Easy Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies — These soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies are studded with chocolate chips and are the perfect texture. My secret ingredient? Cornstarch! It produces the most incredible cookies, trust me! 

Super Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

You can never have too many chocolate chip cookie recipes, right? I’ve got everything from from traditional to cream cheese to pumpkin. But this soft chocolate chip cookie recipe is different in one major way because you don’t need to use a mixer and they’re made in one bowl.

Not having to drag out my heavy mixer combined with fewer dirty dishes and equipment to wash makes me much more inclined to bake. All you need for these easy, super soft cookies that are loaded with chocolate is one mixing bowl, a whisk, and a spoon. Gotta love it.

I adapted my Turtles Candies Chocolate Chip Cookies, and while I browned the butter for those cookies, I went the super easy route with these and melted the butter in the microwave. The cookies are big, bakery-style cookies. They’re wonderfully chewy from the melted butter, soft from the cornstarch, and loaded with texture from the chocolate chips.

I loved that I was in and out of the kitchen in minutes getting these prepped and ready to chill. You need to chill the dough so the cookies bake up thick and full. They’re worth planning ahead for.

What’s in These Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies? 

The ingredients you’ll need for these soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies are fairly standard (the magic happens in the way these cookies are made!). For this easy cookie recipe, you’ll need: 

• Unsalted butter
• Egg
• Light brown sugar
• Granulated sugar
• Vanilla extract
• All-purpose flour
• Cornstarch
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips

How to Make Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

First melt the butter in the microwave, then stir in the egg (wait a minute or two to allow the butter time to cool off a bit first). Add in the rest of the ingredients, finishing with the chocolate chips. Stir until combined, being careful not to over work the flour. 

Scoop out the cookie dough and form balls, them place on tray and let chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Once chilled, bake the cookies on a parchment paper-lined baking tray until the edges are golden and set. You do NOT want to over bake these cookies, or they won’t be as soft and pillowy. The cookies will continue to cook in the center as they come to room temperature, so don’t fret if your cookies look slightly glossy in the center. 

Can I Make My Cookies Smaller? 

Absolutely! I used a 1/4-cup scoop to make my soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies, but you can definitely make yours smaller. Just note that you’ll need to adjust the bake time accordingly (smaller cookies need less time in the oven). 

Can I Sub Coconut Oil for the Butter? 

I haven’t tried that myself, so I can’t say for sure if coconut oil would work in place of the butter. If you’re looking for a coconut oil chocolate chip cookie recipe, I recommend making my coconut oil cookies — I’ve tested those many times and know they work every time! 

Tips for Making Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

First and foremost, you HAVE to chill the dough! The melted butter in this recipe makes these cookies chewy, but if you don’t chill the dough before baking it the melted butter will cause the cookies to spread a lot in the oven. You’ll lose the lovely soft texture entirely! 

When forming the cookie dough balls, I like to strategically place a few chocolate chips on top to accentuate how chocolate-y these cookies are. You don’t have to add extra chocolate for this, you can just pull a few chips from the bottom of the ball of dough and place them on top. 

Lastly, feel free to use other kinds of chocolate chips in these cookies. Milk chocolate or bittersweet chips would taste delicious in these cookies, or you could use a blend. I bet butterscotch chips would also taste incredible here! 

More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes: 

• Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies – My gold standard Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe for over two years!
• Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chip Cookies {Copycat} — Learn all the SECRETS to making the famous Mrs. Fields cookies at home! The recipe is easy, spot-on, and they taste just like the real thing!
• Hershey’s Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies – An old-time recipe that’s a keeper!! Chocolaty, buttery, soft cookie perfection! If you need a recipe so your cookies stay ultra soft for days, this is the one!
• Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies – 3 favorite cookies combined into 1 so you don’t have to choose!! Easy, no-mixer recipe, and always a hit!
• Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies –  Soft chocolate chip cookies packed with chocolate chips and crunchy pretzels!! Salty-and-sweet all in one!
• The Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies – Soft, chewy, loaded with chocolate, and they turn out perfectly every time! Totally irresistible!

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4.70 from 62 votes

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

By Averie Sunshine

These soft chocolate chip cookies are studded with chocolate chips! My secret ingredient? Cornstarch! It produces the most incredible cookies, trust me.

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 12 minutes minutes

Chill Time: 4 hours hours

Total Time: 4 hours hours 22 minutes minutes

Servings: 11 large cookies

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Ingredients  

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• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ ¾ cup light brown sugar, packed
• ▢ ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
• ▢ 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
• ▢ 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus more for sprinkling

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Instructions 

• To a large, microwave-safe bowl add the butter and heat on high power to melt, about 1 minute. Wait momentarily before adding the egg so you don’t scramble it.
• Add the eggs, sugars, vanilla, and whisk to combine.
• Add flour, cornstarch (keeps cookies soft) baking soda, salt, and stir to combine. Dough may seem crumbly yet oily, this is okay.
• Add the chocolate chips and stir to combine.
• Using a large cookie scoop, 1/4-cup measure, or your hands, form approximately 11 equal-sized mounds of dough, roll into balls, and flatten about halfway. Tip – Strategically place a few chocolate chips that are likely at the bottom of the mixing bowl and don’t want to incorporate onto the top of each mound of dough, and add more as necessary for a nice visual pop of chocolate.
• Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, up to 5 days. Do not bake with unchilled dough because cookies will bake thinner, flatter, and be more prone to spreading.
• Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat or spray with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart (I use a half-sheet pan and bake 8 cookies per sheet) and bake for about 12 to 14 minutes (if your cookies are smaller than mine, reduce baking time) or until edges have set and tops are just set, even if slightly undercooked, pale, and glossy in the center; don’t overbake. Cookies firm up as they cool. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for about 10 minutes before serving. I let them cool on the baking sheet and don’t use a rack.

Notes

Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 4 months, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired. If baking straight from freezer with frozen dough, you don’t have to thaw it. Bake straight from freezer, possibly adding 1 to 2 minutes to baking time if necessary.

Nutrition

Serving: 1, Calories: 295kcal, Carbohydrates: 42g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 14g, Saturated Fat: 8g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g, Cholesterol: 39mg, Sodium: 224mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 25g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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Even More Homemade Cookie Recipes:

Chocolate Chunk Cookie Sticks – No butter used in these fast and easy cookie sticks that can’t spread because they’re baked in a pan!

Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cups –  Prone to cookies that spread? It’s impossible with these! Thick, soft & chewy cookies baked in a muffin pan that are so rich from the browned butter!

Loaded Peanut Butter Cookie Pie — This cookie pie is slightly crisp around the edges and buttery soft and chewy in the center. There’s lots of texture from the sprinkles, the crunchy Reese’s Pieces shells, and it’s exploding with bigtime peanut butter flavor.