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 made this recipe and the only change I made was not melting butter. I used room temp butter. It turned out fantastic and everyone is raving about them. Only choc chip recipe I will use from now on! Thank you!
Website issues-I am not sure if you are aware that this is happening or if it can be fixed: Whenever I am reading the comments for any of your recipes, the website reloads and I have to scroll all the way down to where I left off. I wouldn’t complain if it happened occasionally but it literally happens every 1-2 minutes. It is so annoying and time consuming to have to scroll all the way back down the page and find where you were at. I thought maybe it was just me or my internet, but both my daughters who live in completely different areas have the same issue. I love all your recipes and think you are an amazing baker. You’re quite a celebrity baker to my family and close friends! I just thought you should know and maybe see if something can be done to stop this. Maybe it’s because of the video ads always loading. Just a guess because I am not a computer geek. It happens when I’m at home on my cell phone and at work when I’m on my stationary computer. It definitely won’t keep me off your website!!
Hi Darci, thank you so much for your feedback on this. Website ads are frustrating, there’s no doubt about it. But this sounds like a bad ad code, or something getting stuck that’s causing my site to reload. Have you noticed on other pages, or only this recipe? Let us look into this; I sincerely apologize for error!
Loved this recipe! Texture was amazing! Taste was good. Ingredients were different from my normal tollhouse cookie but so yummy!
Excellent recipe! Best I’ve made in a long time
This recipe did not work for me at all. I used 1/4 c less white sugar. I put batter in the fridge over night and took out for 2 hours. Made balls of batter and baked at 325 in a convection over. They didn’t spread or turn brown in the oven so I flattened them with a fork and after 20 mins I increased the temperature to 350 on convection for 4 minutes they until were brown around the edges. They are soft and chocolatey but not chewy, perhaps my dough was too dry because I added 1/4 c of chopped walnuts.
I’m pretty sure the white sugar affects the cookies spreading so if you reduced that they may not spread as well. I would also bake them cold out of the fridge and not bring them to room temp before you bake them. Just my guess!
This is the best and easiest chocolate chip cookie recipe I have found. My family absolutely loves them!
Hi i made the chocolate chip cookies but it’s very very watery despite leaving it in the fridge for 2 hours. I did use smart balance instead of butter but that was my only substitute. any reason why this occurring and how i can fix it?
Hi Michelle! We don’t have much experience baking with butter substitutes so can’t offer much help. For a loose cookie dough, adding flour is often a fix, but we’re unsure how much you would need.
Made these today and was pleased with the result. They are soft, chewy, and full of chocolate as described. I followed the directions exactly and refrigerated the dough overnight as recommended. But letting the dough sit out for 10 minutes or so was not enough to be able to scoop it out in portions. It was totally solid and extremely hard to the point I almost broke the spring on my cookie scoop. It was 40-45 minutes later before it was soft enough to be able to scoop it out. So yes they are delicious but next time I will portion out each cookie onto a rimmed cookie sheet first and then refrigerate them overnight. Thanks for the recipe!
did not work for me.
Hi Amy, we’re happy to help troubleshoot if you could give us some more information on what went wrong! Here’s more tips for baking cookies.
Hi Sally and team. My nieces and I made these yesterday. They are delicious. We couldn’t stop eating them.
Sally! Help! I have made this recipe (always doubled) about 12 times this month for EVERYTHING I go to..Everyone says they are the best cookies ever. But this batch I made today– the cookies are spreading and becoming thin, dry, flat and crisp. I chill my dough, all measurements and oven temp were same as every other time before. Any suggestions or ideas?
Hi Allison, so glad to hear these are a favorite for you! Are you using any different ingredient brands by chance, or baking in a different oven? How hot is your butter? Be sure to let it sit for 5 minutes or so out of the microwave—you don’t want it piping hot. Here are our best tips to prevent cookies from overspreading, too. Hope this helps!
Hi. My family loved the recipe. I’m a newbie baker and have a question. I followed the directions but possibly did not use sufficient butter. Would that cause the cookies to be less moist? Thanks Dennis
Hi Dennis, yes, using less butter will make the cookies a bit more on the dry side. We’re glad you still enjoyed the cookies!
Followed this recipe exactly and it did not disappoint. Honestly this might be the best batch of chocolate chip cookies I’ve made. Glad I tried it. Hats off to Sally again!
Am I able to swap the butter for canola oil or will that mess up the recipie ?
Hi Alexa, it is best to stick with butter here. We don’t recommend oil.
I don’t bake much but I’m definitely making these for my fiance when I see him again! If he likes them I’ll be sure to come back to this website <3
We love this recipe so much! Its on repeat here. I want to make one giant cookie for my daughters “birthday cookie cake”. Can I put it on one big sheet and cook it? or will it burn? I want 1 giant cookie. Thanks!!
Hi Heather, so glad this one is a favorite for your family! Here are our similar recipes for chocolate chip cookie cake and chocolate chip cookie pizza. Hope it’s a hit!
I forgot the salt! How screwed am I????
The cookies will have less flavor, but will be edible for sure! A sprinkle of flaky salt on top after baking (while they’re still warm) should help.
Any tips for baking in an air fryer? My oven is broken and I need to bake cookies this week!
Hi Jennifer, we haven’t tried baking these cookies in an air fryer, but let us know if you do!
I really enjoyed this recipe but I’m not sure why they turn out thicker and cakey in texture. I’ve followed this recipe exactly but always seem to have this problem with my baking any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank-You
Thank you for giving these cookies a try. 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 read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post. Hope this helps for your next batch!
I followed everything and chill it over night and the cookie dough was not crumbly but very hard to scoop. The cookies spread terribly. It might have been more than 10 minutes outside after chilling since it was hard to scoop. Why did it become so hard like frozen cookies dough.
Hi Thiri, here’s our best tips to keep cookies from spreading. Make sure to let the melted butter cool a bit before continuing with the recipe as well. Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, you may need to let it sit for a bit longer to soften the dough so that you can scoop it. If you then find it gets too soft during the scooping, you can scoop the dough and place the shaped dough balls back in the refrigerator for a bit before baking. This will also help prevent spread. Thank you for giving these a try!
Hi. Does this recipe called for stick butter or can I use a spread and melt it. Not sure how specific with the butter. Thank you. By the way, made the no bake mini cheesecakes, they were delicious
Hi Michelle! Best to use stick butter with baking, the spreads have oil added. Glad you enjoyed the mini cheesecakes!
Quick question I don’t see the nutritional info anywhere – how many calories are in each cookie? X
Hi Megan, 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
We are not cookie people but I plan on making these as a gift. I have noticed when a recipe calls for APF I’m never sure what type to use. Some have more protein than others. When making your light cakes I use less protein flour, heavier cakes (carrot) higher protein. Could you tell me what would be the best flour for this recipe.
Hi Diane, we often bake with King Arthur brand all-purpose flour, which has an 11.7% protein content. Any all-purpose flour near that should work great. Hope you enjoy the cookies!
sorry, most important question which I forgot – if we prepare and bake the cookies but want to have them warm in a few hours, what is the best way to warm / re heat them?
Hi Maria, usually a quick zap in the microwave works perfectly!
Quick questions on the recipe – (1) how should we melt the butter?; (2) how can we make the cookie even thicker? thanks!
Hi Maria! We usually melt the butter in the microwave, but the stove works well too. These are pretty thick cookies, you may also love our 6 giant chocolate chip cookies recipe.
This is the best cookie recipe I’ve ever made. Thank you for all the detailed instructions. Follow this recipe as written (including how to scoop the flour and to use a mixer for extra batches) for excellent results. I made 3X the amount and chilled it overnight.
Hi there, I made the batter yesterday, it’s chilling and I will be baking it tonight. Would these cookies still work if I made them smaller? Like 30g or 40g each?
Hi Jess, absolutely. Bake time will be just a bit shorter. Hope you enjoy the cookies!
I tried this recipe for the first time. My husband is raving about how good they are. He says they are as good as his mother used to make and everyone thought her chocolate chip cookies were the best.
I loved this receipe. I nailed it the first try. My daughter and grandbabies loved them. They are so soft, moist, and chewy. Best receipe hands down! Thank you for sharing
Mine keep coming out flat and greasy. Any ideas?
Hi Pete, here’s our best tips to keep cookies from spreading. Make sure to let the melted butter cool a bit before continuing with the recipe as well.