These holiday cookies take a classic dough and add a warm hint of cinnamon alongside plenty of chocolate and sprinkles. You can mix the dough in minutes and bake it right away without any chilling time.
Using melted butter keeps the texture soft and chewy. The combination of mini semi-sweet chips and white chocolate chips ensures you get plenty of flavor in every bite.
Why this works
- Melted butter creates a denser, chewier cookie and eliminates the need to wait for butter to soften.
- Leaving the cookies on the hot baking sheet for 10 minutes after baking allows the centers to set gently without drying out.
- Mixing the dry and wet ingredients in separate bowls prevents overmixing, which keeps the cookies tender.
Ingredients you'll need
- Salted butter: If you only have unsalted butter, increase the added salt to 3/4 teaspoon.
- Light brown sugar: Dark brown sugar works too, but it will make the cookies slightly darker and richer in molasses flavor.
- Cinnamon: This adds a warm, bakery-style background note. You can skip it if you want a strictly traditional chocolate chip flavor.
- Mini chocolate chips: Using mini chips spreads the chocolate more evenly through the dough than standard chips.
- Sprinkles: Stick to jimmies or larger shaped sprinkles. Tiny round nonpareils often bleed dye into the batter.
Exact quantities are in the recipe card below.
How to make it
Step 1: Mix the wet and dry ingredients separately
Start by whisking your flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a larger bowl, combine the melted butter with both sugars, then mix in the egg and vanilla. Keeping these separate at first ensures the baking soda is evenly distributed.
Step 2: Combine the dough
Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture just until the flour disappears. Stir in the white chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips, and sprinkles gently so you do not overwork the dough.
Step 3: Bake and cool
Scoop the dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake until the edges are set but the centers are still soft. Let them rest on the warm pan for a few minutes before moving them to a wire rack.
Serve it with
Serve these alongside a glass of cold milk or a warm mug of hot cocoa. They also make a great addition to a holiday dessert board with Christmas Candy and Christmas Sugar Cookies.
Storage and reheating
Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. You can freeze the baked cookies or unbaked dough balls in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen baked cookies at room temperature.
FAQ
Do I need to chill this cookie dough?
No, this dough is designed to be baked right away. If you do want to make it ahead, you can chill it, but you may need to let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before scooping.
Why did my cookies spread too much?
This can happen if your melted butter was too hot when you mixed the dough, or if your oven runs cold. Make sure the butter is melted but cooled slightly.
Can I use regular sized chocolate chips?
Yes. You can swap the mini chips for standard semi-sweet chocolate chips if that is what you have on hand.
