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 long can you keep/store baked cookies?
Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week, or you can freeze them for up to 3 months.
Help, I’m making these today with a class of children,
Can I freeze the cookie dough for a shorter amount of time prior to baking,
rather then the refrigerated allotted chilling time of 3+ hours ?
If yes, how long in the freezer ?
Thank you so much we love all of your recipes and the extreme reliability of each and everyone!
Kindest regards all around,
~ Nellie
Hi Nellie, 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. Or you can make this recipe that does not require any chilling for Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies – but use the dough to make 24 regular size cookies (see recipe notes of that post for details).
Nellie, this is our house’s “emergency cookie” recipe for evening cravings. Twice now I have made the dough and then immediately made 8 cookies (no refrigeration of dough). I typically only make a small batch just in case they were to spread too much and then have put the remainder of the dough in the fridge overnight with plans to make next day.
However, they really did not spread much at all and looked/tasted perfect to us! I did make sure to let the melted butter cool for slightly over 5 minutes and at least believe this might have helped prevent some spreading.
Can you add other stuff into these cookies such as pretzels?
Hi Alim, you can add any mix-ins you wish. Keep the total amount to about 1 and 1/4 cups.
Hii, I’ve made chocolate chip cookies all the time but they used to always harden after only 30 min out the oven, that was until I tried this recipe and it was amazing and lasted me days. However I recently hit a road block in which my cookie dough isn’t cooperating as well as it used to. I use this cookie dough for my smore cookies where I would layer the dough on s’more ingredients, or I would wrap a ball of chocolate with the dough and it would come out perfectly and tasteful and last me days also. But I don’t know what I’ve been doing differently recently, that my dough is coming out flat, when I take my cookies out the oven, the cookies are now very flat, and if not flat, it’s very uncooked even after I let it bake for up to 17-20 min at 325°. Do you know what could be the problem? Or what I could possibly accidentally be doing differently? (Also big fan of your recipes, only baker I trust)
Hi Joe! Have you changed the kind or brand of butter you’re using? We’re hearing reports of some sub-par butter on the shelves recently, which can make cookies spread too much. You can always try adding a little extra flour. And here’s our best tips for preventing cookies from spreading.
these cookies were so good the chcolate just melted straight into my mouth I would give the a 5 star rating best recipe yet in my many years of baking
Love it
This recipe was pretty good and I had all the ingredients in my house! However, there’s an asterisk in the ingredients section next to the butter that doesn’t go anywhere. I was pretty curious about that.
Hi Clara, thank you for pointing that out–it’s been corrected!
This was the best cookie ever!
Thank you!
I’m making this recipe for the second time. These were so good!! The texture is what it’s all about in a cookie, aside from the taste. I can never wait for them to cool down to try them, am I the only one?
I found they’re actually better after letting them cool down. I’m also eating them as they cool down… Who can wait! Haha
I really love this recipe! Does someone can tell me how i can handle the sugar? It doesnt melt so you can feel while chewing 🙁
So glad you love these cookies, Patti! Are you using granulated sugar and brown sugar? They should combine nicely with the melted butter in step 2 (you’ll want to whisk them until no lumps remain). Did you make any changes or ingredient substitutions? We’d be happy to help you troubleshoot further!
I have the same issue – some (not all) sugar granules are still in the cookie after baking. What to do? The white sugar may have slightly bigger than usual granules where I am. Do you recommend grinding it somewhat?
Hi NAK, if your sugar has larger granules, you can pulse them in a food processor to break them down a little before baking these cookies.
Best cookie recipe ever! They turned out perfect
Waited to make a batch of these over the holidays. Followed the directions perfectly.
Pros: beautiful cookies that are true show stoppers!! I appreciate learning a new technique with chilling the dough and making a tower. They are such pretty cookies!
Cons: these lacked some flavor for me, and I can’t tell what. I sprinkled a little salt on top of mine before baking and that helped. I’ll use these techniques with a different recipe next time. It really just depends on what you like but this is still a great recipe!
I agree. Maybe I’ll do all brown sugar next time and more salt? They weren’t as good as the tollhouse recipe on the back of the chips.
I didn’t change a thing and I wouldn’t change a thing. Sheer perfection. I love the thicker cookie. So firm, yet so soft. Not too sweet.
I have tried many chocolate chip cookie recipes on the hunt for the perfect one. I think my search is over. These were exactly the chewy texture I was looking for and addictively good. I will absolutely make these again and wouldn’t dream of changing a thing.
Can you brown the butter for this recipe?
Hi Kate, 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.
Hello, I loved making this recipe, however when the cookies were being baked, they weren’t melting…
When i later tried the cookies, they were delectable, but the insides uncooked. Is there a way to still get the gooey cookie and cooked on the inside?
Did the cookies not spread enough? 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.
This is my tried and true chocolate chip recipe. It’s always a hit every time I make it!
It was ok but I tried it multiple time and dough was to dry and my butter was melted my eggs were room temp and the flour was properly measured but it just didn’t work out.
This recipe was so good my family called me the cookie god!!! Highly recommend!!!
I love this recipe!! but lately it’s been tasting cakey less gooey than the first time I made them. I do all of the measurements on point. Maybe I’m cooking it too long?
Hi Sadie! Yes, cookies that are baked too long will be more dry. Also make sure to spoon and level your flour (instead of scooping, or use a kitchen scale) for most accurate results.
Everytime I make these cookies the dough doesn’t form together unless I add milk! I’m always left with powdery mess until I add the milk. I add the correct ingredients and measurements! I don’t think I’m doing anything wrong.
Hi Ella! 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. Also make sure to use room temperature eggs here.
You must be measuring something a bit off, you have to mix for a bit to get the dough to form.
Best cookie recipe that i’ve come across. Works for me every time, everything i’ve been looking for in a cookie
Hi! I absolutely love your recipe—it’s amazing! But I’ve been having one issue. Every time I bake it and eat it, I can still feel the sugar granules in my mouth. How can I make the sugar dissolve better?
Hi Haneen, are you using sugar with larger granules by chance?
My favorite cookie recipe…ever! Been baking 50 + years..hands down the best and easy too.
I go from the scoop directly to the baking pan ( parchment lined). I do not hand shape them at al. IF dough is at room temperature , I chill the “balls” on pan for 10 -15 mins to produce a thicker cookie, but not necessary. Hand shaping not worth the effort and mess in my opinion.
I’ve always had a hard time finding a chocolate chip recipe that is chewy and thin, but these are perfect!! I hate when they’re too cakey and thick, but these are everything I was looking for. Will definitely be making them again!
Best Chocolate Chip cookies I’ve aked and eaten by far. I like to try different recipes over the years and these were great. I actually made them twice in one week. Highly recommend if you’re a chocolate chip enthusiasts.
Perfect chocolate cookie!
I made 200 of them for Christmas and that wasn’t enough!
Just delicious
The Absolute Best recipe!!! Follow instructions exactly and see how amazing these turn out!!
PLS READ THE COMMENTS. I should’ve looked at the comments before I made this recipe. Only a few of my cookies came out looking normal and the rest were like the little balls and never stretched or evened out. I followed every step of the recipe and something is off about it. I never made cookies that didn’t turn out looking like this. I think honestly if you take out the corn starch it might help.
Hi Signe, we’re sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy these cookies. Were they not spreading in the oven? 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!