Is there anything better than a warm batch of chocolate chip cookies fresh off the tray?
Love a classic biscuit tin recipe? My Classic ANZAC Biscuits and Jam Drops are just as old-fashioned and just as good.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
✅ Recipe Name: Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
🕒 Ready In: 30 minutes (chilling optional)
👪 Serves: 24 cookies
🍚 Calories: 108kcal per cookie
🥣 Main Ingredients: butter, brown sugar, caster sugar, chocolate chips
📖 Dietary Info: Vegetarian, freezer-friendly, Thermomix method included
⭐ Why You'll Love It: Soft in the middle, crisp on the edges, and no electric mixer required unless you want one.
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"I made these with my mother and they were AMAZING and my brothers ate it in one day (I only got 3)." - Zoey
Honestly, that's the most accurate review this recipe has ever gotten. If you're after more chocolatey baking after this, try my Double Chocolate Chip Cookies, Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies, or Peanut Butter Cookies with M&Ms.
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Why You're Going To Love This Recipe
- No electric mixer needed, though you can use one if you've got it out anyway.
- Two methods, one recipe card - conventional and Thermomix instructions are both included, so however you bake, you're covered.
- On the table in 30 minutes flat, chilling included.
- That proper bakery texture - soft and chewy in the middle, with crisp golden edges.
- Freezer-friendly dough - roll a double batch and bake a few whenever the craving hits.
Choc Chip Cookie Ingredients
No special trip to the shops needed here - this is a proper pantry-staples recipe. A few ingredients are worth a closer look though, because they're doing more work than you'd think.
- Brown sugar and caster sugar - this combo is what decides the texture. Lean harder on brown sugar and you get a softer, cakier cookie thanks to the molasses in it. Lean harder on caster sugar and they crisp up fast. This ratio sits right in the chewy-crunchy middle, which is the whole point.
- Bi-carbonate soda gives the dough its lift and that slightly craggy top. Skip it and you'll end up with flat, dense discs instead of proper cookies.
- Chocolate chips - dark, milk, or a mix of both all work. I go pretty heavy-handed here, because a chocolate chip cookie without enough chocolate is really just a plain biscuit with an identity crisis.
Fun fact while we're here: chocolate chip cookies were invented completely by accident. In 1938, Ruth Wakefield was making chocolate cookies at the Toll House Inn in Massachusetts, ran short on baker's chocolate, and chopped up a block of semi-sweet chocolate instead - expecting it to melt through the dough the way regular baking chocolate does. It didn't, the chips held their shape, and the chocolate chip cookie was born by happy accident.
Variations
- Gluten-free swap - use a good quality gluten-free plain flour blend in place of the regular flour. The texture's slightly more delicate but still holds together fine.
- Chop up a block of chocolate instead of using chips for big gooey pockets rather than neat little dots.
- Add some crunch - stir through half a cup of chopped walnuts or pecans along with the chocolate chips.
- Go double chocolate by adding 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the dry ingredients and swapping in white chocolate chips instead of regular ones.
How To Make Chocolate Chip Cookies
Quick bit of science before we start: the sugar ratio above is what sets the chew, but chilling the dough matters more than people think too. Cold butter takes longer to melt in the oven, so the dough spreads less and you end up with a thicker cookie and a softer centre. Fifteen to twenty minutes in the fridge is enough - you don't need to leave it in there overnight.
Note: Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the ingredient quantities and full detailed method.
- Step 1: Cream the butter and sugars. Beat the softened butter, caster sugar and brown sugar together until pale and creamy.
- Step 2: Add the egg, vanilla and salt. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract until well combined, then add the salt.
- Step 3: Fold in the dry ingredients. Sift the bi-carbonate soda and plain flour over the mixture and fold through until just combined.
- Step 4: Stir through the chocolate chips. Add the chocolate chips and stir until they're evenly distributed through the dough.
- Step 5: Chill and roll. Chill the dough for 15 minutes if you want thicker cookies (optional), then roll into heaped teaspoon-sized balls and place on the prepared trays, leaving room to spread.
- Step 6: Bake. Bake for 8-10 minutes until just lightly golden, then cool on the trays for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack.
Team Thermomix? The full Thermomix method, with exact speeds and timings, is in the recipe card below.
Recipe Tips
- Don't skip the brown sugar - it's key to that soft, chewy texture.
- Chill the dough for 15-20 minutes if you want thicker cookies that hold their shape instead of spreading thin.
- Pull them out early - they should look just lightly golden, even slightly underdone, when they come out. They keep cooking on the hot tray for a few minutes after.
- Space the cookies well apart on the tray. They spread more than you'd expect.
- Use baking paper or a silicone mat so nothing sticks and clean-up is easy.
- Storage - keep baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing dough - roll the dough into balls and freeze in a ziplock bag for up to 3 months. Bake straight from frozen, just add 1-2 extra minutes to the baking time. This is the better freezing option if you want that fresh-from-the-oven texture whenever the craving hits.
- Freezing baked cookies - you can also freeze the finished cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 months if you'd rather. Thaw at room temperature or give them 10 seconds in the microwave to bring back that just-baked warmth.
True story: I once left a batch in the oven a good four minutes too long because I was refereeing an argument over whose turn it was to lick the beaters, and came back to what can only be described as chocolate chip roof tiles. Set a timer, and actually listen to it when it goes off - that's the whole lesson.
Chocolate Chip Cookie FAQs
Usually it's warm dough or over-creamed butter. Try chilling the dough for 15 minutes before baking, and double check your bi-carbonate soda isn't past its best - old raising agents lose their punch and won't give the dough the lift it needs.
Chewy in the middle with crisp edges, thanks to the brown sugar to caster sugar ratio. Want them crispier all over? Swap in all caster sugar and bake an extra minute or two.
Yes, and it's honestly the best way to always have fresh cookies on hand. Roll into balls, freeze on a tray until solid, then transfer to a ziplock bag. Bake straight from frozen, adding 1-2 extra minutes to the baking time.
You can, but margarine has a higher water content than butter, so expect the cookies to spread a bit more and taste a little flatter. Butter really is worth it here.
It comes down to two things: the sugar ratio and pulling them out early. Leaning on brown sugar over caster sugar keeps them soft thanks to the molasses in it, and taking them out of the oven while they're still just lightly golden (even a touch underdone) means they keep cooking on the hot tray without drying out.
More Classic Cookie Recipes
If you need to fill up the cookie tin, here are a few more old-school favourites worth adding to the rotation.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 150 g butter softened
- 80 g (⅓ cup) caster sugar
- 80 g (½ cup) brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract or essence
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon bi-carbonate soda
- 225 g (1 ½ cups) plain flour
- 220 g chocolate chips
Instructions
Conventional Method
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius (fan-forced). Line two large baking trays with greaseproof paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the softened butter, caster sugar and brown sugar until pale and creamy.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and continue to beat until well combined. Add the salt.
- Sift the bi-carbonate of soda and plain flour over the top of the mixture and fold through.
- Add the chocolate chips and stir through.
- Place the dough into the fridge for 15 minutes (optional).
- Roll into heaped teaspoon sized balls and place onto the prepared trays (leave a gap between each cookie to allow for spreading).
- Cook for 8-10 minutes or until just lightly golden.
- Allow to cool slightly on the baking trays before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Thermomix Method
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees celsius (fan-forced). Line two large baking trays with greaseproof paper and set aside.
- Insert the Butterfly into the Thermomix bowl. Add the softened butter, caster sugar and brown sugar and mix for 20 seconds, Speed 4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for a further 40 seconds, Speed 4 (or until pale and creamy).
- Reduce to Speed 2 and with the Butterfly still turning, add the egg and vanilla extract through the MC hole. Increase to Speed 4 for 20 seconds. Remove the Butterfly.
- Add the salt, bi-carbonate of soda and plain flour to the bowl. Mix for 10 seconds, Speed 4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and repeat for a further 10 seconds.
- Add the chocolate chips and mix for 10 seconds, Reverse, Speed 1 (using the spatula to help mix).
- Chill the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes. Roll into heaped teaspoon sized balls and place onto the prepared trays (leave a 5cm gap between each cookie to allow for spreading).
- Cook for 8-10 minutes or until just lightly golden. Do not overcook.Allow to cool for 10 minutes on the baking trays before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Don't skip the brown sugar - it's key for that soft, chewy texture.
- Chill the dough if you want thicker cookies that don't spread as much.
- Don't overbake - they should be just golden on the edges.
- Space the cookies out on the tray-they spread!
- Use baking paper or silicone mats to prevent sticking.
- Want them extra gooey? Eat them slightly warm
- Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
- Freeze the cookie dough balls in a ziplock bag for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen-just add 1-2 extra mins to the baking time.
Serena says
Love these!! I make them frequently!! So good. I use SR flour instead for more softness, delicious!
Lucy says
Fantastic!
Jaalia says
I tired these today and the cookie dough was quite wet - not rollable. I could spoon on but not till with hands. I let it sit in fridge for 15mins.
Still tasted fine
Is that normal?
Lucy says
Hi Jaalia, this is perfectly fine. See my post for info about chilling the dough xx
Kat says
I'm planning to make these for a party. Do you think I could store the uncooked rolled balls in the fridge overnight, then bake the next morning? Thanks!
Lucy says
Absolutely!!!
Charmaine says
The best chocolate chip cookies ever! I’ve made them twice. The 1st time I cooked them for 10 minutes. They were delicious.. the 2nd time I didn’t cook as long and they were better then subway cookies!! Thanks for a now family favourite recipe x
Lucy says
Yay! That's so fantastic to hear!
55 says
yes
T Jago says
These turned out perfectly and I am usually one to make a mockery of culinary talent with my attempts at cookies.
Thank you for all the tips and the photos of each step!
Lucy says
Oh that's so fantastic to hear!! Enjoy!!