Make the best chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies without brown sugar and baking soda. This easy recipe will quickly become your go-to for an easy cookie treat the whole family loves. Loaded with two types of chocolate chips and topped with just a tiny bit of salt.
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I love chocolate chip cookies - and I bet you do too! A lot of chocolate chip cookie recipes call for brown sugar and baking soda, two ingredients which I seldom have at home.
But since creating this chocolate chip cookie recipe without both brown sugar & baking soda, I keep making it over and over again. It's so easy, so quick, and only uses ingredients I always have at home.
Omitting the brown sugar can make cookies less chewy, but these are still good chewy cookies. And using baking powder instead of baking soda means they are a bit higher and fluffier. The utlimate chocolate chip cookie, if you ask me!
Why you will love this recipe
- It's quick and all done in about 1 hour
- It's easy with a few simple steps
- Common ingredients you probably already have at home
- Two kinds of chocolate chips for the ultimate chocolate experience
- Perfectly fluffy cookies with a delicious chewy texture
- A touch of salt to balance the sweetness and bring out all the chocolate flavor
What you need to make them
Ingredient notes & substitutions
- Sugar: this recipe is made with just white granulated sugar. Part of it can be substituted for brown sugar if you prefer.
- Chocolate chips: I use half dark and half milk / light chocolate chips - you can do a mix, or use just one kind
- Butter: I use unsalted butter, you can use salted as well but then reduce the amount of salt added to the dough
- Salt flakes are optional, but add a nice finishing touch
- Vanilla extract can be swapped for vanilla sugar or vanilla powder in the same amount
How to make them
- Place butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl
- Cream well
- Add eggs & vanilla extract
- Mix until fluffy and well combined
- In a separate bowl, add the dry ingredients
- Mix well
- Add the flour mixture to the batter
- Mix to combine well, but not more than necessary
- Add chocolate chips
- Mix gently, I recommend using your hands for this. Then chill cookie dough at least 30 minutes.
- Divide into 24 dough balls of roughly equal size and place on a lined baking sheet
- Bake 12-14 minutes until golden brown on the edges
Tips & tricks
- Chilling the dough gives higher cookies - but you can bake them straight away as well, they will just turn out a bit thinner. They will also bake slightly faster, so keep an eye on them!
- Don't roll into perfectly round balls - rougher balls give a more interesting texture. Use a cookie scoop to make it easier!
- Don't overbake them - they will be gooey when you remove them from the oven, and that is how it should be
- You can refrigerate the dough for up to 3 days before baking
- Freeze the dough - already rolled into balls - to keep it for longer. Bake just as many as you want each time!
- Store cookies in an airtight container, they're good for 5-7 days but at their very best the first few days
- Freeze cookies for up to 3 months
Recipe FAQ
Instead of brown sugar you can make your own brown sugar from white sugar and molasses, just use regular white sugar, or (for most recipes) you can use coconut sugar.
Yes, you can make chocolate chip cookie without brown sugar, with just slight changes to the taste and texture.
Baking powder is the most common replacement for baking soda in cookies. It tends to make cookies more puffy than baking soda.
It's weaker than baking soda so use 2-3 x the amount.
Other options is to use egg whites, potassium bicarbonate, baker's ammonia, club soda, or self-rising flour (substitute for both flour and baking soda).
More quick & easy cookie recipes
Looking for more quick & easy dessert recipes?
- Peanut Butter Cookies Without Brown Sugar
- Cocoa Powder Cookies without Baking Powder
- Cinnamon Cookies with Cinnamon Sugar
- Butterball Cookies (Snowball Cookies / Russian Tea Cakes)
- Chocolate No Bake Cookies without Peanut Butter
Did you love this recipe? Rate it five stars!
...and let me know what you loved about it in the comments.
Recipe
Chocolate Chip Cookies without Brown Sugar & Baking Soda
Print RateIngredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature, cut in small pieces
- 1.5 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs at room temperature
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine table salt
- 2 cups chocolate chips half dark, half milk, or all one kind
- 1 teaspoon salt flakes optional
Instructions
- Combine butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl and mix until soft, creamy and fluffy.1 cup unsalted butter, 1.5 cup white sugar
- Add eggs and vanilla extract and mix until well combined and fluffy.2 eggs, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and fine table salt.2¾ cup all purpose flour, 1.5 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon fine table salt
- Add the flour to the rest of the batter and mix until well combined, but not more than necessary to combine.
- Add chocolate chips and use your hands to gently combine with the dough.2 cups chocolate chips
- Cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before baking.
Baking
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Bring out the dough and divide into 24 even-sized balls, they will be a little more than 1 inch across.
- Space out the balls on the baking sheets, then bake one set at a time for 12-14 minutes.
- They are done when the edges are starting to brown. The tops will not be brown, and that is fine.
- Remove from the oven, and sprinkle with salt flakes. Allow to cool down slightly on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack. Cool completely before storing!1 teaspoon salt flakes
Equipment (may contain affiliate links)
- Measuring cups (metric or US)*
- 2 Baking sheets
Video
Notes
Ingredient notes & substitutions
- Sugar: this recipe is made with just white granulated sugar. Part of it can be substituted for brown sugar if you prefer.
- Chocolate chips: I use half dark and half milk / light chocolate chips - you can do a mix, or use just one kind
- Butter: I use unsalted butter, you can use salted as well but then reduce the amount of salt added to the dough
- Salt flakes are optional, but add a nice finishing touch
- Vanilla extract can be swapped for vanilla sugar or vanilla powder in the same amount
Tips & tricks
- Chilling the dough gives higher cookies - but you can bake them straight away as well, they will just turn out a bit thinner. They will also bake slightly faster, so keep an eye on them!
- Don't roll into perfectly round balls - rougher balls give a more interesting texture. Use a cookie scoop to make it easier!
- Don't overbake them - they will be gooey when you remove them from the oven, and that is how it should be
- You can refrigerate the dough for up to 3 days before baking
- Freeze the dough - already rolled into balls - to keep it for longer. Bake just as many as you want each time!
- Store cookies in an airtight container, they're good for 5-7 days but at their very best the first few days
- Freeze cookies for up to 3 months
Nutrition
Nutritional information is approximate and automatically calculated, and should only be viewed as an indication.
Anthony Tedeschi
good for a biscuit recipe but not for a cookie
Emmeline Kemperyd
Hi Anothony! What was it that made you consider them more biscuits than cookies? I am wondering if something went wrong during the process, because when I and others have made them they are distinctly "cookies" and not even close to biscuits. Would love to help you troubleshoot! /Emmeline
Katya
These cookies with gluten free flour are so yummy! I used a mixture that was more rice flour (60%) and buckwheat flour (40%) and they turned out amazing.. maybe the best gluten free chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had!! So easy to follow the directions with ingredients I have at home and amazing to find a recipe that tastes like the real deal as gluten free without xanthan gum! I think any gluten free flour would work - next I’ll try almond flour. Yum!!
Anya
I made these cookies gluten free and they are the best chocolate chip cookies ever!!! I followed the recipe exactly but switched regular wheat flour for gluten free flour - in this case I used buckwheat flour (260g buckwheat flour) and rice flour (80g rice flour). They were so good - my friends did not realize that they were gluten free! I also love that you can make these chocolate chip cookies without xanthan gum.