These cookies have a crunchy edge, with a soft, melty, gooey interior.

You can also bake a little less or a little more to get it even closer to your preference, if you like it one way over the other.

Demand #3. No weird ingredients or equipment, please

I’ve seen various “secret ingredients” and little tricks claiming to make chocolate chip cookies different, but none that I’ve tried have proved to be worthwhile.

This cookie has only the classic ingredients: unsalted butter, sugar, all purpose flour, egg, vanilla extract, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips.

No cornstarch, no cream cheese, no boiling water, no cinnamon (?!), no cream of tartar, no lemon (why?!?!), and so on.

For equipment, you really just need the simple things, like bowls, a whisk, and a spatula.

I whip the cookies up with a hand mixer, but you can totally do this by hand too. No stand mixer required. although if you want to use one, use the paddle attachment for mixing.

No Chill Chocolate Chip Cookies (Quick Recipe) - Fifteen Spatulas (3)

This is a recipe I’ve been playing with since 2010, and it has been tweaked bit by bit from where it started, which was probably something close to the 1930s Tollhouse recipe. Here are the noteworthy features:

  • Melted butter instead of softened makes these slightly chewy chocolate chip cookies, with crisp edges. It’s my favorite texture.
  • A 2:1 ratio of brown sugar to granulated sugar also gives it a chewier, softer texture. Don’t worry, these aren’t crazy chewy likeMolasses Cookies, it’s subtle. Feel free to use either light brown sugar or dark brown sugar.
  • Scooped mounds of cookie dough gives the cookies ridges, an awesome texture, and somehow, a more even bake. Don’t roll the cookies.
  • After testing these cookies on multiple cooking surfaces, I find that they brown best and spread the least on a Silpat. You may use parchment paper or bake directly on the pan though, if you’d like, but there will be slight variations with each surface.

Step by Step Overview:

Combine melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated white sugar in a large bowl:

No Chill Chocolate Chip Cookies (Quick Recipe) - Fifteen Spatulas (4)

Mix that together just enough so that the three ingredients are smooth and combined, then add a room temperature egg and vanilla extract:

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I quickly warm the egg by putting it in warm water for a few minutes. Otherwise, a cold egg straight from the fridge will solidify the melted butter and make it uneven.

Mix together until smooth, then add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt):

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When the flour mixture has *almost* disappeared into the dough, add some semisweet chocolate chips:

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Mix a little more, until the streaks of flour have been absorbed:

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And that’s it for the dough! Required chilling time is…zero minutes. Let’s scoop!

Use a medium cookie scoop (#40/1.5 tbsp) (affiliate) to scoop mounds of cookie dough onto a Silpat lined baking sheet:

No Chill Chocolate Chip Cookies (Quick Recipe) - Fifteen Spatulas (9)

Don’t have a silicone mat?

You can use parchment paper instead for your prepared baking sheet.

If you don’t have that either, you can put the dough directly on the baking sheet, but your baked cookies may be a lot more brown on the bottom. Start checking for doneness a few minutes early.

By the way, I tested rolling the scoops into smooth cookie dough balls in the palms of my hands, and it is MUCH better scooped.

The little ridges and unevenness here somehow gives it a more even, desirable bake in the oven.

Finally, this is optional, but for best results, I prefer to sprinkle the top of each cookie with fleur de sel.

No Chill Chocolate Chip Cookies (Quick Recipe) - Fifteen Spatulas (10)

This gives you really stellar cookies. The salt is so lovely as a contrast to the sweetness.

Bake the cookies for about 11-12 minutes at an oven temperature of 350 degrees F.

You can see that the edges are golden brown, but they look pretty colorless on top:

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Even though it may look too soon to pull from the oven, that is the perfect time to pull them.

The cookies will cook a little bit more outside the oven, and after a few minutes of resting on the cookie sheet, the domed shape will fall a little bit (no need to move the cookies to a cooling rack).

You can see here, if you look closely and compare it to the photo above, that they’ve flattened a little bit:

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I think they are best when enjoyed warm, so dig in!

Note: I have also tested these as larger cookies, scooped using a large #60 3T scoop(affiliate).They need a few more minutes of bake time, but they are also delicious (but I like the #40 size better). The large cookie scoop cookies tend to brown more on the edges, if that’s your thing:

No Chill Chocolate Chip Cookies (Quick Recipe) - Fifteen Spatulas (13)

Peanut Butter Cookies, Monster Cookies, andSnickerdoodlesare some of my other favorite cookies to bake, fresh out of the oven. Enjoy!

Tips and FAQ

How do you store homemade chocolate chip cookies?

You can keep these at room temperature, in an airtight container, for several days, and they’ll still be soft and delicious. They are best fresh out of the oven, but leftovers are easily devoured too.

Can you freeze the cookie dough?

Like other chocolate chip cookie recipes, dough scoops can be frozen and baked later, with a few more minutes of bake time added at the end. I find that they don’t spread as evenly as freshly baked though.

My cookies were overbaked. What happened?

If you don’t have an oven thermometer, please get one. I’ve used a lot of different ovens over the years, and it’s incredible how inaccurate they can be. Often times overbaked cookies are just the result of an oven that is too hot. Also, do not add convection, which changes baking time pretty dramatically.

Did you enjoy the recipe? Please leave a 5-star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. Or, follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest!

No Chill Chocolate Chip Cookies (Quick Recipe) - Fifteen Spatulas (14)

No Chill Chocolate Chip Cookies

Servings: 18

Prep Time: 10 minutes mins

Cook Time: 11 minutes mins

Total Time: 21 minutes mins

These Chocolate Chip Cookies are soft and gooey in the middle, crisp on the edges, and loaded with chocolate chips.

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Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark)
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg at room temperature*
  • 7.5 ounces all purpose flour, by weight (1.5 cups, if measuring)
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • fleur de sel for sprinkling on top, optional

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat.**

  • In a large heatproof bowl, melt the butter in the microwave until it’s just barely melted, watching closely that it doesn’t come to a boil or get too hot. If the butter becomes overheated, make sure you let it cool down before proceeding.

  • Add the brown sugar and granulated sugar to the bowl, and mix to combine, either with a hand mixer or by hand with a whisk. Only mix it just enough so that it’s relatively smooth.

  • Add the vanilla extract and egg, and mix again until just combined.

  • In a separate bowl, whisk to combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, then add this to the wet ingredients. Stir until the flour has almost disappeared, then add the chocolate chips, and continue stirring until the dry ingredients have been absorbed.

  • Use a medium scoop (#40/1.5T) to portion the cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. You should get around 18 cookies, so you can either bake two batches one after another (my preference) or add another baking tray.

  • Sprinkle the tops of the cookies with fleur de sel, if using, then bake for 11-12 minutes, until the cookies look slightly golden on the edges, and soft in the middle, but with no visible glistening rawness in the center.

  • Remove the cookies from the oven, and allow them to cool for a few minutes, during which time they’ll flatten a bit and cook a little more. Then enjoy while warm!

Notes

*No need to remember to pull the egg out in advance. Just put the egg in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes, and it’s ready to go. The reason we warm the egg slightly is because otherwise a cold egg from the fridge will re-solidify some of the melted butter, and we want to keep everything smooth.

**I have tested this recipe on several baking surfaces, and I find that the cookies brown the best on the bottom and spread the least when baked on a silicone mat, like a Silpat. Parchment paper is the second best option, followed by directly baking on the sheet pan. The cookies will turn out fine on any baking surface, just know there will be slight variations.

Nutrition

Calories: 185kcal, Carbohydrates: 23g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 25mg, Sodium: 107mg, Potassium: 81mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 12g, Vitamin A: 180IU, Calcium: 16mg, Iron: 1.3mg

Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Author: Fifteen Spatulas

Post updated in March 2019. Originally published December 2010.

No Chill Chocolate Chip Cookies (Quick Recipe) - Fifteen Spatulas (2024)

FAQs

What happens if I don't chill cookie dough? ›

Popping your dough in the fridge allows the fats to cool. As a result, the cookies will expand more slowly, holding onto their texture. If you skip the chilling step, you're more likely to wind up with flat, sad disks instead of lovely, chewy cookies. Cookies made from chilled dough are also much more flavorful.

Can you mix cookie dough with a spatula? ›

Whisk flour, baking soda, and sea salt together in a separate bowl. Add flour to wet ingredients, half at a time, mixing with a rubber spatula until just combined. Using a 1.5 TBS cookie scoop, scoop dough onto lined baking sheets. Bake for 9-10 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.

What's the secret to baking cookies? ›

The key is to always use top-quality ingredients as they'll result in a better cookie; it really is that simple.
  1. Always use butter.
  2. Choose the right sugar.
  3. Choose the right flour.
  4. Check your flour is in date.
  5. Choose the right kind of chocolate.
  6. Cream the butter and sugar.
  7. Beat in the eggs.
  8. Fold in the flour.

What can I use if I don't have time to chill cookie dough? ›

That's right, you can freeze it for a bit to shave quite a bit of time off the chilling suggestion in the recipe. Here's what our Test Kitchen recommends when quickly chilling cookie dough in the freezer: Place the cookie dough in the freezer for one-quarter of the recommended refrigerator time.

Can you put cookie dough in the freezer to chill it faster? ›

As you can imagine, utilizing the freezer is an alternative way to chill your cookie dough if you are in a hurry. As a rule of thumb, aim to chill the dough in the freezer for about a quarter of the time you would typically refrigerate it. So, if you can't do an hour in the refrigerator, do 15 minutes in the freezer.

What kind of spatula for cookies? ›

A cookie spatula is a very thin, flexible, metal spatula that slips easily underneath cookies. There are many spatulas labeled as "cookie spatulas," but if they're coated in silicone, made from plastic, or the blade is very stiff, steer clear.

What does overmixed cookie dough look like? ›

You may notice visible pockets of flour, streaks of butter, or uneven coloration. When overmixed, though, cookie dough will feel dense, greasy, heavy, and warm. It may be tough to roll out or work with, just like overmixed pie dough.

Why is spatula important in baking? ›

Spread cake batter evenly: Before a cake can be frosted, it must be baked, and an offset spatula is the best tool for spreading batter into a pan. With its bend, my offset spatula can spread and smooth batter all the way to the corners of a cake pan with a uniform depth so that my cake bakes flat and even.

Can I chill cookie dough for 15 minutes? ›

The #1 Shortcut to Chill Cookie Dough Quicker

That means that if a recipe calls for refrigerating the dough for 1 hour, pop it in the freezer for just 15 minutes.”

Do you need to chill chocolate chip cookie dough? ›

The cookie baked from room temperature, being thinner, has a more uniform texture, while the one baked straight from the fridge. is thick enough to accommodate a softer interior. and crispier exterior. No contest. Generally speaking, you should chill your cookie dough before baking it.

How long should chocolate chip cookie dough chill? ›

As a general rule of thumb, you should refrigerate cookie dough for at least 30 minutes and up to 24 hours. More than that, and you won't see a noticeable difference in the final product. Once the dough has chilled, let it warm up at room temperature until it's just pliable (about 5 to 10 minutes).

What not to do when making cookies? ›

15 Common Cookie Baking Mistakes You Might Be Making
  1. Your cookies aren't baking evenly. ...
  2. You use eggs straight from the fridge. ...
  3. You use the wrong kind of flour. ...
  4. You measure flour the wrong way. ...
  5. You soften butter too much — or not enough. ...
  6. You use stale baking powder or baking soda. ...
  7. You overwork the dough.
Nov 4, 2020

What makes cookies chewy and not hard? ›

If you enjoy your cookies soft and chewy, chances are likely the recipe contains a common ingredient that serves a very specific purpose. No, it's not granulated sugar, nor the butter. It's not the egg, all-purpose flour, or even the vanilla extract. The simple, yet oh-so-necessary component is cornstarch.

What makes cookies fluffy and not flat? ›

Room temperature butter is just the right consistency to incorporate air when it's creamed with sugar. These trapped air pockets result in risen, fluffy cookies. If the butter is any warmer, it won't incorporate enough air and your cookies will have less rise.

Does all cookie dough need to be chilled? ›

“In general, you want to chill any cookie dough where the shape or size of the finished cookie matters,” Hill says.

Is it better to chill cookie dough or room temperature? ›

Chilling the dough also improves the way your cookies taste. "In terms of flavor, you'll notice more depth of flavor from the vanilla and the sugar will taste sweeter," says Haught Brown. "In terms of texture, chilled cookie dough produces a more evenly golden-brown cookie with a crisper edge and chewier center."

Do you need to refrigerate cookie dough? ›

The #1 Reason Why You Should Chill Your Cookie Dough is simple: it vastly improves your cookies in both taste and texture.

What happens when you let cookie dough sit? ›

The short answer is: Yes. Resting your dough in the refrigerator will almost always yield better results. But why? Chilling your cookie dough in the refrigerator after mixing it allows the flour to hydrate and gives the other ingredients time to blend, resulting in a richer, more well-rounded flavor profile.

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