Name: Basic Cookie Dough For Mix-ins
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter, unsalted ((room temperature)); 1/4 cup sugar; 1/2 cup brown sugar; 1 egg; 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1½ cup flour ((unbleached)); 1/2 tsp baking soda; 1/2 tsp sea salt

Jump to Recipe

Next up in my basic dough series is this basic cookie dough for mix-ins. This is a reliable dough that produces a soft, but thicker cookie. It’s the perfect cookie dough for chocolate chips or chunks, nuts, M&M candies, dried fruit, or even by itself as a “chipless” cookie.

A bowl of cookie dough with a spoon in it.

Why I love this dough so much

This is one of those recipes that never lets you down. The dough has primarily brown sugar, so the cookies are perfectly chewy and dense, which makes it a great dough for chocolate chip/chunk cookies, chocolate nut cookies, or even M&M monster cookies. It’s very versatile and can handle all kinds of mix-ins.

This cookie dough is also made with common ingredients that most bakers have in their kitchen at all times, so it’s one you can whip up without a ton of planning or preparation (a huge plus).

A bowl of cookie dough with chocolate chips and a spoon.

Let’s break down how to make this dough

Start by creaming room temperature butter, brown sugar, and sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes, until light and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla extract and continue mixing for another minute.
In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, and sea salt together.
Then, add the flour to the wet ingredients and mix with the mixer until mostly combined. Finish mixing with a rubber spatula.
Once dough is made, you can add the mix-ins and bake the cookies right away or freeze the plain dough for baking at a later time. If you freeze the dough, allow it to thaw in the refrigerator overnight, let it come up to room temperature, and then add mix-ins.

TOOLS YOU’LL NEED

This post contains affiliate links and if you make a purchase through this link, we will earn a small commission, which will help support this blog. Thank you!

To make chipless cookies

If you’re a purist and are looking to make chipless cookies (yes, that’s a thing), this is a great dough for that. Just scoop the cookies as you normally would, but sprinkle the tops of them with sugar just before baking. This will give them a little extra sweetness and crunch after they cool.

Chipless cookies are actually one of my personal favorites. I really appreciate being able to taste the dough, which is often lost or overpowered by mix-ins.

A bowl of cookie dough with a scoop sitting on top.

Questions about this recipe

Yes. You can make up to 4 tablespoon size cookies with this dough. Just make sure to keep an eye on it the last couple of minutes of baking to make sure the cookies are done. Bigger cookies often take a few extra minutes of baking time.

You sure can. If you want to do this, make the dough as directed, fold in the mix-ins and then scoop the dough onto a baking sheet. I like to pop them in the fridge for a few minutes to harden them up a bit and then transfer them to an airtight container for freezing.

To bake frozen scooped cookie dough, remove the dough balls from the freezer and place them on a lined baking sheet 2 inches apart. Allow the dough to thaw for 20-30 minutes on the counter. Then preheat the oven and bake as directed.

There are many variables in baking, but this could be from adding too much flour. I recommend weighing the sugars and flour on a small kitchen scale to ensure accuracy.

Whether you make this dough as cookies with a mix-in or as chipless cookies, this basic dough will be your new go-to. Whip up a batch and let me know what you think.