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
I have been making my same chocolate chips cookies…
( I thought were the best) for years. Well…. I stepped out of my cookie rut and tried these. WOWZERS it is everything we want in a cookie. The adding of melted butter caught my eye and I thought no way, this will be a gooey mess. It was far from it. The ultimate chewy inside, crisp outside,cookie. I realize its okay to bake outside my preset recipe lines & to try something different, this was delicious surprise. Thank you!
3/4 butter melted but then it says 12 tablespoons thats a big difference
Hi Tanya, 3/4C is 12 tablespoon or one and a half sticks.
Sally, I started baking – get this – when I was in 5th grade! Since that first day of making a mess in the kitchen, I’ve tried many recipes from innumerable baking blogs and NONE of them have even come close to your wonderful baking. Your instructions are clear and easy to follow… and don’t get me started on your super helpful success tips! Plus, all of your recipes are DELICIOUS, which is an added bonus. 🙂
About the cookies…
They turned out like all of your recipes do… absolutely perfect!! Not only do they taste delightful, but they LOOK scrumptious – I know the party I’m going to later today will literally rave about them. Thank you so much; you’ve made all my parties a whole lot sweeter, every single time!
Love this. This is my go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies. I regularly bake them for family, friends, and coworkers, and they never disappoint! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
I did this again and they turned out A-MA-ZING!!! In the previous comment that I made, they came out flat and I couldn’t get right because of the incorrect heating placement. But they’re the best right now. Howeverrrrrr, my family are not into that much sweetness. Can you give me an adjustment recipe for a lesser sweet version but still achieve the same softness, consistency, and etc that this one has? Thanks!
Hi Nala, 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.
Hi, about how many medium-large cookies does this recipe make?
About 20!
Can you flash chill this dough in the freezer?
Hi Darla, The freezer will not evenly chill the dough. We recommend sticking with chilling the dough in the fridge.
Perfect. Send the recipe to everyone I know.
I am wondering how many calories are in each cookies
Hi Sally,
Could I replace the butter with Country Crock? It’s all I have for the moment. Thank you!
They should still work with that, Laya.
Will medium eggs work for this recipe? That is all I have.
Hi Diana! Do you have a food scale? Egg weights can vary but usually large eggs in the shell are about 57g, and 50g out of the shell. If you ensure you’re using the correct amount of total ounces for this recipe, you’ll be all set.
Just made this recipe today and it turned out great. Almost too good- trying to figure a way to not eat all them .
I would like to double the recipe. Should I double all the ingredients?
This recipe doubles well, yes!
I have tried endless choc chip cookie recipes looking for one with what is (in my mind) the perfect texture and always find myself ending up with cakey-textured cookies. These came out PERFECTLY on the first go and I’m over the moon! Deliciously chewy, a little soft in the centre and a slight crisp on the edge. This will forever and always be my recipe. I had to extend cook time by a couple mins due to my oven but just watched for those golden edges and had no issues whatsoever. Thank you, Sally!
Love your cookie recipe
we always do this recipes it is fun and easy for the kids.
These are my favorite cookies of all time. This time I was making them with my toddler and in the chaos of it all I put the entire eggs instead of one yolk. Can they be saved? They’re still in the fridge 🙁
Hi Kennya, they may spread a bit more, but we would still bake them! You could always make cookie bars with the dough instead.
What brand butter do you use in your recipes? Will it make a difference in the texture of baked cookies?
Hi Cin, we usually use store brand butter.
If I triple this, I know I need to extend the fridge time. Do you think I need to triple the fridge time?
Hi abc, a large batch of dough will chill unevenly. You can chill for an extra long amount of time, or separate the dough into smaller containers to chill so it chills faster and more evenly.
They taste good and spread nicely. Im surprised that I was able to make big cookies at 60g. However, after I baked them with all the instruction, they became thin cookies. Can you help me out? Everything is great but I want it thick. Thanks!
Hi Nala, we’re sorry to hear that but glad you enjoyed them. 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!
My search for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe is over. I don’t think anything could top these. Easy enough for my preschooler to help me make them, and perfect soft, chewy, delicious cookies. Just awesome.
Do we have to chill it for 2 hours?
Hi Sapheii, yes, chilling the dough for 2 hours is imperative for this cookie dough because it’s made with melted butter.
I have been trying to find a chocolate chip cookie that stays soft and chewy even a couple days later. It is so easy to come together. It is absolutely a new family favorite. I made 4 batches thinking I’d have some to freeze for later. That did not happen. Teen boy brought his friends home and they are all gone. Time to make another batch.
These are the best! People have started requesting that I bring a batch with me when I come over for dinners and holidays!! I always send them the recipe!
Thank you so much for making and sharing this recipe, Ellen!
Hi there! I can’t wait to try out this recipe
However I don’t have an oven or a microwave, I was going to bake these in the air fryer
Are there any changes or tips you would recommend for this set up?
Hi Wafra, we haven’t tested these cookies in an air fryer, but let us know if you do!
Love this recipe and planning on making it again tonight! Would browning the butter cause any issues?
Hi Jolene, 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.
Hi Sally, I tried your recipe and it was going great until I stored it in the fridge overnight. Yesterday, the dough looked perfect—soft and just like cookie dough should be. But when I took it out today, it had turned rock hard. Do you know why that might have happened?
Hi Noura, a hard/dry dough is usually caused by too much flour in the cookie dough. How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can let the dough sit at room temperature for a while to soften up before scooping. Hope you enjoy the cookies!
I can’t even tell you how much I LOVED THIS COOKIESS❤️❤️❤️
It is the first ever recipe I get online and IT ACTUALLY WORKS AND TASTES SO FLIPPING GOOD. I REALLY HONOR YOU FOR SUCH RECIPE ✨✨
Two questions:
*I always weigh my flour. If I sometimes use Gold Medal and sometimes use King Arthur, do I still use 281 grams for each, or does the different weight of each brand make a difference?
*Do you recommend using the regular bake setting or convection setting for cookies?
Thank you!
Hi Diane, you can use the same weight measurements here regardless of the brand of flour. We always recommend conventional settings for baking (not convection/fan). The flow of air from convection heat can cause baked goods to rise and bake unevenly and it also pulls moisture out of the oven. If you do use convection/fan settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake. Hope this helps!
Hi Sally, I tried these cookies and i wanna say.. THESE ARE THE MOST RICH COOKIES I HAVE EVER HAD!! pls make more like this.
Billy Bobby Brown
I followed this recipe exactly, but the dough was WAY too dry – like fruit crumble topping. I added a small amount of water, little by little, but they still didn’t turn out. Not a fan.
Full disclosure: I’m an experienced baker.
Hi JS! Happy to help. Usually dry cookie dough is caused by too much flour in the dough. How do you usually measure your flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
Absolutely love this recipe however I always find the take longer. I use a fan oven and normally have to adjust the temp by -20c for baking. Will they be over done if i do bake them at 163 for the same time?
Hi Chantelle! We’re unsure, but always keep an eye on your cookies as they bake so you can pull them out if they’re baking quicker than expected.
Life changing, hands down the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. I’ve tried so many “chewy” recipes and none are like this. I followed the directions exactly and they are amazing!
I made these cookies last night there Soo good and thick and nice 10/10 great recipe
I put the cookies in the oven but they aren’t cooking right I have no idea why, it’s been over the cooking time too please help
Hi Omni, we’re happy to help. How are they not cooking right?