Let's be honest, sometimes you just need a cookie, and you need it to be simple.

This recipe is that quiet victory, the one that feels almost too straightforward to be true.

Why This Recipe Feels Like a Secret

Most chocolate chip cookie recipes come with a list of demands: cream the butter and sugar until pale, chill the dough for hours, roll perfect little balls.

This one, thankfully, throws all that fuss out the kitchen window.

Ingredients Needed for the Recipe

• Plain / All Purpose Flour: The main structure-builder for our soft, cakey cookies.
• Salt: A crucial pinch to balance the sweetness and make the flavors pop.
• Baking Soda: Our leavening agent, giving the cookies their gentle rise and soft texture.
• Unsalted Butter: Melted butter is the key to ease and a wonderfully chewy interior.
• Brown Sugar & Caster Sugar: The brown sugar brings moisture and a caramel hint, while the white sugar encourages a slight crispness at the edges.
• Egg & Egg Yolk: The whole egg binds everything, and the extra yolk is our secret weapon for extra tenderness and richness.
• Vanilla Extract: The classic, warm flavor that makes a cookie taste like a cookie.
• Chocolate Chips: The star of the show, of course, providing those glorious melted pockets in every single bite.

How to make My easiest Chocolate Chip Cookies (Soft!)?

Step 1- Prep Your Kitchen

Start by preheating your oven to 180°C / 350°F (or 160°C/320°F for a fan-assisted oven).

Position a rack in the center of the oven and line two baking trays with parchment paper.

Step 2- The Dry Team

Simply grab a bowl and whisk together your flour, salt, and baking soda.

This quick aerating action ensures our leavening is evenly distributed, no sifting required.

Step 3- The Butter Magic

Place your cubed butter into a large, heatproof bowl and microwave it until it's almost fully melted.

A few small lumps are perfectly fine; they'll vanish with a quick whisk.

Step 4- The Sugary Whisk

Pour both the brown and white sugars into the melted butter.

Now, whisk it with a bit of energy for about 15 seconds; you're not creaming, just combining it into a grainy, fragrant paste.

Step 5- Incorporate the Wet Ingredients

Add in the whole egg, the extra egg yolk, and the vanilla extract.

Whisk again for another 15 seconds until the mixture looks smooth, glossy, and beautifully emulsified.

Step 6- Bring It All Together

Dump the flour mixture into your wet ingredients and mix with a spatula until the flour is almost, but not quite, fully incorporated.

A few dry streaks are your signal to move to the next step.

Step 7- The Chocolate Finale

Tip in one cup of the chocolate chips, reserving the rest for later.

Stir everything until the chips are dispersed and no more flour is visible. The batter will be very soft, almost like a thick cake batter.

Step 8- The Patient Pause

This is the only "hard" part. Let the batter sit on your counter for about 5 minutes.

You'll see it transform from loose to a soft, scoop-able dough right before your eyes.

Step 9- Scoop and Shape

For large, bakery-style cookies, use a level ice cream scoop or a 1/4 cup measure.

Place the mounds on your prepared trays about 2 inches apart, then press the reserved chocolate chips onto the tops.

Step 10- Bake to Perfection

Bake one tray at a time for even cooking. For large cookies, bake for 8 minutes, rotate the tray, then bake for another 3.

They'll be puffy, golden on the edges, and still pale on top, which is exactly what you want.

Step 11- The Crucial Cool Down

Remove the tray from the oven and let the cookies cool completely on it.

They will deflate slightly and finish setting up, becoming impossibly soft and chewy as they cool.

Tips

• For a slightly crispier edge and chewier center, use a full ½ cup of packed dark brown sugar.
• An ice cream scoop with a lever isn't just for ice cream; it's the fastest way to create perfectly uniform cookie mounds.
• Resist the urge to bake two trays at once, as this leads to uneven baking and less-than-perfect results.

Understanding Your Cookie Dough

The melted butter method is what makes this recipe so wonderfully simple and the texture so distinct.

Because the butter is already liquid, it hydrates the flour proteins differently, resulting in a softer, more tender crumb compared to the crispness achieved by creaming solid butter.

Fun Variations to Try

Once you've mastered the base, feel free to get creative. Stir in a half cup of chopped toasted walnuts or pecans along with the chocolate chips.

For a fun twist, use a mix of milk and dark chocolate chips, or even chop up a favorite chocolate bar into chunks.

Storing Your Cookie Bounty

Keep your completely cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.

The dough itself can be scooped onto a tray, frozen solid, then transferred to a freezer bag for up to 3 months; just add a minute or two to the baking time.