Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe No Baking Soda Easy and Soft
These chocolate chip cookies use baking powder instead of baking soda, so they bake up thick, soft and pillowy rather than flat and crisp. The recipe makes about 16 cookies in 30 minutes, with no chilling needed. Take them out while the centres still look slightly underdone.
Ingredients (makes about 16)
- 115 g (½ cup) unsalted butter, softened
- 100 g (½ cup, packed) light brown sugar
- 50 g (¼ cup) white sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 160 g (1¼ cups) plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 150 g (1 cup) chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
Method
- Heat the oven to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan) and line two baking trays.
- Cream the butter with both sugars for about 2 minutes, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a separate bowl, then stir them into the butter mixture until just combined.
- Fold in the chocolate.
- Scoop rounded tablespoons of dough (about 30 g each) onto the trays, 5 cm apart. Do not flatten them.
- Bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are just golden and the centres look puffy and slightly underbaked.
- Cool on the tray for 5 minutes. They finish setting as they cool. Then move them to a rack.
What to expect
Baking soda is what normally makes chocolate chip cookies spread and turn deep golden. Baking powder gives lift without that spread, so these cookies are:
- thicker and rounder, about 1.5 cm tall
- soft and cake-like in the centre
- lighter golden in color
Use melted butter instead of creaming softened butter, swap the white sugar for more brown sugar, and press each dough ball to about 1 cm thick before baking.
Tips
- Measure the flour by weight, or spoon it into the cup and level it. Too much flour makes dry, tall cookies.
- Do not overbake. Take them out while the centres look shiny and soft.
- Use fresh baking powder. ½ tsp in hot water should fizz hard straight away.
- Add flaky salt on top as they come out of the oven.
Storage
Keep the cookies in an airtight tin for up to 4 days. A slice of bread in the tin keeps them soft. You can freeze balls of dough and bake them straight from frozen, adding 1–2 minutes.
Curious how soda and powder change a cookie? Read baking soda or baking powder for cookies and baking soda replacements in cookies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Use baking powder instead, about 1 teaspoon for this batch. The cookies will be softer and thicker.
Baking powder naturally makes cookies cakier than baking soda does. Too much flour or overbaking makes it worse.
No. Because baking powder does not spread cookies much, you can bake the dough straight away.