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
Dear Sally and team. I want to share a little story with you. So, I have been making this cookie recipe for a few years now. Its the best chocolate chip cookie recipie I have ever found, and I have tried several dozen over the years! Its perfect and always a crowd-pleaser. Yesterday was a big day for our family. We moved a few years ago and have an autisic son. We live way out in the country and I work a lot, so making new friends is tough. But we have been hanging with another autism family for a few weeks now and they came over yesterday for the first time and the spent the day on our little homestead. Their little boy played in our creek, ran with our dogs and caught fireflies (all firsts for him). They don’t do a lot of cooking from scatch typically (no judgement! Life is crazy, I get it!) But I try to when I can and I cook and bake a lot. Anyway when I pulled out the chilled cookie dough I had made yesterday morning so we could have warm cookies from the oven after I served dinner, they were so cute, they were like “you MADE that cookie dough?”. It was adorable. But anyway, I figured lets go another step and had the kids help me make some very simple whipped cream to dip their cookies in and my son’s new friend (first new friend to actually come over since the move) was in heaven. They (the Mom and older sister) were so impressed with these ooey gooey pieces oh chocolate heaven, I felt so proud of my humble home. I know they are just cookies, but for us, it was a special day made even more special by this sweet little treat. It just goes to show you the power of food made with love and I know the boys will remember sitting a the kitchen island dipping their cookies in whipped cream with giant chocolate smeared grins for years to come. Thanks for all your recipes. Your site is my baking favorite. I am so glad I had this recipe in my arsenal yesterday because sometimes, you just need the cookies to be extra special.
Thank you so much for this kind feedback, Lyn. We’re thrilled the cookies were such a hit for everyone!
I love this recipe but i need to double or even triple it for a big family! How do i do this?
This recipe doubles well. If you need more than a double recipe, we recommend making separate batches because it can get hard to mix triple or quadruple batches. So glad it’s a favorite!
This is the best chocolate chip recipe I’ve ever made. Thanks Sally and her team!
oh my god this is the best cookie recipe I’ve ever ever everrrr tried like I swear these are just so sooo delicious!!!! i will make these forever oh my GOSH. SALLY I LOVE YOU!!!!!!
hits the spot. oh man these were perfect! My Sister in law who is a huge foodie called them “delectable” and everyone i gave them to loved them. I bet they would be amazing with some vanilla ice cream.
Will it work just as well to chill the cookies on the baking sheet for a couple of hours before baking, instead of chilling the chewy chocolate chip cookie dough, and then trying to shape the cookies? (It might be easier to shape the cookies this way.)
Hi Diane, the dough will actually be too soft to shape before chilling, and will make it more difficult to get the tall column shape you want to aim for. Hope this helps!
Wow – this is an amazing recipe. The best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. I appreciate all the background details too. The taller dough shape produced the prettiest cookies ever. And I was tempted to leave the cookies in a bit longer (they still looked uncooked), but I followed directions and left them in just until the edges started to very lightly brown. As Sally said, they will continue to set. And they did – they were perfect.
Only difference I found is I had to let the dough sit for a good hour after refrigerating overnight.
Omg these are perfect! I always follow Sally’s recipe exactly, so I was worried when I realized I didn’t have any corn starch. They turned out delicious regardless but can’t wait to bake these again with the addition of the corn starch. Definitely worth turning the oven on for on a 110° summer day. Amazing as always, Sally and team!
This is a great recipe, as are so many others that I’ve tried on your blog! I am wondering, which brand all purpose flour do you tend to use for cookies, cakes and brownies?
Hi Nabeela, Sally uses King Arthur flour for baking.
Want to halve this recipe. 7.22.23
Meed to halve this recope.
Need. To. Halve. This recipe
Pls send today.need Thanks
Hi Linda, no adjustments needed to halve this cookie recipe, besides halving each ingredient amount. To halve an egg, you can crack it in a bowl, whisk to combine the yolk and white, measure it, then use half. Should be a couple Tablespoons. You can also mix up the one yolk separately and then only use half.
Amazing cookies. Even my sister who doesn’t like cookies loved them so much.
Was a bit skeptical as the batter was softer but chilling helped and when the cookies were ready to be taken out of the oven they had a cake like texture but after cooling they were great.
Used gluten free flour and subbed brown sugar with molasses and granulated sugar. Best cookies I’ve ever made and couldn’t even tell they were gluten free.
These cookies were delicious but I followed every step and they hardly spread when baking. I don’t understand why this happens? It happens to me alllll the time. HELP!!
Hi Carly, When cookies don’t spread, there’s usually too much flour in the dough, 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.
Didn’t work. Spread too much and were greasy. I have no idea what I did wrong. I was very careful in measuring(used a scale) and chilled overnight. Thoughts?
Hi Elaine! Make sure to let the butter cool a bit before combining with the other ingredients. Here’s more tips to prevent cookies from spreading for your next batch!
Truly I made those on a whim doubled the recipe, took them to a housewarming/ engagement party. The only thing left was crumbs on the plate. Truly a keeper
So glad it was a hit, Diana!
Hi Sally 🙂 I have tried making a similar cooking recipe to yours and wanting to try yours instead. I feel as though my cookies don’t melt very well, I’ve tried baking them twice now and have no clue what I’m doing wrong!
Any tips??
Thank you,
Amy Rodrigues
Hi Amy, We are unsure what you mean by not melting very well. Do you mean they don’t spread in the oven? If you try this exact recipe let us know if it works better for you!
My family loved these cookies. This recipe is well worth the effort. A real winner!
This recipe was amazing! I split it Into 2 different doughs and made the second batch with matcha green tea powder and the green tea cookies came out amazing too, girls loved them! I’ll be using this recipe a lot especially as a base for other flavors, thank you thank you, your recipe is my new favorite!
I love this recipe but 14 cookies for my family isn’t enough! (Big family problems) how can i double or even triple this recipe?
Hi Hope, this recipe doubles well – follow the same steps for 2x the ingredients. So glad you all enjoy them!
Me and my family love this recipe! We have made it twice now, and both times the cookies were delicious!
Hi Sally,
I made this cookies today n it was yummiest cookies i ever had thank you for sharing this recipe
I’ve been wanting a great choc chip cookie receipe and this one is just fantastic! Thanks so much!
We love these cookies! I want to make them for a diabetic. Have you tried the Swerve brand of sweetener in baking? After researching, this seems to be the closest to sugar of the natural sweeteners out there. Just wondering if you had any experience using it.
Hi Michelle, we don’t typically test recipes with alternative sweeteners, so I’m afraid we don’t have experience with it and can’t recommend one.
My partner just loves these ! I must admit they are the best cookies recipe l tried. I shall certainly be baking more and can’t wait to try your peanut butter cookies !
From France !
I’ve made maybe 20 recipes from this site and this one, like all the rest, turned out wonderful. Perfectly soft and chewy with crisp edges, they are irresistible. And trust me, thats nothing to do with any particular skill of mine, all the recipes here are so well tested and researched, and brilliantly explained with helpful video and extra notes. It makes them so incredibly simple to follow, there is no better baking site! Thank you!
Hi Sally, question for you…why do you have to let the refrigerated dough come to room temp before baking, but you can bake the frozen dough without thawing at all? I’m sure there’s a reason, just trying to broaden my baking knowdledge.
Hi Ben, we don’t let the refrigerated dough completely come to room temperature—we just let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes so that it isn’t too hard to scoop. Hope this helps!
How can I make the cookies less thick? My family likes thin cookies.
Hi Shay, these cookies were developed to be thick and chewy, but you can try banging the pan on the counter towards the end of bake time to help initiate spread even more. Or you might enjoy these crispy chocolate chip cookies instead!
Great cookies!! Easy to make dairy free with vegan butter and vegan chocolate chips. I’m sure not as good as the real thing but still absolutely delish!!
This will be my go to for delicious choc chip cookies from now on! So easy and thank you for weight measurements. YUM !!
Love this recipe! I’m sure this has been asked but I can’t seem to find the answer anywhere. I want to make smaller cookies, with a small cookie scoop. How long would you recommend baking and would I need to make any other changes? Thanks in advance 🙂
Hi Rey! You can make them any smaller size you would like – bake until the edges are very lightly browned, we’re unsure of the exact time. For an XS cookie, you can use our Mini Cookies recipe (with mini chocolate chips instead of M&Ms).
I made these with fresh milled flour and they turned out AMAZING!
Hello Sally, this recipe is amazing & love it! Just wondering if I could reduce 50% of sugar? Need to adjust other ingredients too? Thanks!
Hi Joanne, 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.
Great thanks!