With 30 million page views and counting since 2013, these super soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies are the most popular cookie recipe on my website. Melted butter, more brown sugar than white sugar, cornstarch, and an extra egg yolk guarantee the absolute chewiest chocolate chip cookie texture. And you don’t even need a mixer!
I originally published this recipe in 2013 and have since added new photos, a video tutorial, and more helpful success tips. This recipe is such a fan (and personal) favorite that I included it in my New York Times best-selling cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
One reader, Adrienne, commented: “These are the best cookies I’ve ever had. Incredible. Don’t cut corners or you’ll miss out. Do everything she says and you’re in for the best cookies of your life. ★★★★★“
There are thousands of chocolate chip cookies recipes out there. Everyone has their favorite and this one is mine. Just a glance at the hundreds of reviews in the comments section tells me that this recipe is a favorite for many others too! In fact, if you asked me which recipe to keep in your apron pocket, my answer would be this one. (In addition to a classic cut-out sugar cookies and flaky pie crust, of course!) Just read the comments on a post in our Facebook group. These cookies are beloved… and, a warning: they disappear FAST.
Why Are These My BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies?
- The chewiest of chewy and the softest of soft.
- Extra thick just like my favorite peanut butter cookies!
- Bakery-style BIG.
- Exploding with chocolate.
I’ve tested this cookie recipe over and over again to make sure they’re absolutely perfect. I still have a big space in my heart (and stomach) for these soft chocolate chip cookies. Today’s recipe is similar, but I increased the chewiness factor.
One reader, A.Phillips, commented: “Look no further. This is it. This is the perfect cookie recipe. Follow her instructions exactly and the cookies will be chewy and amazing. … These are the most perfect cookies I’ve made and I’ve tried at least 20 different recipes. ★★★★★“
You can make them with chocolate chips or chocolate chunks.
Key Ingredients for Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
The cookie dough is made from your standard cookie ingredients: flour, leavener, salt, sugar, butter, egg, and vanilla. It’s the ratios and temperature of those ingredients that make this recipe stand out from the rest.
- Melted butter: Melted butter produces the chewiest cookies. It can, however, make your baked cookies greasy, so I made sure there is enough flour to counteract that. And using melted butter is also the reason you don’t need a mixer to make these cookies, just like these pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin crumb cake cookies, and M&M cookie bars.
- More brown sugar than white sugar: More brown sugar than white sugar: The moisture in brown sugar promises an extra soft and chewy baked cookie. White granulated sugar is still necessary, though. It’s dry and helps the cookies spread. A little bit of spread is a good thing.
- Cornstarch: Why? Cornstarch gives the cookies that ultra soft consistency we all love. Plus, it helps keep the cookies beautifully thick. We use the same trick when making shortbread cookies.
- Egg yolk: Another way to promise a super chewy chocolate chip cookie is to use an extra egg yolk. The extra egg yolk adds richness, soft tenderness, and binds the dough. You will need 1 egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature, just like in these brown butter marshmallow crispy cookies. See the recipe Notes for how to bring your eggs to room temperature quickly.
The dough will be soft and the chocolate chips may not stick because of the melted butter. Just keep stirring it; I promise it will come together. Because of the melted butter and extra egg yolk, the slick dough doesn’t even look like normal cookie dough! Trust the process…
The most important step is next.
2 Major Success Tips
1. Chill the dough. Chilling the cookie dough is so important in this recipe! Unless you want the cookies to spread into a massive cookie puddle, chilling the dough is mandatory here. It allows the ingredients to settle together after the mixing stage but most importantly: cold dough results in thicker cookies. Cover the cookie dough and chill for at least 2–3 hours or up to 3 days. I usually chill it overnight.
(No time to chill? Make these soft & chewy chocolate chip cookie bars, giant chocolate chip cookies, chocolate chip cookie cake, or crispy chocolate chip cookie bark instead!)
- Further reading: How to Prevent Cookies from Spreading
2. Roll the cookie dough balls extra tall. After the dough has chilled, scoop out a ball of dough that’s 3 Tablespoons for XL cookies or about 2 heaping Tablespoons (1.75 ounces or 50g) for medium-large cookies. I usually use this medium cookie scoop and make it a heaping scoop. But making the cookie dough balls tall and textured, rather than wide and smooth, is my tried-and-true trick that results in thick and textured-looking cookies. We’re talking thick bakery-style cookies with wrinkly, textured tops. Your cookie dough should look less like balls and more like, well, lumpy columns, LOL.
Watch the video below to see how I shape them. I also demonstrate how I use a spoon to reshape them during baking if I see they’re spreading too much.
Because of the melted butter in this dough, the dough is very soft and a little greasy before chilling, so it’s harder to shape the cookie dough balls. We recommend chilling first, then shaping. If after chilling the dough is very hard and difficult to scoop, let it sit at room temperature for 15 minutes and then try again.
We typically do not recommend jumping right to the freezer without chilling the dough first. A quick freeze like that can cause the dough to chill unevenly and then spread unevenly during the baking process. For best results, we recommend following the recipe as written. If you don’t have time to wait for the dough to chill, try this recipe for 6 giant chocolate chip cookies instead, which doesn’t require dough chilling (see recipe Notes in that post for details on using the dough to make 24 regular-size cookies).
Tools I Recommend for This Recipe
I’ve tested many baking tools and these are the exact products I use, trust, and recommend to readers. You’ll need most of these tools when making sugar cookies and snickerdoodles, too!
- Baking Sheets
- Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Sheets
- Medium Cookie Scoop
- Cooling Racks
- See More: Best Cookie Baking Tools and 8 Best Baking Pans
Can I Freeze This Cookie Dough?
Yes, absolutely. After chilling, sometimes I roll the cookie dough into balls and freeze them in a large zipped-top bag. Then I bake them straight from the freezer, keeping them in the oven for an extra minute. This way you can bake just a couple of cookies whenever the craving hits. (The chewy chocolate chip cookie craving is a hard one to ignore.)
If you’re curious about freezing cookie dough, here’s my How to Freeze Cookie Dough page (with video tutorial).
Facebook member, Leigh, commented: “These are the only CC cookies I’ve made for years (and this recipe is how I came to be such a fan of SBA!) This recipe worked great when I lived in Denver and had issues with baking at altitude, and it’s still our favorite now that we’re back at sea level. I usually make 4x-6x batches and freeze tons of cookie balls to bake later.“
In Short, Here Are the Secrets to Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies:
- Cornstarch helps product soft and thick cookies.
- Using more brown sugar than white sugar results in a moister, softer cookie.
- An extra egg yolk increases chewiness.
- Rolling the cookie dough balls to be tall and lumpy instead of wide and smooth gives the cookies a bakery-style textured thickness. It’s a trick we use for cake batter chocolate chip cookies, too.
- Using melted butter (and slightly more flour to counteract the liquid) increases chewiness.
- Chilling the dough results in a thicker cookie. Almost as thick as peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, or their gluten-free counterparts, flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies 🙂
Q: Have you baked a batch before?
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 45 minutes
- Yield: 16 XL cookies or 20 medium/large cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These super soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies are the most popular cookie recipe on my website for good reason. Melted butter, more brown sugar than white sugar, cornstarch, and an extra egg yolk guarantee the absolute chewiest chocolate chip cookie texture. The cookie dough is slick and requires chilling prior to shaping the cookies. This recipe is also in my New York Times best-selling cookbook, Sally’s Baking 101.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups (281g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch*
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (170g/12 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted & cooled for 5 minutes
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/4 cups (225g) semi-sweet chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt together. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until no lumps remain. Whisk in the egg and egg yolk until combined, then whisk in the vanilla extract. The mixture will be thin. Pour into dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or spatula. The dough will be very soft, thick, and shiny. Fold in the chocolate chips. The chocolate chips may not stick to the dough because of the melted butter, but do your best to combine them.
- Cover the dough tightly and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 3 days. I highly recommend chilling the cookie dough overnight to prevent overspreading.
- Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. If the dough has chilled for longer than 2 hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes.
- Using a cookie scoop or Tablespoon measuring spoon, scoop the chilled cookie dough, about 3 scant Tablespoons (about 2 ounces, or 60g) of dough for XL cookies or 2 heaping Tablespoons (about 1.75 ounces, or 50g) of dough for medium-large cookies. Roll into a ball, then use your fingers to shape the cookie dough so that it’s taller rather than wide—almost like a cylinder. This helps the cookies bake up thicker. Repeat with remaining dough. Arrange the cookies 3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets.
- Bake the cookies for 13–14 minutes or until the edges are very lightly browned. The centers will look very soft, but the cookies will continue to set as they cool. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. While the cookies are still warm, I like to press a few more chocolate chips into the tops—this is optional and only for looks!
- Store tightly covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Allow to come to room temperature, then continue with step 5. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Wooden Spoon or Rubber Spatula | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Cornstarch: If you don’t have cornstarch, you can leave it out. The cookies are still very soft.
- Egg & Egg Yolk: Room-temperature egg + egg yolk are best. Typically, if a recipe calls for room-temperature or melted butter, it’s good practice to use room-temperature eggs as well. To bring eggs to room temperature quickly, simply place the whole eggs in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes.
- Can I add nuts or different add-ins? Yes, absolutely. As long as the total amount of add-ins is around 1 to 1 and 1/4 cups, you can add anything including chopped nuts, M&Ms, white chocolate chips, dried cranberries, chopped peanut butter cups, etc. I love them with 3/4 cup (135g) butterscotch morsels and 1/2 cup (100g) Reese’s Pieces. You could even add 1/2 cup (80g) sprinkles to make a sprinkle chocolate chip cookie.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking success tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Hi Sally, can I brown the butter for a deeper flavor? Will it have any effect on the texture?
Hi Clarisse, you can certainly use brown butter here, and the flavor is outstanding. But they can be a little more crumbly using brown butter – we suggest using the recipe for Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies instead.
This is hands down the best chocolate chip recipe I have ever made. The cookies were thick with crispy edges and a soft middle. Even the next day they didn’t dry out and were still chewy. This will be my go to chocolate chip recipe from now on!
This actually made 20 medium cookies. This is the first time a recipe has ever done this. Mind blown!!!
Oh, and the cookies were good too.
will it make a difference if I use chocolate chunks instead of chips as I prefer a bigger bit of choc!!
Hi Coco, you can definitely use chunks–enjoy!
The perfect chocolate chip cookie!
These were amazing and worth the effort! The best batch I ever baked. Sally, I was wondering if there is a specific brand of chocolate chips or chunks that you use or recommend.
Hi Briana, we usually use the American classic in the yellow package, Nestle Toll House semi-sweet, but also really like Ghirardelli and Guittard brands. If you want to splash out and go for the really good stuff, we can also recommend the Callebaut brand Belgian chocolate chips. Fair warning, though: you may not be able to stop eating them straight from the bag! (Don’t ask me how I know this…)
These chocolate chip cookies are absolutely perfect — soft and chewy with incredible flavor. Thanks for another great recipe!
My cookie dough is darker although is added the correct amount of brown sugar why is this so?
Hi Ruth, did you use dark brown sugar by chance? That will give the dough a deeper color.
Hi Sally and team
I find that these cookies are way too sweet, if I reduce the sugar do I need to reduce the butter too?
Hi Niru, You can try reducing the sugar, but keep in mind that sugar plays an important role in the taste, texture, and structure of a recipe, so we’re unsure of the results when using less sugar. We’d recommend starting small, and then you can reduce further in future batches as needed.
My daughter loves these cookies! Thank you for sharing this..
i reduced the white sugar to 1/4 cup.. came perfect..
Any idea on the calorie per cookie- i make 21 in 1-batch usually.
Hi Sujata, we don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Does light or dark brown sugar work better? Thanks
Hi Jackie, either works here! We usually use light in this recipe, but for a deeper flavor, you can use dark brown sugar.
I love the recipe and at the chilling phase I portion it into fairycake tins. 2Tsp wells, 12 to a tray, like a muffins tin but so much smaller. I freeze the patties and pop them into labeled zip lock bags. My grandson loves these as a weekend treat.
Is there anything wrong with scooping and shaping the dough and then refrigerating?
Hi Caitlin! We find the dough to be a little too soft to shape before refrigerating, but you certainly can if you prefer.
I’m no good at separating the yolk from the white. Can I just use two eggs?
Hi Christopher, we really recommend the 1 egg + egg yolk for the best chewy texture!
Here’s my tip: crack the egg gently over a bowl, and tip it upright while you take off the top (so the yolk is in the bottom), then use the empty top of the egg to keep the yolk in while you drain the rest of the white!
The texture of these cookies was by far the best of the recipes I’ve tried. Perfect in every way. Soft, but also slightly crispy at the same time? Craggly, thick, not too flat or greasy. However, compared to other favorite cookie recipes, I found the flavor lacking just a bit (they definitely tasted GREAT, just weren’t AS flavorful as others I’ve tried). I wonder if using salted rather than unsalted butter would help with this.
One tip I have is to make sure your cookie dough cylinders have a firm base (by squishing them down on the baking sheet a bit) because my first batch tipped over during baking D:
Hi Joanna! You can use salted butter if you would like, or add a bit more salt. So glad you enjoyed this recipe!
These are delicious! My daughter has proclaimed them to be her favorite cookie ever. A couple of notes in case it’s helpful for anyone else:
– I use King Arthur AP flour, and adjusted the weight to account for their measurements. 1 cup = 120 grams so I used 270 grams of flour for the 2.25 cups in the recipe.
– We found the medium cookies to be huge! Next time I’ll use a smaller cookie scoop and adjust the baking time.
– These cookies really like to spread and my first batch ran into each other. If I do this size again, I’ll bake in smaller batches.
These cookies are delicious!! They were a hit with everyone. I will definitely make again. A quick question, have you ever used brown butter in this recipe?
Hi Diane, You can certainly use brown butter here, and the flavor is outstanding. But they can be a little more crumbly using brown butter – we suggest using the recipe for Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies instead. So glad you enjoyed the cookies!
Hi Sally, I made a single batch to see if I like them and I do! My cookies came out delicious. If I want to double or triple the recipe, can I use a Kitchen Aid mixer, or do these have to be mixed by hand?
Hi Barbara, yes you can double or triple this recipe.
Thanks. What kind of salt is recommended for this cookie?
Hi Barbara! All of our recipes use table salt unless otherwise noted.
I followed the recipe with metric system without a problem. The consistency, chewiness all ended up great but I think it is too sweet for me, though I know American-style desserts are sweetier for me in general. I prefer half the sweetness. Could you provide an adjusted the recipe so it won’t affect the structure of the dough?
Hi Selen, you can try reducing the sugar, but keep in mind that sugar plays an important role in the taste, texture, and structure of a recipe, so we’re unsure of the results when using less sugar. We’d recommend starting small, and then you can reduce further in future batches as needed.
I’ve been baking these cookies every week for a while now, adding a caramel drizzle and sprinkle of salt and they never disappoint. I’ve had so many people tell me that they’re the best cookies they’ve ever had! Thank you so much!!
Hi! I cannot tell you enough how much everyone loves these cookies!
I made so many things from your website that turned out amazing!
But these are by far the most requested by my family, coworkers literally anyone who has tried them just loves them!
Thank you for helping me create wonderful memories using your recipes♡
Sally, your chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe is absolute perfection! It never disappoints and results in cookies everyone loves! Here’s something I discovered…in the last batch I made I substituted half of the AP flour with bread flour. The result was excellent, with a little more “tooth” and chewiness. Just thought I would share! Thanks for sharing all your amazing recipes!
LOOOVE this recipe. This is a top favorite recipe from my partner, coworkers, and family members!! So many helpful and very informative tips on every recipe from Sally’s page! I even bought her new cook book. 😉 THANK YOU SALLY!!!
Hi sally Im really excited to make these. just had a quick question, my oven stopped working and i was thinking of using my air fryer instead to make them, would they still turn out good if i do so?
Hi Snaz, we haven’t tested these cookies in an air fryer, but let us know if you do!
This recipe makes the best soft cookies. I was so happy to see it as the 1st recipe in your new book. Making it again now for work tomorrow. Co-workers love my “Sally’ cookie recipes. Planning on making a recipe in the book that my husband chooses this weekend. Beautiful pictures! Lovely book. Thank you for your testing your recipes so thoroughly so we know with confidence it’s going to turn out great.
An EPIC failure! I have made chocolate chip cookies for Nearly 70 years with never a failure. They spread, ran into each other, and looked like a giant brown pancake. They taste wonderful. I was supposed to take them to a meeting tonight and I’m the only person supplying cookies. I’m going to take them anyway. My husband thinks I’m ridiculous and should be ashamed. I also need to stop by bakery on the way. What did I do wrong?
Hi Sara, we’re sorry to hear that. There are a few key steps in this recipe to yielding chewy cookies that spread just the right amount. It’s important to sufficiently chill the cookie dough, otherwise the cookies will overspread. We also recommend forming the cookie dough into columns/towers rather than balls, which also helps them to bake up thicker. If you find the cookies are spreading a bit too much while baking, you can take out the pan and gently reform the cookies by pushing the sides in with a spoon. If you haven’t already, the video in this post is helpful to watch and we have a post on how to prevent cookies from spreading. We hope this helps for your next batch!
Hi Sally!
These cookies are amazing, thank you!
If I were to make a smaller size, say a tbsp of dough, would I need to adjust the temperature or time accordingly? If so, what would you recommend?
Thanks!!
Hi Aiman, same temperature, but we’re unsure of the exact bake time, so keep an eye on them in the oven! Enjoy!
This recipe is absolutely perfect and yields an amazing cookie. Thank you!!!
Hi Sally!
I found that if I try to bake the dough in the cylinder like shape they don’t seem to spread out like yours do and they ended up thick and hard…
I’m from Australia so I try to go based of grams for a more accurate measure, is there anything I might be doing wrong or something I need to adjust possibly?
TIA 🙂
Hi Elizabeth! Lack of spread usually indicates that there is too much flour in the dough, but if you’re going by weight then that shouldn’t be the problem. What you can do is gently flatten the dough balls just a bit before placing in the oven. If they still aren’t spreading, you can take the pan out part way through bake time and gently tap it on the counter to help initiate spread. We hope this helps for next time!
This was probably the worst cookie recipe i have ever followed. followed it completely. double checked it. hell, i even remade the cookie dough. after wasting an entire pack of butter, the last of my sugar and, the last of my vanilla extract, this cookie dough was dry and crumbly. the second time i even added less flour and only did half a cup. the reviews are great so not sure why this happened. things got so much butter in it. i needed to microwave the dough and need in water for it to turn into a normal cookie. never making this again.
Hey, I just tried making these wonderful cookies and they turned out great, I was just wondering if they’ll be okay to keep in the fridge for a few days after baking to save some for another time would, it change the taste a lot and would I need to reheat them? thank you!
Hi Edward, You can store them in the fridge!
Hi Sally,
Thank you for sharing this wonderful cookie recipe. My husband requested a chocolate chip cookie and boy did this one deliver. He was so pleased. I followed all your suggestions and they came out perfectly. I added more time to my 50g cookie- closer to 15 min. I will adjust the sweetness. I already reduced the granulated by 10g. Do you suggest further reducing the white or the golden? Thank you
Hi Giselle, we’re so glad they were a hit! You can try reducing the sugar, but keep in mind that sugar plays an important role in the taste, texture, and structure of a recipe, so we’re unsure of the results when using less sugar. We’d recommend starting small, and then you can reduce further in future batches as needed.