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.
- 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.
These cookies were my best yet!
True to the name, these are soft and chewy, even the next day. And when you get a chocolate chip, it’s still melty! My dough even after sitting out for 30 minutes wasn’t capable. Didn’t matter…I just dug into it and molded my little cylinders. I made these as a last minute treat for my daughter’s college signing day and all the kids at school loves them. Recipe is already in my recipe folder for next time……and I weighed everything, even the butter.
I’m going to try again but despite following the instructions the cookies were a bit dry and rather crumbly. It was disappointing because these aren’t super sweet cookies and I really liked the flavor. They also didn’t want to spread very well. I noticed something might be amiss when I got to the part where you fold in the chips – it says it should be a little greasy from the melted butter…mine was not. My batter was very thick and had to sit out for 30 minutes before I could even scoop!
Thank you for giving this recipe a try! 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.
Every time I make these cookies they come out perfectly and everyone raves about them! Following the recipe exactly is key here!
Thank you so much for so many fantastic recipes !!! Your cookies are the best !!
The Bomb.com- few tweaks
These were the best !! But I do love a cookie that is fluffy not flat and crisp. I use only organic high quality ingredients and that makes a difference for sure. Few things I did different. A added a little half and half ( about 2/3 tablespoons) to the butter and sugar mixture before the eggs. I used salted butter. Added a bit more pure vanilla extract. Used Ghirardelli semi sweet baking bars. Used about a bar and a half cut into small chunks. chilled over night were by far the best results. Make sure your baking soda is not old. Fluff the flour in !!! Or weigh it to avoid dry or crumbly
I’m new to making cookies and these turned out great! I admit my towers were not all uniform in shape but that made them unique! Could have used spoon to make them more uniform. I left the first batch in just a little too long, but nailed the rest.
The perfect chocolate chip cookie! Everyone loves them—always a hit. Sally never fails.
These are delicious, but they spread so much I ended up with a pan cookie.
Hi Melissa! Make sure to start with proper room temperature butter, here’s more of our best tips to help keep cookies from spreading.
So I just doubled the recipe (because we are cookie monsters) and it’s in the fridge cooling. I’m a little concerned because the dough is very thick and hard… not “soft”.
Update to follow!
Hi Coulton! Hard dough can be caused by too much flour in the dough. How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post. Let us know how they go!
I bake a lot and was disappointed in this recipe. I don’t think the texture is for me, but some other may like it. I expected it to be more dense but it actually seems lighter in texture which doesn’t read “chewy” to me. My biggest complaint would be these don’t have very good flavor, or any flavor at all. It’s missing that nostalgic chocolate chip cookie taste.
Thankyou for this recipe! Wish I could leave a photo – I’ve never been able to make a chewy/gooey cookie and believe me I have tried SO many recipes!!
By far the best and so easy
By far the best chocolate chip cookie I have ever made! My husband wholeheartedly agreed!!!! Will absolutely be my go to cc recipe going forward!
Hi Sally
I hope that you are doing fine . Just a quick question . Is it the melted butter that should be 3/4 cup or is it the butter prior to melting . Thanks
Hi Berts, use 3/4 cup of butter and then melt it. Enjoy!
This is the best chocolate chip recipe I have tried. So buttery, perfect texture, right amount of chocolate and look as good as they taste.
Delicious. I used dark brown sugar. I wished I had used light. Not used to such a molasses taste to a chocolate chip cookie. Next time…I made your Hummingbird cake last week. I am 55 and that was the first from scratch cake I had ever made. It won raves from my work friends. So glad I found your site.
Best chocolate chips cookie recipe !!!! I’ve been using this recipe for three years now and follow it and have had nothing shy of amazing. My grandchildren ask me to make these every time I go visit them. I consider myself a good home baker, and have recommended this recipes to my friends, with great success!
These cookies are dreamy. I worried about all butter resulting in too flat cookies so used 1/3 lard – and they were too crumbly. I saved some of the dough In the fridge and when I made the next batch kneaded a tbsp of melted butter to the refrigerated dough. They were perfect!
I always use this recipe for our cookies and kids love it! However, the cookies most of the times come out gritty like sugar crystals remain. How do I solve this problem? I tried grinding the sugar but still the same result comes out.
Hi Grace! So glad you’re enjoying this recipe. Are you using granulated sugar? Other sugars can be too coarse for baking. Also make sure to whisk the melted butter and sugars together well in step two.
I made these cookies exactly as instructed and they are amazing. Everyone loved them! The best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made. My boyfriend loves soft cookies. I’m always trying to bake them just so. Your recipe has taken away all the worry of overbaking. Thank you for sharing your recipes and tips.
Can you bake them after mixing them? Don’t alway have the time to chill 2-3 hours or overnight.
Hi Sherry! Chilling is imperative for this dough to keep the cookies form spreading too much (and giving them the best chewy texture!). You can read more about this recipe’s method in the blog post above. For a no-chill chocolate chip cookie, you may love these giant chocolate chip cookies (can be made smaller) or these crispy chocolate chip cookies.
I ended up putting the dough in the freezer for about 20 minutes. Cookies came out great. Also, wanted to ask why you don’t use all the chocolate chips in the recipe, only 1 1/4 cups. There is plenty left after you stick some in each cookie,
Why did you mention your customers are mostly men? And why are you making profit off of someone else’s recipe? Seems weird.
This recipe did what it was supposed to do. Cookies turned out great. There is a catch, they do not stay soft and chewy for more than a couple days in air tight container on the cabinet. As far as flavor goes, the right vanilla makes the cookie. These cookies are great warm from the oven, soft and chewy…they just do not stay that way.
I live with my aunt who is gluten-free and have been looking for a good chocolate chip cookie recipe that works with gluten-free flour for some time now. This recipe works wonders. Obviously, the cookies didn’t taste exactly the same or have the same texture as a cookie baked with flour containing gluten, but it still worked; the cookie was nice and chewy, and (for me at least) didnt have as bad of a grainy texture as some other gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipes. My aunt is in love with them, will use again and again.
These legitimately are the BEST chocolate chip cookies I have ever made or eaten. If you’re contemplating making these.. do it! You won’t regret it.
Note: I only had one egg left so I left out the extra egg yolk and ended up chilling the dough for just over 2 hours & it was just perfection; next time will try an even longer chill time & add the extra yolk.
Insanely good recipe, thank you for sharing!! <3
Hello happy Sunday
Can u please let me know how many grams should I use chocolate chips if I add 80grams of sprinkles?
Hi Sally, adding sprinkles shouldn’t change the amount of chocolate chips by too much. You can try reducing the chocolate a little bit, but you can really just eyeball it. Lots of readers have reported having success with adding some sprinkles to these cookies. Just make sure they’re the “jimmies” type, so they don’t melt and dissolve in the dough (avoid nonpareils). Enjoy!
I made these cookies for a work function last night. I followed the recipe exactly (I used bittersweet and milk chocolate chips). Everyone raved about them. One of my co-workers said it was the best chocolate chip cookie she ever had!!
I will definitely be making these cookies again
I made these EXACTLY like the recipe said and they turned out perfectly! They are excellent and I will be making these again. I really appreciate the videos and pictures with your recipes-so well done. Every recipe from your website becomes a ‘keeper’ for me and it’s the first place I check when making something new. Thank you for all of it! . P.S.- I always chill my dough now!
Not meaning to be rude (please let me know if I accidentally am and if so I’m really sorry) but did you make sure that you followed the recipe exactly? Just because my first time I didn’t and they weren’t amazing but now that I’m doing it right I love these cookies! But, if it is just personal taste then no one can change that and I’m glad that you have another recipe you can enjoy!
I loved this recipe! It was so amazing!!! I’m just about to make it again to take to an event and I know that everyone there will love it. Any quick tips on how to make them perfect?
Hi Miriam, roll the cookie balls extra tall! Details are in the blog post above – enjoy!
Absolutely LOVE these cookies! Not sure what most recent poster is talking about because they have a ton of flavor! Question: can you form the cookies and then chill the dough?
Hi Thea! You may certainly try, but the dough will be quite soft and feel a bit greasy so it will be hard to form them into balls before chilling. If you don’t mind getting your hands a bit messy, then that should work just fine. Thank you for giving these cookies a try!
Gas mark 3 for those who have gas ovens
Turned out amazing thankyou
Hi! I love all your recipes, and quick question.(I’m not sure if I posted this twice, if so whoops!)=/ How many cookies does this make? ^^ Thanksss!!!
This recipe makes 16 XL cookies or 20 medium/large cookies. Enjoy!
I made this recipe and the result was AMAZING. I added a little bit of cinnamon and used very dark brown sugar, so the cookies were a lot darker, but they still tasted really, really good. I’m thinking of making these again, but I’m wondering if I could brown the butter? Would that be okay?
Hi Hannah, so thrilled they were a hit for you! You can use brown butter, yes, and the flavor is outstanding! But they can be a little more crumbly using brown butter — we suggest using our recipe for Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies instead.
Perfect!!! Sally, everything you publish is magnificent! Thank you for a tasty treat!
This is one of the first recipes i tried from your Sally’s arsenal. It is the second most requested cookie i make ( the other einha low sugar gluten free oatmeal) Have subbed oils, vegan butter for the butter, and have used bown butter as well. I have used gluten free glour mixes successfully without changing amounts. Ihave used differet flavouring instead of vanilla, and have replaced the chocolate chips with a ton of ingredients, including freeze dried fruit. Never a miss. Always to rave reviews and always requested again.
Thank you for sharing your talents and hard work!!