The BEST Christmas Chocolate Chip Cookies
These delicious, chewy Christmas chocolate chip cookies are so easy to make and you don't even have to chill the dough before baking!
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Servings: 24 cookies
Ingredients
- 2 sticks 1 c unsalted butter, slightly softened
- 1 1/2 c packed brown sugar
- 1/2 c granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 3 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 c + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 c semisweet chocolate chips
- About 1/2 c mini Christmas M&Ms
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375.
- If you forget to remove your butter from the fridge ahead of time, you can slightly soften it in the microwave. You don't want them super soft or melted, so make sure not to over-cook them! I put the two sticks in my microwave for 10-15 seconds and that gets them slightly soft (which is perfect!). You just want to make sure your butter isn't too soft or else the dough is more likely to spread.
- Using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer, cream butter & sugar together on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.
- While the butter & sugars are creaming together, pour 3 c flour (leave that other 2 tbsp for later), baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl and gently mix together with a whisk, and then set aside.
- Add in vanilla & egg to the creamed butter and sugar until egg is combined (about 15-20 seconds), scraping the bowl to make sure everything evenly mixes together.
- With the mixer on low, slowly add in the flour mixture to the creamed butter, and mix together until just combined.
- Gently add in the chocolate chips.
- Now, for a silly-but-always-works trick for helping those cookies not to spread: sprinkle in the remaining 2 tbsp of flour into the cookie dough and quickly mix together - just a few rotations around the bowl!*
- Roll out your cookie dough - the dough balls should be about 2 inches in diameter. After you roll each one, add some Christmas M&Ms to the top and sides of the dough ball - maybe 6-8 M&Ms.
- Once you've rolled out 12 and placed them on your baking pan, bake on the center rack in the 375 degree preheated oven for 9 minutes. (See my note on baking pans)
- While those cookies are baking, roll out the other half of the dough, add M&Ms, and place on a second baking sheet.
- Remove the baked cookies from the oven, and allow them to sit on the baking pan for 5-10 minutes before transferring them on a cooling rack. Place the second pan of cookie dough balls in the oven & bake.
- Remove from oven, allow to cool on wire rack, and then enjoy!
Notes
*You don't need to add in those extra 2 tbsp of flour if you're planning to make this dough ahead of time to chill it and then use it a couple of days later. The chilling will help keep the cookies from spreading. But, for a no-chill recipe, I think adding the flour helps them keep their shape if you're baking them right after you make the dough.
- A note on baking pans: they really make all the difference. I've been using USA Pans for years now (over a decade), and they're the only baking pans I EVER use - for anything that requires a baking pan! They produce the best cookies. They don't stick, they bake really evenly, and they turn out so wonderfully chewy. I've been recommending these pans for years, and I just cannot recommend them enough!
- As long as your butter isn't too soft & you add in that extra bit of flour (as directed), you should end up with thick, soft, chewy, melty-on-the-inside, not-spready, delicious chocolate chip cookies without having to chill the dough ahead of time! Now, if you want to make this dough ahead of time, you can absolutely do that and then chill it until you're ready to use it the next day or within the next couple of days. But, this recipe doesn't require chilling.
- These cookies stay super soft the following day, but I think pretty much all chocolate chip cookies lose a lot of their goodness in texture & flavor by Day 3. So, if you're wanting to make these ahead of time, just make the dough ahead of time and store it in the fridge, and then bake the day of or the day before you're wanting to eat them! Nothing yells "DELICIOUS!" like a fresh chocolate chip cookie!
- Yep, you can freeze the dough! Standard for cookie dough is up to 3 months. If you do want to freeze it, roll it out into dough balls first, then freeze. If you're baking them from frozen, add 1-2 minutes of bake time.
- You probably noticed I don't add the M&Ms into the dough when I mix it. I add them after so you can actually see them. If you add them into the dough and mix it, they often get hidden in the mix, and then they're kind of pointless. 😜 So, I just take that extra step to press them into the dough balls before I bake them.