These inside out chocolate chip cookies combine a rich and fudgy chocolate cookie base, the same we use for double chocolate chip cookies. Enjoy super soft and brownie-like centers, chewy edges, and sweet white chocolate chips in each bite. They’re as loved as my chewy chocolate chip cookies and as undeniably rich as my homemade brownies.
Hello and welcome back to 2013 when I initially published this recipe. Now with updated pictures, clearer instructions, and helpful success tips, there’s no excuse not to try the ONLY CHOCOLATE COOKIE RECIPE YOU NEED. Wow, that’s quite the statement.
In the past several years, these inside out chocolate chip cookies have climbed to the top of my most-loved cookie recipe list. Along with chewy chocolate chip cookies, drop sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies, and oatmeal raisin cookies, this is the gold standard of cookie dough recipes to try.
What Are Inside Out Chocolate Chip Cookies?
I know you’re looking at me cross-eyed wondering what, why, and how these are inside out cookies. Think of a regular chocolate chip cookie—buttery brown sugar base with chocolate chips, right? Well, the term “inside out” means that the cookie base is now chocolate and the add-in is white chocolate. Obviously white chocolate chips don’t taste like the buttery brown sugar base of a regular cookie, but I don’t think anyone’s complaining here.
Simply put, these are Chocolate White Chocolate Chip Cookies. (Think of them like the cookie version of chocolate white chocolate cupcakes!)
Video Tutorial
These Chocolate Cookies Are:
- Easy to make with a basic recipe
- A personal and reader favorite
- Soft-baked with brownie-like centers
- Chewy on the edges
- Massively chocolatey
The recipe is also easy to double in 1 mixing bowl without overwhelming/overcrowding your mixer and the baked cookies freeze wonderfully.
How to Make Inside Out Chocolate Chip Cookies
Even though it’s one of my favorite base cookie recipes, I’ve never walked you through the recipe process. We’ll do that real quick:
- Mix dry ingredients together. You need all-purpose flour, natural unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Do you remember the difference between dutch-process vs. natural cocoa powder? Use natural here.
- Beat wet ingredients together. You need butter, white sugar, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Room temperature butter and egg will mix more evenly into each other, creating a uniform texture among all the cookies. Additionally, both whip into a greater volume when at room temperature, producing a softer-crumbed cookie.
- Combine all ingredients, then add milk. 1 Tablespoon of milk smooths out the dough. And don’t forget to add the white chocolate chips.
- Chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator. The cookie dough is sticky and unmanageable, so chilling is necessary. I usually chill it overnight, but 3 hours is just enough. Chilled cookie dough is not only easier to handle and roll into balls, it also guarantees thicker cookies. See my tips on How to Prevent Cookies from Spreading.
- Roll cookie dough into balls. After chilling, scoop and roll the cookie dough into tall balls—a heaping 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie.
- Bake. Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes. If the cookies 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.
Let them cool for a few minutes and experience a fudgy brownie in cookie form. I usually don’t like milk with cookies, but this recipe basically demands it.
Sticky Dough
This cookie dough is sticky, even if you’ve chilled it, so a cookie scoop is helpful. The medium size is perfect because each dough ball should be around 1.5 Tablespoons of dough. If you use your hands, expect to make a little mess as you shape the cookie dough balls. Have a kitchen towel or paper towel nearby. I usually wipe my hands clean after every few cookie dough balls. Clean hands make rolling easier.
Same Dough, Different Cookie
Though ultra soft-baked with chewy edges and fudge-like centers, these chocolate cookies aren’t anything new or groundbreaking. In fact, you might actually recognize the base dough because it’s been my go-to chocolate cookie for years. This is the same exact cookie dough as:
- Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Cookies
- Peppermint Mocha Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Double Chocolate Chip Swirl Cookies
- Andes Mint Chocolate Cookies
Note: The chocolate crinkle cookies and peppermint mocha cookies can over-spread as a result of the sugar coating and peppermint extract (respectively), so I leave out the milk in those versions.
Need cookies right NOW? If you don’t have time to chill the dough, try giant chocolate chip cookies, Nutella chocolate chip cookies, or even one giant chocolate cookie.
And if you’re looking for cookie cutter chocolate cookies, here are my chocolate sugar cookies.
Interested in freezing the baked cookies or cookie dough?
- Here’s How to Freeze Cookie Dough
More of My Classic Cookie Recipes
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies & Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookies (extra chewy!)
- Snickerdoodles
- Shortbread Cookies
Inside Out Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 3 hours, 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 20-22 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These inside out chocolate chip cookies combine a rich and fudgy chocolate cookie base, super soft and brownie-like centers, chewy edges, and sweet white chocolate chips. Easy to throw together, this is my base chocolate cookie recipe. This cookie dough requires at least 3 hours of refrigeration.
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) white 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 2-3 minutes. 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 white 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. Set aside.
- Scoop and roll dough, a heaping 1.5 Tablespoons of dough each, into balls. (I like using this medium cookie scoop.) 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 white 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. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | 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.
- Other Add-Ins: Instead of white chocolate chips in the dough, you can use the same amount of peanut butter chips, regular chocolate chips, M&Ms, chopped nuts, or butterscotch chips.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
I didn’t love how these turned out. My preferred cookie is super soft, almost gooey inside though so if you’re more into cookies with bite to them, these would be great! Just depends on your preference. I almost want to half the cocoa and add more butter to see if it makes a difference. It’s hard to rate a recipe since everyone has such different taste.
I’m a baker and usually my cookies come out fantastic. Followed the recipe to a T And I live in a high elevation and a dry climate so I add more flour and it still didn’t help these poor things. Super sticky Dough and they were very flat 🙁 I’m just not meant for gooey, super chocolatey cookies!
Hi Juno! Some readers have found this chart helpful for high altitude baking: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html Here’s some tips to keep cookies from spreading as well – hope they help for next time!
Made these cookies and the texture was too sticky and after baking extremely chewy. Very disappointed in this recipe. Cookie dough was chilled over night and test baked in the morning.
Hey sally, i made these and they were amazing but too sweet for my taste. Would it be ok if i halved the white sugar?
Yummy yummy yummy. I made these today and they came out perfect. Thanks x
These turned out AMAZING! The best cookies I’ve ever made. I didn’t have any milk left so I took half a tablespoon instead and it worked great. I can really recommend these, it took a little longer than the description but it was totally worth it. I had mine in the refrigerator for like 4 hours and they look like the picture too! Ps my brother also loved them
I ran the first try with a double, and things didn’t go to plan. I chilled ’em for an hour, then thawed ’em for a good 20 minutes. Put them on the sheets, it sure was sticky as predicted by the author and then when they came out they were flat! Meshed into eachother and I just wanna say… They didn’t quite look like the picture above. So they were crunchy not chewy and they sure tasted good but still the texture was unexpected. I’ll try it again and see the results
Hi Ben! Thank you for giving these cookies a try. You may enjoy this blog post on preventing cookies from spreading. We always suggest making cookies one batch at a time (instead of doubling) for best results.
Hi Trina,
I have noticed that… The cookies are so much better whenever you don’t double it. So as for my family they cook several batches instead of one big batch whenever we want a big outcome… Just it’s constantly a learning curve. Thank you for your response! I decided to turn the cookies I made into a bunch of creme pies. I don’t know why I did, because they were just fine without the icing in between. They are a little bit too sweet now, as you can imagine. A cookie sandwich with ‘creme’, but it is a great desert! I’ll give the cookies another try, for a better consistency.
Ben, no offense but why did you only chill for an hour and thaw for 20 minutes? The recipe states to chill for at least 2 hours (longer the better). Then you have to figure in your double batch, so it would take even longer to chill. The thawing you did defeats the purpose of chilling.
I made a double batch tonight. Came out perfect. I split the dough into 2, saran wrap them, and chill for 2 hours. Then I shape only as much as I’m about to put in the oven (was 12 tonight) and put them on a plate to chill again in the fridge (my hands were warm thus warmed the dough a bit). I let them chill for about 10 minutes. After I put them in the oven, I do it again for a second batch ( 10 cookies this time).
The rest is saran wrapped in the fridge to make in a few days.
This really is wonderful if done properly. Try again!
Well, I have two things to answer that for you Jamie. One is my sibling was badgering me to make them that moment so I thought it would be ok to not carry out the regular time. Secondly I forgot to add the milk “) oops. So perhaps it makes that big of a difference? Who knows, currently I haven’t tried again yet; thank you for the encouragment!
I do not understand why recipes with no acidic ingredients call for so much baking soda(?) In my experience if this doesn’t have enough to react with chemically it imparts a bitter flavor, so I use the equivalent (or nearly) of baking powder. Apart from this change I made these almost to recipe, with the additional
modification of using whole-grain flour, i.e., 1/2 cup each soft white and hard white. I thought the amount of chips was a little much but my husband thought these were marvelous and said I could make them again. They’re almost like white-chip brownies. Making them again now with 1/2 white and 1/2 semi-sweet chips.
Hi Terry, brown sugar and natural unsweetened cocoa powder are our acidic ingredients in this cookie dough. It’s imperative to use natural cocoa powder instead of dutched cocoa for this very reason.
I see! I always use non-Dutched cocoa powder (Wildly Organic fermented cacao powder this time as I was out of Nestle) and sucanat (okay, more modifications), the latter of which I assume(?) is also acidic, being essentially granulated molasses. And I did include 1/4 tsp of baking soda. I thought I’d read that brown sugar is considered acidic but perhaps not as much as something like buttermilk or sour cream – and even with these usually just 1/4 to 1/2 a teaspoon is sufficient so a whole teaspoon seemed like a lot! But as I said these still turned out quite well the first time, and after I bake this second batch I’ll give the recipe a try with baking soda.
Let me begin w/ saying that it’s amazing these cookies ever made it to the oven! The cookie dough for these cookies rivals over its classic chocolate chip cookie dough cousin. You’ve been forewarned! Second, you better make sure you have milk. (I didn’t when I made them and used almond milk, which works great) B/c once these cookies are baked you will need a gallon of cold milk to accompany them through their short lives.
Tasty cookies made with “salted caramel” chips and a couple of coarse salt granules on top. I found the cookies were pretty fragile though. Any tips?
Hi Don! If they’re fragile as in crumbly, there may have been too much flour in your dough. We always recommend the spoon and level method for flour to avoid over-measuring.
I made these this evening, and they were absolutely delicious. I loved the texture (chewy but still with slightly crispy outside), and they are very chocolatey. I used a cup of white chocolate chips and a 1/4 cup of semisweet because I only had one cup of white chocolate, and I wasn’t going to buy more. They’re the perfect size cookie too – not too big, not too small. I only have a (very low-quality) hand mixer, so I did find the mixing process to be a bit difficult, but that’s on me, not this recipe. Highly recommend.
I needed a cookie for a first time club meeting. These were certainly a hit. I must say that I stirred folded the white chocolate chips in by hand. I wondered as I was building my arm strength. Was this cookie worth the work out? It was! Thank you for the great recipe.
Hi! Just baked these exactly as per recipe and my god they turned out heavenly. Made about 18 cookies in the one batch. Thank you! The Hundal Family – Vancouver Canada.
Hi Sally!
I previously came here to ask a question, but today I am back with a review!
These cookies were fudgy, delicious and oh so gooey. I loved this recipe, and doubled it and it made around 34 cookies, though some were small and some were big. I suggest tossing the baking soda and flour into a bowl and mixing first so the baking soda is spread evenly. Other then that, these were perfect! I made one batch but they were slightly hard, so I added a pinch of cornstarch and they came out pillow soft! I also reduced the amount of butter from 170g to 115g. I had a hard time creaming the butter and sugar so I melted the butter until liquid and mixed it with sugar to create a smooth paste. They came out cakey but I loved the texture!
Thanx for this recipe!
Maddie xxx
Yum! Will definitely be making these again!
these were amazing, thanks for the recipe!!
Hi Sally!
I plan on baking these but I will be using a vegan substitute for the eggs; 4 tablespoons water, 4 tablespoons baking powder and 2 tbsp oil (As I plan on doubling the recipe, I need it for 2 eggs.) Will it work? If you can please make a guide to vegan egg substitutes, or try the one I just listed.
Hi Maddie! I wish I could help, but I have very little experience with vegan baking. For any helpful advice, I recommend asking a baker who has the appropriate experience and training. A couple food blogs with vegan recipes you may enjoy are Heart of a Baker and Beaming Baker.
Okay! I’ve tried the substitute with your other cookies and it worked very well so I’m guessing it will still work.
These cookies are sooooo delicious! I’ve made them several times and always forget how good they are until I bite into one! Another amazing recipe, Sally!
these were incredible, thanks for the recipe!!
I would like to cut these cookies into different shapes. Is it possible before or after baking or should I check another recipe.
Hi G, unfortunately these cookies would not work for cutouts. If you’re looking for a chocolate cookie cutout, we’d recommend our Chocolate Sugar Cookies instead. You could even try placing a few white chocolate chips into the dough before they bake. Let us know what you try!
These cookies are absolutely wonderful! They went together exactly as described and were a huge hit at our house! Thanks for sharing this recipe. L
I looove crispy cookies! Any tips on how to make these more on the crispy side?
Hi Tati, these are definitely a chewy cookie, but you can try a few more minutes in the oven to help produce a crispier outside. Keep a close eye on them!
I loved these cookies and i’m not much of a chocolate cookie person. I made a VERY similar recipe a couple weeks before trying this one and was disappointed in the lack of sweetness. I replaced the milk used in this recipe with a melted chocolate candy bar that i was not going to eat, hoping it would add to the sweetness. Not sure of why i liked this recipe better, but every member of my family did too. Extremely difficult dough to mix though.
Can I substitute Reese’s pieces for the white chocolate chips?
Sure can!
Just made these today and they turned out to be amazing, took the perfect shape, didn’t spread much, just the right amount, were chocolaty and fudgy. Loved the recipe!!
I tried this recipe with Butterscotch chips and the cookies taste delicious! Crispy on the outsdide but softvabs chewy on the inside. Highly recommend!
Tried this recipe to use up leftover white chips. i had made an almost identical recipe last month, and felt that the sweetness from the chips saved the cookie from a too deep of a chocolate flavor. this recipe was more enjoyable. there seemed to be an overload of white chips so maybe that’s the reason. i didn’t put the last 1/4 cup in and still had plenty. chilled dough overnight and had NO problem with stickiness.
I just got done baking these cookies And they are the best chocolate cookie I ever had I will double the recipe next time and freeze half the dough.I was wondering if you could use dark coca powder.Thank you for all your recipes.
Great cookies! It has been an all day bake in my house today. Made stromboli and cheesy garlic bread for lunch and made these cookies for a dessert! Major hit in our household! Easy to make even easier to eat lol. Great flavor and texture! These will be made over and over again for sure!!! Thanks Sally! As always love trying out your recipes. They always come out great!
I made these this holiday and it was a huge hit with my little kids and husband. They kept asking for more!!!
I made these cookies and they were delicious my mom, dad and brother gobled them up , though i had a question if i double this recipe will come out the same?