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
Hello, I saw online that I can put the cookie dough in the freezer for 1/4 of the time requested for the refrigerator. So can I put the dough in the freezer for 30mins instead of 2-3 hours in the refrigerator?
Hi H! We don’t recommend that, as the dough will not chill evenly.
Tasty and chewy cookies! A couple tips: 1) press down the cookies before putting them in the oven (they didn’t flatten out after I rolled them into balls & placed them in the oven). 2) add a pinch of salt a couple of minutes before time is up
I have tried numerous chocolate chip cookie recipes, and none ever turn out exactly how i like. This recipe however… no words to describe how satisfied I am! It was a huge hit with my family. I can’t believe I never thought to try out your chocolate chip cookie recipe when I have tried and loved so many other of your recipes. I did half batch with walnuts, and I only wish I added then to the entire batch! Thank you for always have superior, yet easy to follow, recipes!
I lovee this recipe, and my neighbors, families and friends love it as well. But I have a slight problem where I don’t know what cup I should use to make the cookies. I just use like a plastic cup, rather than measuring grams. It turns out good, but not like in the picture. After mixing all the ingredients together, is it supposed to be sticky or not? Thank you if you’re going to respond, because it will really help me (a beginner baker) bake better. Thanks!
Hi Cia, Do you mean what cup to measure ingredients? These are the exact measuring cups we have in our kitchen but you can use any brand you wish. And yes, the dough is sticky before chilling.
This recipe was outstanding! My husband said it was the best cookie he’s ever had in his life. Can’t wait to make these again!!
I’ve tried many times to bake chocolate chip cookies.
Always following the packages directions.
And too many times I’ve failed.
This recipe is great!
Absolutely delicious cookies, I ate way too many and enjoyed every bite.
Thank you!!
I’ve tried many chocolate chip cookie recipes and this one makes the absolute best cookies!
Love your recipes and enjoy sharing with my friends and family
Thank you so much!
This is my favourite and go-to chocolate chip cookies recipe! My family and friends love them! Thank you foe sharing your delicious recipes.
This seems like an amazing recipe and I have them chilling right now getting ready to bake! However, I had the same problem with this and another recipe of yours, where no matter how carefully I measured the ingredients, it was always way heavier than the grams you listed. Can I always trust the grams you list as the best way to go? that works for me too, but it’s nice to know if I’m doing something wrong.
Hi Ellen! Using the ingredient weights is always the most accurate way to measure. You can read more on measuring baking ingredients here!
my cookies looked really good
Hi there, would I be able to substitute canola oil since the butter is melted anyway? Or coconut oil?
Hi Chaya, we do not recommend substituting liquid oil for melted butter, because you need something that is a solid at room temperature. You could substitute coconut oil, but the flavor will be very different.
I made these cookies a few weeks ago and they were great. I made the cookie dough today and when I baked them they spread out way too much and are very flat. I made 2 pans and stopped. I still have some dough left and would like to try to fix the dough before I continue baking. What did I do wrong?
Hi Mary, here are our best tips to prevent cookie spreading. This might be helpful to troubleshoot! Hope it helps for next time.
Can I use salted butter? Does it affect the taste much?
If you only have salted butter you can use it and reduce the added salt to 1/8 teaspoon.
Can I use browned butter instead of regular melted butter? Excited to make these!
Hi Laura! 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.
I made these this week substituting King Arthur 1:1 gluten free flour and they turned out wonderfully.
I just did this recipe, but with milk chocolate chips since that’s what I have in my cupboard. Everybody loved it! So soft & chewy, perfect how I like it. I love that it spreads.
I loved the recipe – the cookies were delicious, but they really overspread!! Any advice on how to fix? I chilled them overnight, and am 100% sure everything was measured correctly (used a scale). Unfortunately, can’t give them out to people bc they looked terrible, but my husband and I did enjoy eating them.
Hi Jennifer, here are our best tips to prevent cookie spreading. This might be helpful to troubleshoot! Hope it helps for next time.
Hi. Have you used cups or grams to measure the ingredients? Whenever I use grams, I have this issue.
Hi, I had a question about doubling the recipe. Would I have to use two eggs and two egg yolks? Or would it be fine to use three eggs and one yolk?
We would use two eggs and two egg yolks.
Thank you so much!
this recipe is so good, the cookies are soft, amazing, and delicate, I cant wait to make some more!!!!!
Omg! Best cookies ever!!! Out of every recipe I’ve tried online this is the only one that’s actually soft! It’s the perfect cookie I’ve been looking for. 🙂
I loved this recipe however my cookies did not spread out flat and remained thick and small. Do you have any tips on how to ensure they spread or any idea what I might be doing wrong? Thank you!
Hi Peggy, when cookies aren’t spreading, it means that there’s too much dry ingredient (flour) soaking up all the liquid. Make sure you are properly measuring your flour. When measuring flour, use a kitchen scale or the spoon & level method. Do not scoop the flour out of the container/bag. Doing so leaves you with excess flour in the cookie dough. If you’re in the middle of baking a batch and the cookies still aren’t spreading, remove them from the oven, and use a spoon to slightly flatten them out before returning them to the oven, or simply bang the baking sheet on the counter 2-3 times. You can also take your big bowl of cookie dough and microwave it for 10-15 seconds to slightly warm it up before scooping/rolling/baking. Warm cookie dough spreads more. Hope these tips help for next time!
This is my go to CC recipe! I’ve been using it consistently for 2 years. I am making a batch for an upcoming shower next weekend. I made the dough yesterday. Can I leave the dough in the fridge for 6 days? Recipe says up to 3-4 days…but I really would love not to have to freeze it. I’m going out of town for a conference until the shower. Thanks in advance!
Hi Alyssa! We would freeze the dough for that long – you can bake the dough balls from frozen – see recipe Notes!
I love this recipe, I have made it close to 100 times already, legit my go to for the best cookies! However, I baked them yesterday and for some reason they spread so much in the oven, got really crispy edges and after cooling they went super flat. I was picking my brain for over 2 hours trying to figure out what went wrong, because as I said, I baked these too many times to count. I finally realized what happened, for some reason I mixed the dry into the wet. Is this what caused the cookies to be a flop?? I knew baking science was delicate but I didnt know that mixing wet into dry and vice versa would cause such different results.
Hi Jean! That shouldn’t make too much of a difference. Perhaps there was just an mis-measurement this time (it happens to all of us!) or maybe you used a different kind/brand of butter than usual?
My kids love to bake these because these cookies are always delicious and receive rave reviews! I do have a question though. Every time we make them, whether we chill the dough for a few hours or longer, we let them sit out for at least 15 minutes, but the dough is still rather hard. The cookies still taste great, but do you have any tips that may help? I thought next time we would try to let them sit out even longer. Thanks!
Hi Jennifer, you may just need to let the dough sit out for a little longer before scooping, more like 30 minutes. Hope this helps!
I loved it!,i would definitely use these recipe again!
Do you have to freeze the dough or is it OK to just bake it right away?
Hi Ruby, this dough requires chilling in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before baking.
Sally. Every recipe you post that I try hits different. You’re just always hitting that nail on the head with Thors hammer. Immaculate. We love Sally’s Baking in this household.
Thank you for the recipe and the detailed explanations for how to make it just so! Just a question, I’ve followed the recipe multiple times now everything comes out great, but in all cases, the bottom of the cookie while not dark in color, has an overcooked kind of taste to it. What am I doing wrong?
Hi Chris, what are you baking the cookies on? Are you using a silicone baking mat or parchment paper? And are your baking sheets light silver in color, or dark?
These are THE best cookies I’ve ever made! Make sure you read the extra tips included it really makes a difference to the end result. Excellent recipe thank you!!
Best recipe I have found and I have sure tried my fair share. I did the 50g dough “cylinders” and they turned out perfect. My oven needed 15 minutes to cook them.
Love this recipe so much! I have used it for all
Holidays and events since I found it 2 years ago! Everyone always raves about them and asks if they came from a bakery!