The best recipe for double chocolate chip cookies must obviously include extra doses of chocolate. These soft-baked thick and chunky cookies are as indulgent as they look: rich and fudge-like with chewy centers, slightly crisp edges, and oodles of melty chocolate chips in each glorious bite.
It’s the chocolate dough recipe I’ve been making for years and even included it in my cookbook stuffed with peanut butter cups. There’s no reason to stray from this basic chocolate dough!
Included in my cookbooks and used all over my website, this cookie dough is my go-to base for chocolate cookies. There’s a reason I work with this dough often: it’s because it WORKS and it’s pointless to stray from a tested, dependable recipe. (That’s also delicious!)
One reader, Kat, commented: “Wonderful recipe! By far my favorite chocolate chocolate chip cookie and very well received by everyone who tries them. They are like brownie cookies in the best way and stayed the perfect softness for a few days after baking. Adding to my yearly cookie rotation for sure! ★★★★★”
Another reader, Amber, commented: “Arguably the best cookies I’ve ever had. ★★★★★“
And another reader, Cynthia, commented: “Love these. I’ve made them too many times to count, and I always double the recipe. I’ve made them with dark chocolate chips, white chocolate, nuts, coconut, Andes candies in the middle. So many ways. It’s just a perfect chocolate cookie. ★★★★★“
Why You’ll Love These Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Easy to make with a basic dough
- Soft-baked and chewy with fudge chocolate centers
- Recipe is easily doubled
- Cookie dough balls freeze well
- You can use the cookies to make chocolate cookie ice cream sandwiches
- Versatile dough! Turn them into s’more chocolate crinkle cookies in the summer, peppermint mocha cookies, Andes mint chocolate cookies, or peppermint frosted cookies in the winter, chocolate crinkle cookies, chocolate frosted cookies, or salted caramel dark chocolate cookies any time of year, or switch to white chips for inside out chocolate chip cookies
My team and I receive many questions about turning this base chocolate dough into regular double chocolate chip cookies, so I figured having a separate spot for that particular cookie recipe would be ideal for chocolate cookie lovers everywhere. And I’m guessing that’s you. 😉
Grab These Ingredients
All of the ingredients required for this cookie recipe are kitchen staples. You need:
- Wet ingredients: Butter, white & brown sugars, egg, vanilla extract, and milk
- Dry ingredients: Flour, unsweetened natural cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt
You also need chocolate chips and I recommend semi-sweet. Mini chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or other flavors such as peanut butter chips or butterscotch morsels work too. You could even keep them plain and roll in chopped pecans to make chocolate turtle cookies.
Success Tip: Use Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Because the double chocolate chip cookies use baking soda, it’s important to use natural cocoa powder since it’s acidic. You could get away with dutch-process here (since brown sugar is also acidic), but the cookies may lose shape and taste dense. To avoid issues, I recommend natural. For further information, you can read about the differences between natural and dutch process cocoa powder.
Did you know? Cocoa powder is a very light, yet drying ingredient. To keep the cookies tender and moist, the dough needs liquid like milk. That’s why chocolate cake calls for so much liquid.
Overview: How to Make Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Cream the butter and both sugars together before adding the egg and vanilla extract. If you need extra guidance on this step, I have a separate tutorial on how to cream butter and sugar. Separately, whisk the dry ingredients together and don’t be concerned about how little flour this recipe requires. (Remember that cocoa powder is another dry ingredient to bulk up the dough.) Combine wet and dry ingredients, then beat in the milk and then the chocolate chips.
Ensure you use proper room temperature butter, which should still be cool to the touch at about 65°F (18°C). If it’s too cold, it cannot cream and if it’s melty in the slightest, your cookies will be a mess.
Success Tip: Chill the Dough
The dough definitely comes together easily, but it’s sticky and tacky as a result of the cocoa powder mixing with liquid. It’s even stickier than the chocolate layer of pinwheel cookies. Therefore, the dough requires chilling before you can shape and bake. I recommend at least 3 hours in the refrigerator, but you can also refrigerate it overnight. Need cookies right NOW? Try giant chocolate chip cookies, Nutella chocolate chip cookies, or even one giant double chocolate cookie.
Expect a sticky, tacky dough:
How to Shape The Cookie Dough
This cookie dough is still a bit sticky even if you’ve chilled it, but it’s much more compact since it’s cold. Use a cookie scoop to help you portion the sticky dough. The medium size is perfect because each dough ball should be around 1.5 Tablespoons. After scooping the dough, shape it as best you can into tall column-like balls. I know that sounds odd, but it’s the trick I teach when making regular chocolate chip cookies. Taller balls of chilled dough = thicker baked cookies.
The cookie dough will undoubtedly stick to your hands during the shaping step, so have a kitchen towel or paper towel nearby. I usually wipe my hands clean after every few cookie dough balls because clean hands make rolling easier. (Same tip I recommend for peanut butter filled brownie cookies.)
If you’re looking for cookie cutter style cookies, here are my chocolate sugar cookies.
Get your cookies to spread: The cookies take at least 11 minutes to bake, however if they aren’t really spreading by minute 9, remove them from the oven and lightly bang the baking sheet on the counter 2-3x. This helps initiate that spread. Return to the oven for a couple more minutes.
How Do You Know When Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Are Done?
It’s hard to see when the cookies are done because they’re so dark. Instead, give a cookie a light tap on the edge and if it feels slightly set, they’re done. Be careful with this because they’re hot! The centers will still look very soft and that’s ok. They usually take about 11-12 minutes.
Can I Freeze the Cookie Dough Balls?
Yes, once portioned and before baking, the chocolate cookie dough balls freeze beautifully. If the dough balls are a bit sticky, chill them in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes first. Place the balls in a single layer in a zipped-top freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. You can take a few dough balls out of the freezer at a time, and bake (no need to thaw) whenever that chocolate craving hits. Simply add another minute to the bake time. Read my full tutorial on how to freeze cookie dough here.
After publishing 200+ tested cookie recipes and 3 cookbooks, I know what works and what doesn’t, so check out my top cookie baking success tips if you’re ever having trouble. Additionally, my entire team and I put together our recommended 10 best cookie baking tools if you need top-rated suggestions. Happy baking!
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Favorite Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
- Prep Time: 3 hours, 15 minutes (includes chilling)
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 20-22 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These soft-baked thick and chunky double chocolate chip cookies are rich and fudge-like with chewy centers, slightly crisp edges, and oodles of melty chocolate chips in each glorious bite. The dough needs to chill for at least 3 hours, but you can make it ahead of time and refrigerate overnight.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2/3 cup (55g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) milk (any kind, dairy or non)
- 1 and 1/4 cups (225g) semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus a few more for optional topping*
Instructions
- Preliminary note: This cookie dough requires at least 3 hours of chilling, but I prefer to chill the dough overnight. The colder the dough, the thicker the cookies.
- In a large bowl using a hand-held or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on medium high speed until fluffy and light in color, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the egg and vanilla extract, and then beat on high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly pour into the wet ingredients. Beat on low until combined. The cookie dough will be quite thick. Switch to high speed and beat in the milk, then the chocolate chips. The cookie dough will be sticky and tacky. Cover dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory for this sticky cookie dough.
- Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. If the cookie dough chilled longer than 3 hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes. This makes the chilled cookie dough easier to scoop and roll.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside.
- Scoop and roll dough, a heaping 1.5 Tablespoons (about 35-40g; I like to use this medium cookie scoop) in size, into balls. To ensure a thicker cookie, make the balls taller than they are wide (almost like a cylinder or column). Arrange 2-3 inches apart on the baking sheets. The cookie dough is certainly sticky, so wipe your hands clean after every few balls of dough you shape.
- Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes or until the edges appear set and the centers still look soft. Tip: If they aren’t really spreading by minute 9, remove them from the oven and lightly bang the baking sheet on the counter 2-3x. This helps initiate that spread. Return to the oven to continue baking.
- Cool cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheet. During this time, I like to press a few more chocolate chips into the tops of the warm cookies. (This is optional and only for looks.) Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. The cookies will slightly deflate as they cool.
- Cover leftover cookies tightly and store 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 (step 3). 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. Check out my tips + tricks for how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Stand Mixer or Handheld) | Medium Cookie Scoop | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats | Cooling Rack
- Larger Batch: The recipe is easy to double in 1 mixing bowl without overwhelming your mixer. Simply double all of the cookie dough ingredients. Dough chill time remains the same.
- Natural Cocoa Powder: Do you know the difference between natural cocoa powder and dutch-process cocoa powder? Use natural in this dough.
- Other Add-Ins: Instead of chocolate chips in the dough, you can use the same amount of peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, M&Ms, chopped nuts, or butterscotch chips.
- 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
Hi Sally! Do you see any issue with using M&Ms in these in addition to the chocolate chips? I would just reduce the amount of chocolate chips. Wanted to check with you about baking time and such. I think I would also add a few M&Ms after they come out on the top like you mentioned to do with a few chocolate chips. Hoping to add some holiday color to these! Thank you!
Hi Debra! No issues there, just keep the total amount of chocolate chips + m&ms to 1 and 1/4 cups.
Hi Sally,
My mom, sisters, and I are all huge fans of your baking. You are our go-to baker! I’m currently staying in Ukraine, and there is no brown sugar, nor can I find molasses in any of the stores to make a brown sugar substitute. I know many of your recipes call for brown sugar. I read online that white sugar can be used but might slightly alter the flavor. Is it possible to use honey to mix with white sugar to create that flavorful, moist texture, or should I just substitute with honey altogether?
Hi Michala, we haven’t tested it, but you could try mixing some honey with white sugar (1 Tablespoon honey for every 1 cup/200g white sugar), and beating with an electric mixer. Store the honey-sugar in an airtight container with a slice of bread to keep it moist. We wouldn’t recommend substituting all honey, because a liquid sweetener is not a 1:1 swap for sugar. If you try it, please let us know how it works for you in your cookies!
Thanks for a great recipe! I made them vegan with Country Crock olive oil plabt based butter, Energ Egg Replacer and Guittard dairy free chocolate chips. I also refrigerated in logs which made them chill faster and made it easier to make the cookie balls.
I added one shot of espresso and tart dried cherries as a riff on a chocolate cherry cordial. They’re delicious!
Hi! Love your recipes!!!! Is this also applicable for matcha flavored cookies? Instead of using cocoa powder, will use matcha powder? Would you recommend this and same amount of cup?
Hi Adrielle, we haven’t tested matcha cookies, so are unsure of the result. If you decide to try it with this recipe, please let us know how it turns out!
Arguably the best cookies I’ve ever had
I’ve made this a few times now and it’s turned out great every time. I like to add almond extract & chopped walnuts. When I don’t have time to chill them, I roll them into balls and pop them in the freezer for about 20 mins before baking for an extra couple mins. Turns out great
Just in case anyone else was wondering, I tried this recipe twice, once following the chill instructions and once not chilling the batter at all, there was zero difference whatsoever, feel free to skip the three hour chill if you don’t have the time for it
I loved this recipe so much
cool recipe! but how can I reduce Yield, like I want to bake 6 – 10 cookies. Is that possible?
We would recommend making the recipe as written, and then freezing the dough balls so you can bake as many as you want whenever you want them. See this post on how to freeze cookie dough for all the info!
These are really the best chocolate cookies I’ve ever had. They’re moist, flavorful and the perfect consistency. So delicious 10/10!!!
If I’m using King Arthur’s Gluten Free 1:1 replacement, do I need to make any other modifications?
We haven’t tested that, Amy. Let us know if you do!
It pays to read. I have been making this recipe for a couple of months now I was wondering why the batter was so sticky. I thought I did something wrong. I like to add white chocolate chips and make a triple chocolate chip cookie
These are soooo good, but very rich. I decided to add a holiday spin to them and used peppermint emulsion instead of vanilla, used dark, milk and white chocolate chIps and added crushed peppermints. Perfect mocha peppermint cookie.
Excellent cookies and the recipe was easy to follow! Chilled for exactly 3 hours and they turned out perfectly. Brought them to a gathering and everyone loved them.
Would rolling into a cookie log and then chilling enabling a slice and bake approach work?
Hi Melanie, you could certainly give it a try. We haven’t tried ourselves, but other readers have had success with this!
Hi Sally! I have a question regarding his recipe. In other choc chip recipes you use cornstarch. Do you omit it here because the cocoa powder act as cornstarch in terms of softness of the dough? Also, the addition of milk is due to the content of cocoa powder that absorbs more water? If I want to use another of your recipe and make it with cocoa powder, do I just substitute a specific % of flour for cocoa powder but keeping the same total grams? And adding more milk to the dough (e.g. if substituting 55 g of flour for 55 g of cocoa, to keep the same weight you use here, I add 1 tablespoon of milk)? Thanks! Chiara
Hi Chiara, These cookies are already quite soft, so we don’t recommend adding cornstarch, though you could add 1-2 teaspoons if desired. Which recipe are you hoping to add cocoa powder to?
My family love it when I make this recipe! I think this is one of your best!
I will make this recipe, but I always make a mess when adding the dry ingredients to the stand mixer. You seem to add them without a problem. Is there a trick I missed?
Hi Mike, lowering the mixer bowl will help give you a bit more room to add in the dry ingredients. Mixing the dry ingredients in a bowl with a pour spout can be helpful, too.
Your recipes are delicious. I’m wondering if you have calories and nutrition facts for each one.
Hi Marie, 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 turned them into turtle cookies by adding pecans and carmel bits, for our second time making. Also portioned dough immediately after mixing. And refrigerated the dough balls for 3+ hours.
Amazing! The best double chocolate chip cookies I have found! I rolled the dough in white sugar before baking to give me a sugar crunch on top of the cookies and I’m so glad I did. Otherwise I changed nothing in this recipe and they were so perfect! Thank you
Hi John, see the gray recipe card with all the details about ingredients, instructions, and recipe notes. You can find it by scrolling or clicking the “Jump to Recipe” button at the top of the page.
These cookies are amazing!! I also wanted to share that when I made this recipe, I realized I was out of vanilla extract, so I had to use a teaspoon (or a little extra) of syrup, and it turned out sooo good! I’ve never done this before, so I didn’t know if the substitution would be good, but it sure was!
It was 100% pure maple syrup. Luckily I had some of that on hand!
Very good
This cookies is legit the best double chocolate chip cookie! It’s delicious right from the oven and still perfect the next day! So in love!
Once again, I’m wanting to bake something and all I have to do is come to your site knowing good and well I will find something I can rely on. This was a great recipe and my family enjoyed each cookie! Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed these, Julie!
Good recipe you can omit the milk which removes need to refrigerate and they turned out perfectly delicious and held up through baking.
This is by far the best cookie recipe I have ever tried
How many cookies can you get from one batch?
20-22 cookies
I got about two dozen cookies per batch. I did double the batch so I got four dozen cookies and I’m so glad I doubled it.