These chewy chocolate chip cookies use melted butter to keep things quick and easy (no waiting for butter to soften!) Bake the dough right away or chill it up to 72 hours for a deeper, richer flavor.
One recipe every home baker needs in their back pocket: A really, really good chocolate chip cookie. These cookies are ultra-quick to make, with crispy edges and rich, chewy centers.
Melted butter is a useful shortcut when you don't have time to bring cold butter to room temperature for homemade cookies (we also use this technique in our chocolate chip pecan cookies and chewy sugar cookies!)
Ingredients overview
Scroll to the recipe card below for a full ingredients list with exact quantities.
Before you jump in, there are a few things we want to highlight:
- Chocolate chips. We love bittersweet, dark chocolate, or semi-sweet chocolate chips in this recipe; you can also use mini chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or a roughly chopped bar of baking chocolate (à la our olive oil cookies).
- Melted butter is our secret weapon here. Melt it in the microwave, or use a saucepan over low heat.
- Dark or light brown sugar both work in this recipe.
- Vanilla extract adds important depth to these cookies - don't skip it!
Use a kitchen scale
Measuring dry ingredients by volume (with cups) is notoriously unreliable: Because each person measures one cup a bit differently, it's easy to accidentally use too much flour, sugar, etc., and alter the texture of your cookies (see an example in our cinnamon cookies recipe).
For accurate results, use a kitchen scale to follow the gram measurements in the recipe below. No kitchen scale? Measure your flour with the scoop and level method for best results!
Variations and Substitutions
- Adjust the mix-ins. Swap some or all of the chocolate chips here for white chocolate chips, M&Ms, mini marshmallows, dried cranberries, toasted walnuts, pecans, pistachios, or your other favorite cookie ingredients (see our kitchen sink cookies for inspo!)
- Brown your butter before adding it to the cookie dough for an extra layer of deep, nutty flavor. Read more: How to brown butter.
- No butter? Use melted coconut oil (à la our butterless chocolate chip cookies), vegetable or canola oil, or olive oil.
Instructions
Mix melted butter, vanilla, eggs, and sugars together in a large bowl (Image 1, above) until smooth (2). Add dry ingredients (3) and mix until just combined (4).
Stir chocolate chips into cookie dough (5). This dough will be thick and fairly soft (6). Don't worry if it feels looser or more pliable than other cookie doughs you've worked with! It will settle and thicken a bit within a few minutes of mixing (as the melted butter starts to solidify).
Pro Tip: Reserve a handful of chocolate chips to press into the tops of cookies before baking. This ensures the chocolate is visible on each cookie for a picture-perfect look!
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Use a cookie scoop (we love this 3-Tablespoon scoop) to portion out the cookie dough (7). Leave an inch or so of space between each cookie on the cookie sheet.
Press a few reserved chocolate chips onto the surface of each cookie (8). This step is purely for aesthetics: You can skip it if you're short on time!
Bake cookies at 375° for 10-13 minutes, until they're very lightly browned around the edges. Let them sit for a few minutes right on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire cooling rack.
Pro Tip: Pull the cookies out before they look fully "done" in the center. The cookies might look a little puffy and domed in the middle, but don't worry: They'll settle as they cool and you'll be left with soft, chewy centers.
Should I chill this cookie dough?
You can bake this cookie dough as soon as it's mixed, but if you like, you can also chill this dough for additional flavor and a chewier texture! You have a couple of options here:
- 15 minute rest. Once mixed, let cookie dough sit on the counter for 15 minutes. The dough will thicken slightly as the melted butter begins to cool, which gives you a chewier center.
- Quick Chill (30 minutes - 1 hour). Place the bowl of cookie dough in the fridge for up to an hour, then scoop and bake normally. You get all the benefits of chilling cookie dough - richer flavor, a chewier texture, less spreading in the oven - while ensuring the dough stays soft enough to be easily scooped with a cookie scoop.
For even deeper, more caramel-y flavor, chill cookie dough up to 3 days (72 hours). Scoop dough as soon as it's mixed (as opposed to chilling a full bowl of dough, which makes scooping more difficult). Store cookie dough balls in an airtight container in the fridge until you're ready to bake.
FAQs
This recipe makes 24-30 large cookies (formed with a 3-Tablespoon cookie scoop) or 72-90 bite-sized cookies (formed with a 1-Tablespoon cookie scoop). Use any size cookie scoop you like here! Keep in mind that if you use a different size cookie scoop, you will likely need to adjust the baking time.
Yes! Mix the dough as directed, scoop it into dough balls, and store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Transfer refrigerated cookie dough balls directly to a lined baking sheet, and bake normally.
To freeze cookie dough, scoop the dough into balls and place them on a baking sheet or large plate lined with a piece of parchment paper, waxed paper, or a nonstick baking mat. Place the cookie dough in the freezer for 2-3 hours, until frozen solid. Transfer frozen cookie dough balls to an airtight container and return to the freezer until you're ready to bake.
To bake frozen cookie dough balls straight from the freezer, we recommend reducing the oven temperature to 350° F (a lower temp helps frozen cookies spread out more evenly!)
Pro tip: You can also use these make-ahead methods for our pistachio white chocolate cookies, chocolate chip pecan cookies, and kitchen sink cookies!
Yes! Like classic chocolate chip cookies, these cookies freeze quite well. Let them cool completely, then store in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 4 months. Let frozen cookies defrost for a few hours on the counter when you're ready to eat them.
If you're keeping cookies on the counter for a few days, they can start to dry out a little bit. To keep them fresh and help them retain moisture, throw a slice of fresh bread into the airtight container with the cookies: The sugar in the cookies will draw the moisture out of the bread, keeping the cookies fresh (and the bread will quickly go stale!
Yes! If you prefer to use a stand mixer or hand mixer in your baking, you can certainly use those appliances for this recipe.
For just a few cookies, we recommend following our small batch chocolate chip cookie recipe, which yields just 6 cookies.
If you'd like to use whole wheat flour, we recommend following our whole wheat chocolate chip cookie recipe!
📖 Recipe
Chocolate Chip Cookies with Melted Butter
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: Makes 24-30 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Cuisine: American
Description
These easy, chewy chocolate chip cookies use melted butter for an ultra-simple recipe.
Ingredients
- 170 grams unsalted butter, melted (1 ½ sticks )
- 8 grams vanilla extract (2 teaspoons)
- 2 eggs
- 130 grams white granulated sugar (⅔ cup)
- 150 grams brown sugar (about ¾ packed cup)
- 330 grams all purpose flour (about 2 ¾ cups)
- 4 grams kosher salt (1 teaspoon)
- 5 grams baking soda (1 teaspoon)
- 340 grams bittersweet chocolate chips (2 cups)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 375° Fahrenheit. Line a large baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or a sheet of parchment paper.
- Whisk melted butter, vanilla, eggs, white sugar, and brown sugar together in a large mixing bowl until smooth.
- Add flour, kosher salt, and baking soda to the bowl; stir until just combined.
- Reserve a handful of chocolate chips for topping the cookies before baking (optional). Stir remaining chocolate chips into the cookie dough.
- Use a 3-Tablespoon cookie scoop to portion out the dough; place each dough ball 1 inch apart on your prepared baking sheet. Gently press a few reserved chocolate chips into the top of each cookie. Note: This recipe makes quite a few cookies; you will likely need to work in batches.
- Bake cookies at 375° F for 10-13 minutes until lightly browned around the edges. Remove cookies from oven and let cool right on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes, then move to a wire rack to finish cooling. Cookies may look a bit puffy right out of the oven, but the centers will sink down as they cool to form a beautiful, chewy texture.
- Serve immediately or store cooled cookies in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days.
Notes
Please use a kitchen scale. Measuring by volume (with cups) is notoriously unreliable. For best results, use a kitchen scale and follow the gram measurements provided above.
Substitutions. The mix-ins here are very forgiving: Adjust the exact amount of chocolate chips to your liking. Swap some or all of the chocolate chips for additional chocolate (white chocolate chips, chopped baking chocolate), nuts (pecans, pistachios, walnuts, peanuts), or M&Ms. Add a pinch of flakey sea salt to these cookies just before baking if you like. Use oil or melted coconut oil instead of melted butter.
For thin, crispy cookies, reduce the flour here by 30 grams (about ¼ cup).
Rest the cookie dough if you like. As the dough sits on the counter, it will thicken slightly (due to the melted butter cooling). Once mixed, let the dough sit on the counter for 10-15 minutes for softer, chewier cookies. For deeper flavor and chewier, thicker cookies, chill the cookie dough in the fridge for 30 minutes before scooping and baking.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 189
- Sugar: 15.7 g
- Sodium: 130.4 mg
- Fat: 8.4 g
- Carbohydrates: 26.8 g
- Protein: 2.5 g
- Cholesterol: 30.7 mg
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