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
Have baked these twice over the past few days because they’re so good!
I have a manual knob in my oven wouldn’t be able to set it to 163°c is there any alternative temperature to bake?
Hi Srividya, we’d set the oven to the closest possible temperature (without going over) and keep an eye on the bake time, as it may take just a tad longer.
I make cookies for my granddaughters at the beginning of each semester in college, so I have made a lot of different CC cookie recipies. These are the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made! I do have a question. This time when I made them they deflated some when I took them out of the oven. What can I do to stop that from happening. They are still chewy and good, but a little flatter.
Hi Lisa! Cookies will deflate a bit when cooling, this is normal, if they deflate quite a bit, they may hav been under-baked.
Do I need to make any recipe adjustments if I add walnuts?
Hi Cynthia! You can add nuts, either replacing or in addition to the chocolate chips. Just make sure to keep the total amount of add-ins to 1 – 1 and 1/4 cups.
The cookies are AMAZING and everyone in my house loves them, I will like to make them in shapes is there something or ingredient I need to add to obtain that firmness like a sugar cookie.
Hi Maybel, we’re so glad you enjoy them! These cookies are best as drop cookies; they won’t keep their shapes as a traditional cut-out sugar cookie does.
Love this recipe so much! Have made a dozen times easily. Question: with eggs being what they are, do you have a good suggestion for a substitute for a chocolate chip cookie recipe? I know you have suggestions to use the egg white, but I’m looking for even subbing that one yolk. Thanks!!
Hi Justine, we haven’t tested an egg-free version of this cookie, but let us know if you do any experimenting. If you’re interested, here are all of our naturally egg-free recipes. Glad these are a favorite for you!
I substituted the eggs with a total of 1/2 cup of plain yogurt (not sweet or flavored or anything just plain yogurt— make sure it isn’t too thin tho, I use a yogurt that is slightly watered down compared to Greek yogurt) and it worked amazing, the cookies tasted delicious and there was no issue with the texture being weird or anything.
These cookies taste AMAZING, first time baking them, I have a question:
I shapes my cookies tall and like a cylinder, although when baking they didn’t flatten or spread, only slightly, they stayed thick and round when baked, meaning I had to bake a little longer. Still taste great but don’t quite have that delicious cookie shape or texture. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Hi Denise! Usually when cookies don’t spread, there’s too much flour in the dough. 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.
Can I use gluten free flour with about same result? I have made these so so many times and all my fam loves them. Someone needs gluten free tho so that’s why I’m asking.
Hi Chris, We haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flours, but many readers have reported success using 1:1 flour substitutes (like Cup4Cup). If you try it, let us know how it goes!
I loved the cookies , question though, if I reduce the white sugar by 1/4 cup, will it have a big impact on the cookies?
Hi Matt, sugar is used for moisture and texture in baked goods as well as taste. You can certainly try reducing the sugar, but the resulting texture will be different than intended.
I never leave comments but I felt I had to for this one, maybe because I felt there were SO many negative comments! I baked these today and they were AMAZING!!!!! If your cookies are turning out wrong, try weighing the ingredients instead of using measuring cups. I find that always works for me. Thanks Sally for an awesome recipe as usual!
What would you expect if the butter were melted as brown butter? Could I do that with this recipe?
Hi Vincent, 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.
FLATTEST cookies that I have ever made. Followed the recipe, no substitutions, in the refer. overnight. Your solid thoughts???
Hi Elaine, our post on how to prevent cookies from spreading will be helpful for troubleshooting. Thank you for giving these a try!
I absolutely LOVE this recipe! It is without fail my favorite one. Lately though, I have changed my lifestyle and significantly reduced my sugar intake. If I wanted to reduce the brown & white sugar by 1/2 do I need to make any other substitutes elsewhere? Thanks in advance!
Hi Sam, 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. So glad these are a favorite for you!
Thank you so much!! I actually prefer thinner cookies so don’t mind them spreading out at all!
Good recipe! We have made it 3 times now, but the first time, we creamed the butter instead of melting it. It wasn’t as chewy as it was when we melted it, but it was still good.
This is my forever cookie recipe, I have used it for years and it’s never failed me.
My husband now needs to be gluten free, can I make these with oat flour in the same quantities?
Hi Natasha, we don’t recommend it, as oat flour has very different baking properties than all purpose flour. Some readers have reported success using a 1:1 gluten free all purpose flour blend, but we haven’t tested this ourselves. Let us know if you do!
I just made these with Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free flour! They turned out very tasty, but I have a few notes. The dough was VERY dry and crumbly after chilling over night. The cookies didn’t spread quite as much (and I didn’t do the cylinder shaping, just rolled into balls). They are very soft but not quite as gooey as with wheat flour. I think next time I make them I will reduce the flour so the dough is less dry and they will spread a little more.
For freezing and making ahead, would you recommend chilling the dough first still? Or does it work to scoop out the cookie dough balls and freeze/chill them that way?
Hi Bridget, since the dough can be pretty slick to work with before chilling, we recommend chilling the dough, rolling into balls, and then freezing.
Is it ok if I chill this for an hour or hour and a half because I won’t have time for 2 hours??
Hi Hart, the cookies may spread too much if not chilled for the full amount of time.
I made these cookies a couple days ago and they were amazing, they were all eaten in those two days. So today i decided to make them again but a double batch!!! I doubled everything in the ingredients and the dough is runny please help….
My dough was extremely dry. I struggled to form cookie balls. The chips would not stick to the dough. I won’t be making these again!
Hi Pat, a dry dough is usually caused by too much flour in the cookie dough. 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 the best chocolate chip cookie recipe! I’ve been making them for over a year now. I did something different this time around. I scooped the dough out with a cookie scoop immediately after mixing and then refrigerated the dough. It was much easier. Popped them in the oven while still cold and they were perfect.
The best and easiest cookies ever. Love this recipe. I do 3 batches and keep the rest in fridge till needed. Perfect. Thank you
I don’t know if I added too much sugar, but I found these to be really sweet. I swear I followed the recipe but I’ll try again and add less sugar.
Too sweet
5 stars! 10 if I could give it!!
Best cookie recipe. I have never had my cookies stay full and not lose their shape, until now. They are perfect and taste great!
Thanks for this recipe! I just want to know if you can brown butter for this recipe?
Hi Maya, 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.
Have been making these for yrs. Only recipe I use anymore . Perfection ❤️
omg these were so good. i didn’t put them in the fridge for 3 hours i did for more like 20 minutes but they still rose well. i put some pink sprinkles in for deco and they were a bit too sweet and rich but otherwise were chewy and perfect. unfortunately the middle didn’t get cooked all the way thru because of the size but it was fine because they still tasted good. this is my favorite cookie recipe 🙂
Best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever! Anyone who tried them loved them. May I ask aprox how many calories are in one medium sized cookie?
Hi Martina, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
These cookies were amazing! All your recipes are the best!!!
Your recipes are normally very good but this one was not it. Cookies came out flavorless and very dry even though the center was slightly underbaked. There was no sweetness to them whatsoever. Way too much dry to wet ingredients.
Hi Evan, we are sorry to hear these cookies didn’t turn out well for you. How did you measure your ingredients? Be sure to weigh with a food scale or else spoon and level your flour, so you don’t end up with more dry ingredients than the recipe requires. Did you make any ingredient substitutions? There is quite a bit of sugar in these cookies, so it’s hard to imagine they had no sweetness to them whatsoever. Thanks for giving this recipe a try!