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 love this recipe, thank you so much! As someone who’s only baked 3 or 4 times since learning how to, I really appreciate how detailed your instructions are. There’s just one thing that’s been on my mind. Does it affect the cookies if I roll the dough first into balls before chilling them in the fridge? Or is it required that I chill first before rolling them into balls. Thanks in advance! ☺️
Hi Selina, You can certainly portion the dough before chilling, but it can be a little slick without some chilling first. We’re so glad you enjoy the cookies!
Well I guess I just got lucky by finding this on my first search for chewy chocolate chip cookies because these turned out to be the BEST I’ve had!! Great recipe. Easy to follow. Perfect cookies.
VERY disappointed in this recipe… Vey flat and greasy… Will Not use this again
Hi Sharajoy, this post on how to prevent cookies from spreading may be a helpful resource for you. Thank you for giving these a try.
These were good, but I like crispy chocolate chip cookies better. Is there a way I can make these more crispy? Or do you have a crispy chocolate chip recipe by chance?
Hi Janelle, here is our crispy chocolate chip cookies recipe. Enjoy!
Hands down best cookie recipe for chocolate hip copied it to a t and it’s sp fire I cutt down on chocolate chip cause my little one
Thank you so much for all the delicious recipes , very easy to make & Family approved! One question though I bought the oxo medium cookie scoop as you recommend, I’ve used it for a couple months now and it always gets jammed and it won’t scoop out especially with chocolate chip cookie dough at room temp.I’ve tried spraying it with oil and dipping in water, no luck. Can you recommend another one that would cooperate better ? Thank you, Holly
I loved this recipe too! Definitely my sister in law’s favorite!
This is hands down my favorite cookie recipe EVER! It does not take long for these bad boys to disappear at my house and they’re always a favorite when I take them to parties and pot lucks! Thank you thank you thank you for this recipe, Sally!
Loved this recipe! Super soft and it was like a chocolate explosion in my mouth!
I have one question though, when I took my cookies out of the oven they deflated? why is that?
Hi Emily, that is completely normal for cookies to deflate a bit once they come out of the oven. They should still stay nice and thick though. Did they seem overly thin? If so, here is our post on how to prevent cookies from spreading for troubleshooting. We’re glad you enjoyed the cookies!
This was a wonderful recipe, I made them to freeze and have just thrown them in the oven as I crave them. The only thing I did outside of the recipe was browned my butter, it adds a wonderful depth of flavor. Also I’m lazy and just throw two eggs instead of dividing the yokes. 10/10 thank you!
The best cookie I have ever eaten and made. Wow just wow
I tried this for my practice baking for an upcoming bake sale. This recipe is perfect.
Initially, it did not turn out quite well since I did not “spoon and level” the flour. For the second try, I used a weighing scale to ensure I’m not using too much flour, which turned out quite well.
Question though, how long should I bake the cookies if I’m using two layers of tray with 9 cookie doughs each?
Thank you.
Hi Rebecca, we don’t recommend baking 2 sheets at a time if they are on different racks. They won’t bake evenly that way. It’s best to bake just 1 sheet at a time. Glad these were a hit!
This recipe really is the best. My family say I have ruined all other cookies for them as they will only eat these from now on. I use dark brown sugar and 75g each dark, milk and white chocolate bars, roughly chopped. I have also tried with dried sour cherries, white chocolate and pistachio. So good!
Might be our new go-to chocolate chip cookies. Taste and texture are incredible!
i’m in love with this recipe! but does anyone know the calorie count per cookie?
Hi Shabnam, 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
This is our go-to cookie recipe! Our family loves it so much, but they’re gone as soon as I make them! I want to double the recipe, and was wondering if the recipe changes if I double it?
Hi Megan, yes, you can double this recipe. Mix until all of the ingredients are fully incorporated. Enjoy!
Thank you for providing me with a delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe. I was impressed how fluffy the dough is. My chocolate chips were made by Hershey. I have them chilling now.. I am baking a couple for our evening snack. The rest I will bake tomorrow for the football games
Hi! Thank you for this recipe. I can’t wait to try. Do you use fan oven ? Thanks for your answer!
Hi Megane, We always recommend conventional settings for baking (not convection/fan). 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/fan settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake.
Delicious! However the cookies are tender and soft as opposed to chewy. Still hunting for my dream chewy cookie.
Love this recipe! Use it all the time ….perfect everytime! Though I roll the batch on parchment paper in a log then cut in half and wrap each in saran wrap and then put in frig for about 3 to 4 hrs and then just cut to make the cookies….I just think a little easier to make 🙂 ♥️
how many cookies does one batch make?
Hi Julie, 16 XL cookies or 20 medium/large cookies.
Hi, I am trying this recipe today and am wondering if it makes a difference if I just use 2 eggs instead of 1 egg and 1 egg yolk. Is that ok?
Hi Evis, we recommend sticking with 1 egg + 1 egg yolk for best taste and texture. This ensures a chewy cookie.
It was perfect,thanks ♡
they taste really good and raised nicely! But I thought they were going to be chewy cookies but instead they were more of a cake texture.
It’s my first tine trying this recipe. Tried doing 70g balls, baked them for 13 mins but it still seems soft, flat and undercooked. Idk what the problem is 🙁
Hi Kate, There are a few different factors that can cause cookies to overspread. Be sure that your butter isn’t piping hot—letting it sit for about 5 minutes before mixing will help. Our post with 10 tips to prevent cookies from spreading will also be helpful to review for next time. We hope this helps!
I think I didn’t melt the butter enough so my mixture was thick, not thin. I also think that’s why my cookies are puffy and taste buttery. Still so good!
Haven’t baked in years so this was my first go in a while. Not a fan of crumbly cookies so made these for a final group meeting and they were a hit! Absolutely like them and so easy to make that i remembered the steps off by heart! I’ve just made a batch for work so fingers crossed also written this one down in my recipe book with the link name so I’ll always come back to these!
This is hands down my fave chocolate chip cookie recipe. Have you ever made with an alternate flour? I have a friend with celiac and would love to make a version she could eat. Love your recipes!
I love this recipe! The texture is divine!!! Can I replace the melted butter with browned butter to give it a more butterscotchy flavor?
Hi Jazzy, 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.
Made the dough two days ago and baked today. I got approx. 26 cookies using 2 healthy measuring tablespoons of dough. 15 minutes on parchment lined sheets. Cooled per directions. The results were very, VERY good! Will be making again.
I’ve made this recipe twice now and it’s the best one! The first time I did chill the dough for hours, the next time I was impatient and chilled for 20 mins and they were still great.
The recipe is easy to follow and is my go to for choc chip cookies.
I love this receipe. I do have one question, I wanted to leave them overnight already seperate , like individually balls 70g, do you think that can alter the outcome? Vs having it overnight all rogether in one bowl? Thank you ❤️
You can certainly portion the dough before chilling, but it can be a little slick without some chilling first. Hope you enjoy the cookies!