These are my perfect chocolate chip cookies. Crispy on the edges and chewy in the middle. They are beautifully golden and filled with real chocolate chunks with just the right balance of sweetness – they look good, have great flavour and are very moreish! Made with cold butter straight from the fridge so there’s no need to plan ahead to make these cookies. These will appeal to young and old and everybody in between.
I have been tweaking this recipe for a while now. It is very loosely based on my Gingernut Biscuits which are a family favourite. I have created this cookie to be chewy on the inside, crisp on the outer edges with a nice shape – not too flat, thick or doughy. A key ingredient is the inclusion of chopped chocolate (I prefer milk chocolate) as it holds its shape and creates a more authentic chocolate cookie. I hope you enjoy these cookies as much as I do.
Why I Love These Cookies:
I wanted to create a cookie that I could make without having to bring the butter out to rest, so this uses cold butter straight from the fridge. This is a very easy to make recipe.
They are perfectly crispy and chewy all at the same time and have great flavour. I love the shape and rise of these cookies too – they are neither too flat or too thick and doughy. I have used milk chocolate in these cookies so have given sugar quantities to reflect this. If you prefer dark chocolate I would suggest you use 40-50% cocoa.
These cookies are loved by both adults and children alike. For me they have a great level of sweetness…sweet but not overly sweet.
Ingredients To Make these Cookies:
- Sugar – this recipe uses both brown and white sugars. The combination of both give the cookies a lovely chewy texture.
- Butter – I use salted butter and a good pinch of salt. If using unsalted butter, then add 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cold butter straight from the fridge is used in this recipe.
- Egg – I used an XL egg in this recipe
- Vanilla Extract
- Flour – plain white flour. These can be made using gluten-free flour but if you do, then there is no need to add any cornflour.
- Cornflour – adding a small amount of cornflour helps with the texture of these cookies
- Salt – a good pinch if using salted butter, or add 1/4 tsp if using unsalted butter
- Baking Soda
- Baking Powder
- Chocolate – I prefer milk chocolate in these cookies and use Cadburys Dairy Milk Chocolate. Chopping your own chocolate instead of using bought ‘chocolate bits’ makes all the difference. You can use dark chocolate if you prefer – I suggest 40-50% cocoa content and you could add 30g more sugar if you like.
How To Make these Cookies:
Chop the chocolate into 1cm chunks and refrigerate until required. 
Add the cold cubed butter and sugars to the bowl of a stand mixer and using the beater attachement, beat (low speed to start and then increase to medium) for 1-2 minutes until lighter in colour and a thick paste. 
This is what it should look like. 
Add the egg and vanilla extract to the butter mixture and beat a further minute on medium speed. Stop and scrape down the sides halfway through. 
The mixture may curdle slightly at this stage but that is ok. 
Sift all the dry ingredients into a separate bowl. 
Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter mixture and either use a large spoon to mix and combine well, or use the stand mixer on speed 1. 
Combine until fully incorporated and there are no flour pockets or flour at the bottom of the bowl. 
Lastly add the cold chocolate chunks and mix through using a large spoon or hard spatula. ,Refrigerate the cookie dough for 30-40 minutes – do not skip this important step! 
Once the dough has rested in the fridge, take 2 tablespoons of mixture or use a cookie scoop and form into rough balls (do not roll the dough into balls). You want roughly shaped balls weighing approx 45-50gms. 
A close up of the roughly shaped dough. Handling the dough as little as possible is best. Do not flatten them. Place them onto an oven tray lined with baking paper leaving a gap of 8cm between them. Bake one tray at a time in a preheated 180°C (355°F) oven for 15-20 minutes or until lovely and golden. Remove from the oven – they will still feel soft. Let them cool completely on the oven tray and they will firm up. Repeat with the second tray of cookies.
Tips and Tricks For Success:
This is a very easy recipe to make. There are a couple of steps which are really important so please read this before starting.
- This recipe is made using milk chocolate which I prefer in these cookies (I have used Cadburys Dairy Milk Chocolate). If you prefer to use dark chocolate I would suggest using 40-50% cocoa content. You could also add 30-50g more sugar to compensate for this.
- Once you have chopped the chocolate into chunks, pop them in the fridge until required so they stay chilled.
- When you beat the egg and vanilla into the butter and sugar mixture, it may curdle a little. This is ok and will not affect the final product.
- I prefer to mix the chocolate chunks in manually using a large spoon so they don’t break up too much.
- One of the most important steps in this recipe is that once the dough is made and the chocolate chunks added, the dough must be refrigerated for minimum 30-40 minutes before shaping. This allows the dough to firm up and get cold which in turn helps the cookies hold their shape and not flatten when baking. The longer you leave them in the fridge the better so I often make these the day before and refrigerate the dough overnight.
- Another important tip is when shaping the cold dough. Try not to handle the dough too much. Use either a cookie scoop or tablespoon to get 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie. I often weigh the dough once I have the first one – 45-50gm per cookie. This will give you 18-21 cookies. You only want to shape the dough into rough balls by using your fingers and pressing them lightly – no rolling or squashing and please do not flatten the cookies with a fork or anything. We don’t want smooth rounds – rough rounds work better in this bake (see photos) and make sure to allow a gap of 7-8cm between each cookie to allow for spreading.
- For presentation, if you like, save a few chunks of chocolate and place them on the top of each round as they will be visible when the cookies are baked.
- Please remember that all ovens can vary slightly with temperatures so check the cookies a little before the 15 minute mark. A just golden colour results in a more chewy cookie and a slightly more golden colour will result in a slightly crispier but still chewy cookie (see photos below).
- When the cookies are removed from the oven they must be left to cool completely on the oven tray to allow them to firm up as they will still be soft when they first come out.
- I prefer to bake each tray of cookies separately for the best results, however if time is an issue you can bake both trays simultaneously at 150°C fan-bake (150°F fan-bake).
- For a gluten-free version – use gluten-free flour and baking powder. When using gluten-free flour there is no need to add any cornflour.
These cookies were baked for 16 minutes in my oven. 
These were baked for 1-2 minutes longer at 18 minutes in my oven.
More Recipes for You to Try:
Check out my family recipe for chewy Gingernut Biscuits. I also have a chewy version of Anzac Biscuits. Both these recipes are made on repeat in my house.
Another recipe to fill your baking tin which is quick and easy is my Chewy Chocolate Coconut Slice – this is a real favourite of mine.
If you are after a vegan cookie recipe, take a look at these very moreish Chewy Vegan Chocolate Cookies.
Servings: 20
Calories: 201kcal
Equipment
- 1 large mixing bowl
- Stand Mixer
Ingredients
- 250 g milk chocolate see notes
- 120 g white sugar
- 100 g brown sugar
- 125 g salted butter cold
- 1 egg, XL
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 250 g plain flour
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- pinch of salt if using unsalted butter add 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F) and line 2 x oven trays with baking paper.
- Chop the chocolate into 3/4 to 1 cm chunks and place in the fridge until ready to add later.
- In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cornflour, salt, baking soda and baking powder and set aside.
- Cut the cold butter into cubes (approximately 2cm) and place in the bowl of a stand-mixer along with the white and brown sugars. Using the beater attachment, beat until light in colour and until it forms a thick paste. Do this on low speed to start and then increase to medium speed for 1-2 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and continue to beat on medium speed for 1 minute or until smooth and combined (scrape down the sides half-way through). The mixture might look a little curdled but don’t worry as it doesn’t affect the bake.Add the sifted dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix together on low speed until just combined, or use a large spoon to do this. Lastly add the cold chocolate chunks and use a spoon to mix these through without breaking up the chocolate. Make sure there is no flour left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl. Refrigerate the dough for at least 30-40 minutes (or overnight)- an important step as this lets the dough chill and firm up which helps the cookies hold their shape better.Remove from the fridge and using a cookie scoop or spoon, scoop out 2 tablespoons of dough (45-50g) and form into rough balls by gently moulding with your fingers – no need to squash or roll them as we don’t want smooth rounds. Place the balls onto the lined oven tray allowing a 7-8cm gap between them to allow for spreading. Place the tray into the preheated oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden. Remove from the oven and allow the cookies to cool completely on the oven tray. Repeat with the second tray of cookies (see notes). Enjoy.
Notes
Tips and Tricks For Success:
This is a very easy recipe to make. There are a couple of steps which are really important so please read this before starting.- This recipe is made using milk chocolate which I prefer in these cookies (I have used Cadburys Dairy Milk Chocolate). If you prefer to use dark chocolate I would suggest using 40-50% cocoa content. You could also add 30-50g more sugar to compensate for this.
- Once you have chopped the chocolate into chunks, pop them in the fridge until required so they stay chilled.
- When you beat the egg and vanilla into the butter and sugar mixture, it may curdle a little. This is ok and will not affect the final product.
- I prefer to mix the chocolate chunks in manually using a large spoon so they don’t break up too much.
- One of the most important steps in this recipe is that once the dough is made and the chocolate chunks added, the dough must be refrigerated for 30-40 minutes before shaping. This allows the dough to firm up and get cold which in turn helps the cookies hold their shape and not flatten when baking. The longer you leave them in the fridge the better so I often make these the day before and refrigerate the dough overnight.
- Another important tip is when shaping the cold dough. Try not to handle the dough too much. Use either a cookie scoop or tablespoon to get 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie. I often weigh the dough once I have the first one – 45-50gm per cookie. This will give you 18-21 cookies. You only want to shape the dough into rough balls by using your fingers and pressing them lightly – no rolling or squashing and please do not flatten the cookies with a fork or anything. We don’t want smooth rounds – rough rounds work better in this bake (see photos) and make sure to allow a gap of 7-8cm between each cookie to allow for spreading.
- For presentation, if you like, save a few chunks of chocolate and place them on the top of each round as they will be visible when the cookies are baked.
- Please remember that all ovens can vary slightly with temperatures so check the cookies a little before the 15 minute mark. A just golden colour results in a more chewy cookie and a slightly more golden colour will result in a slightly crispier but still chewy cookie (see photos below).
- When the cookies are removed from the oven they must be left to cool completely on the oven tray to allow them to firm up as they will still be soft when they first come out.
- I prefer to bake each tray of cookies separately for the best results, however if time is an issue you can bake both trays simultaneously at 150°C fan-bake (150°F fan-bake).
- For a gluten-free version – use gluten-free flour and baking powder. When using gluten-free flour there is no need to add any cornflour.
Nutrition
Calories: 201kcal | Carbohydrates: 28g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 22mg | Sodium: 100mg | Potassium: 61mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 168IU | Calcium: 24mg | Iron: 1mg
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4 Comments
Louise
December 17, 2021 at 9:25 amWhere have you been all my life Katy!! Your recipes are fantastic, easy to make and just good old fashioned cooking. I’m going to make the choc chip cookies today, will freeze them and bring out for Christmas Day. Thank you so much for sharing all your recipes with us.
Katrina
December 20, 2021 at 2:07 pmThank you for your lovely comment Louise. I’m so happy to hear you are enjoying my recipes. I love reviving and keeping alive the great classics as well as introducing new ways to make them. I hope you enjoy these cookies ?
Mike
December 27, 2021 at 3:39 amCorn flour or corn starch?
Katrina
February 17, 2022 at 12:17 pmHi Mike. Apologies for not replying sooner. Are you in Australia or somewhere else? In Australia we call it Cornflour but I think in the US it is called cornstarch? Hope this helps. Katrina