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’ve been baking these for months now and I love them however no matter what I adjust, they come out undercooked in the middle. I’ve tried letting the dough warm up more out of the fridge, I’ve tried lowering oven temperature. Every time the edges start to brown while the middle is still undercooked.
Hi Nick, have you tried baking the cookies for longer? We would try baking longer at a lower temperature. We always recommend using an in-oven thermometer to make sure your oven is the right temperature as well.
These are good chocolate chips cookies. They are also far from the best I’ve ever had and I fear that despite being tasty, all these reviews are overhyping them a bit. The butter takes longer than 5 minutes to cool and it is extremely important that it is cool when you mix it with the eggs and sugar, so If you are a novice baker, be very careful about that. I would also recommend browning the butter instead of just melting it because the cookies really could use some extra flavor in the dough itself. lose the 1/4cup chocolate chips. Just use 1 cup. if you use 1 and 1/4, you’ll just end up spending extra time trying to get them to fold into the dough. If anything just add the last 1/4 cup to the cookies while they cool like Sally mentions. The whole column thing is unnecessary, just make them balls. These adjustments will make for a better use of your time. Make the bread, buy the butter, if you know what I mean.
They are in the oven! Back from a long time not baking!
Enjoy, Denise!
hiya!! i tried the recipe and it was really good!! but there’s one little problem im facing. i didnt had vanilla extract so i used vanilla essence instead and the cookies have this metallicy taste, and im assuming its the vanilla making it like this. i used the given 2 tsp in the recipe but the bitter/metallicy taste is hard to overlook. is there’s any way to counter this? (i also checked other ingredients and there was nothing wrong with them) i wanna try this recipe again because the cookies were so good and so chewy 🙁
Hi Sam, often a metallic taste can come from old or expired baking soda. We recommend trying again with fresh baking soda.
These are without a doubt THE best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made! I was on a hunt for a good recipe and have honestly tried so many others. My entire family agreed These are a winner! Soft and chewy even a few days later. I have them in an airtight container and no need for the slice of bread trick to keep them soft. They have a wonderful lightly buttery taste which complements the chocolate. This will be my new go-to recipe!
These were the best cookies I’ve ever made! I only wish it yielded more. Can the recipe be doubled?
Hi Caitlynn, yes – this recipe doubles well. We’re so glad you love them!
I think I over mixed. Taste great but they came out airy and not chewy. Lots of cracks not smooth textured. Darker than the pictures.
I loved this recipe a lot! Even tho I didn’t leave the cookies for a full day in the fridge they turned out amazing! I had so much fun cooking with friends and it was really easy too. Definitely recommend!!
I just tried this recipe with milk chocolate chips and it’s very delicious. Most of the time when I make a recipe it tastes doughy but this one doesn’t.
I’m really sorry to send this review but I’ve genuinely never been more disappointed. I was making these cookies for my friends so i chose what i thought was the best recipe, with the most ratings and followed the recipe to a T but they were extremely bad. I think the problem is the complexity of the recipe and its ingredients. Please chose a simple recipe if you want it to turn out well.
Hi Jay Lin, thank you so much for the feedback. I would love to help troubleshoot. This is consistently in the top 3 recipes on my website, and I’m pretty confident that if you follow the recipe exactly the cookies will turn out well. Could you explain a bit more about what exactly made them “extremely bad”?
i love this recipe but my cookies are really flat and they aren’t like fluffy cookies i’m confused where i went wrong.
Hi Val, happy to help. Here’s our best tips to prevent cookies from spreading.
I wanted to try making something similar to the Peaches and Cream cookies from Craig’s Cookies – so I used the base recipe for the dough and changed my mix-ins to chopped up Fuzzy Peach candies and cream cheese chips. They’re insane! I find they spread a little flat, however, I’m assuming that was because of the gummies melting…I followed the chilling recipes to a T. Thank you for this recipe!
These are good, but lacked flavor. The tollhouse recipe is much better.
I agree! The Tollhouse recipe is our go too, but the reviews made me think this would be better, but they just didn’t hold a candle to the Tollhouse flavor.
I love these cookies! However i am finding that you have to bake them a little longer than what the recipe calls for. But rating is 10 stars.
HI, all ovens are different so your oven might bake at a lower heat and some are hotter so they are faster mine is hotter so for a recipe i just take a minuet or two off my bake time and they turn out cooked to perfection
I love these cookies! However i am finding that you have to bake them a little longer than what the recipe calls for. But rating is 10 stars. I love them
Hi Sally!!
Love all of your recipes. Today I want to make your chocolate chip cookies with cornstarch in the batter. Do you think they’d work as bar cookies? Would I need to do the whole chilling thing, do you think? Thank you!
Hi Mary, this recipe is great for a 9×9-inch square baking pan.
I made this recipe a few times and it’s very tasty! However the outside cooks fast and the inside is still raw. I followed the exact instructions and the oven temperature as well, not sure why this happens? Do you measure the 3/4 cup butter before or after melting?
Hi Nabeeha, measure the butter and then melt and cool. Try extending the bake time by just a minute or two next time to see if that helps. Keep in mind that they may look a bit undercooked in the middles when they come out of the oven, but they should solidify as they cool.
I haven’t tried this recipe yet but I’m sure it will be great due to all the amazing reviews! For the oven temperature it says 163 degrees, is that for a fan oven or will I have to reduce the temp by 20 degrees as I usually do when the temp is in Celsius?
Hi Riyq, we recommend reducing the temperature if using a fan oven, as the temperatures listed in our recipes are always for conventional baking settings.
I reduced the temperature to 140 degrees in my fav oven and I’m not exaggerating, these were the best cookies I have ever eaten! My whole family loved them, thank you your recipes never disappoint!!
These are my favorite chocolate chip cookies!! I literally dream about them and have to make them monthly now. I’ve even made them with salted butter and self rising flour in a pinch and they turned out good! (Though I still very much prefer Sally’s version) ❤️
I usually let mine chill for just 2 hours before rolling into balls and baking, and I have to add a couple minutes to the time because of my oven- but you really can’t go wrong with these! Love love love
Do you use coarse kosher salt or regular iodized salt?
Hi Cathi, our recipes always use regular table salt unless otherwise stated.
Can these be baked a couple at a time in an air fryer?
Hi Mimi, we haven’t tested baking these in an air fryer, let us know if you give it a try!
Oh man my consistency of the butter sugar mixture and then the final dough mixture looked nothing like the video. I weighed all the ingredients on a scale – is the measurement for butter before or after melting? Could it be possible that I let it cool at room temperature for too long, because it wasn’t liquidy like that at all once I added the sugar. I also ended up using a handmixer because the brown sugar lumps weren’t going away, but then I think it made that too fluffy….
Hi Deb! Sounds like your butter may have cooled too much. Let it cool just 5-10 minutes so it’s not piping hot, but not too cool. And make sure to use room temperature eggs as well.
I truly love this recipe, it’s so easy to make. I do actually roll the cookie dough balls before I chill them tho bc it is to difficult for me to do so after they’re chilled. Does this affect the cookies on any way?
Hi Codi315, that’s perfectly fine if that works better for you!
Sadly, these did not work for me. I measured everything out by weight, followed the instructions to the letter, chilled the dough overnight, used silicon baking mats, and…my cookies are “flat, greasy puddles” (I read your FAQ page 🙂 ) with lovely brown edges. At least they taste decent! There are some good ideas here, like the cylinder shape, but I will be trying a different recipe next time.
Can you mix this with a kitchenaid??
Hi Paige, you can, but it’s not necessary because of the melted butter (as opposed to a recipe with softened butter that needs to be creamed).
I do love this recipe and and made once a month for at least 7 months now (my husband eats one a day and says don’t change a thing)
I make this recipe once a month since my husband eats one a day and has for 7 months now. My question is on eggs: a large egg weight varies 55g to 65 ish. Should I pick out the larger ones for baking and smaller for scrambled eggs? Or does it even matter in a cookie recipe?
I made these cookies today and made only 1 change. I used 1/2 cup of chocolate chunks with 1/2 cup semi sweet morsels and 1/2 cup milk chocolate morsels. They came out perfect! This is our new favorite cookie recipe. I love the detailed instructions with this recipe. They were very helpful. Thank you!
No more recipes off the back of chocolate chip bags for me…these are wonderful, and even better, husband approved. Your step by step recipes and tips are so helpful, and no changes were necessary. They came out perfect, and taste and look better than any chocolate chip cookies I ever made! Thanks so much!!!
I have searched far and wide for the perfect cookie recipe with easy ingredients and is quick to make. I think I found it, Sally!!!
I browned the butter and the dough came out crumbly and the cookies didn’t spread. Is it because of the browned butter?
Hi Ann, yes; when you brown butter, some of the moisture evaporates, so you either have to brown a little more butter than you actually need, or add in some moisture–in the form of milk or even water–to the dough to make up for it.