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 Sally,
These are a HIT in my house. Do you happen to have the calorie count of each?
So glad you love them! 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://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp
Hi Sally. I carefully followed your advice for these cookies. They tasted delicious but came out like pancakes. Also after I refrigerated the dough it was too hard to scoop. The only thing I did that was different from your video was I didn’t use silicone mats. I used parchment paper. What do you think went wrong? I wonder if there was not the right amount of flour although I measured that carefully. I would love to try these again but now Im a little apprehensive. Thank you!!!
Hi Lynda! Thank you so much for giving these cookies a try. The parchment paper shouldn’t be an issue. These tips to keep cookies from spreading and cookie baking tips should be great resources for you!
This is definitely the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe hands down. and I have tried them all!! If you are looking for soft/chewy cookies follow this exactly.
No, no, no! I was looking to make chewy, gooey, cookies that didn’t completely flatten out but these were high (almost like rounded squares), had a thick cake like density and were somewhat dry. Disappointing and I blame it on the cornstarch, I was rightly skeptical but rolled with it. Definitely not a hit at my house, maybe we are just traditionalists when it comes to cookies. Trying to figure out how to “loosen” the remaining dough.
Hi Christina, it sounds crazy but you can loosen the remaining dough by placing it in a heat proof bowl and microwaving it (as a whole) for 10-15 seconds. I do that all the time when cookies aren’t spreading. You just need thinner cookie dough to help.
Hi! Can I roll these into balls and THEN chill?
Thanks! I can’t wait to add them to my Christmas cookie rotation tomorrow.
Hi Megan, I don’t recommend it. The cookie dough is quite sticky and loose to section into balls before chilling.
I made these with chocolate chips and red & green m&ms and they are absolutely delicious. I even compared with some freshly baked from a different recipe & these won hands down! I plan to mail to my children in the midst of this pandemic, so I made the balls smaller and cut the bake time to 10 minutes. Perfect!
Just curious to see if anyone has tried adding some sea salt for a sweet salty taste?
Yes! After you bake the cookies, while they are still warm, sprinkle each with a little sea salt. It’s delicious!
Hi,
I’m making an advent calendar for my niece & nephew for Christmas, and using a mix of different type biscuits. Would this soft, chewy Choc chip cookie last in the calendar, please or am I better using a hard cookie? All cookies will be individually heat sealed in bags.
Thank you
Hi Kylie, I would use a firmer cookie for that project– these are pretty soft.
Very good but a little too sweet. I’ve never put more than a cup of sugar in chocolate chip cookies but this asks for a little over a cup. I would cut it by 1/4 next time. Still tasty
Best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever! I have made three batches, doubling the last two, and they disappear before my eyes! I followed the directions exactly and the first batch, the cookies came out with some depth. The next two batches, the cookies still tasted great, but they were flat cookies. What could I have done wrong?
Hi Laura, We are glad you enjoyed this recipe! For your batches that spread you can take a look at these 10 Guaranteed Tips to Prevent Cookies from Spreading to help troubleshoot.
I made this recipe with imperial salted butter and butterscotch chips. When I made the batter, I set in the fridge for roughly 5 hours. When I pulled the dough out, it was more wet like a cake batter. The instructions note that the dough would be crumbly, but would come together as the better softened. Obviously since my “dough” was more like cake batter I had more trouble creating cookie dough balls, as the mixture stuck to my fingers. Was wondering what could have possibly gone wrong?
Hi Jeann, did you accidentally use more butter than required? I’ve never had this dough turn out to be liquid. Sometimes it’s pretty soft, but never liquid like cake batter. Did you under-measure the flour too by chance? Thanks for trying the recipe.
Hi Sally! This is my first time making this cookie recipe and I’m super excited BUT I’m pretty sure I had this mistake as well. My mixture is wayyyy to liquidy. I watched your video, and I realized it. I used Miyoko vegan butter 3/4 cup (melted) and I feel like I measured the flour correctly especially because I watched your video on how to measure flour correctly. Thank you for making that video by the way! Very helpful! Do you think it was the vegan butter I used? Any tips would be greatly appreciated! I’ve been trying to find the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe and I’m not giving up on this one!
Love your website Sally. Thanks for all the great recipes. I have the same issue, although my dough is not as liqudy as a cake batter, it is still not crumbly like in your video. I tend to weigh all my ingredients instead of using cups so I don’t think it was a mis-measurement issue. I did mix my brown sugars because I only had 100g left of light brown sugar, so I did the other 50g in dark brown sugar. When my doughs and batters are too wet, I always just blame it on the weather since I live in hot Cambodia….but I just thought I would ask this time just in case you have another idea. Thanks again for wonderful recipes.
You probably didn’t let the butter cool, it happened to me for a while , i set it aside to cool along with the eggs
I AM NEVER USING A DIFFERENT RECIPE EVER AGAIN. So buttery, chewy, and beyond delicious oh my goodness I just ate 4
Hi there! What is the difference if I melt vs soften the butter? I’m hoping for softer and chewier cookies
Hi Annabel, if using softened room temperature butter and creaming it with the sugars, I find that these cookies (1) don’t taste nearly as chewy and (2) don’t really spread. I recommend sticking with the recipe. If you want a less chewy cookie that’s still pretty soft, try these soft chocolate chip cookies.
Hi Sally,
This cookie recipe is amazing. I was wondering if I could use this recipe to make stuffed cookies? So freezing dollops of nutella and putting them in the middle. Would it work?
I can’t see why not!
This is the soft-baked cookies recipes that delivers! My family finished it every time I baked them.
Though I’m wondering is there any changes in the recipes I should take note of if I’d want to add some cocoa powder to the dough?
Thanks again for this wonderful recipe!
Hi Lynn! So glad you enjoy these cookies. Cocoa powder is a very light and fine dry ingredient, so it’s not a basic 1:1 switch with all-purpose flour. You’ll enjoy my chocolate cookies— you can replace the white chocolate chips with regular chocolate chips. They’re chewy and soft-baked just like these chocolate chip cookies.
Best recipe I’ve found online for chocolate chip cookies. I’ve as much as halved the sugar fine – keep the proportions of brown sugar to white sugar equal. You can add oats in portion to sugar reduced as well when cutting sugar to give it extra structure and some health. Sometimes the dough is a bit dry if my fresh eggs seem a bit small so I add between a half tbs and a full tbs of milk so it comes together right.
Thanks for this recipe! I use it all the time and everyone loves the cookies. … I have been requested to make Peanut Butter Cookies.
Would it be possible to bother you for a recipe just as great as this one, for PB Cookies?
Thanks for your time.
John
What are the necessary adjustments for high altitude (5700 ft)?
Hi Linda, I wish we could help, but we have no experience baking at high altitude. I know some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
I have been baking these cookies for a couple years now and finally decided to say thank you. These are my good to whenever I’m visiting family and want to bring something along. I use a lot of Sally’s recipes and now all my relatives think I’m some kind of master baker. Little do they know I just follow word for word and it all work out.
Thank you sally for helping me fool the world about my baking skills and introducing me to these wildly delicious cookies.
My third time to make these cookies. Perfect everytime! I can see myself baking these everyday with 5 mouths in my household! Thank you for sharing
I have tried sooo many chocolate chip cookie recipes and just couldn’t find the perfect one….until now!!! This recipe is definitely going into the recipe book! Everything was perfect about this cookie! My 16 yr old daughter and I tried out this recipe over the weekend, along with your sugar cookie recipe and both were a hit (although the chocolate chip was the ultimate favorite cookie out of the two)! Thank you so much for sharing.
Hi Sally!This cookie recipe is perfection and is what I get asked to make the most. Thank you for it! I recently got a request to make them with walnuts. This sounds simple enough but I’m terrified of altering the recipe in any way. Do I change the amount of chocolate chunks? Salted or unsalted walnuts? Whole walnuts or walnut pieces? And how much do you suggest I add?
Thank you!!
Nissa
Hi Nissa, You can! Simply replace some of the chocolate chips with chopped walnuts.
Hi thanks for the quick response!
1. Would you suggest halving the chocolate chips?
2. Would you use salted walnuts?
3. Same bake time?
Thank you!
You can use half of the chocolate chips and then the other half chopped walnuts. Either plain or salted would work – I love adding salted for a sweet and salty sweet but that is just personal preference. And yes, same bake time!
Hi Sally!
This has been my fave cookie recipe for years, and tomorrow we’re thinking we’ll make it into a skillet cookie for family movie night! Any suggestions on what size skillet/what temp & time, to ensure success? Thanks!!
Hi Kaylin, You can bake this cookie dough in a skillet – YUM! Use the baking directions for this M&M’S® Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie as a guide and see the recipe notes about what size skillet to use. Let us know how it turns out!
Hi Sally! If I were to serve it it mini size, say a teaspoon or two, should I change the temperature? What temperature would you recommend? Thanks!
Hi Rio, The temperature will remain the same but the bake time will be less.
I’ve been making this recipe exclusively for like 3 years. I love that it goes in the fridge because we can bake cookies for two every night until it runs out!
Tonight we swapped the chocolate chips out for chopped dates. Delish!
Hi Sally!
I love this recipe and I follow it to a T. After baking, they have the crisp and chewiness I am looking for. However, after a day, my cookies turn very very soft that they break easily, and they look underbaked. Is it because of how I store them? (I just leave them in the counter lightly covered) or because of the humidity? I live in Asia and our AC isn’t always on and humidity is very high.
Hi Anna! It could be the storage, but you could also try baking them another 1-2 minutes. For storing, try keeping them loosely covered such as on a plate with aluminum foil or a paper towel loosely laid on top.
Hi! Would these be just as yummy with white chocolate chips?? In search of a delicious nut free white chocolate chip cookie!!! Thanks!
Hi! I made these, and when they baked up, they looked nothing like yours, they weren’t soft and chewy): Help!
Absolutely perfect. I’ve never been able to bake a good cookie. Also a fan of the zucchini cookies with chocolate chips in them. I started baking recently and have really enjoyed using your recipes. And my sweetheart sure is enjoying eating the fruits of the labor. Thank you, Sally! <3
My cookie dough didnt spread, so i had to sppon it flat but they still taste yum! Will make some more until i perfect it.
Hi Sam, We are so glad you enjoyed the taste! When cookies aren’t spreading, it usually means that there’s too much dry ingredient (flour) soaking up all the liquid. Make sure you are properly measuring your flour. When measuring flour, use the spoon & level method. If you wish you can check out the post 5 Cookie Baking Tips to Improve Your Next Batch for even more tips!