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?
Print
Chewy 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Keywords: chocolate chip cookies
Hi! What happens if you don’t melt butter?? I completely forgot to! Should I just start over?
Hi Ileana! Did you cream the butter and sugars together instead? The cookies may have a different texture if you proceed, but should turn out ok.
Hi Sally! I’ve made these a few times and always came out great. But now i wanted to try to make brown butter instead. Did you already try this? Shall I change the amount of butter if i burn it?
Thank you!!
You can, yes, and the flavor is outstanding! But they can be a little more crumbly using brown butter — we suggest using the recipe for Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Hi Sally and team! I tried these cookies for the first time today (made the dough yesterday and left it overnight in the fridge) and they are absolutely amazing!
I wanted small portions to take to the office, so I made cookies of 20g each and baked them in my 12-count muffin pan, after slightly greasing it with coconut oil.
They came out perfect and I didn’t need to round them up mid-cooking.
Thank you so much for your helpful tips.
★★★★★
Made the recipe a few times and have a few questions.
How to make these flat and chewy?
I love the taste of these, but dont like how tall they are. I also seem to get a smooth top instead of the crinkly look?
Also are they supposed to be this greasy?
★★★★
Hi Zainab, it sounds like the cookie dough didn’t flatten as much during the baking process. This is an easy fix for next time– reduce the refrigerator chilling down to 1 hour or down to 30 minutes. This will help the cookies spread more. Make sure you are spooning and leveling (or weighing) your flour when measuring.
I was wondering if I could make these cookies smaller – using my small cookie scoop? Do I just reduce the cooking time?
Hi Jennifer, you can definitely try that! We haven’t tested the recipe using a small cookie scoop, so we are unsure of the exact bake time, so just keep an eye on them. Hope you have success!
Delicious! For maybe the first time in my life, I made the recipe as written! Actually, I think I used a whole bag of chocolate chunks, which was 30-40g more than what was called for. I am curious about what the corn starch does? Also, why melt butter rather than the typical creaming method? In any case, they are delicious! I have to share with friends so I don’t eat them all, haha! No, and I mean ZERO, willpower!
★★★★★
Hello Sally, Can I substitute cornstarch for potato starch? Or would it be better if I just do not include the cornstarch in my cookie? Thanks 🙂
Hi Hui, you can simply omit the cornstarch if you do not have any on hand.
Thank you for the recipe, my kid loves it. However my cookies are not flat, they are very thick (around 1.5- 2cm). I left the dough in the fridge overnight. The only thing i changed in the recipe is the amount of sugar, i only use half of it. And instead of 60gr each, i made 40gr each. I also left it out of fridge a bit before baking. I am not sure what i did wrong. Is it because of the sugar has been cut? Thanks
Hi Elsa! Yes, reducing the sugar will change the consistency of the dough. Additionally, when cookies aren’t spreading, it often means that there’s too much dry ingredient (flour) soaking up all the liquid. When measuring flour, use the spoon & level method, or use a kitchen scale. Hope these tips help for next time!
Great recipe! I use vanilla butter emulsion instead of pure vanilla. Takes it to a whole new delicious level. Thanks for your perfect recipes.
I made these this weekend and my family loved them. I myself liked them, but really think the dark chocolate walnut cookies are better. She was right on the money about the chocolate chips having a small issue sticking, but I stuck some extra in when they came out of the oven. Really good recipe!!
★★★★
Hi, my names Gemma, I’m 14 and have been using some of your baking recipes lately, I just made the dough and about to take them out of the fridge. I made you vanilla cake with the buttercream and my whole family loved it. I can always rely on this website when I want to cook something that isn’t too difficult and taste delicious. Thanks sally for some of the best recipes ever <3
What a kind and thoughtful comment! Thank you so much for taking the time to write and I’m so glad you’re enjoying my recipes!
Does it Need Cornstarch?
Hi Leo, If you don’t have cornstarch, you can leave it out.
I just made these and OH. MY. GODS. THEY ARE SOOOO GOOD!! I love them! Definitely sticking with this recipe from now on. I added a little bit more salt than the recipe said (cause i absolutely love a strong salty kick in my desserts) and baked for 14 minutes instead of 12. Absolutely amazing
★★★★★
Made these gluten-free by doing the same amount of GF flour instead and they turned out beautifully! They did spread a bit more, but that is to be expected with a GF flour instead. I’ve tried so many 3CC recipes and this is by far the best! Only one I’m going to make from now on.
Note: I tried this with Better Batter GF Flour and Bob’s Red Mill 1-for-1 Flour and both resulted in a soft and delicious cookie!
★★★★★
The 1st time I made these they were perfect!! Went to make them a second time and the dough is runny. What May I have done wrong this time? These cookies were so yummy
★★★★★
Hi Ashkey, thanks so much for giving these cookies a try! Are you using proper room temperature butter? You can definitely try adding a couple Tbs of flour to your dough. Here’s more tips to keep cookies from spreading!
Best chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe! Everyone loves them! Thanks for this ❤️
How can I make mini/bite-size version of this? I’m planning to make smaller ones to fit in mason jars for our son’s birthday party. Also, can I chill dough that’s already rolled? Thanks again!
Hi Egay! Here’s our mini chocolate chip cookie recipe (sub mini chocolate chips for mini M&Ms). We find this dough to be too soft to roll into balls before chilling, but you can chill the dough balls if you find that works better for you!
Thank you so much for the super quick response! And thank you for sending this recipe! Sorry I didn’t notice you had this version.
Is it okay to swap the mini-M&Ms with mini-chocolate chips? And when I scoop with the teaspoon, do I level it to be exactly 1 tsp? 🙂
Super excited to give this a try! <3
Hi Egay, you can use chocolate chips instead of M&Ms!
First time trying this recipe and I’m pretty impressed. The process to put the dough together was super simple/approachable and the texture of the finished cookie is superior, but the flavor is slightly lacking. Next time I make these I’ll try using browned butter instead of plain melted butter.
★★★★
These are the only chocolate chip cookies I will make from now on. Hands down the best ccc I’ve ever made. Definitely double the batch, because one will not be enough.
I’m pretty proficient at recipes and baking. A little confusing on the amount of butter needed? I’m making the 2x version and you specify 1 1/2 cups of melted butter. in the same line your saying 1.5 sticks. Big difference between the two requirements. Which is correct? I went with 1.5 sticks. I’ll see how it works out.
Hi Rick, this recipe calls for 3/4 cup butter, which is 1.5 sticks. Where do you see it saying 1 1/2 cups?
Could not get this recipe to work for me at first! I finally added 20 g more flour and did mostly melted butter (still some soft parts left) and it worked! Don’t know if elevation or what was causing problems but I’m so glad they work now and they are delicious.
★★★★★
I loved this recipe ive done it before multiple times but i got. Back into baking ! I used this recipe and somehow they came out looking a little dry and had just a little hint of baking soda, not sure why !I put 1 tsp of baking soda only!
Hi Debora, we find that when we can taste baking soda, it’s often an indication that the baking soda is a bit old. Also, 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. Thank you so much for giving these cookies a try!
Hi Sally! I have tried your crispy and soft chocolate chip cookies (both of which were FANTASTIC by the way), and can’t wait to try these! Hopefully makes the perfect trifecta ;D On a side note…have you tried these with gluten free flour?
Hi Gemma! Some readers have with luck, but I haven’t personally tried it before. Let me know if you do!
Hi Sally! Do I need to adjust for high altitude in Northern Utah?
Hi Stacey, I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Update: I just made them with GF flour and they turned out beautifully! Couldn’t even tell they were gluten free…love the recipe, Sally.
★★★★★
Hi! One question I’ve had about your recipes in general that also applies to this one: what type of salt do you use when testing? I know the grams/volume varies a ton whether its table salt, Morton’s kosher, Diamond Crystal kosher, etc., so I’m always unsure.
Many thanks in advance!
Hi Michael! We use table salt unless otherwise noted.
I have been making chocolate chip cookies for YEARS! Usually would use the traditional toll house recipe;occasionally one from the web. These are by far the best chocolate cookie ever! Every time my husband eats one he comments on It “being the best cookie I have made!”
Hello, how are you doing? your recipe is amazing I loved it a lot without any doubt I have to make these chewy chocolate chip cookies, I have a question. could I add to the dough the kisses chocolates? or the takes will change?
Hi Roxana, we haven’t tested the recipe that way, but if you do, please report back and let us know how they turn out!
These cookies are amazing
Hi, I would like to make these cookies for two events that will be happening on consecutive days. I’m planning on making a big batch and then chilling the dough to bake on those respective days–do you recommend tripling this recipe or making the batches separately? Thanks!
Hi Emma, this is a great recipe to make in advance, since the dough needs to chill. And because you don’t need a mixer for this recipe, you aren’t constrained by the size of your stand mixer bowl. So as long as you have a big mixing bowl, you can go ahead and triple the ingredients! Enjoy!
Hi Sally! Can I add mashed bananas into this cookie recipe? And lessen the sugar? Thanks!
Have made these cookies dozens of times already and rave reviews all around. They were again requested for a bbq tomorrow. Can this recipe be simply doubled?
★★★★★
Hi Erica, yes, you can double this cookie recipe. So glad they’re a hit!
Hi there! We made these last night and they felt kind of cake-y. They aren’t flattening out like yours, they are staying in these semi-spheres. We even shortened the time to 10 minutes and use an internal oven thermometer, but they’re round, cake-y, and lightly brown on top. Any thoughts?
We love all your recipes, just looking to figure out what we did wrong with this one!! <3
Hi Mallory! We’re happy to help troubleshoot. How did you measure your flour? Be sure to use the spoon and level method (or use weight measurements), otherwise you could end up with excess flour in the dough that will prevent the cookies from properly spreading. If you’re in the middle of baking a batch and the cookies still aren’t spreading, remove them from the oven, and use a spoon to slightly flatten them out before returning them to the oven. You might find these 5 cookie baking tips might be helpful to review as well. Thank you for giving these cookies a try!
This is my problem too. My cookies are thick, not like the ones in the pictures here. I wonder what I’m doing wrong. I’m using a kitchen scale so i know that the flour amount is right. The taste is great tho. Please help me. I don’t know what else to do 🙁
★★★★★
Hi Lily! Letting the dough sit out for a bit before baking will help them spread more. If you are ever in the middle of baking a batch and the cookies still aren’t spreading, remove them from the oven, and use a spoon to slightly flatten them out before returning them to the oven.
this is my new cookie recipe. follow as directed and you’ll indeed have the chewiest, cookie-dough-a-licious cookies – made white chocolate, macadamia cookies with this base recipe and it’s def a keeper thanks Sally!
★★★★★