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
LOVED THESE! Can you double the recipe for these cookies?
Hi Kathy, Yes! this cookie recipe doubles well. Glad you enjoy it!
Delicious, chewy cookies. Just the way I like them. Next time I’ll add a sprinkle of salt right out of the oven to make a salted version.
These cookies are delicious. I’ve been looking for a recipe for chocolate chip cookies like this for a while. Mine always came out flat and crunchy but these, these are perfect. They’re soft and chewy and they even look aesthetically pleasing. I’ve already made these twice this week. They’re now my go to cookie. The only thing I did differently was use both chocolate chips and chocolate chunks because I love chocolate.
This was the best cookie recipe I’ve ever tried! Do not hesitate.
these are my GO TO cookies! Love them so much. Have you ever tried using browned butter? I make these all the time but just recently had the thought of browning the butter. Do you think this would make the cookies too rich?
Hi Bailey! You can use brown butter, yes, and the flavor is outstanding! But they can be a little more crumbly using brown butter — we suggest using our recipe for Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies instead.
Such fantastic cookies. I misread the ingredients and used egg whites instead of yolk. But they still came out fantastic!! I used mini chocolate chips and made them a little smaller because I wanted them for goody bags. Skipped the fridge part and baked them at 350 for 8 mins. Then turned them and baked for 3-4 more mins. Perfect shape!
I’ve made this recipe a lot and it’s our favorite! Due to some health concerns, we need to make some changes to our diet. Currently making muffins with oat flour for example. So , my question is….how can I adapt my favorite cookie recipe here using my own ground oat flour and honey as the sweetener?? Can it be done? We also use almond and coconut flours. We’re missing our chocolate chip cookies!! Help! Thank you!❤️
Hi Brenda! So happy to hear that these cookies are a favorite. Unfortunately, those swaps aren’t an easy 1:1 exchange in this cookie recipe. It will take some testing and you may be better off searching for a chocolate chip cookie recipe specially formulated for the ingredients you’re hoping to use. You may also enjoy these flourless chocolate chip cookies. Let us know if you find a recipe you love!
Thank you so much for the almond flour recipe – I will be making it. However, I want to “tweak” the chewy chocolate chip recipe and see how it goes. Martha Stewart has an article about swapping out regular sugar for honey, maple syrup and agave. I will be using this method with Sally’s Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies. What’s the worst that could happen!. Will let you know how they turn out.
Follow exactly for Best Cookies ever. Replace the salt with Celtic Sea Salt for even better results 😉
These cookies are great, the only problem I found was the dough was too dry to form a good ball so I started using two whole eggs rather than 1 yolk, this usually works well but occasionally need to add a little milk to get the proper consistency.
Hi Larry! How do 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 read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
These are my official “bring to a function” cookies. The universal closed eye look of “I’m in heaven” when people bite into them is just too satisfying. I’ve been using this recipe since 2016 and won’t go back to any other. Found with this last batch that doing just about half light and half dark brown sugar is perfect for our family!
These are THE BEST cookies. I sifted my dry ingredients though and my dough was good and stiff so I didn’t put it in the fridge. I hand mixed my chocolate chips in also. I wish I could leave a picture.
I thought I had found the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe on another site, but then I found these. I’ll never go back. It’s all I can do not to devour a whole dozen in one sitting!
I made these a while ago, but I made mine gluten free by just switching the flour. As add-ins I had maybe 50 grams of chopped white chocolate and around 100 grams of dried cranberries. Instead of putting chocolate chips on the already baked cookies I used the cranberries for that as well. They turned out better than I could have hoped. My friend and I almost ate the whole batch in one sitting.
So greetings from Finland, we like your baking here also!
Hi Sally,
I am trying your soft chewy choc chip cookies as my children & grand children love chewy cookies. My dough is in the refrigerator and I intent to bake the cookies tomorrow. I tested one piece using my air fryer. I rolled it not into a ball but a cylinder. I used parchment paper but because I had only one cookie, the sides kept covering the cookie and hampered its spread. Nevertheless, the cookie was thick, soft, smells good but not chewy. It’s like eating a cake. Of course it’s hard to tell because I used the air fryer. When I bake the cookies in the oven tomorrow, I’ll let you know how it turns out. Rgds
Hi Sally,
I am baking my choc chip cookies now and turned out well, unfortunately I am not a fan of cookies, my critics are my children & grand children. They will get to try when they are back from work/school. The cookies not flatten, looked impressive & professional
I love baking & found your website a few yrs ago, your recipes are the only ones I use now!! I have made these cookies twice so far & so much better than the other famous cookie recipe!!
I have made my grandkids several of your cakes for their birthdays & everyone always loves them!!
Thank you so much for this kind note, Beth!
Hi ! It’s my first time attempting to bake oatmeal chocolate chip cookies for my kiddos and they love it,just one critique, a bit salty for my other kid. What may have gone wrong? I’m keeping all your recipes, and will try ’em all one cookie at a time
Hi Chris, were you using salted butter by chance? That could be the culprit, otherwise, feel free to reduce the added salt a bit to your tastes. Thanks for giving these a try!
This recipe is amazing. The cookies come out perfectly every time.
Love the recipie! Have made this multiple times for my family and friends !
This is by far the best recipe I have ever tried. Chewy, soft, and loaded with chocolate. 11/10! I made these for Iftar and the family loved them! 1 question though. If the chocolate chunks are not sticking to the batter, did I add too much butter? They weren’t sticking to the dough and I had to forcefully stick them on. A family favorite. My mom loves this website. Thanks so much!
-Zahra-
This is by far one of the best chocolate chip cookie recipes I have tried! I actually browned my butter and they came out amazing! They are delicious and wonderfully soft! This will definitely be my new go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe!
Best recipe ever. Comes out perfect every time.! Very easy to follow and I have been using this recipe for three years now and probably will always use this recipe. Thank you SBA!
I absolutely love this recipe and every time I make it for friends, the say its the best they have ever had.
This recipe was definitely another successful recipe. Thank you Sally, my cookies came out fantastic.
This is my absolute favorite cookie recipe! Family and friends agree! I’ve used this recipe a few times. I was sad when I lost this recipe and had to use a diff. one it was not the same at all. I was wondering I do want to make double chocolate chip cookies that’ll come out like these ones. Do I just at cocoa powder?? Also thank you for all the tips.
I love this recipe! This is my go to cookie recipe, it’s so easy and it never fails. I often freeze half the batter so we can have cookies at any time!
Thank you for sharing!
I want to make these cookies but only have saalted butter — can you tell me how to do that please…..thanj yu so much
Paula
Hi Phyllis, if using salted butter, reduce the added salt to 1/8 teaspoon. Happy baking!
This recipe was a bust for me. I followed instructions to a T and our batter was dry and crumbly. The cookies also never flattened due to being too dry. I was excited because I came from Lilypcrumb on tiktok. I noticed though that she had used two whole eggs…
I love this recipe so much! I’ve made it about 5 times with my 2 year old!
Soooo yummmmmmmyy!!!! I haven’t tasted it yet but the cat ate it and she was happy!
Thanks!
i lovedd this recipe it is amazing, just a note i think you should change the total time because it currently says it takes over 3 hours and no one really clicks on a 3 hour cookie recipe
I lllooovvveee your recipes!!! I swear by them. They are the only recipes I have ever tried that actually come out looking like your pictures. Amazing!! Your wonderful and a create inspiration!! Thank you. ~M~