If you’re on the hunt for a delicious treat that perfectly balances the classic charm of a Sugar Cookie recipe with the gooey goodness of classic chocolate chip cookies, you’ve landed in the right place! These sugar cookie with chocolate chips are not just any cookies; they’re the kind that’ll have you reaching for seconds and sharing smiles with friends and family. 

Easy to make, you can omit any chilling if you are in a rush, they are perfect to decorate with icing, you can freeze them and have chocolate chips in them! Best of both worlds right? This sugar cookie with chocolate chips recipe will be one for the books rest assured!

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What are sugar cookies?

Sugar cookies are a type of cookie that is made from a simple mixture of ingredients, including sugar, butter or margarine, flour, eggs, baking powder or baking soda, and vanilla extract. These cookies are known for their sweet and slightly buttery flavour and have a soft and tender texture. One of the easiest cookie to decorate with icing, sprinkles or sugar.

Sugar cookies are often rolled out and cut into various shapes using cookie cutters, which makes them a popular choice for holiday and special occasion cookies, like Halloween or Christmas. They seem to have originated in the mid-1700s in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, first known as the Nazareth cookie. A round, crumbly and buttery cookie. (Wikipedia)

What’s the difference between sugar cookies and butter cookies?

Sugar cookies are typically made with a combination of butter, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, and vanilla extract. The primary flavor comes from the sugar, and they have a sweet, tender texture, perfect for decorating.

Butter cookies, emphasize butter as the main flavor and fat source. They are made with butter, sugar, flour, and sometimes a bit of vanilla extract or other flavorings. They are known for their buttery, delicate, and tender consistency.

What ingredients do I need for this sugar cookieS with chocolate chips recipe?

For this easy sugar cookie with chocolate chips you will need:

• unsalted butter: make sure it’s room temperature butter, which will help with creaming and a fluffier texture for your cookie. Just take it out of the fridge 15 minutes before baking and it should be soft enough;
• white sugar: this will be used to cream with the butter and it’s the first step for the best sugar cookie;
• vanilla extract: a small quantity goes a long way;
• egg: only one is needed in this recipe;
• baking powder: which helps make your cookies lighter and aerier;
• salt: to even up the sweetness of your cookies;
• all purpose flour: to mix with your wet ingredients and get a malleable dough;
• mini chocolate chips: main star of the show and the ones that will add more texture to your cookies.

Can I substitute anything in this simple sugar cookie with chocolate chips?

There are some changes and substitutions you can make to this recipe:

• butter: you can use vegan butter to make your cookies vegan or to have a dairy free option for your recipe;
• white granulated sugar: usually sugar cookies are made with granulated white sugar as you need them for decorating so you will need a lighter cookie. You can use brown sugar too, but you will have a darker cookie and a more caramel flavour to them;
• vanilla: you can substitute for any extract you prefer, a lot of recipes use almond or lemon extract for a flavoured sugar cookie;
• chocolate chips: you can use anything you prefer, from chocolate bites to peanut butter chips or dried fruits.

How do I make the sugar cookie with chocolate chips?

Start off by preheating your oven at 180C. In the bowl of your standing mixer, cream the butter and sugar for at least 3 minutes or until smooth. Then beat in your extract and the egg. Keep mixing it until its all combined.

In a separate mixing bowl, combine your dry ingredients, flour, baking powder and salt. Then add a bit at the time the dry ingredients to your wet ingredients and keep mixing.

When the dough is pulling from the side of your mixer bowl it will be ready, around 3-4 minutes. In case its still crumbly, keep mixing it.

On a floured surface, shape your cookie dough in a log around 4/5 cm in diameter (optional: you can wrap it in cling film and refrigerate for 15 minutes before cutting and baking). If the dough is still very wet, sprinkle some more flour on it while shaping it, if it’s too dry, wet your hands to help you shape it.

Cut your log in slices around 0.5 cm thick. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and place your cut cookies. Bake for 6-8 minutes and let them cool completely on a cooling rack before decorating or serving. Enjoy your sugar cookie with chocolate chips!

Can I omit chilling the dough?

You can indeed! Different from other recipes, these chocolate chip-sugar cookies don’t require any chilling time. As we added chocolate chips to the mix, we tested a chilled batch and a non chilled batch, they both came out soft and buttery, so you can pick your own option here.

If you decide to chill it, remember to shape it before chilling, either a flat disc with which you are going to use a cookie cutter or as a log, so you can just slice and bake.

Can I make the dough ahead of time?

Absolutely! You can make the dough up to three days in advance and refrigerate. All you have to do is tightly wrap it in cling film in a log shape, so that when you are ready to bake, you can let it come to room temperature and slice your cookies. Easy peasy!

How can I store the easy chocolate chip sugar cookies?

After baking, allow your sugar cookies to completely cool off on a wire rack, then transfer them to an airtight container. You can keep them for up to three days, more time means that the cookie might go stale.

Can I freeze these soft chocolate chip sugar cookies?

Indeed you can! And that’s yet another amazing thing about this easy recipe! All you have to do is create one or two logs of dough after you have finished mixing all your ingredients. Tightly wrap them in cling film, then put them in a freezer-safe container or bag and label them. The best way to have easy slice and bake cookies.

Or, you can flatten the dough and cut your cookies to shape already, add some parchment paper between each one, tightly wrap them and freeze.

You can also freeze them after they get baked. Wait for them to cool down completely, then line them with some parchment paper between each other so you can grab one when needed. Or line them on a tray, start freezing them for an hour and then move them to an airtight container or freezer bag.

If you roll your dough like a log before freezing, allow it to thaw before cutting and baking. Add a couple of minutes to the original baking time. If you already shaped the cookies before freezing, pop them in the oven straight from frozen and add 3-4 minutes to baking time for your sugar cookie with chocolate chips. (The Spruce Eats)