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
Can this recipe be doubled?
Hi Mrs. P, yes, you can double this cookie dough.
I baked these today with my daughter and we did everything correctly. The only difference is I didn’t have unsalted butter so I use salted and used less salt. After taking them out of the fridge the dough was pretty hard so we had to wait awhile and since we were both rolling dough the cookies were not uniform so the cooking time was varied. They were Ok but I could taste the corn starch so if I make the again I will try a little less. But the were easy to make and not having to pull out my mixer was good and there was less mess.
Make
I just thought I should share my yummy experience with this recipe. It’s a little different from your other chocolate chip cookie recipe I used and loved. I decided to take a risk and implement some substitutes, though I haven’t tried this recipe before. I’m glad I did. They turned out perfectly!
My mom and I have been implementing extra healthy measures with our eating. But we both have not lost our sweet teeth with these changes. I used 1 cup of pure maple syrup for the brown sugar and regular sugar. I used coconut oil for the butter (which I have done for cookies before). I used whole wheat flour completely, adding about an extra half a cup because of the maple syrup consistency in the batter. I also used sugar free milk chocolate chips for our attempts to avoid most sugar. I found for me that 12 1/2 minutes in the oven was perfect! They turned out so delicious and so much healthier!
I don’t understand why but my cookies keep tasting like the baking soda. I thought first it was because it was old so I threw away the first cookies. Now i made it with new baking soda but it still taste like it. Can i replace it with baking powder
Hi Jm, baking soda and powder serve different functions in baking and are not interchangeable. You can read more about that in this post. Have you noticed this in other recipes? Perhaps you could try a different brand.
These are THE BEST! I’ve made them countless times and always to rave reviews. We like to use half chocolate chips and half M&Ms.
I appreciate your recipes. I did brown the butter, add a tbs of espresso powder, and did 1/2 bread and 1/2 AP flour. They turned out amazing.
I have been having problems with my previous chocolate chip cookie recipe going flat. Tried this recipe and will not be using my previous recipe again! This will be my new chocolate chip cookie recipe. Thank you!
My cookie dough turned out very crumbly, I followed to a T so I’m not sure why. I made these before and had no issue. I can’t figure it out.
Hi Sheena! Perhaps something was mis measured this time? 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.
This one is a keeper! I followed the directions exactly as written, weighing the ingredients as I always do and while these cookies spread while baking, they still turn out decently thick. You need to give the columns of dough lots of space to allow for spreading, but if one touches another during baking or you want more of a round shape for some of them, you can always separate and reshape them once they are done. I prefer this so I don’t keep opening my oven door and losing heat or needlessly fussing during the baking time. My dough weight for each cookie was 50 grams. I placed the cookie sheet on the scale and tared it to zero after forming each column so weighing the dough for each cookie was easy. I recommend following Sally’s optional step of dotting the freshly baked cookies with extra chocolate chips as this makes the final product look picture perfect even if they aren’t perfectly round! My cookies were done to our liking in about 13 minutes. The edges were brown, but the centres were soft. I find a little extra time deepens the flavour of the cookies while still maintaining the soft chewiness. Yum! Thank you Sally for another terrific recipe!
I have never had success making chocolate chip cookies except the ones with oatmeal and when I use whole wheat flour. They were always flat and crispy. I hate those kind of cookies. I decided to try this recipe yesterday and let our 12 year old great granddaughter help. Oh my goodness, they turned out wonderful!! The kids said they were the best cookie ever. My husband really liked them as well. I will make these again. THANK YOU for all your hard work.
Is it me? I made this recipe and my cookie dough came out crumbly help please
Hi Missy! Usually a crumble dough means too much flour in the mixture. 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.
I made these and they taste great, the centers seem a little underdone while the outside has a little crunch. Should I bake them longer or is that how they should be.
Hi Erin, the middles will be quite chewy and will solidify more as they cool. You can certainly try increasing the bake time by just a minute or two if you wish. So glad you enjoyed the cookies!
Hello I was wondering if I could substitute the Corn starch for potato starch?
If you do not have cornstarch available, you can simply omit it. The cookies will still be nice and chewy.
Hi!! Can I add some coffee powder and if so, about how much is enough?
Hi Paige, you can add 1 tsp of espresso powder to these cookies without any other changes. Let us know if you try it!
can I chill the cookies in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour instead of 2-3 hrs?
The cookies will likely spread too much if not chilled for the full amount of directed time.
If you follow this recipe exactly as written, you will make the ABSOLUTE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES EVER! WOW! I’ve tried a zillion recipes to try to get a thick chewy chocolate chip cookie….. THIS IS IT!!! Only recipe I will EVER make from now on! Thanks for developing this PERFECT combination of ingredients!!!!
What unbleached flour do you use/recommend for cookies, cakes. I have used different brands from Trader Joes to King Arthur. Though I can tell there is a difference I dont know what it is and why?
Hi Ellen, we usually use King Arthur flour.
Can I add strawberries and white chocolate to this recipe?
Hi Asia, we’d recommend these strawberries and cream cookies instead!
Fun delicious cookies!
My fourth time making them and I added 1 cup shredded sweetened coconut to the other ingredients.
Wow!
Chocolate coconut candy bars, move over.
They were very good with
one cup of
sweetened shredded coconut.
But I’m going to try 1/2 cup next time, and see if I like that even better.
I made these cookies today, measured 50 grams for size. I think I have a cooler oven because my bake time was about 17 – 18 minutes. I was skeptical at first because they were so underbaked after 13 min but read other reviews and saw some others had to bake longer too. They have a nice crust and are chewy. Very good! If I were to make it again I would increase chocolate chips to 1 1/2 cups.
I must have made 1000’s of dozens of chocolate chip cookies in my life. All good but….these have been changed my bakes forever. Thanks for the recipe and all of the special tips Sally. You can teach an old dog new tricks!
Can I use bread flour for this recipe instead and only refrigerate for 30 mins a before it was rock solid?
Hi Sally. Can this recipe be used at high altitude, or are there specific adjustments I need to make?
I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
These turned out great! I used a food scale to weigh ingredients and the dough consistency was perfect after sitting in the fridge for a few hours. I added a handful of butterscotch chips for a little extra flavor!
Found this recipe by accident and now this has become my go to cookie recipe. I bake these all the time for family and friends. They are always gone and it gets me rave reviews. I try to tell people about this recipe and get others to cook them.
My suggestion is to make the cookie dough balls and put in the freezer for 30-45 minutes and pull them out as you cook.
How bad can they be when the author of the cookie’s name is Sally ❤️
I totally messed this recipe up. I did 1 egg and 1 egg yolk. How can I fix this. I’m out off eggs
Hi Robert, the recipe calls for 1 egg + 1 egg yolk, so it doesn’t sound like you messed anything up!
this recipe is really good. I made some toffee bits and added them in a long with the chocolate chips. I used a 3 or 4 TBSP cookie scoop and they took a bit closer to 20 minutes to get golden brown. once they were done my entire family loved them
Love this recipe and use it all the time. Quick question though, why do the eggs have to be room temperature if after combining all of the ingredients the dough is then refrigerated? Thanks.
Hi Lori, it’s important to use room-temperature ingredients to get them to combine properly. Cold eggs + melted butter would not come together easily, and you could end up with a curdled result. If you’re interested in learning more, we have an article about room-temperature ingredients here.
Hi! I have made this recipe so many times and LOVE it! Many people have told me these are the best chocolate chip cookies they have ever had. But I’m just wondering – has anyone tried it with 1:1 gluten-free flour? I always bake for my coworkers’ birthdays, and have a few coming up who have gluten intolerances!
Thank you! ❤️
They were kind of mid tbh, the crust was hard and crispy, the middle was pretty chewy.I don’t have a lot of experience making cookies or baking in general,but even a novice would know that the cookies aren’t worth the hype.
Hi, I love this recipe! Tried it just now! But it is a little bit sweet for my family, is it possible to reduce both types of sugar by 20% ?
Hi Kuzeefi, you can try it, though it may slightly throw off the proportion of other ingredients in the recipe. Give it a try and let us know how they turn out!