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
Seriously delicious! Thanks for explaining the “why” behind the steps too. I was feeling disheartened after I tried the recipe on the chocolate chip bag and I ended up with a greasy cookie Pangea. I’m glad I found your recipe because these turned out great!!!
Does the temperature of the melted butter make a difference? I have a love hate relationship with this recipe, one time it’s perfect and the next it’s not. I weigh everything so butter temp is my last guess at what goes wrong.
Hi Tammy! If it’s too hot it will melt the other ingredients. You do want it to cool a bit after melting.
I loved this recipe I made each cookie approximately 31 grams. Got about 32 cookies. If I could send picture I would.
Great! but a small batch, i was very supired at how small it was
Hi Sarah, the recipe should yield about 16 XL cookies or 20 medium/large cookies. Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try!
My favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, Sally! Everybody loves these! Thank you for getting them to think I’m a great baker (LOL!)
SO GOOD! I’ve tried A LOT of recipes on this website and by far this is the best one. Although I don’t know why you need cornstarch…
The cornstarch helps to make the cookies extra soft and chewy. However, you can leave it out if you wish.
Made these for the first time last week and everyone absolutely LOVED them! They came out perfectly soft and chewy. I’m about to make more. I was wondering if it’s ok to double the recipe to make more or if you suggest just making two batches? Thanks!
Hi Lana, yes, you can double this recipe.
I don’t like cookies that are too sweet, how much sugar can I reduce with the same amount of flour?
Hi Je, Feel free to slightly reduce one or both of the sugars, but keep in mind that if you decrease the sugar the cookies will not have the same texture (it’s used for texture and moisture in addition to taste) and it can impact the spread of the cookies, too. Thanks for giving these a try!
Hello, to ask, how many grams is the batch?
I love this recipie so much and even made a chocolate sauce (5:1 60%dark chocolate: butter) which made the great recipie even better!
How long do the cookies last shewy? sometimes the cookies harden in 24 hours…
Hi Edelmira, cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Great texture and flavour, this recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies is a definite keeper.
This recipe is perfect! After searching for a great chewy chocolate chip cookie, I have found it and will ever have to search again! Thank you!
I’ve tried soooo many different Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes and keep coming back to this one! I don’t know why I even bother trying others. This is by far the best. Makes perfect cookies every time!
I was wondering if you could not use chocolate chips for this recipe, but just make chewy cookies?
Hi Cassandra, we haven’t tested this recipe that way, so are unsure of the results. I’d recommend trying this recipe: https://route-span.live/chewy-brown-sugar-cookies%3C/p%3E
I made this recipe and they werent done at 14minutes it took 17 minutes at 350 degrees and i reduced the size so watchout if your making this 350 is not a good temp.
The recipe says to bake at 325.
I love this recipe so much! Will it make much of a difference if i didn’t use an extra yolk?
Hi Anchie! We recommend sticking with 1 egg + 1 egg yolk for best taste and texture. This ensures a chewy cookie.
My family and friends LOVES this! May I know if I can double the measurements to make a bigger batch?
Hi Precious, yes, you can double this recipe.
I made these today and they came out so good! My son asked me to bake some soft chewy cookies (last year I made some and they were super hard to bite, so he gets scared, when ever I say I am going to bake cookies.) I’m glad I found your recipe, The cookies came out exactly how my son prefers.
I left my dough in the fridge overnight, and took it out about an hour ago, and it’s way too hard to scoop
Hi Kody, This is normal, if it is too hard, let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes or so.
Just a random here, but I’ve made this recipe MANY times. They’re perfect each time. Sounds like you made an error, worth another shot to try and correct it, truly the best cookie. Follow directions and weigh ingredients. Hope that helps.
Best chocolate chip cookies I ever made. And I’ve been baking for years. Great, chewy texture, Rose nicely and look great. They present well. The only thing I did differently was because I was making these for my son and didn’t have time to refrigerate the dough for an hour or two so I lined my cookie sheet with parchment paper, scoop on the dough and put it all in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes, put directly into the oven and they were great. This is a keeper.
PHENOMENAL cookie recipe!! I baked some without refrigerating the dough and some with, and the refrigerated batch was far better. I added pecans to some, Heath bar bits to some, and used a combination of milk and semi sweet chocolate. All versions were fantastic and my husband said that I’m the best cook in the world.
I was looking to replace our chocolate chip cookie recipe as I was never really happy with it, they were chewy but really thin and not enough cookie part. I put into my search bar “thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies” and this was one of the first recipes that came back. It’s everything it says it is and more. THE best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. Any recipe I’ve tried from you has truly never let me down!
I liked the recipe but it’s too sweet. I wish I knew so I could just add little and not as recommended
Hi,
I love these cookies and make them all the time but would like to cut down on butter which is quite unhealthy. Can I substitute for oil? how much? thank you
Hi Pearl, you need melted butter here for the fat because it is a solid at room temperature. For best results, we recommend sticking with butter, although some readers have reported success with the same quantity of melted coconut oil. The taste will be different with that substitution.
This is the best and easiest chocolate chip cookie recipe I have ever made. Based on my oven I baked for approximately 18-20 minutes. They turned out soft, chewy and delicious.
So easy, definitely take the time to ‘age/chill’ your dough. Made mine a little more barrel shaped like recommended. And wow. I also did a mix of dark chocolate and semi-sweet, and topped them with flaky salt once out of the oven.
I’ve made these a few rimes and my husband says they are the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made but this batch looks “mottled”….light specks in the baked cookies. Would the butter have separated with chilling? I’m sure they will still be delicious.
I’ve been desperately trying to find a good fluffy cookie recipe and I’d been having a hard time looking for a gluten free one! I tried this recipe and just used 1 for 1 gluten free flower instead and it turned out exactly how I had hoped! Thank you for this lovely recipe !
The BEST chocolate chip cookies ever!!! I have tried hundreds of recipes, and these are top of the list!
New baker mom…
I’ve been trying recipe and this one is by far our favorite!!! Thanks!