30-minute Chocolate Chip Cookies
By Jessie
Updated: August 4, 2026
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By: Jessie
Updated: August 4, 2026
Rate This Recipe:
Warm, bakery-style chocolate chip cookies, ready in under 30 minutes! With crisp golden edges, soft chewy centres, and a rich buttery vanilla flavour, these are the kind of cookies you’ll want to bake again and again. I used milk chocolate chips for my cookies, but you could easily swap for white chocolate or dark chocolate, or even a mix of all three!
This recipe is part of my “Bake in 30” series, where I bring you delicious, easy baking recipes that you can make in less than 30 minutes.
Your Ingredients List
Because these cookies are ready in just 30 minutes, there isn’t time to chill the dough (a step that normally helps develop a deeper, richer flavour). That’s why it’s worth using the best-quality ingredients you can, especially the butter, vanilla and chocolate. They really do make all the difference to the flavour and texture of the finished cookies. Trust me, it’s worth it!
- Salted butter: Gives the cookies their soft texture and buttery flavour with a hint of saltiness. I used Kerrigold Salted Butter for its delicious taste and super creamy texture.
- Caster sugar: Adds sweetness and crisps up the edges.
- Light brown sugar: Gives the cookies a golden caramel-like flavour and keeps the middles soft and chewy.
- Vanilla extract: This recipe relies on vanilla for a lot of its flavour, so use a good-quality vanilla extract like Nielsen-Massey if you can.
- Egg: A good quality egg, such as Clarence Court, adds richness and helps bind everything together.
- Self-raising flour: Binds everything together and gives the cookies structure. If needed, you can swap for plain flour mixed with 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder.
- Cornflour: Helps the cookies stay soft and tender, giving that melt-in-the-middle texture. Cornflour is also called cornstarch in other parts of the world.
- Chocolate chips: your choice of flavour! I love using Guittard milk chocolate chips because they’re rich, creamy and hold their shape beautifully when baked.
- Flaky sea salt: Sprinkled over the baked cookies for that more-ish sweet and salty flavour.
WHY YOU’LL LOVE THESE COOKIES
TASTE
Rich buttery vanilla flavour with melted pockets of creamy milk chocolate. Delicious!
TEXTURE
These cookies have that classic bakery-style texture – crisp golden edges with soft, chewy middles.
SKILL
The best thing about this cookie recipe is they only take 30-minutes to make! No chilling the dough and you only need one mixing bowl.
SERVES
Makes 12-14 cookies, depending on how generous you are with the scoops.
How To Make These 30-minute Chocolate Chip Cookies
Step 1: Make the basic cookie dough
The cookie dough comes together super quickly and in just one bowl. Make sure your butter is room temperature and soft before starting the recipe. I take it out of the fridge the night before and leave it on the countertop. The first step is to cream the butter until smooth and creamy, then beat in both sugars. Now mix in the egg and vanilla extract until combined. Finally, fold in the flour and cornflour to bring the mixture into a soft cookie dough.
Step 2: Fold in the chocolate chips
I like my cookies absolutely packed with chocolate chips, so I recommend using anywhere between 150 and 200g. I rarely measure them exactly, I just pour them in until it looks right! I also like to save a small handful to press into the tops of the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven. It gives them that perfect bakery-style finish.
Step 3: Roll into balls
Using a heaped tablespoon or cookie scoop, portion the dough into roughly golf ball-sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball that’s slightly taller than it is wide rather than perfectly round. This encourages the cookies to bake upwards before spreading out, creating thicker cookies with soft, chewy centres.
Step 4: Bake the cookies
Arrange around six cookie dough balls onto a lined black baking tray, leaving plenty of space between each one. A darker tray absorbs heat more efficiently, helping the cookies set quickly and reducing how much they spread.
Bake at 180°C fan for 10 minutes. The edges should look lightly golden while the centres still appear slightly underbaked. This is exactly what you’re looking for. They’ll continue cooking from the residual heat as they cool, giving you perfectly golden soft and chewy cookies.
Step 5: Shape and perfect your cookies
As soon as your cookies come out of the oven, follow these four steps to give your cookies an irresistible bakery-style finish:
- Firmly bang the baking tray on the worktop a few times to create those beautiful rippled, bakery-style tops.
- Swirl a large cookie cutter around each one to give them a lovely round shape. You can use a wide glass/bowl to do this if needed.
- Press some chocolate chips into the tops to make them picture perfect.
- Sprinkle some sea salt flakes on top to enhance the flavour.
Now leave the cookies to cool on the tray for 10 minutes. As they cool, they’ll firm up around the edges while staying soft and chewy in the middle.
FAQ’s for Baking 30-minute Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yes absolutely you can, however just be mindful that the cookies might spread out a bit more. Make sure you line it with baking paper too.
You can use 225g plain all-purpose flour + 1.5 teaspoons baking powder. Just whisk the two together until fully combined before adding to the recipe.
Yes! Once you’ve rolled the cookie dough into balls, place them on a tray and freeze until firm. Transfer them to a freezer bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Bake straight from frozen, just add an extra 2–3 minutes to the baking time.
Keep them in an airtight container or baking tin at room temperature for 3-4 days.
If your cookies spread more than expected, the butter was likely too warm, the flour was slightly under-measured, or your oven wasn’t fully preheated. Because this recipe doesn’t include a chilling step, it’s especially important to weigh your ingredients accurately, use softened (not melted) butter, and bake the cookies as soon as the dough is mixed. If your kitchen is particularly warm, using cold hands to roll the dough and chilling the rolled cookies for 10–15 minutes before baking will help.
30-minute Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Print Pin Rate this RecipeIngredients
- 125 grams Salted butter soft at room temperature. I used Kerrigold
- 75 grams White caster sugar
- 120 grams Light brown sugar
- 1.5 teaspoons Vanilla extract I used Nielsen-Massey
- 1 medium Egg room temperature
- 225 grams Self-raising flour
- 2 teaspoons Cornflour cornstarch in the US
- 150-200 grams Chocolate Chips I used Guittard Milk Chocolate Chips
- Sea salt flakes for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan / 200°C conventional, and line a dark baking tray with baking paper.
- Cream the softened butter until smooth.125 grams Salted butter
- Beat in the light brown sugar and caster sugar until well combined.75 grams White caster sugar, 120 grams Light brown sugar
- Mix in the egg and vanilla extract.1.5 teaspoons Vanilla extract, 1 medium Egg
- Fold in the self-raising flour and cornflour until a soft cookie dough forms.225 grams Self-raising flour, 2 teaspoons Cornflour
- Fold through the chocolate chips, saving a small handful for decorating later.150-200 grams Chocolate Chips
- Scoop heaped tablespoons of dough (roughly golf ball sized) and roll into balls that are slightly taller than they are wide.
- Place around 6 cookie dough balls onto the prepared baking tray, leaving space between each one. You'll need to bake the cookies in batches.
- Bake for 10 minutes. The cookies should look pale golden around the edge but still a little underbaked in the middle.
- Remove from the oven and immediately firmly bang the tray on the worktop a few times (this will give the cookies that crinkly rippled top). Use a large cookie cutter to gently shape each cookie into a neat circle, then press the reserved chocolate chips into the tops. Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt flakes over each cookie.
- Leave the cookies to cool on the tray for 10 minutes before serving. They'll continue to firm up while staying perfectly soft and chewy in the middle.
