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
Foolproof, Easy and So Delicious!
These cookies were great! Exactly what I was craving. I love both the fact they can be mixed by hand and that they need refrigeration. Sometimes after I make dough, I don’t feel like baking. I know, I know, it’s weird. But these were great because I could just relax for a few hours or even a couple of days! And they were delicious!
First rate chocolate chip cookie recipe! I followed exactly as stated. My cookies needed 16 min to bake and taste soft on the onside and chewing on the outside. Thank you Sally for the helpful suggestions and in depth details.
Question: do you typically use King Arthur All purpose flour,unbleached for this cookie?
Hi Jan, we’re so glad you enjoyed the cookies! KAF is usually our go-to, and yes, we prefer using unbleached flour when possible. However, feel free to use another brand if you prefer. Thanks again!
This recipe seems foolproof. Living in a drier climate caused them to fall apart on me. Very crumbly. Guessing I should use less flour?
Hmm, I must have done something wrong. Measured exactly, made cylinders but cookies came out flat can be and most were raw in the middle. I couldn’t leave to bake longer b/c edges were getting pretty dark. maybe it was because I used convection setting on my oven? that sometimes causes problems. I’ve made lots of ch chip cookies and haven’t had this problem before. any tips?
Hi Jamie, All of the recipes on this site are written for conventional settings. Convection ovens are fantastic for cooking and roasting. If you have the choice, we recommend conventional settings when baking. 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 settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake.
I followed every step exactly and they ended up as gooey piles of super flat turd looking things.
My go to recipe! Love it. Have made it many times. Always delicious
Can I store them in a ziplock
Can I add 1 marshmallows inside of cookie dough before I bake them?
Hi Aleena, marshmallows tend to melt/disappear while baking, so we’d place them on top of the baked cookies like we do for s’mores chocolate chip cookies.
Why did my cookies get hard after one day
Hi Pauline! Did you store them in an air-tight container? Perhaps they were slightly over-baked if they dried out so quickly.
Can you are these with salted butter? Also can they be baked using the convection oven setting?
Hi Pam! If using salted butter, reduce the added salt to 1/8 teaspoon. All of the recipes on this site are written for conventional settings. Convection ovens are fantastic for cooking and roasting. If you have the choice, we recommend conventional settings when baking cakes, breads, etc. 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 settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake.
Thanks for the guidance on the convection question. I used the conventional setting. The cookies are wonderful. Grandkids loved them too I will be saving this recipe for the future.
Could you please tell me the nutritional facts about these cookies? (Fats per serving, calories per serving, etc.)
Hi Charlotte, 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
After making these cookies I won’t make any other chocolate chip cookie! They were that good! And with your awesome explanations and pictures they actually came out looking like the recipes picture! Amazing! Thank you!!
I am a terrible baker, but was assigned the chocolate chip cookies for Christmas. The whys and hows in this recipe suggested that the author knew what she was doing, so I gave it a try. I followed the recipe exactly and added walnuts. The cookies were SO GOOD. Honestly couldn’t believe I baked them. Thank you!
Go to cookie recipe, absolutely delicious. I’ve found when doing larger cookies, it takes 16-18 minutes to get that slight golden brown around the edges!
Hello baked these in the oven and when I removed them they had gone down but not spread at all. Do you have any tips/trick to help?
Hi Christine, thank you for giving these cookies a try. It sounds like you may have over measured the flour a bit. Did you spoon and level or use a food scale? Those two methods are preferred to make sure the flour isn’t over measured, which can prevent cookies from spreading. You can also take the pan out towards the end of baking time and gently tap it on the counter to help flatten the cookies and initiate spread. Should you decide to try these again, these 5 tips to improve your next batch of cookies will also be a helpful resource.
Tried your cookie/ recipe and fantastic, but one question, if i am adding such as nuts to this recipe an addition to the chocolate morsels or it a replacement for the morsels , thank you and waiting for your reply and can’t wait to try more of your recipe’s
Hi Vince, so glad you enjoyed the cookies! You can add nuts, either replacing or in addition to the chocolate chips. Just make sure to keep the total amount of add-ins to 1 – 1 and 1/4 cups.
Can I use browned butter instead with some milk/water to make up for the lost moisture? I don’t have a mixer and is too lazy to hand mix the ingredients in your brown butter choco chip cookies recipe
You could certainly try that, or try my brown butter chocolate chip cookies.
After just 4 hours of cookie dough being in the fridge (I planned to leave it there for 24 hours) I went to check on it and it was rock hard solid. Any tips on how to fix this.
Hi Christine! The dough will be hard after chilling. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow it to slightly soften at room temperature for 10 minutes (or more, if needed) until you can roll it.
Hiiii !! I made these cookies two weeks ago ad let me tell you, my family is asking for them EVERY DAY. I tried them with hazelnut and millk chocolate, white chocolate and cranberries, and they did not disapoint. So as you understand, the base of the cookie is perfect so i would like to try to make them with a filling like nutella or peanut butter, do you think It can work (i will freeze the spread before putting it in the cookie) ??? Also, can i add oreo pieces in the dough ? Do you think it will work ? I don’t see why it wouldn’t but just to make sure
Hi Clara! Chopped Oreos will work great as an add-in here. We are unsure about filling them with Nutella or peanut butter, but would love to hear what you try!
hey, i did try to make the cookie with a nutella filling and they came out perfect !!! also tried with oreo pieces into the dough, my family is begging me to make them again !! This is my GO TO cookie recipe, it never disappoint no matter the adds in
These have me stumped! I have never had a problem with any of Sally’s recipes before, but I tried these twice and both times I had issues. I let them cool on the sheet pan and then when I go to transfer them, they nearly fall apart. They are super ooeu gooey to the point that I doubt they are done and then put them back on the sheet and back in the oven. Do I need to increase cooking time or is this normal and they will solidify a little more? I don’t want raw cookies!
Hi Kristen! Sounds like they need a little longer to bake. They will firm as they cool. Make sure to look for set edges.
Hi Sally. Can you make this with white chocolate chips?
Absolutely!
I’ve made this recipe so many times I’ve lost count. My tried and true!! I love it so much. I make sure to brown the butter, scoop the dough into balls and pop in the freezer! They’re usually perfect after an hour or two. I keep a whole batch in there and pop some in the oven whenever I’m craving one. A silicone mat makes all the difference. Love love love these.
I just ate one of these warm from the oven and OMG…it is so good!!
This has become my base blueprint for Chocolate Chip Cookies! The only altercation I do to it is add some cinnamon as well as some Nutmeg 1 tbsp each. I also add White Chocolate and Mini M&M’s to the mix. They are a hit at work!
I add spices sometimes too, and usually a mix of white chocolate and dark. Little pieces of broken pretzels are also a favourite around here, with butterscotch chips sometimes too
Worst cookies I have ever had the displeasure of wasting ingredients on. Irredeemable.
Hi Emma, could you provide some feedback on why you didn’t enjoy the cookies? I’d be happy to help troubleshoot.
I followed all the instructions however they came out cakey. Any tips?
Hi Melinda, So sorry to hear these cookies didn’t turn out for you. A cakey cookie is likely caused by too much flour in the 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 read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post.
These cookies are wonderful. I made the dough yesterday, had it in the fridge overnight. The dough was really stiff so I had to wait a little longer. I made the cylinders with one tablespoon and got 34 cookies.
This is a really bad idea in my house!
These are perfection!! Question, is this recipe okay for a layered cookie cake?
Hi Michelle, so glad you enjoyed the cookies! Here is our recipe for chocolate chip cookie layer cake. We tested that recipe using these chewy chocolate chip cookies and the layers were quite dense, so we recommend sticking to the layer cake recipe for best success. Hope you enjoy it!
Delicious. Chewy cookie with a slightly crispy outer layer. Never shaped cookie dough into towers before it made for the perfect thickness. Couldn’t wait til tomorrow to make these babies so just chilled for three hours. Followed the recipe exactly and they turned out just as promised. This is a perfect cookie!!
Here is something funny! For some stupid reason I used 3/4 of a stick of butter instead of 3/4 cup. The cookies came out fine! They’re delicious! Go figure.
For some silly reason I did that too! I normally nake a lot but hadn’t baked in a few months and seemed to have a brain blip! I added the needed amount to the dough and worked it in just prior to shaping the balls and my cookies turned out tasty but also on the cake side. I also added a splash of Cinnamon and cayenne pepper for a little oomph.
One can’t believe everything they read. I followed the directions all the way, but I must have done something wrong as they are the worst cookies I have ever baked… and the taste is just OK, not special!! Save your ingredients.