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. 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
I made these cookies exactly as written. I weighed the ingredients. They turned out AMAZING!! They look bakery-worthy, and the flavor and chewiness are over the top. Thank you!!
I made this recipe and the cookies look amazing! But they are not very sweet… I feel like I need way more sugar they are almost savory cookies. Still good just not very sweet.
I’ve tried so many chocolate chip recipes and these were exactly what I was looking for! I used King Arthur gf flour and lowered the temp to 325 like I do all of my gf cookies and they were perfect! And just as good the next day!
Hello,
I’d like to try your recipe. How many does a single batch make? Thank you!
Hi Terri, it depends on how big you make the cookies, but around 20 large cookies.
Hello! I’ve tried the crispy chocolate chip cookies without fail but with the chilling in this recipe I am having some troubles. The cookie dough stays as hard as a rock even after the thaw of 15 minutes as it suggests. Any way to thaw it any faster? Thank you!
Hi Ian! A hard/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 let the dough sit at room temperature for a while to soften up before scooping. Hope this helps for your next batch!
I have made these many times and now my children do as well! We love them!! Question- can I use vanilla bean paste in place of vanilla extract?(same amount)? Thank you!
Hi Jean, yes, you can! So glad you love the cookies!
Hello! I’ve been making these cookies for years and they are a hit everytime. Lately, I’ve been struggling to get them to bake, wondering if the recipe has been edited/changed recently to reflect a different temp/bake time? Thanks!
Hi Ashley, we haven’t changed the bake temp or time, so I wonder if it could be that your oven temperature is a bit off? Do you have an oven thermometer to check? Or have you changed the type of baking sheets you use? We find there’s a noticeable difference between light and dark baking sheets when it comes to cookies.
These cookies did not turn out for us at all. The dough was very dry and the cookies were not a success.
My dough was very dry I followed the recipe as the the recipe stated I refrigerate the dough for about 3 hours allowed it to come to room temperature very disappointing
Hi Debbie, A dry, sandy 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.
The cookies have been a family staple for years. We make lots of variations. On chocolate chip and button mix in leave them in the fridge and bake fresh through the week.
I was recently diagnosed with coeliac, I’m going to try make them with GF flour instead, is there any other adjustments I should make with quantities or just a straight swap ?
Hi Emmalee, we’re so glad these cookies are a favorite! We haven’t tested these cookies with gluten free flour, so we’re unsure of the results. Let us know if you do give it a try!
Love this recipe, along with the similar white chocolate macadamia nut cookies(those are a family favorite!!!)
I always chill overnight and then freeze the rest, but still they are pretty greasy. I was wondering if using softened butter instead of melted would help this? I use a scale for all my ingredients so I know the flour is accurate. Maybe I could also use it for the butter?
Hi Delaney, we’re so glad you enjoy these! Are you allowing the butter to cool just slightly after it’s melted? This helps prevent any overly greasy texture. If you’d like to use softened butter, we’d recommend using this recipe for soft chocolate chip cookies instead.
Oops, forgot to add the stars! 😀
Ob. SESSED with these cookies!! Hands down the BEST chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted!!! Absolutely delicious and I don’t think I will ever make any other again!! 😀
I found these cookies to be lacking in flavor and did not come out chewy or soft. I baked them as directed and the second batch cut back the time in the oven – they were quite light and still not soft and chewy. I think I’ll go back to my old recipe.
I love these cookies! This time when I made them I was distracted and accidentally used the whites in all the eggs….is disaster looming?
Hi Beth, an extra egg white may cause the cookies to spread a little extra, but they should otherwise be ok. So glad you love these cookies!
Hi can I use margarine instead of butter?
Hi Noa, margarine does not have the same baking properties (or flavor!) as butter. We don’t recommend that swap.
Hiiii l love all of your recipes! I’ve made this recipe for my family so many times and was just wondering, should I add in milk if it gets hard to fold in all the flour?
Excellent cookies. But I’m thinking mine are too thick. About 2 to 2 1/2 inches in diameter and about 3/4 inch thick. I made cylinders as you suggested. Any suggestions for making them a little less thick?? And they don’t seem very chewey.
Hi Diane, when cookies are too thick, there’s often too much flour in the 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.
Ok. Thank you.
Delicious and don’t’ feel overly sweet!
First time we’ve ever made cookies and they’re absolutely heavenly.
We made them slightly bigger but just increased the cooking time accordingly.
Thanks for a great recipe.
Cookies were absolutely incredible and were so easy to cook with the guide. However they didn’t hold their shape very well when cooking and flattened out pretty quick. What is the reason for this, and how can I fix it? Thankyou for opening my eyes to the perfect cookies too!!
Hi Daisey, so sorry you had trouble with these spreading. Did you make any changes to the recipe by chance, and did you follow the mandatory chill times? Here are our best tips to prevent cookies from spreading. Hopefully these tips help for your next batch, and we’re so glad you still enjoyed the cookies!
They were SO soft and flavoursome. Will definitely be making these again. 10/10.
I have been trying for years to make a cookie that resembles ones you get at bakeries or Starbucks. Mine ALWAYS flatten out no matter what. I even tried the America’s Test Kitchen ones to no avail and tweaked recipes based on their scientific input. I really think it’s the cornstarch in these that saved the day because that’s the only thing I have never tried before. Everyone in our house loved these cookies and they actually have some body to them. (Even at a higher altitude!) Thank you!!
I asked Grok what it’s favorite chocolate chip cookie was and it voted your recipe as the favorite.
This is a quote from Grok:
“For me, the gold standard is a soft, chewy cookie with crisp edges, plenty of chocolate chunks, and a hint of vanilla—nothing too fussy like mandatory chilling or exotic add-ins. Based on popularity and consistent high ratings, I’d go with the recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction.”
There you go, even xAI likes your cookies!
Absolutely delicious. Followed the recipe exactly, using a scale for measurements. I don’t usually like soft cookies, but these really hit the mark. This will be my new go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies!
Can I make a smaller version of these using a #40 scoop and if so how should I adjust bake time?
Hi Daniela! You can make smaller cookies, the bake time will be shorter but we’re unsure of the exact time needed so keep an eye on them in the oven. Happy baking!
I made this recipe exactly how it says and I ended up with crumbly bits of unhappy cookie dough. With the cost of everything to make it i am pretty unhappy right now.
I even followed the extra rules too.
I love everything else u make though. So I may try this one again in the future
These turned out great, light and fluffy! My coworkers couldn’t get enough of them! Great recipe thanks
Why didn’t you answer my question about salt?
I’ll let my fellow Redditors know you screen questions and selectively post/answer questions that are asked.
Very disappointed.
Hi JoEllen, we don’t seem to have a previous question from you. Maybe it didn’t go through when you submitted it? If you’d like to try again, we’d be happy to answer.
Did not turn out good at all. Hard and dry, not chewy. Don’t know why because I followed the recipe exactly.
These are absolutely fantastic! I’ve tired dozens of chocolate chip cookie recipes…with the intent to find the perfect one and THIS IS IT!! I don’t change a thing and I do use a scale. The dough is pretty hard when you take it out of the fridge but it’s still workable when trying to make the tall balls. I use a scale to measure everything – even my dough balls before I put it on the cookie sheet – this helps make all of my cookies the same size… and I use a glass to shape them when they are fresh out of the oven… and of course I add extra chocolate chips to the top. So many compliments every single time I make the – it’s chocolate chip overload! Thank you for the fantastic recipe!