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
Help – My dough was crumbly and it was difficult to shape my cookies. I do live in very dry climate. I refrigerated the dough which made the problem worse.
Hi Ellie, 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. An easy fix for next time!
I only have light brown sugar. Can I use that and get the same result?
Hi Maria, yes, either light or dark will work!
Hi,
I love your cookies! I wanted to make them for an event, but I am out of normal butter. I was wondering if I could replace it with clarified butter? Would it be a one to one ratio, or something else?
Hi Elizabeth, we haven’t tried this substitution so we can’t say for sure. Let us know if you give it a try!
These cookies wont last a week. They never do at my house 🙂 great recipe. If your eggs are small just use 2 eggs verses 1 eggyok and an egg. I substitute vanilla with almond extract. Yum.
Hi Sally. I am following the recipe exactly (using a scale) and my cookies are still coming out a little greasy on the bottom (leave residue on the parchment paper) Is this normal?
Hi Jules, if the baked cookies seem too greasy, make sure to let the melted butter cool a bit before continuing with the recipe next time.
I have been making this recipe for years. They are always a hit!
I have a friend who can’t eat regular flour .
Recently I experimented with gluten free flour and added a TBS of butter and 2 Tablespoons of brown sugar to the recipe. Everyone loved them, and had no idea they were gluten free.
You always have the best recipes!
If I baked the cookies 24 hours ago and it’s been in a zip lock back at room temperature on my counter..is it still ok to freeze the cookies until I want to serve them? Or too late to freeze once they’ve been out for 24 hours?
Hi Nafis, you can freeze them at this point.
Can you use hard margarine like Imperial or Parkay to get the same results?
Hi Lorraine, margarine does not have the same baking properties (or flavor!) as butter. We don’t recommend that swap.
Hi, Sally! Thank you for the recipe! I’ve tried this and the cookies turn out amazing! However, they were too sweet for my asian palates. It brings me to a question: if I reduce the sugar, how to maintain the shape and the chewiness and softness textures of the cookies? I’d appreciate it if you help me out! Thank you!
Hi Ica, we’re so glad you enjoyed the cookies! 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.
Very much goodness
Hi there! Just saying, I reduced the white sugar amount to 1/3 a cup and it still stayed as delicious and chewy as ever.
This is a very nice recipe! I noted that they are a little bit softer and spread, unlike the photo. I made my cookie dough 24 hours in advance to give adequate chilling time. Is there a way to prevent this?!
Hi Maria, our post on how to prevent cookies from spreading will be helpful for troubleshooting. Thank you for giving these a try!
Hey! I made the cookie batter a bit too early. I have 2 events coming up- this Sunday and Monday.
I made the batter this past Monday and it’s been sitting in the fridge as the recipe says it can stay refrigerated for up to 3 days..so technically I am supposed to bake the cookies tomorrow (Thursday).
I am worried I made the batter too early and by the time my event will take place these baked cookies in room temperature would have been 4 days old. Do you suggest I bake them tomorrow regardless or can I keep the cookie batter in the fridge for an extra day and bake Friday?
What happens if the batter is refrigerated for 4 days instead of 3 days?
Please help what do you suggest I should do?
Hi Nafis, we’d recommend making the cookies tomorrow and then you can freeze them until ready to serve.
If I chose not to freeze, and just kept them at room temperature in zip lock bag? Is that ok?
If I did freeze the cookies.. I’d freeze on Thursday and defrost on Saturday..is it worth freezing for 2-3 days?
Hi Nafis, yes, that’s fine. Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
These turned out perfectly. I’ve bookmarked about eight chocolate chip cookie recipes a couple months ago and planned to go through them all to find the one that works the best for me and my oven. This is my seventh recipe and came out the best. This is the one. Really can’t be improved upon.
These were aweso.e! The only issue I ran into was I use stainless steel bowls and they were cold and when I mixed the butter and brown sugar together it was thick not runny so I would suggest to warm up your stainless bowls with hot water before you use them.
I made the Chewy chocolate chip cookies for a friend’s birthday. He is 86 and calls himself the Cookie Monster. Instead on putting chips on top to decorate I had some left over Raw Sugar and rolled the balls in it before baking. I also gave a few to other friends and everyone one of them called after having just one and said they were the best chocolate chip cookies ever, don’t loose that recipe, it’s a keeper. Thank you for the new recipe.
Hi Sally,
I made these cookies at Christmas time for the first time and LOVED them. But I just made them the other day and they came out very blonde and not as sweet. The one thing I think I did different was measure the flour in a large Pyrex measuring bowl but I wonder if that was just not as accurate as an actual 1c measuring cup. Would just a little more flour cause them to be blonde and less sweet.
Hi Marggie! Yes, too much flour can impact the taste of cookies. We always recommend using a kitchen scale if possible, when baking, for most accurate measurements. If you use cups, make sure to spoon and level the flour, instead of scooping. You can read more about measuring baking ingredients here!
Can I add walnuts? Do I have to adjust the amount of chocolate chips?
Hi Elizabeth, yes, absolutely. As long as the total amount of add-ins is around 1 to 1 and 1/4 cups, you can swap some of the chocolate chips for walnuts.
If I make the batter today (Monday) and refrigerate it until Thursday (3 days) and then bake. Will the cookies still be fresh and chewy?
In the recipe you mentioned the cookies stay fresh for up to 1 week. Is it 1 week from making the batter or 1 week from baking? So, if I bake it on Thursday..how long can these cookies be good in room temperature?
Hi Hyther, yes, the cookies will still be nice and chewy. You can then store the cookies for 1 week after baking. Enjoy!
Hi Sally!
I’m not sure what i’ve done wrong, but mine turn out a little flatter (not spread just not as high) and it doesnt look as soft. The taste and texture is bomb, but the tops of mine look slightly shiny and almost patchy. And theyre always really pale, otherwise they overbake. I bake it at 165 C or 145 C fan force. What could I be doing wrong? I follow everything down to the gram. Thank you!
Hi Lauren, the cookies will deflate a bit when cooling, this is normal, but if they deflate quite a bit, they may hav been under-baked. This could also be the reason they look at bit shiny. For next time, you can try extending your bake time just a minute or two. Hope this helps!
First recipe from you that I didn’t like. I have worked in bakeries so I know how to follow directions and accurately measure, before anyone decides to tell me I simply didn’t follow the recipe. I didn’t like the texture and the dough was annoying to work with, even after trying to get it to room temp after chilling. It was like working with sand. Certainly no flavor worth the pain. Taste and texture wasn’t anything special. I’ll stick with the Jacque Torres chocolate chip cookie recipe. The day or 2 of chilling and the ratios on that recipe make a cookie worth the effort of chilling.
I’m new at baking butttttt these are some of the bests cookies I’ve ever made or had. I even hid the last ones from my family so I could eat them! They are so good! So chewy too!!! ヾ(≧▽≦*)o
best cookie recipe ever! I used salted butter and they turned out amazing!
This is absolutely the best cookie recipe I’ve ever tried! It was delicious!
A fantastic recipe to have in your pocket. I halved the quantity to make a smaller batch, and used 50/50 mix salted butter and regular (personal preference) after browning it. It came out incredible. It even works on an air fryer. I made tiny balls and kept it at 175C for 7 mins. This is my go-to recipe now.
Can you use Stevia instead of granulated sugar? And if so should I make any modifications to the recipe to do so?
Hi Jess, We’d love to help but we are not trained in baking with sugar substitutes. For best taste and texture (and so you don’t waste your time trying to adapt this recipe since it may not work properly), it may be more useful to find a recipe that is specifically formulated for sugar substitutes. Thank you!
Heyyy, I just wanted to ask what temperature do I bake the cookies at?? I couldn’t find that in the recepie
Hi Kanika, Bake these at 325°F (163°C).
Can these cookies be made with less sugar? How much brown or white sugar could I remove while keeping the same consistency?
Hi Mike, 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 best! I have been making them for years, and they are always amazing!! The more days the dough has to chill, the better the cookie!
Amazing recipe and household favorite. Seems people in the comments clearly aren’t heading the warning to SPOON AND LEVEL as well as the importance of chilling overnight ideally.. Shame they are rating your recipe lower for their own mistakes.
Not liking a recipe doesn’t mean someone didn’t follow instructions and measure correctly. What a weird thing to say.
Very weird for you to admit you clearly messed up something in the recipe in a comment further up(sandy texture suggests you added too much flour). It’s okay it happens to everyone. Even those who’ve supposedly worked in a bakery for years, but you shouldn’t blame the recipe for your own mistakes!
Hi, can I double the amount, thank you
Yes, this recipe doubles well. Happy baking!
I think your recipe may be wrong. Feels like it should be 1 ½ cups of flour not 2 ½. I tried this and they were very dense, dry, and not sweet at all.
Hi Eric, the cookies would overspread if you used 1 and 1/2 cups of flour. I wonder if you over-measured the flour? Are you using 125g per 1 cup of flour or are the measuring cups you are using larger? The cookies should be sweet.
This is the best chocolate cookie recipe I have every tried. It puts Nestle Tollhouse to shame! If you have the time and patience to chill the dough, you will not regret it. I have tried this recipe with browned butter and it makes it 10 times more delicious than the regular melted butter version. I love the caramelly and nutty flavor the browned butter gives the cookies. This may not be for your tastebuds though, so you may need to experiment yourself! Thank you Ms. Sally for your incredible contributions to the baking community. I am always looking to expand my skills as an at home/amatuer chef!
made the cookies yesterday
tasted absolutely delicious
probably scooped out too much cookie dough so it didn’t spread as much, had to manually press the dough down while it’s baking to give it shape
but otherwise a great recipe! Addictive cookies