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
Thank you. They are sooo delicious! I always use your recipes. Have a great day!
I’m not sure if my question was posted.Can I make these cookies smaller? Thank you!
Yes, absolutely. Bake time will be shorter.
Absolutely amazing. SO GOOD!!!
Sally, stop it! These are amazing!!! Just divine for any and all chocolate lovers in your life. My kids will die of excitement when they eat these tomorrow!
Delicious! For me, for the dough to come together required approx 3 tbsp milk. Followed everything else to a tee and they were perfect.
Outstanding!
Too much butter! my cookies turned out more like brownie brittle then cookies, this recipe seems really unblanced!
This recipe is so great and easy to follow. My question is Can i use regular butter instead of unsalted butter?
Hi Terri, You can use salted butter and leave out the added salt. Enjoy!
Perfect double chocolate cookies! As with all Sally’s recipes, these turned out exactly as described. I used a blend of regular cocoa and black cocoa because I love the color and flavor it gives. I also only chilled them 2 hours because I was short on time, and they baked up perfectly! Will definitely make these again.
Baked these for a bake sale fundraiser at my church and they were a hit! I shared the recipe with multiple people.
Hi! I freezed it and baked them the next day. The dough raised but once i turned the oven off, they flatten
Hi Diana, the cookies are meant to puff up while baking and then fall while cooling–that gives them that deliciously crinkly, chewy texture. How did they taste?
Amazing cookies!!!! ♥️
Made them a couple weeks ago but forgot to leave a review. I am now back to make them again and all I can say is WOW. They were my first time making cookies and they turned out perfect. They taste like the costco cookies!
Can I substitute milk for non dairy milk?
Yes, absolutely.
I had stopped backing since 20 years . Your recipes have pulled me back to backing station . I can follow these recipes with my eyes closed. At 50 I am backing again . Thanks a alot .
Hi and thanks for this recipe. I carefully followed all the steps and the cookies came out tasty and tasty but a little too sweet to my taste. Is it possible to reduce sugar and only use brown sugar?
Hi Sonia! 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 love chocolate chip cookies , I used to work as an assistant Pastry Chef at a Hotel Bakery, your recipes looks so delicious.
what temperature do these need to be baked at?
I love this recipe soooo much! My family (specifically my brother) asks me to make these cookies all the time!! Definitely some of my favorite cookies I’ve ever made
First time making this recipe and it came out perfectly! Only thing I changed was the paddle attachment because I don’t have one. I used a regular beater attachment on my hand mixer instead. The cookies came out so chewy, fudgy, and delicious. I’ll definitely be making these again! Recipe was clear and easy to follow, and cookies came out fantastic. Thank you!
These are delicious! The only change made was using 3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips instead- it was the perfect amount for us and worked out very well. Got major compliments on these and will be sure to make again!
My favorite chocolate cookie recipe! I had a question about their shelf life. I know it says to store for up to a week. I baked these to send to my partner for Christmas but he’s in England and the package got delayed. I’m heartbroken at the thought of the batch I sent going to waste. I know the quality would be impaired, but would these still be safe to consume after a week and a half to 2 weeks?
Hi Tsi! It’s hard to say for sure how the cookies will be when they arrive, depending on shipping conditions, temperature, etc. When the cookies arrive, have the recipient use their best judgement as to whether they can still be consumed. Hope they’re able to still enjoy a few!
Could I triple the recipe in a kitchen aid stand mixer?
Hi Valerie, doubling should be fine, but tripling may make it a bit tough to full incorporate all the ingredients. Best to make an additional batch if you can!
Fun fact I only had dutch-processed cocoa in the house and nothing stops me so I went with it and also I only had a bit of semi-sweet chipits so half ended up dark chocolate chipits. Cause that’s how I roll. No stress. Followed the rest to the t! Doubled the recipe! (yep, I’m that confident) AND OH MY THE DELICIOUSNESS. Super winner! Baked from frozen balls and the bonus banging the cookie sheet to get the cookies to spread is very therapeutic. Best recipe ever. 10/10 highly recommend to all my friends!
Absolutely amazing
Just wanna say thank you
Much love
Could you add peppermint extract to this recipe to make a double chocolate peppermint cookie?
Hi Cecelia, absolutely — you can add a teaspoon like we do with these peppermint frosted chocolate cookies. Those use the same base dough as these!
Can I roll the dough into balls first and then refrigerate, my hands are very arthritic and find it difficult to roll cold hard dough.
Hi Martha! We find the sticky dough difficult to roll, which is why we recommend chilling first, but you can roll the dough first if that works better for you!
Love this recipe! I’ve noticed that when you add a bit of milk to your cookie dough (for this recipe and the brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe), you add it at the end after the dough has already come together. Is there a reason you don’t just add it in with the vanilla and egg?
Hi! I am about to make these cookies but can I used salted butter instead of unsalted? I go course would leave out the added salt as well.
Hi Mariah, yes, that will work. Enjoy!
can i do this without the vanilla as well
You’ll lose a bit of flavor without the vanilla.
Curious as to what will happen if I just bake them after mixing it. What if I don’t refrigerate at all? How will the cookie turn out?
I only have dutch-processed cocoa. What modifications can I do to make it work?
Hi Veronica, natural unsweetened cocoa powder is imperative for this recipe. It would take a bit of recipe testing to create a version that worked for both types of cocoa. If you’re interested, here’s more on the difference between dutch process and natural cocoa powder.
Hi there 🙂 I tried the recipe but my cookies ended up being really grainy and crunchy on the outside… I chilled the dough for over 3 hours and left it to room temp for about 20 min as the recipe said. I’m not sure where I went wrong looks-wise. 🙁
Hi Cat, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. If the cookies were a bit crunchy, it’s possible that they were simply over baked. Also be sure to spoon and level your flour to ensure just the right amount — too much can cause baked goods to dry out. These top cookie baking tips may be a helpful resource to review as well. Hope this helps for next time, and thank you for giving these cookies a try!
Good morning! So I am about to make these however I have some left over espresso powder from a previous cookie. Can I add some of them to make for a richer chocolate flavor or will it be too much? Also how much would you recommend if so? Thank you in advance your recipes never seem to fail but I’m making these with a rocky road twist
Hi Amanda, You can definitely add anywhere from a half to one teaspoon of espresso powder depending on how strong of a flavor you wish for. Enjoy!