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
You should specify in the recipe whether oven temp is fan or no fan. Great recipe though, I used a fan oven and they’re delicious 🙂
Not sure what happened but the cookies, while delicious, are not chewy. They’re more like cake. Thoughts?
Hi Leslee, Cakey cookies are usually caused by too much flour in the dough. How did you measure the flour? For your next batch, 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!
Can you chill the dough quickly by putting it in the freezer for less time instead of the fridge for 3 hours?
Hi Lisa, 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).
So disappointed that this recipe didn’t work for me 🙁 idk where I went wrong. For one, my sugar butter mix was not at all liquidy and rather more put together, unlike the video. When i mixed in my flour (which i spooned and leveled), the dough was crumbly and dry. The chocolate chips weren’t even sticking to the cookie. after i let them chill for 2 hours, i took them out and formed them per the instructions. Not only did they barely spread like i wanted them to, they were dry and lacking sweetness. :/ I really wanted this recipe to go well and I’m not sure where I messed up…
I have not made the recipe yet, but from the reviews, I know it’s gonna be good. My question is can this be made with gluten-free flour?
Hi Denise, 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!
Could i add M&Ms to the dough instead of chocolate chips? Love this recipe
Hi Lexi, yes, absolutely.
Hello since i see that the recipe requires 1 egg and eg yolk for the batch, is it even possible to half it. please let me know what to do
Hi Adam, To halve an egg, you can crack it in a bowl, whisk to combine the yolk and white, measure it, then use half. Should be a couple Tablespoons. You can also mix up the one yolk separately and then only use half. We would recommend making the whole recipe, freezing any extra dough balls, and then just baking as many as you want at a time.
In this case, couldn’t you separate an egg, use half the white and all the yolk?
Yes, that would work!
Alton Brown’s recipe was my favorite until I found this one! I’ve made a zillion Chocolate Chip Cookies and used so many different recipes. Sally’s is a little easier than my former #1 recipe and oh-so-yummy. I love that you can whip up the dough, refrigerate it and bake the next day (or two). So glad I found you, Sally! Thanks for the fabulous recipes 🙂
Hi there, any idea on how many calories per biscuit? Thanks, I’ve just finishing baking them and they look delicious!
Hi Leah, 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 Hope you enjoy the cookies!
Hi there! Why is the dough grainy? I followed to a t and it’s been in the fridge for three and a hlaf hours, but the dough is like sand.
Hi Kiley, if you try them again, we recommend mixing your butter and sugar together for longer in the beginning. If the cookies turned out grainy it’s likely from that first step – mix until the sugar and butter are completely smooth. And how did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure the flour isn’t over measured, which can cause the dough to be dry and sandy.
I’ve made these many times! I was reluctant to veer away from beating softened butter, but they turned out perfectly! 10/10.
Hi Sally my oven broke was wondering could they be baked in an air fryer and what temp thanks
Hi Margaret, we haven’t tested baking these cookies in an air fryer. Let us know if you do!
Could I use arrowroot powder instead of cornstarch please?
Should work fine here, Alex!
I have been following the same chocolate chip cookie recipe for decades. This one is the best, by far! So delicious!
For a bit of flavour add peanut butter you will love them
I make them twice a week for my grandkids
Hi, I followed this recipe to a T, except I doubled it by just multiplying everything by 2. I also didn’t refrigerate the dough as long, and instead of chocolate chips I chopped my own with a Hershey’s bar. Unfortunately, my cookies came out very cakey and dry. I really want to make these right, where did I go wrong?
Hi Emily, 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. Doubling it could partly be the cause too, if it seemed harder to mix the ingredients in evenly. All easy fixes for next time!
The dough wasn’t as “greasy” as the picture… more like a regular cookie dough – not sticky. used the cornstarch and a little more melted butter. Dough in fridge overnight- hard as a rock -out 2 hrs and cooked. THEY WERE DELICIOUS! Maybe I put in too many chips and chopped walnuts? Abt 1 -1/4 cups. And I measured the flour correctly. ( usually I just dump it .) AND I LOVE the Nutella Cheesecake Swirl Bars! YUM!
Are the listed bake times in your recipes intended for conventional or convection oven setting?
Hi Sandra, all of the recipes on this site are written for conventional settings.
If you’re looking for soft, chewy chocolate chip cookies, this is the recipe! Love how the cookies turned out. This will be my new go-to recipe!
It’s my first time making chocolate chip cookies and they turned out amazing! My son loved them! My only question is if it’s possible to put less sugar or would that not work? Thank you
Hi Sandra! So glad your son loved them. 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.
These are the very best chocolate cookies! They are so soft and chewy. I have adapted the recipe for my granddaughter’s allergies and they are just as good.
Where do i start…
Honestly, this recipe is amazing! it brings out an a sensational texture to the soft cookie a warm part in the middle which is soft and gooey ,THE GOOEYNESS OF THE COOKIE 10/10 100%
I’m on a mission to find the best ever chocolate chip cookie recipe and this might just be it! I used all the ingredients listed and added in some fun sprinkles left over from Christmas. I was able to make exactly 22 cookies (pretty big by normal cookie standards) Great recipe, will make again!
I have made these so many times I have the grams of the ingredients memorized. They are my go-to when bringing cookies for friends/work.
I’ve been using this perfect recipe for YEARS. I was curious if I can use this batch of dough to cook in a cookie sheet to make a cookie cake?
Hi Julia, here is our chocolate chip cookie cake recipe instead!
Amazing cookies it’s my go to recipe for Chocolate chip cookies
This is the best cookie i made so far, can i make a large amount of cookies with this recipe?
Hi Kat, You can definitely double or triple this recipe.
I learned from this recipe how to make cookies keep their thickness (chilling) and the cylindrical shape too. Good points to know. I made it according to the directions and chilled it overnight per the suggestion. After sitting at room temp the next day for 45 minutes, the dough was still so hard I had to chisel it out of the bowl. They cooked up properly but they taste PASTY rather than rich. Huge disappointment.
Been using this recipe since it was first posted and it’s THE BEST. they turn out perfectly every single time I’ve made them dozens of times by now. I preschool onto the cookie sheet before placing in the freezer so I can just throw them in the oven and they are the most delicious recipe I’ve ever tried. Tried and true!
Instead of chilling the whole bowl of dough, would it make a difference to scoop them out onto the cookie sheet and then chill them? That way I’m not fighting with a big bowl of solid dough. I know I CAN do it this way, but does it change the taste or texture in any way? Thank you!
Hi Melissa, We find the dough to be a little too soft to roll right away, but you certainly can if you prefer!
I was wanting to make cookies today but I am out of granulated sugar, could I substitute powered sugar? Thank you.
Hi Angela, no, we wouldn’t recommend that substitute.