With 11 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!
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 loved… and, warning: they disappear FAST.
The recipe is also included in two of my published cookbooks (in Sally’s Baking Addiction, I swap chocolate chips for M&Ms/chocolate chips combo).
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.
Back in 2013, I 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.
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 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 and even up to 3–4 days.
After chilling, the dough is quite solid, so let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes (to soften it up slightly) before shaping. (No time to chill? Make these soft & chewy chocolate chip cookie bars 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.
Another Success Tip: When you remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator, the dough may be slightly crumbly. Scooping and then shaping it with warm hands keeps it intact.
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.
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?
PrintChewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 22 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. Review recipe notes before beginning.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups (280g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch*
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, melted & cooled 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
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the egg and egg yolk. Finally, whisk in the vanilla extract. The mixture will be thin. Pour into dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft, thick, and appear greasy. 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 chill in the refrigerator for at least 2–3 hours or up to 3 days. I highly recommend chilling the cookie dough overnight for less spreading.
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow it to slightly soften at room temperature for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Using a cookie scoop or Tablespoon measuring spoon, measure 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, making sure the shape is taller rather than wide—almost like a cylinder. This helps the cookies bake up thicker. Repeat with remaining dough. Place 8–9 balls of dough onto each cookie sheet.Â
- Bake the cookies for 12–13 minutes or until the edges are very lightly browned. (XL cookies can take closer to 14 minutes.) The centers will look very soft, but the cookies will continue to set as they cool. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, press a few extra chocolate chips into the tops of the warm cookies. This is optional and only for looks. After 10 minutes of cooling on the baking sheets, transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.Â
- Cookies stay fresh 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 2–3 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 into a glass 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 – 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.
Excellent cookies. We made a few modifications.
1. We used 3/4 cup of dark chocolate chip and 1/2 cup of milk chocolate chip. Loved the taste!
2. Did not freeze or refrigerate the cookie dough. We didn’t have the time so we used muffin pans instead so that the cookie would not flatten out in the oven, about 3 tablespoons per cookie as indicated. The cookies came out cute, thick, muffin shaped, super chewy centers and delicious.
Oh my, so good. They really stay soft and chewy and the best part is I don’t have to pull put the mixer! Bravo.
If I make smaller, 2 tablespoon size balls, how many minutes should I cook them? I don’t want them to be under-baked, but still want them to be chewy…
Hi Christy, we’re unsure of the exact bake time, but it should be just a minute or two shorter. Keep a close eye on them and remove them when the edges are browned to your liking.
I made these last night and they are amazing! Don’t know why I waited so long to give the recipe a try. I’ve always seen them on your site! Definitely my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe from here on out. Thanks so much for sharing!
I love the recipe of this cookies. I’ll just lessen the sugar next time i’ll do it, it’s too sweet for the elders. But overall we love it.. Thanks. What should be the ratio of thw brown sugar and granulated sugar if i want to lessen the sweetness of it?
Hi Lei, we’re glad you enjoy this recipe! We’d recommend using the same ratio (1:1.5) of granulated sugar to brown sugar, but note that decreasing the sugar can alter the texture and structure of the cookies as well as the taste.
I just made the dough….
I’m making 3 different kinds of cookies to wrap and send along with care pkgs.
I’m excited to taste them.
There in the fridge now.
The dough looked veryyyy nice!
Love looooove these cookies !
Have one question, do you use salted or unsalted butter?
Thanks !!
Hi Elena! We use unsalted unless otherwise specified, this allows us to control the amount of salt more precisely. Here’s more information on salted vs. unsalted butter in baking!
Have been making this particular chocolate chip cookie recipe for the past few years. It never disappoints! Fun to swap the chocolate chips for chopped peanut butter cups sometimes too.
I made these awesome chocolate chip cookies yesterday. Very easy and it’s nice to skip using a mixer! This is now my new favorite recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Could this recipe be used in a 9×13 baking dish to achieve more of a bar?
Hi Kristy, There isn’t quite enough batter to yield a 9×13 inch pan of cookie bars, but is plenty for a 9×9 inch square baking pan or try this chocolate chip cookie bars recipe. For a 9×13 inch pan using this exact recipe, I recommend 1.5x the recipe. The bake time will be longer for cookie bars.
Hello Sally, I love this recepie, I have one question. If I keep the dough in the freezer for around two months, would it be better to use BAKING POWDER instead of BAKING SODA? to which cookies rise higher when baking? I have heard that baking powder has a double action effect, one when mixed with wet ingredients and another when baked, that is, it comes in contact with heat.
I also have made a test, frozen the dough for long with baking soda and baked the cookies and the came out too flat, maybe the baking soda losess power when is frozen for too long?? I will apreaciate if you explain to my a little about that.
THANK YOU
Hi Fernanda, for best results, we recommend sticking with the recipe as written (using baking soda) even if you plan on freezing the cookies. If your cookies have been flat in the past, it’s possible your baking soda was expired or not fresh enough (we find it loses it’s freshness after about three months). Hope this helps!
These cookies are amazing! A huge hit
Hi! I love this recipe. How do I double the recipe? Is it just doubling all the measurements of all the ingredients?
Thanks!
I subbed bread flour for AP (that was all I had and desperately needed to bake cookies) and they were a huge hit! The bread flour made them a little bit darker but added a great texture. Also, to make the chocolate chips stick, I always add them at the same time as I add the dry ingredients–this method helps distribute them evenly and avoids over-handling of the dough.
I love the recipe. I was wondering what I can do to make it more chewy. Any tips??? Also, is it possible yo use vegetable oil instead of butter???
My all-time most favorite cookie recipe!!! My family loves these….so much, that when my son and future daughter-in-law were planning their July wedding, they asked me to make these cookies for each seat at the reception tables as beautifully bagged favors! And I made many dozens for the rehearsal night BBQ….to say they were a hit would be an understatement 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing your recipe <3
What a sweet review, Terry! We’re thrilled you and your family love these cookies so much, and honored to have this recipe included in your son’s wedding celebration. Thank you for making this recipe!
When you do half the recipe, what do you do with the eggs?
Btw, I did them before-the full recipe- and they are DE-LI-CIOUS! Thx for the recipe! Will definitely suggest them to people!
Hi Lucy, To halve an egg, you can crack it in a bowl, whisk to combine the yolk and white, measure it, then use half. Should be a couple Tbsp. You can also mix up the one yolk separately and then only use half. Enjoy!
I’ve never considered myself much of a baker, and this was both the easiest and most delicious cookie recipe I’ve ever made! Buttery, crisp on the edges with a soft chewy center. The perfect cookie. My only modification was using dark brown sugar, and cutting one semi sweet chocolate bar, as well as a milk chocolate bar. These would be great with some finishing salt on top!
These cookies are usually delicious and a favorite around here! Probably one of my favorites out of all the chocolate chip cookie recipes on here.
I use an air fryer to bake these, so I usually have to pay careful attention to when the edges are just golden brown. Even when I let the cookies cool for a while though, they still seem relatively soft. This also happened when I made your crispy chocolate chip cookies. Do you have any tips for how to get crispy edges? (my ideal cookie is crispy edges with a soft and chewy center, so the center would be the overall base of this cookie.)
Thanks so much!
Hi Emma, we’re so glad to hear you’ve been enjoying these cookies! We haven’t used an air fryer to bake cookies, so unfortunately we can’t offer much advice on how to create crispier edges using that method. In a traditional oven, usually a minute or two longer will help the edges crisp up. Using a crispier recipe like our crispy chocolate chip cookies, as you mention, will help too.
Okay, that’s good to know! I’ll try to bake the cookies for a minute longer in the air fryer. Since cookies usually take less time in air fryers, how long would you estimate the cookies to take?
Also, do you think it would be okay if I added two tablespoons of milk and increased the white sugar to brown sugar ratio in this recipe, similar to the crispy-edged cookie recipe in Sally’s Cookie Addiction? I’m wondering if that will help the cookies crisp up a bit more.
Finally, how long should I let butter sit after it’s melted? I don’t want it to be too warm or else it might make the batter greasy.
Thanks!
Hi Emma, we’re unsure of the exact bake time on the cookies since we’ve never used an air fryer to bake them before — we’d just keep a close eye on them! You can certainly try experimenting with the dough as you mention. It might take a bit of trial and error. For the melted butter, just a few minutes (about 5 minutes or so) should be good for allowing the butter to cool.
Is it okay to refrigerate the dough for just one night?
Absolutely!
My 9 year old daughter baked these (with a little help from mum) and won the cookie class at the village show, they are the best cookies ever, they just get eaten too quickly in this house!
The taste was good, but they didn’t spread and like the other commenter said I had to smash them down a few times. My kid enjoyed them. These would be great with tea, they are kinda like cake cookies which isn’t bad at all.
Sally, these and your M&M cookies are excellent. Better than the famous NYT chocolate chip cookie which says a lot because that’s been our favorite for years. Every single person who has tried these says they are the best chocolate cookies they’ve ever had! No changes to the recipe. Delicious.
OMG! These are the best cookies I have ever eaten.
I just wanted to let you know this is an award-winning recipe—literally! My husband and I have debated for a long time who’s cookie recipe was better. We decided to solve the debate by taking our recipes to the county fair back in Illinois where we are from (we live in Louisiana.) Out of 7 entries total, this recipe won first place!!! And wouldn’t you know it, my husband got 2nd place! And not only did we both place, with this recipe getting a blue ribbon, but we beat out the local reigning chocolate chip cookie champion. So just know, you’ve got one heck of an award-winning recipe here!
What a great story, Chelsea! We’re thrilled this recipe was a winner for you – thank you so much for making it!
Hi. Is it okay if I make the cookies smaller(e.g 2 tbs) and shorten the baking time? Will it effect the chewyness of the cookies?
Hi Sofya, Yes that should be fine. Enjoy!
Thanks for the fast reply! They’re in the fridge right now. I’ll bake them tomorrow. Can’t wait!
If I I make the cookies 2 tbsp. can I bake it for 10 mins. only? Or less?
Right off the bat I knew these were gonna be good. I have a recommendation for those of us on low butter intake: I used just under 1 whole stick of butter (and the same sugar and vanilla and egg) and added 2 tbsp of veggie oil during the dry + wet stage. I imagine this could work with coconut or olive oil as well. Thank you for the great recipe!!
These are amazing!!!! Everyone that has tried loves them.
Would they turn out the same with GF flour?
Thanks
Hi Daniela, We haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour but let us know if you try it!
I’m using this regular. And so far they are looking amazing! But, if I wanted to use Gluten free flour would I let the batter rest any longer at room temp or in the fridge?
Hi Kim, We haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour but let us know if you try it!
To nake the chocolate chips mix in well, toss and stir 2 tblsp flour with the chips and mix it in
Seriously the most incredible cookies ever. I made them thick rather than wide and had to squash them down a little bit a few minutes before they finished in the oven as they didn’t drop like it said. I may have made them too high to begin with. Super chewy and super yummy!!!