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
By far my favorite cookie recipe! I’ve tried baking a batch using dark chocolate and another using white chocolate and macadamia. Both tasted great!
I’m planning to add a bit of ube (purple yam) flavoring for the white chocolate macadamia batch. Would adding 1 teaspoon of flavoring suffice or should I substitute the vanilla extract? Thanks
This is now my go to chocolate chip cookie recipe. I chill the dough for 4 days. Thank you @sallybakingaddict
Great recipe! Well organized and easy to follow. The cookies are also delicious!
I’ve made these once, and they are absolutely delicious! I’m making them again today. Has anybody used milk chocolate chips in place of semi-sweet? How did they taste? While I typically use semi-sweet in cookies, I like the thought of using milk chocolate.
I spend my life looking for a “better” recipe for things like cookies. I am quite fussy about small details and I am critical where others are not. My husband hasn’t met a homemade cookie he didn’t like. I am no longer going to look for another chocolate chip cookie recipe these are amazing. I followed every rule to the letter including making the cookies into little towers and putting them on a cold cookie sheet every time. Thank you sooo much for this
Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try, Janine!
OMG how good are these cookies. They are chewy and soft and have such a nice flavor you want in a chocolate chip cookie. My daughter loved these too. I will be making these again!
I sent you a question about a cookie cake the other day, and haven’t heard back. All I need to know is, can I use this Chocolate Chip cookie recipe for a cookie cake, or is there something different I may need to do for a cake.
Hi Shirley, here is our chocolate chip cookie cake recipe instead!
Do you use convection bake when baking cookies?
Hi Sandi, 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.
Well maybe that’s why my cookies came out more cake than chewy. Fan ovens are more often used nowadays where I live, so I’ll try the recipe again and lower the temp.
Hello all!
First, I’m in France, so flour, sugar, etc., are different, but should still give similar and easily adjustable results. At least, that’s my thoughts and hope. 😉
Second, I will state the changes that may have impacted my results: 1/4 less granulated sugar and half almond extrait (I didn’t have enough vanilla and like almond extrait with chocolate).
Results: Definitely too much almond extrait (but I figured so; I need to reduce it to 1/4 tsp.) and perhaps even less vanilla. Cookies are soft, cakey versus chewy. 🙁 Still better than when mine are hard cookies (like in the store). It seems like the cornstarch may need to be reduced or eliminated (so I’ll try that next time). Perhaps too much baking soda (I say this due to the taste). Everything was leveled.
I did cook them in the center, alone on a baking pan with paper @ 170°C (14 min). The batch now in the oven is on a special cookie sheet, so perhaps the next batch will be different and if so, I will let you know.
Can anyone help with having a similar recipe with less sugar and butter. The French eat sweets, but made with less sugar and butter, so it has to be possible. 😉
Question- I use King Arthur all Purpose flour. if the recipe indicates 280 grams ( 2 1/4 ) cups of flour, should I be using 280 grams, or 270 grams which is 2 1/4 cups of King Arthur all purpose flour?
Hi Robin, I use King Arthur flour a lot as well, and I measure it to be about 125g per cup. When I make these, I use 280g and recommend you do as well.
I’m an older sister who bakes for my family and my younger brother loves these so much! Definitely a recipe I’m remembering ❤️
Can you make a cookie cake with this recipe? My grand daughter wants a chocolate chip cookie cake for her birthday. Is there anything I would need to do different to make this recipe work for a cookie cake?
Hi Shirley, here is our chocolate chip cookie cake recipe instead!
Our family new favorite cookie recipe.
Can the dough be frozen so we have fresh cookies daily?
You bet! See recipe Notes for details.
This is thee best chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve ever made! It’ll be my go-to from now on!
Perfect. Every. Time.
Please make round up of all the cookie recipes that use melted butter!! We love those types of recipes and I don’t like digging to find them
Best. Cookies. Ever. These came out fantastic; my whole family couldn’t stop eating them (myself included)! This is also an easy to follow recipe for new bakers (like myself) the step by step instructions and videos were very helpful, and response to my initial questions from a previous comment are appreciated.
Hi! is it possible to make these gluten-free? almond or chickpea flour? and also ok to use a flax egg? thank you!
Hi Nancy, we haven’t tested it, but if you are looking for a gluten-free cookie you might have success experimenting with a gluten-free all-purpose flour like Bob’s Red Mill or Cup4Cup. We don’t recommend almond flour as it has very different baking properties and is not always a 1:1 swap. We haven’t experimented with chickpea flour or egg substitutes here, either. You might enjoy these flourless almond butter chocolate chip cookies instead. If you give anything a try, we’d love to know how it goes for you!
The BEST recipe!!! My cookies come out better than the professionals. I use less chips and I do form the individual “mounds” before chilling, but those are my only adjustments.
This turned out EXACTLY like I wanted. This makes me so happy as I live in high elevation. Will it work the same if I brown the butter first?
So glad you enjoyed these, Kelly! 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.
Too thick and did not spread out! Ugh. What did I do wrong?
Hi Sarah! Cookies that don’t spread are usaully cause by too much flour in the dough. How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) when measuring.
My tip when using browned butter is to just add an extra tablespoon or two than the recipe calls for since the butter evaporates when browning on the pan, which is why the batter may be more crumbly!
Wonderful recipe! Have made them twice and now my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. The friends I made them for loved them.
Hi my daughter tried these and they came out so sweet could it be because we used dark brown sugar instead of light?
Hi Rebecca, you can use either light or dark brown sugar in the recipe, though we typically use light. Using dark brown sugar wouldn’t make enough difference to be overly sweet, but will make your cookies appear a bit darker. Did you make any other adjustments to the recipe? The sugars and chocolate do make these a sweet treat!
Can you bake these as a bar cookie?
Hi LizB, this recipe is great for a 9×9-inch square baking pan or try this chocolate chip cookie bars recipe.
These turned out perfect!! Easily my new go-to cookie recipe
My husband and I simply love this recipe!!
What a fabulous and sumptuous snack to have while watching the World Series.
Go Yankees!
So glad they’re a hit, Larry!
My husband loves these cookies. Thank you for sharing
The best ever chocolate chip cookies. A question. I always think that the baking soda taste is rather strong. Any suggestions? Baking powder maybe?
Hi Jane, is your baking soda fresh? We haven’t experienced a bitter taste with these cookies, but perhaps it could be the box of baking soda you’re using. We’d try it again with a fresh box. We don’t recommend swapping for baking powder instead.
I made them and they came out amazing! I love big cookies so I scooped a larger portion. Very yummy and soft!
I have a hard time with overly sweet chocolate chip cookies, but this! OMG! I love them!!
I love your recipes, Sally! My family is obsessed with the cinnamon rolls. I’m new to baking, I tried to cook these the first time and I felt like my dough was too hard. The cookies didn’t spread well in the oven as I hoped. I rolled them with my hands after refrigerating the dough overnight, baked at 325 for 14 minutes. Would cooking on convection be the best? I also felt like I may have let my butter cool for too long. Let me know what you think?
Thanks!
Kristen and my daughter Ava
Hi Kristen and Ava, When cookies don’t spread, it’s because there is too much flour in the dough. How do 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. Thanks for giving these a try!
Thank you, I did that I was letting my daughter who is 2 add it into the bowl so, I’m sure we weren’t as precise 🙂 They were still delicious though – I’ll try do keep an eye on that next time, thank you!
Sally, Can this recipe be doubled ?
Hi Sally, yes, you can double this recipe.