This Chewy Chocolate Cookie recipe will be your new go to easy chocolate cookie. A super quick cocoa cookie, these can be ready to eat in less than 30 minutes and are made with pantry staples!

Hi hi! I am just popping in to share this chewy chocolate cookie recipe with you! These cookies kind of came about as an accident - I originally developed them as a base for my chocolate crinkle cookie recipe but was having some issues with the powdered sugar melting. So I switched to an oil based recipe, but this easy chocolate cookie recipe is so so good, I wanted to share it with you still!
These are a part of my holiday cookie recipes that I am posting this year, but they are honestly an amazing chocolate cookie recipe to have in your easy homemade cookie recipes stash year round. These chocolate cookies are cocoa cookies, and are made with pantry staples - no chopping chocolate needed! (although they would be delicious with some chocolate chips or chopped chocolate added)
If you are looking for other easy recipes to make, check out my super easy snickerdoodle recipe, and my thin and crispy ginger snaps! If you are after a vanilla version of these chocolate cookies, my classic vanilla cookies would work perfectly.
How to develop a recipe: Thick chocolate cookies.
I love writing about my recipe development process. Now that I have been a baking blogger full time for quite a few years, I have developed a whole lot of base recipes that I often use as a kicking off point. I love tweaking my own recipes, and changing the ratios of ingredients to give a slightly different outcome.
For this chocolate cookie recipe I used my chocolate sprinkle cookies as a starting point. That recipe bakes up quite thin, and I wanted a slightly thicker, more substantial cookie, but still wanted a chocolate cookie that came together fast without any chill time. Here is what I changed to give a thicker cookie:
- Increased the flour. There are a few ways to get a cookie to be a little thicker, and changing the butter to flour ratio is one of them. Either you can decrease the butter in the recipe, or increase the flour to make the cookie spread a little less.
- Changed the ratio of sugars. The sprinkle cookies use only white sugar, which gives a cookie that spreads a lot and is quite chewy. I wanted some spread and chew while still keeping some of the thickness, so I switched out some of the granulated sugar for brown sugar.
Tips and Tricks for perfect chocolate cookies
These are all the tips and tricks I use when I am making homemade cookie recipes. While these tips may seem simple, they really help to give you the best possible outcome.
Room temperature ingredients.
Having all your ingredients the same temperature really helps here - if your butter is too soft or too cold it will affect the outcome of the cookies. Make sure your butter is not too soft as it can cause the cookies to spread excessively.
Having room temperature eggs is also important - if you keep yours in the fridge and have forgotten to remove them before baking you can warm them in a glass of warm water.
Use a cookie scoop.
Using a cookie scoop is a great way to ensure that you have evenly sized cookies. This doesn't just look nice, but it means that they will all bake evenly. I use a 2 Tbsp cookie scoop for making this chocolate cookie recipe, but you can also weigh the cookie dough balls if you need
Don't overbake your cookies.
This is the best way to ensure that you have a nice soft chocolate cookie - do not over bake them or the texture won't be as nice. Remember that cookies do continue to bake and set up when you remove them from the oven as they sit on the tray.
I usually only need 11-12 minutes to bake my chocolate sugar cookies. You will know they are done when they are puffy and beginning to set around the edges of the cookie.
Use parchment paper.
I often hear from readers that they have had issues with their cookies spreading, and then they tell me that they have lined their pans with silpat or silicone baking sheets. Silpat mats are super slippery, causing the cookie to spread much more.
I use parchment paper on my baking sheets, and use and re-use each piece with each batch of cookies.
Scoot your cookies.
This is a totally optional step, but if you want to, you can scoot your chocolate cookies back into a perfectly round shape when they come out of the oven. To do this, just grab a cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookie, place over the top, and 'scoot' them back into a perfectly round shape using a rounding motion. My very favourite thing to do.
How to freeze chocolate cookie dough
If you would like to make chocolate sugar cookies ahead of time, you can freeze the dough before baking and store in a freezer bag or ziplock. Leave off the sugar mixture and apply that just before baking - I like to give the dough 10 minutes or so out of the freezer to allow the surface to get slightly sticky so that the sugar sticks.
You will want to drop the oven temperature to 325°f / 165°c when baking cookie dough from frozen, and add a few more minutes onto the bake time.
For all my tips and tricks on freezing dough and cookies, check out my post: How to freeze cookie dough
Cookie coating and flavor options
If you would like to change up these chocolate cookies to suit your liking, here are a few ways to finish them, aside from rolling them in granulated sugar like I have. You can also add in mix-ins:
- Roll in cinnamon sugar. Rolling these chocolate cookies in cinnamon sugar would be a super easy way to make them extra delicious and festive!
- Chunky sugar / sparkling sugar: Everything is better rolled in a crunchy sugar. Use a turbinado sugar / demerara sugar to roll these in or a sparkly sanding sugar if you want something a little more textured.
- Add mix-ins. This is a cocoa cookie so fairly straightforward flavor wise. You can add things like chopped nuts or chocolate chips to them to fancy up the flavour as you like.
Frequently Asked Questions
What tools and equipment do you use?
You can find a full list of the tools and equipment I use on my products page
Which Cookie scoop did you use?
I use a 2 Tbsp cookie scoop for making this chocolate cookie recipe, but you can also weigh the cookie dough balls if you need
How do you store chocolate cookies?
Store your baked chocolate cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
For more easy cookie recipes, check out:
❤️ Made this recipe and love it? ❤️
I would LOVE for you to leave me a review and star rating below to let me know how you liked it! Also, please make sure to tag me on Instagram!
Answers to your baking questions
Over the years, many of you have asked me questions about:
- baking in grams
- adjusting oven temperatures
- what kind of salt to use
- and many more!
I've curated and answered them all for your easy reference in this frequently asked questions post!
30 minute Chewy Chocolate Cookies
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 20 cookies 1x
- Category: Cookies
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Chewy Chocolate Cookie recipe will be your new go to easy chocolate cookie. A super quick cocoa cookie, these can be ready to eat in less than 30 minutes and are made with pantry staples!
Ingredients
- 300g all-purpose flour
- 50g dutch process cocoa powder, sifted
- 1 tsp salt
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 225g unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 200g brown sugar
- 100g granulated sugar
- 1 large egg (50g not including the shell), at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- Granulated Sugar for Rolling
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°f / 180°c. Line three baking trays with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until combined. Add the flour and cocoa mixture, and beat on low until just incorporated.
- Using a cookie scoop, scoop 2 tbsp worth of mixture at a time (about 40g). Roll into a ball using your hands, then roll generously in granulated sugar. Place on the baking tray, leaving room to spread (I had 8 cookies per baking tray).
- Bake one tray at a time for 11-12 minutes, until the cookies have puffed up and are beginning to crack on the tops, and the edges are set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking tray for 15 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Keywords: Cookies, Chocolate Cookies, Sugar Cookies, easy cookie recipe
Comments
my new fave 🙂
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so good with cinnamon sugar!
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Delicious with a capital “D”. Made for a work smoko and had to double the recipe fro the family to try, these are a winner.
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Can these be made with natural cocoa instead of Dutch?
I haven't tried sorry!
Made these with my 3 year old granddaughter and everyone loved them. Thanks for the easy recipe
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My new go to cookie recipe! Made these with my toddler today and they are absolutely delicious. So easy and quick. We opted to skip rolling in sugar and they turned out great!
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Such a great recipe - thank you, thank you, thank you.
Made these today but modified them to make GF and DF. Worked a treat (although a little flat) but still crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle.
Sooo good I've had to hide them so they make it as the gift to my niece. Totally going to be my "go to" cookie recipe until you post a new brilliant one!
Yuummmmyyyyy......
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Such an easy recipe, perfect to make with the kids and super yummy! They also look amazing too, and love a recipe with basic ingredients
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These cookies are amazing! I added chocolate chips for an extra dose of chocolate. Next time I might skip rolling them in sugar since the chips added in extra sweetness as well.
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We made these cookies, and they really exceeded expectations! Honestly, super quick and easy, we had all the ingredients in the pantry and the outcome was deeeelish! They taste like chewy brownies. Thank you for making such an easy to follow and precise recipe (the weighing of the egg is my love language) that tastes super gourmet.
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These were delicious!
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I dream about these cookies! I've yet to have a cloudy kitchen recipe disappoint. Yummmmm!
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I made these yesterday and they are so simple and quick to make, but most importantly absolutely delicious. I stupidly forgot to reduce the salt amount, as I was using fine table salt, so they were a bit on the salty side, but still delicious. But weirdly, they became less salty as they cooled. Dunno about the science there. Next time - and there will 100% be a next time - I will pay attention to what salt I’m using. I will also try rolling in cinnamon sugar, cos that sounds amazing! As always, another flawless recipe from Erin. x
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These cookies are delicious! It tested my willpower but I didn’t eat them all at once and they were still great 3-4 days later stored in an airtight container. Would 💯 make again.
These are fantastic! They are super easy, delicious and freeze and rebaked so well too. I tried rolling them in a few different sugars to see what I liked best - golden caster sugar ended up my favourite.
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After massive success with the 25 min snickerdoodle recipe, I decided to try these and i’m just as impressed. So easy and so delicious, I can whip these up before my 3 month old gets bored which is my current baking standard. I’ve frozen half the batch so I can quickly get a fix when I need lol
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So yum!
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I’m obsessed with these! I currently live in Fiji and buying actual chocolate is crazy expensive, but these give you all the chocolate goodness you need. I roll mine in cinnamon sugar and they are all always gone within 24 hours of the bake. Thanks so much for a really great recipe!
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Made just over 3 dozen tablespoon-size cookies. I was low on brown sugar, so I flip-flopped the amounts of brown and granulated sugar. They turned out thick, chewy, and delicious! We will definitely make these again.
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