Chocolate Chip Cookies
Soft & chewy · oven or air fryer
Homemade chocolate chip cookies with chopped dark chocolate chunks — golden on the outside, soft and chewy inside. The best part: you can make them in either an oven or an air fryer.
Ingredients
- 180 g desi ghee or softened butter (not melted)
- 100 g white sugar
- 200 g brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 350 g plain / all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 200 g compound dark chocolate, chopped into small chunks
Nutrition is an estimate per serving.
Method
- Mix all the wet ingredients together, then add the dry ingredients and mix/knead well into a cookie dough.
- Chop the dark chocolate into small pieces, add to the dough and knead gently until evenly distributed.
- Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
- Roll small balls, press gently into cookie shapes and place on a lined baking tray.
- Air fryer: 180 °C for about 10 minutes. Oven: 180 °C for about 15 minutes. Timing varies — keep an eye on them near the end.
- Let the cookies cool slightly before serving.
Watch it made
Notes on this recipe
Ghee or butter, but not melted
Desi ghee gives a nuttier, slightly richer cookie than butter and holds up well to the chilling step. Either works, but both must be soft rather than melted. Melted fat coats the flour immediately and produces a dense, greasy cookie that spreads flat, because there is no solid fat left to hold air during mixing.
Knead gently once the chocolate goes in
The dough is mixed and kneaded, which is unusual for a cookie and fine here — but once the chopped chocolate is added, stop working it. Over-kneading at that point both develops gluten and smears the chocolate through the dough, turning distinct chunks into muddy streaks. You want the pieces intact.
Compound chocolate behaves differently
Compound chocolate uses vegetable fat rather than cocoa butter, which means it melts at a higher temperature and sets firm rather than soft. In these cookies that is an advantage: the chunks keep their shape and give a definite bite rather than dissolving. If you swap in real dark chocolate, expect softer pools and a slightly greasier crumb.
Oven or air fryer
The air fryer runs about five minutes faster at the same temperature, because the fan moves heat far more aggressively in a small space. It also browns the tops unevenly, so turn the tray halfway. Either way, watch the last three minutes rather than trusting the clock — the gap between golden and overdone is short. Airtight for five days.
