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
Oh my god! This is the best cookie recipe ever! All my little ones love them! I have to make double the amount because when I followed the recipe they got finished straight away! Haha! Fantastic recipe! Well done!
Made these with my granddaughter and they were lovely and chewy.
As my granddaughter is a teenager, we were wondering what the calorie value is per cookie?
Hi Diane, we’re glad you enjoyed the cookies! 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
I just put my first trial of this recipe in the fridge to cool overnight. My dough seemed extra dry and I triple checked my measurements; hopefully it still turns out. I will admit I don’t make cookies very often so it might be just fine! I am hoping I didn’t overmix it since I was trying to really mix in the moisture. I will update after baking tomorrow evening!
This is our FAVORITE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE! I make this recipe all the time. However, today I only have salted butter instead of unsalted butter. Will they turn out the same if I use the butter but not add the 1/2 tsp salt in the recipe?
Hi Jaimi, if you only have salted butter you can use it and reduce the added salt to 1/8 teaspoon. Enjoy!
By far one of the best cookie recipes. The tips are very helpful. I recommend following the recipe to the letter including taking into account the tips. Also, weigh the dry ingredients, don’t measure. I used to bake and sell cookies and these are better than any cookie I have ever baked. My family and friends raved about them. If you love chocolate chip cookies and want a soft, firm and delicious cookie, these are the best.
I weighed everything, even the butter and these cookies were incredible!
I made these today and they only spread half as much as the ones in the pictures. I followed the steps and chilled the dough overnight as directed (it was rock hard when I took it out). The only thing I did differently is use stevia white and brown sugars. Is that the reason? 🙁
Hi Mellon, we haven’t tried making these cookies with stevia instead of sugar, so aren’t sure of the result, but it sounds like that could be the culprit here!
I dint know what I’m doing wrong, but this is the second time making this recipe, but I put the dough in the frig overnight, and it the dough remains hard and falling apart after letting it sit out before baking. I have to mold to keep the dough together and stick the chocolate chips onto the dough because they don’t cling onto the dough.
Hi Carol, it’s normal for the dough to be very hard after chilling overnight. You can let it sit out for a while longer to soften up, or even microwave it briefly to help. Hope the cookies still tasted great!
Could you use this recipe to make a cookie pie?
Hi Demi, You can use this recipe for chocolate chip cookie cake instead!
I LOVE these! I use Sally for everything! and love these! five stars!
Excellent! These are awesome and chewy. I made the recipe exactly as written. The only change I made was that after mixing the dough, I formed the dough into a rectangle, about 1 inch high so they were tall. I wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated. I made the cookies 2 days later, and I sliced the big rectangle into 20 (50 gm) cookies. I think they took around 18 min to bake.
I’ve made these so many times and everyone absolutely loves them!!
Hi Sally,
Can I use brown butter instead of melted butter in this recipe?
Hi MV, 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.
Love this recipe. I scoop the dough into balls onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and put into to the freezer for 20-30 minutes. I bake what I want and put the rest in a baggie to bake later. (I use a small cookie scoop.)
I followed the recipe exactly except I ended up having to cook them for much longer than described. Even after I let them set all the way, the inside was completely raw (not just chewy, actually raw). I’m sure it must’ve been something I did on my end with how many other people have had success with this recipe. Any thoughts? Maybe my cookie cylinder was too tall?
Hi Rosemary, that could certainly be part of it. If you find the cookies are not spreading enough, you can take them out of the oven and lightly tap the baking sheet on the counter to help initiate spread. Or, you can use the back of a spoon to gently press them down. How are you measuring your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure the flour isn’t overmeasured, which can prevent spread, too. Hope this helps for your next batch!
Hi Sally I absolutely love your recipes even though I am only you make baking much easier. These choco chip cookies are literally no doubt the best i have ever tried! They are so tasty and addictive it gets over in 3 days! Keep the good work up!
This IS the best chocolate chip cookie recipe bar none. Thank you!
This recipe is AMAZING. Definitely my new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe!
I browned my butter (SO. GOOD!), and when I shaped the cookies, I dipped them into sea salt flakes for a little ‘extra’.
Thank you for having such incredible and easy-to-follow recipes. Yours is my go-to every time I’m looking for something new to try!
Best chocolate chip cookie recipe to date. I substituted quarter of the chocolate chips for almonds.
I have been making this recipe for years now and they always turn out great! I was wondering if I can brown the butter before mixing it into the sugar?
Hi Mariam, 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.
These are the BEST CC cookies ever. I’d love to make these for my grandkids, but they have celiac. Can I use GF flour to make these? Thanks for this wonderful recipe!
Hi Patricia, so glad you love them! 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 accidentally only added one egg and one egg white not the yolk, would that change the taste of the cookies?
They may be a little less chewy and may spread a bit more, but we’re unsure exactly how they’ll turn out. Let us know!
Tried them and tested to they are delicious .My favourite cookie dough recipe,thanks for sharing.
These cookies are my go to. Bakery quality style.
Wow this is a great recipe. Very easy to follow and the cookies are delicious. You can’t mess this one up!
I love these cookies! There is nothing wrong with them and it is very hard to mess it up. I left the cookie dough in the fridge overnight, but forgot to cover the bowl, but it was still fine(after putting it in the microwave)! Thanks, Sally, for these amazing cookies!
Amazing recipe, my first attempt at cookies was a success. They tasted amazing and i loved how chewy they were.
Great Recipe! Everyone loved them and is hands down the best recipe I’ve ever tired. I used dark cholcate instead and they were so divine! Thank you for sharing Sally!! 🙂
Followed the recipe exactly and they came out perfectly!! I was having trouble with my oven temperature the 2nd time I made them so they got a little overdone but the original batch was the best! My grown up boy grabbed 5 when he stopped by
These are a Fantastic recipe that come out beautiful every time!always leaving the mix on the fridge for at least 4 hours
Can I make this into a chocolate chip cookie cake?
Hi Tori, here is our chocolate chip cookie cake recipe instead!