These Chocolate Chunk Cookies are soft and chewy in the center, lightly crisp around the edges, and packed with pools of melted chocolate. The easy one-bowl dough uses melted butter, needs no mixer and no long chill, and bakes into thick homemade cookies in about 30 minutes.
These Are for the Days When Waiting for Cookie Dough Is Not Happening.Sometimes I absolutely understand the appeal of chilling cookie dough overnight.
Other times, I want a warm cookie in my hand before I’ve had enough time to reconsider making cookies in the first place.
These are those cookies.
The dough starts with melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar, so everything can be mixed by hand with a whisk and spatula. Chopped chocolate goes in generously—I want a little melted chocolate situation happening in basically every bite.
There is also one unusual little step that I really like here: I bake the cookies for five minutes, gently press them midway through baking, and then return them to the oven until the edges are set. It helps this particular dough settle into thick, even rounds without a long refrigerator rest.
If you’re looking for a different easy cookie, my 3-Ingredient Nutella Cookies are even shorter on ingredients. For something buttery and simple, make these Classic Shortbread Cookies.
And a warm chocolate cookie with Homemade Hot Chocolate is very much a situation I support. You can also browse my Easy Dessert Recipes when one chocolate dessert somehow leads to another.
Ingredients
Let’s Make Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Prep the oven and pan. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). parchment paper on a baking sheet.
- Mix the wet ingredients. Melted butter is whipped together with brown sugar and granulated sugar until they’re glossy. Whisk in the egg and vanilla.
- Add dry ingredients. Add flour and baking powder. Stir with a spatula (or clean hand, as in your method) just until no dry flour is visible.
- Add chocolate. Gently mix in chocolate chips/chunks until well distributed.
- Shape the cookies. Roll into balls and set on lined baking sheet, well apart.
- If you wish, top with extra chocolate pieces.
- Bake one minute. Bake for around 5 minutes — until the tops appear set, but are still pale.
- Cool 5 minutes on the pan, then move to a rack to cool.
Soft center, chocolate in every bite
Why These Chocolate Chunk Cookies Work
There are a few small details doing a lot of work here.
Brown sugar + granulated sugar: Brown sugar helps make these cookies softer and chewier because it brings extra moisture to the dough. Granulated sugar balances the texture and helps the edges bake up lightly crisp, so you get soft centers with a little edge structure.
Melted butter makes this dough easy to mix by hand and helps create a soft, chewy cookie texture. Let it cool slightly before adding the egg so the dough does not become too warm and spread too much in the oven.
Lots of chopped chocolate: Chocolate chips hold their shape more, while irregular pieces of chopped chocolate create larger and smaller melted pockets throughout the cookie.
Short baking time: Don’t wait for the centers to look completely firm. Cookies continue setting on the hot baking sheet after leaving the oven; King Arthur recommends removing soft cookies once the edges are golden and the middle has just set rather than baking until hard.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Using melted butter when the recipe needs softened butter.
- Overmixing the dough after adding the flour.
- Chopping the chocolate chunks too small, which can make them melt too much.
- Skipping the chilling time if the dough is too soft.
- Adding too much flour, which can make the cookies dry.
- Baking until the cookies look fully firm instead of slightly soft in the center.
- Moving the cookies before they have cooled for a few minutes.
What To Serve With Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Chocolate Chunk Cookies are delicious served with cold milk, hot coffee, hot chocolate, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or a drizzle of caramel sauce. They also pair well with fresh strawberries, banana slices, chocolate sauce, or a simple dessert tray for parties, holidays, and lunchbox treats.
FAQs
Most likely, there was too much flour or the cookies baked too long. For the best texture, weigh the flour if possible, or fluff it, spoon it into the measuring cup, and level it off without packing it down.
Absolutely—chunks give extra melty pockets.
The edges should look set, the centers perhaps a bit soft. They firm up while cooling.
Yes — cool the dough (covered) in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours, then bake according to instructions.
That fast first bake just sets the surface so that the fork-press shapes them without causing them to spread too thin.
Yes, but the cookies might be a little bit saltier.
More Recipes You Will Like :
Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Whisk melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until smooth.
- Whisk in the egg and vanilla extract.
- Add flour and baking powder. Mix just until combined.
- Fold in chocolate chips/chunks.
- Roll dough into equal balls and place on the baking sheet, spaced apart.
- Bake for 5 minutes.
- Remove the tray and gently press each cookie with a fork to slightly flatten/shape.
- Return to oven and bake 5–7 minutes more, until edges are set and centers look soft.
- Cool 5 minutes on the pan, then move to a rack to cool.
Nutrition
Video
Notes
- For thicker cookies, chill dough balls 15–20 minutes before baking.
- Don’t overmix after adding flour to keep cookies tender.
- Chocolate chips can be swapped for chopped chocolate, or mix both.
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
