Perfect White Chocolate Chip Cookies made completely from scratch. Crisp on the edges, gooey in the centre, these chewy cookies are packed with white chocolate chips. There’s no chilling the dough, so these cookies are ready to eat in just 30 minutes!
Quick Look White Chocolate Chip Cookies
- ⏱ Prep time: 18 minutes
- 🔥 Cook time: 12 minutes
- ⏳ Total time: 30 minutes
- 🍪 Serving: 16 cookies
- 🍂 Flavour profile: Soft and chewy cookies with loads of sweet white chocolate chips.
- 👌 Difficulty: Easy
- ❤️ Why we love them: These buttery cookies are so quick and easy to make. Use this recipe as a base cookie dough and swap in any mix-in’s you like.
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Calling all white chocolate fans 💕 If you love buttery golden cookies and creamy white chocolate, you’ll fall head over heels for these perfect White Chocolate Chip Cookies. With crispy edges and soft centres, these cookies are the ultimate treat.
There’s no need to chill the cookie dough, so these White Chocolate Chip Cookies are ready to eat in just 30 minutes. They taste reminiscent of sweet Subway Cookies. The kids will love to make them and it’s a really versatile base recipe so you can make it your own.
Why you will love these cookies
- Soft and chewy: Expect buttery cookies that are soft and chewy with crispy edges.
- Easy mix-in’s: Use white chocolate chips or any chocolate chips you like! You can also use this recipe as a base cookie dough for any of your favourite mix-ins.
- Quick and easy: There’s no need to chill the dough, so these cookies are ready to eat in just 30 minutes.
- Make-ahead: You can easily make the cookie dough ahead of time. See the freezer instructions below.
family and friends can’t get enough of these cookies! They have the perfect taste and texture, and the recipe is quick and easy to follow! I literally named it as a dish because I make it every week or so!
– Justin
Recipe testing
It’s no secret that I truly adore cookies. When I travel, I’m always looking for amazing cookie stores so I can try new flavours and textures. I recently developed a recipe for Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies after tasting a similar one in Paris late last year and most recently, a Tiramisu Cookie.
And while I’m seriously partial to a good Chocolate Chip Cookie and a Rye Chocolate Chip Cookie, I realised I hadn’t shared a White Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. And as a big white chocolate fan, I was definitely up for the challenge. I adore my White Chocolate Rocky Road and my White Chocolate Mud Cake.
While my Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies use melted butter, these White Chocolate Chip Cookies come together quickly by creaming the butter and sugar. It makes the cookies have delightfully crispy edges and it also means there is no need to chill the dough.
Filled to the brim with white chocolate chips and sprinkled with sea salt, these buttery cookies are soft and sweet. If you love white chocolate, you’ll be munching on these delicious cookies for days.
For something even more indulgent, try my White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies.
Ingredients
You only need a handful of pantry staples to make these chewy White Chocolate Chip Cookies. Here are the key ingredients you need to make a batch, including any substitutions you can make.
- Unsalted butter: This recipe calls for softened butter. If you are in a pinch, you can microwave the butter until softened but not melty (otherwise the cookies will spread too much as they bake). If you choose to use salted butter, skip the salt added to the cookie dough.
- Brown sugar: Brown sugar adds flavour and moisture. You can use light or dark brown sugar.
- Caster sugar: I love the combination of both white sugar and brown sugar in my cookies. Caster sugar or granulated sugar helps to create those crispier edges and also helps the cookie dough spread in the oven as it bakes.
- Plain flour: You will need plain flour or all purpose flour for this recipe.
- Baking soda: Baking soda, also know as bicarbonate of soda, is what will give these cookies lift. I find it helps create a more crispy (but still soft) cookie, whereas baking powder results in a more cakey cookie.
- White chocolate chips: This recipe is extremely versatile – you can use whatever chocolate chips you fancy. Swap the white chocolate chips for milk chocolate chips, peanut butter or butterscotch chips. Or you could use white chocolate chunks if you prefer more gooey chocolate pockets!
- Sea salt
How to make White Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Here’s a brief overview of how to make White Chocolate Cookies at home. For ease, it is recommended that you use a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or an electric hand mixer.
Detailed instructions are included in the recipe card below.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer on medium speed to combine butter and sugars.
- Add vanilla and egg and mix just to combine.
- Add flour and baking soda and mix until a soft cookie dough forms. Finally, stir through chocolate chips.
- Scoop cookie dough and roll into balls using the palm of your hands.
- Place on prepared trays and bake until golden. Sprinkle warm cookies with sea salt.
Jess’s expert recipe tips
- Make sure your butter is at room temperature: It shouldn’t be too soft or wet, but not fridge cold. If it’s too soft, your cookies will spread too much in the oven.
- Use both caster sugar and brown sugar: For best results, use both sugars. Caster sugar (or you can use granulated sugar) adds sweetness and helps form crispy edges, while brown sugar gives a more caramel-like flavour and extra chewiness.
- Try not to overbake your cookies: Watch the bake time. Cookies firm up as they cool, so it’s ok to take them out of the oven even when they look slightly underdone – especially if you prefer a soft and chewy cookie.
- Add a few extra chocolate chips: While the cookies are warm, add a few extra white chocolate chips on the tops of the cookies.
Storage and make-ahead instructions
Storage: Keep leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Make ahead: You can make this cookie dough ahead of time and freeze it. Roll the cookie dough into balls and then place them in a ziplock bag and pop them in the freezer. Let them thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes (or overnight in the fridge) before baking as per the recipe.
Frequently asked questions
No. These cookies will naturally flatten out in the oven when baking. Keep them in balls and leave room on your baking tray for them to spread out.
No. You do not need to chill this cookie dough. You can roll the cookie dough and bake them straight away. However, you can chill the dough in the fridge if you want to bake them at a later time.
Absolutely! You can use chopped chocolate, chocolate chunks, pieces or chips – whatever you prefer.
More white chocolate recipes
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Let’s Bake
White Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe
Buttery white chocolate chip cookies made from scratch.
Ingredients
- 115 grams (1 stick or 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 90 grams (1/2 cup) brown sugar
- 50 grams (1/4 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 160 grams (1 cup) white chocolate chips, plus extra for decorating
- Sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Line two baking trays or cookie sheets with baking or parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the butter and sugars and beat using an electric beater on medium speed for a minute or two until smooth and creamy.
- Add vanilla and egg and beat until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
- Add flour, baking soda and salt and beat again on low speed just until a soft cookie dough forms. Add chocolate chips and stir.
- Scoop out cookie dough (roughly 2 tablespoons or 40 grams each) and roll them into balls using the palm of your hands.
- Place the cookie dough on baking trays, leaving room for the cookies to spread naturally in the oven. Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes or until golden brown on the edges.
- While the cookies are still warm, add a few extra chocolate chips on top. Leave cookies to cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Sprinkle cookies with sea salt.
Notes
White chocolate chips: This recipe is extremely versatile – you can use whatever chocolate chips you fancy. Swap the white chocolate chips for milk chocolate chips, peanut butter or butterscotch chips.
Storage: Keep leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
Make ahead: You can make this cookie dough ahead of time. Simply cover and keep in the fridge, then bring the dough back to room temperature before rolling and baking. Alternatively, you can roll the cookie dough into balls and then freeze them. Let them thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking as per recipe.
Nutrition Information
Serving Size: 1 cookie Calories: 216 Sugar: 16.3 g Sodium: 228.9 mg Fat: 10.6 g Carbohydrates: 27.8 g Protein: 2.7 g Cholesterol: 33.2 mg
Hi, I’m Jess, the creator of Sweetest Menu and the author of Something Sweet. A self-taught baker and published recipe writer who can’t stop making easy and delicious baking recipes.
Liz Robinson says
The cookies tasted amazing however they were much flatter than yours when they came out – any tips?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Liz! So glad you enjoyed them! Yes that can happen for a number of reasons, such as your butter being too soft (it shouldn’t be too squishy or melted), not adding enough flour (if you didn’t, try measuring the flour with a kitchen scale), putting your cookie dough on a hot baking tray or using all white sugar (instead of a mix of caster and brown). Next time, do one tester. If it’s too flat, pop your cookie dough in the fridge for 30 minutes and try again. Hope that helps a little!
Aicha arbi says
Hi .i was wondering if we can skip the brown sugar and not add it to the mix. Will that make the cookies any different?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi, yes brown sugar adds taste, colour and texture. If you don’t want to add it, I recommend replacing it with caster or granulated sugar.
Anna says
I loved this recipe and it was good to make during quarantine. They tasted and looked amazing. Thank you for the recipe.
Jessica Holmes says
Aw so glad you enjoyed them Anna!!
Anna C says
Hi Jess, fab recipe, go down a storm every time i bake these cookies! Just wondering, can I freeze the cookies once baked and cooled? Assuming I can but, just checking in case you don’t think this wise.
I generally batch bake and freeze a lot of another time (saves having to bake each time 🤭).
Thank you,
A
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Anna! Glad you like them! You can but it can be ever better to freeze the cookie dough and then bake them fresh when needed? Nothing like a fresh out of the oven cookie!
Laura says
Such a good recipe! Cookies look at taste amazing!
Jessica Holmes says
Aw so glad you enjoyed them Laura!
Lynsey says
I just made these but they do not look anything like the photo. Should the balls of dough not be flattened with a fork first? They do taste lovely, just don’t look like yours.
Lynsey says
I just realised I missed an ingredient! I was putting all the ingredients away and then I saw the …brown sugar! Oops! That might be where we went wrong.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Lynsey, the cookies should spread out naturally in the oven when baked. Definitely missing out on the sugar can have an effect so add that in next time. The main reason cookies don’t spread in the oven is adding too much flour – if you didn’t this time, try measuring the flour by weight to ensure accuracy. If your butter wasn’t softened or you chilled the dough at all, this can also effect the cookies ability to spread. Hope that helps!
Lucy says
Are these cookies more gooey or would you say they’re chewy?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Lucy, I’d say chewy!
Sasha says
They look soooo good! No need for store-bough cookies anymore!
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you like them!
Maurii says
What chocolate should I use? Compound or couverture? Before I tried making chocolate chip cookies with compound and it bacame flat and very oily. I’m a little bit scared with using compound chocolate, but corverture is a little expensive. What did you use? Or what do you recommend?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Mauril, great question. I think the answer is actually somewhere in between! I always recommend using the best quality chocolate you can for the best results. In saying that, couverture chocolate is probably not needed in a recipe like this. You can use regular eating chocolate or regular store bought chocolate chips. If you’ve found a brand or type of chocolate hasn’t worked well for you in the past, try a different one. Personally, my rule of thumb is to not use any chocolate that I wouldn’t enjoy eating straight from the packet. Hope that helps!
jo says
hi there. I don’t have plain flour can I use selfraising please
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Jo, I haven’t tried myself so I’m not sure! If you do try it, let me know how it goes!
Greta says
I have self-raising flour as well, did it work fine?
June phillips says
Never made biscuits before..Will definitely make them again. Delicious!
Jessica Holmes says
So glad you enjoyed them June!
Zoe says
Fantastic easy recipe to make with the kids or in a hurry. Delicious cookies after baking too! Many thanks
Jessica Holmes says
Love that, so glad you enjoyed them Zoe!
Catherine says
If I add dried cherry should I change anything?
Jessica Holmes says
No should be ok – sounds lovely!
Happy mum says
Great cookies – the whole family gave them a thumbs up. “Should I make these again?” Everyone: “YEEEESSSS!”
Jessica Holmes says
Love that!!
Fatma says
if you melt the butter and put in less flour, will they become softer?
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Fatma, typically using melted butter does make a softer cookie, but it usually requires chilling the cookie dough and often more flour to make up for the spreading. I recommend following the recipe as is or trying my Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies if you want to use melted butter.
Blake says
My cookies came out bread/cake-like. I followed the recipe exactly as stated and even after three trials of redos and changing things up, I got the same results.
Jessica Holmes says
Hi Blake, sorry to hear that! I don’t quite understand why your cookies would come out bread-like and its hard to offer any solutions without knowing what you changed in your subsequent attempts. But it sounds like you might have added a little too much flour – always use a scale to measure your dry ingredients if you can.
Adriana says
Not bad… I reduced the flour a bit based on my preferences, but I think I’d prefer having the salt in the cookie instead of on top. It’s a nice cookie otherwise!
Jessica Holmes says
Glad you enjoyed it Adriana!