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
How do I make small batch of your cookies? For example I would like to bake 6 cookies. How should the measurements be? And what are your recommended chocolate chip/bar brands? Is Ghirardelli a good choice?
Hi Sherin, you can halve the batch for a lower yield. Or, you can simply make the recipe as is and freeze the leftover cookie dough. Or, here is our recipe for 6 giant chocolate chip cookies. We like Ghirardelli or Nestle Toll House for chocolate chips, and Ghirardelli or Baker’s brand for pure chocolate baking bars. Hope this helps!
Can I leave the cookie dough in the fridge for 6 days? If not, what is the process for freezing the dough? Can I bake the dough immediately after taking it out of the freezer?
Hi RM, we don’t recommend leaving the dough in the refrigerator for 6 days. See recipe Notes for freezing details, as well as our post on How to Freeze Cookie Dough. Enjoy!
I baked this recipe back when it was titled “Best Chocolate Chip Cookies,” and I LOVED them. I feel like since the recipe name change an ingredient or two was also changed, because I’m not getting the same result as I used to (getting puffy, cake-like cookies instead of chewy, more spread out cookies), but I can’t remember what was different. Was there a change in this recipe, and if so, is there a way to get the previous version? There’s nothing wrong with this version, but the previous version was my absolute favorite cookie! Thanks!
Hi Dallas! This recipe has not change since originally publishing it in 2013. Puffy, cakey cookies are usually 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.
Loved this recipe. Baking cookies for the first time and am so glad I came across this website and recipe. So detailed, helpful and yummy cookies. Am so glad and thankful.Thanks so much for the perfect recipe. Will try many more for sure and yes have already shared the link to the recipe with cousins.
Baked these today at my eleven year old son’s request for chocolate chip cookies. We like a chewy soft cookie. I doubled the recipe. The only variations I used for the recipe is that I used soft margarine, not melted. I did not chill the dough for quite 2-3 hours long before baking them more like 1.5 hours. I used an ice cream scoop measure size instead of a cookie scoop and it made 40 mid to large size cookies. I always try to take them out of the oven before they are quite looking done and My son said they were delicious! Will be using this recipe again.
My go to recipe now! I’ve baked with this recipe many times and always love how easy they are to make and the final results are always soft and chewy – my kind of cookie! Tonight, I decided I wanted to bake cookies, but didn’t have my printed recipe handy, so I just used the recipe on the bag of Kirkland chocolate chips. NEVER again will I use that. Sally’s cookie recipe is superior in every way – taste, texture, and presentation. In the future, if I don’t have this recipe nearby, I just won’t bake. No sense wasting the ingredients.
Is it ok to put them in the freezer to speed up time?
Hi Amanda, while you can certainly try it in a pinch, 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.
Hi Sally
Im a huge fan of all of your recipes. If i wanted to make these cookies 4oz in size, what would the bake time be? Also, what would happen if the add ins were more than 1 and 1/4 cups?
Hi KJ, we recommend you use this recipe for giant chocolate chip cookies. This recipe makes 6-oz size cookies, but you could make them 4 oz. and reduce the baking time a bit. Hope they turn out great!
Amazing. My daughter wanted some cookies from our supermarket bakery but we couldn’t get them, so figured we’d give this recipe a go instead. They are amazing, so so much better than shop bought, will definitely be making them again. And thank you so much for providing metric measurements – for those of us outside the US they make the recipes so easy to follow
Can I scoop the cookie down then chill them
Hi Linda, 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.
I MADE THIS RECIEPE TO A TEE….THEY WERE DRY CRUMBLY AND DIDNT SPREAD
Hi Lala, thank you for giving these cookies a try. Sounds like there may have been too much flour in your cookie 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.
Mine tasted of too much salt and baking soda, could this be a result of halving the sugar? If so how should I adjust the baking soda and salt if I still want to half the sugar? Thank you
Hi Dineo, yes, halving the sugar will throw off the ratios of all the other ingredients. You may need to play around with it a bit to get the taste to your liking. 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. If you want to go all the way down to half sugar, you will likely need to reduce some of the other ingredients as well. Good luck!
Can I form the cookies into cookies then chill the dough instead of chilling the whole batter
Hi Linda! We find the dough to be a little too soft to roll right away, but you certainly can if you prefer!
I want to make these tomorrow and won’t have much time to chill the dough (1 hour max). Can I put it in the freezer instead?
Hi GT, while you can certainly try it in a pinch, 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.
Hi Sally! This recipe is amazing! I wanted to try brown butter in it, would you recommend using your tip of browning the butter and adding 2tb of milk? Thanks!
Hi Uraysha, yes, absolutely! Enjoy!
My grandchildren loved these cookies, I made a double batch and substituted butterscotch chips and toffee chips, they came out AMAZING!!
These cookies were delicious, thank you
I love your recipes! I have a question about this recipe vs the one in your book, Sally’s Cookie Addiction. The recipe in the book, page 25, “Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies,” was slightly different. Book recipe: 270 grams of butter instead of the online recipe – 280 grams. Book recipe: 170 grams brown sugar instead of online recipe – 150 grams. Book recipe – 50 grams of sugar vs online recipe – 100 grams.
The book also says 1/2 cup sugar (50 grams). Is that a typo? Shouldn’t it be 1/2 cup sugar (100 grams)?
I appreciate your help with this.
Hi Monica, the gram measurements for butter and brown sugar in the book work fine for this recipe. But the way you see it on my website now (on this post) is how I make them. I use 280g butter and 150g brown sugar, which are the accurate measurements for the cup measurements given. (The cookbook’s are very slightly off, but the results won’t really vary at all… it is a small amount.) For the granulated sugar, that is a typo and was fixed in the next print. You will want to use 1/2 cup (100g) of granulated sugar.
Hi sally,
I feel like my cookie are always burnt even though I bake them for 9 mins only.
Hi May, do you have an oven thermometer? It sounds like your oven may run a bit hotter than it reads—an oven thermometer will help determine if your oven should be recalibrated. You can also try moving the cookies a rack further away from the heating element. Hope this helps!
Hi! Is the 170 g of unsalted butter the amount before or after melting the butter? I used that amount to melt and after melting, because it lost water it was less than 170 g so just wanted to clarify which it applies to, thank you!
Hi KT! If you are just melting, not browning the butter, it shouldn’t lose moisture. We do usually measure before melting.
These have become my go-to because I make them for my altzheimer patient who is asleep and I do not have to use a mixer.
Hellooo, can i use 1/2 tsp of baking soda and powder in this recipe? Thank you <33
Hi Nizz, we do not recommend changing the leavening amount in this recipe. It’s best to stick with the 1 teaspoon baking soda as written.
Could I brown the butter for more flavor? Would it effect the texture at all?
Hi Lily, You can use brown butter here, and the flavor is outstanding. But they can be a little more crumbly using brown butter – we suggest using the recipe for Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies instead.
Best cookies ever
Like eating clouds. Very tasty recipe.
I LOVD BUT THEY R SALTY I DINDT ADD ENY SAKT! WHY
Were you using salted butter by chance?
I have been baking this recipie since I first tried it. My children keep asking me for these cookies every noe and the . They have become part if our lives.
Nonetheless, I normally down the sugar to half to make them healthier for them. Greetings from Spain!!!
Made these as a Father’s Day gift. Not too sweet, just right texture.
These cookies are AMAZING, and the recipe was so easy! I loved that I didn’t have to get my Kitchenaid out to mix! I will definitely be making these again and again.
Hands down the best chocolate chip cookie! Amazing texture, amazing flavor. We have been making these a lot around our house.
These are perfect the way they are, however if you want to take it up a notch, replace one teaspoon of vanilla with one teaspoon of almond extract. You will thank me!
I made a batch of these but mine didn’t melt down like yours…first batch I tried shaping cylinder like and second batch with less batter and more circulars and both didn’t actually change much in shape. Looking at the video your batter seems much softer than mine – and I followed the instructions to a T! Could it be a difference in sugar? They taste great but are much more like soft delicious pillows lol
Why did my cookie dough turn out brittle and crumbly?
Hi LA! Is this before or after chilling? Sometimes dough is just too cold and needs to warm up a bit before rolling the dough balls. 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.