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
Hi. I came accross to your recipe and would love give it a try. Could you please give me a tip on how should I set the temperature and timer for a gas oven heat bottom only. My oven has a top and bottom heat but doesn’t work at the same time.
Hi Yam, we wish we could help, but baking with bottom only heat can sometimes be tricky with baking recipes. It can work well for things like pizza, but can cause the bottoms of cookies, cakes, pies, etc. to burn without baking through on the top. It may take a bit of trial and error to find the best temperature and rack position for baking. As always, keep a close eye on your cookies as they are baking!
Wow this recipe gave me the perfect cookies! Exactly what I’ve been craving. They’re bakery quality. New favorite!
Had to use some turbinado sugar because I ran out of granulated sugar and this gave a nice crunch
Great cookie, not flat. Picture worthy but I don’t see where I can load a pic.
Hi! I absolutely LOVE this recipe and it gets me tons of compliments. These are the best cookies for texture and flavor, however no matter what I do, my cookies always turn out soft and uncooked in the middle. When they turn out this way I bake them for a few more minutes, but then they end up being overcooked and hard. I make sure to be extra precise with my measurements with a kitchen scale, I chill the dough for a minimum of 2 hours, I preheat the oven, yet they keep coming out soft and they cave in when I press on them. What should I do?
Hi Ellie, we’re so glad you love this cookie recipe! Happy to help troubleshoot. Could your oven be running hot? This would cause the edges to crisp up without baking the middles through. We always recommend using an in-oven thermometer since most ovens are not the exact temperature they say they are!
I’m planning to make this tmrw and I’m wondering can I use honey instead of cornstarch since I feel it would give the same chewy cookie texture cant wait to try xx
Hi Mimi, the cornstarch helps create a thick and chewy cookie. You can omit it if needed, but we wouldn’t recommend substituting with honey. Let us know how they turn out!
Thank you for replying ofc I will I’m doubling it to make 40 will eat 20 and freeze the rest
Do I need to use warm melted butter? Or is cooked melted butter fine
Hi Nina, happy to help here – do you mean cooled melted butter? If so, yes, you will want to use melted butter cooled for about 5 minutes.
Way too much flour for this recipe. I took out the 1/4 cup and gradually added in to the desire look of the dough. The way your dough looked compared to how it looks when you execute it in real life is different.
Hi Elaine! 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.
Sally, why are my cookies coming out too cakey?
Hi Karen, Cakey cookies are usually caused by too much flour in the dough. How did you measure the flour? For your next batch, 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. Thanks for giving these a try!
Can I use brown butter in this recipe?
Hi Maggie! You can certainly use brown butter here, and the flavor is outstanding! But they can be a little more crumbly using brown butter – we usually suggest using the recipe for Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies instead.
These cookies are delicious! However, I need more than 20 – can I double the recipe?
Hi Cherie! Yes, this dough doubles well.
Made these for a school bake sale and they were loved by everyone! However, the directions to take them out of the oven when the edges were slightly browned led to me having to toss the first batch as they were way undercooked. Subsequent batches baked at a slightly higher oven temp (175C) until light golden brown were perfect! Love that the recipe is in grams also which makes it so much easier to measure and buy ingredients! Thanks!
Could you leave the cookie dough for a few weeks?
Hi Sarah, you can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Here’s all the info on how to freeze cookie dough!
Nice flavour, followed the recipe exactly including the tips to make them crispy and they look nothing like the picture with not a crispy bit on them. They’re so soft they fall apart and drop when trying to eat them. Disappointing as I’m desperate for a crunchy chocolate chip cookie.
I’m glad you enjoyed the flavor, but I’m sorry to hear the texture wasn’t what you were hoping for. This particular recipe is meant to be soft and chewy, so even with the tips for slightly crisper edges, they won’t bake up crunchy or firm all the way through. If yours were very soft or falling apart, that can also happen if the butter was a bit too warm, the dough wasn’t chilled long enough, or if the cookies were very underbaked. For a truly crunchy chocolate chip cookie, I recommend my crispy chocolate chip cookies.
This is my first recipe I tried from this website. It taste good!
But mine doesn’t turns chewy, rather soft in the middle. I figured it’s because the brown sugar I have in Norway is more coarse than the one used in the US. I will try look for another brown sugar or try to put them on food processor next time.
Maybe because of this it doesn’t spread as much as it needs to be and I also need to bake it 5 minutes more.
Absolutely perfect chewy cookies. Amazing recipe. THANK YOU.
Flavor is okay, but the cookies didnt spread really, and they arent chewy at all, they ended up fluffy like muffin tops kind of a disappointment, not sure what went wrong
These were so yummy! the were nice and chewy and had such a great flavor!
this looks good
These cookies turned out great! I would love to make more at once. If I double the recipe, would I double every ingredient?
Hi May, We’re so glad they turned out well for you! Yes, simply double every ingredient.
So unbelievably good and just perfect in terms of texture. Had crispy edges and a chewy center; great taste too. So glad I gave this a chance!!:)
I’ve made this recipe over and over, for thanksgiving, birthdays, christmas too! It is awesome, everyone is a big fan, its a simple dessert but done so good. Im known for making these cookies now. It is my favorite dough, its great for anything you wanna add in.
The cookies did not “spread” but stayed more in a mounded ball- shape form. The flavor was pretty good but not the best I’ve ever eaten. The dough was pretty crumbly, not enough wet ingredients to bind the dry. Not sure why the dough mixture didn’t quite come out how it looks in the photos
This is the best chocolate chip cookie I have ever had! They were still so chewy days later.
I’ve made this recipe twice now. Both times the cookies were delicious, but both times they barely spread and fluffy like tiny scones. No crispy edges, no chewy middles.
I followed the recipe exactly. Spooning and leveling the flour. I refrigerated the dough overnight, then rolled into the little cylinders. Baked for 13 minutes.
I really want those crispy edges and chewy middles.
Hi Jackie! Do you happen to own a kitchen scale? That’s the most accurate way to measure! Does your dough look like the photos and video tutorial above?
Husband requested chewy chocolate chip cookies and this recipe nailed it. They are so so delicious.
Husband requested chewy chocolate chip cookies and this recipe nailed it. They are so so delicious.
I had been having a terrible time with my original chocolate chip cookie recipe- cookies were spreading to thin puddles no matter what I did! So I tried this new recipe and my cookies turned out amazing! I followed EXACTLY as written. They look just like your photos and are absolutely delicious! Thank you for the tips and explicit instructions.
Hi!
Can I add walnuts to this recipe? Will it weigh them down? If I do should I use less chocolate? Someone in my family always requests nuts in the chocolate cookies I bake.
Thank you! Your recipes are my go-to baking recipes. I always impress with your cakes and cookies.
Hi Mary Louise, 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
I did something wrong and Im unsure what but my cookies kept the exact shape the dough was when I put it in the oven. So I ended up with a bunch of cylinders cookies which the kids enjoyed anyway. I appreciate how the recipe was simple and the taste is very good.
Hi Tommy! Sounds like there may have been too much flour in your cookie dough, preventing it from spreading. 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.
I’ve made this recipe many times and they turned out perfect! However the past 2 times I made them the dough was kind of crumbly and when baked they stayed kind of small and very thick. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong. I do brown the butter rather than just melting it but I’ve done this in the past when making this recipe and they turned out great. What could be causing my dough to be crumbly?
Hi Sierra! Browning the butter does reduce the moisture in the butter, which would be contributing to the crumbly dough. We recommend following our recipe for brown butter chocolate chip cookies instead. Also, too much flour in the dough can make it crumbly and dry – 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.
Hello I love making cookies but I like to add oatmeal. Does it matter if I add before refrigerating or after? And thanks so much for your whole wheat bread recipe, I’ve made it many times and it’s the best!
Adding oats will throw off this recipe, but here’s our favorite oatmeal chocolate chip cookies recipe!
Thank you for the quick response