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.
THANK YOU and GOD BLESS YOU for this recipe. I have been baking for YEARS and trying to find the chocolate chip recipe that rivals the best bakeries. You did it with this one. LOVE THESE. They are irresistible. Perfect taste, texture, and appearance.
Best chocolate cookie ever! Thanks so much for sharing this awesome recipe!
This is really the BEST cookies I’ve ever made, and the tip of shaping the cookie dough is awesome!! It was so satisfying watching the tall cookie dough slowly melt away into a thick cookie . Thank you so much for this recipe!
I wish I could add 10 stars to this recipe!! The cookies are moist, chewy and yet super easy to make 🙂 Although my mother was a home economics teacher and also a nutritionist, I stayed away from cooking as much as I could. I became a mother myself and now I struggle and feel sorry for my son because of the lack of knowledge & experience in cooking. The outcomes from this recipe definitely gave me a confidence that I can do it! Ok, I stop being too dramatic here!! Thank you very much Sally 🙂
If I made the cookie balls smaller, how long would it take in the oven? Still 12 mins or less?
Hi Sally, Smaller cookies will take less time! The exact bake time depends on how small you roll them so just watch them carefully and be sure to pull them out of the oven while they still look soft.
This was our first attempt at a Sally cookie recipe. I followed the directions, although used my stand mixer to do the work and baked smaller cookies. They came out exactly as described and were delicious! The best thing for me is they were ‘poofy’ and did not fall! A winner in my book. Thanks Sally!
I see why the great rating. Turned out perfect! Thought nothing could beat a good old toll house chocolate chip cookie. It does! Chewy and thick.
I wish I could give it 10 stars! These were incredibly easy to make, and truly the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve made…or eaten! Thank you for taking the time to test these recipes out for us, explaining why you do something, and giving such good tips. I followed the recipe exactly, except I used chocolate chips since I had them. Usually I make something by the directions the first time and then tweak it to my own liking. Not this recipe. The only thing I’d add, sometimes, would be walnuts. But they are sooooo good without them that I’m not sure I’d do even that.
I did make them about 2 T. Instead of 3. Still plenty big enough, but it made about 3 dozen, so it was worth it.
I would like to know if I don’t have dark brown sugar, can I add a little molasses to the mix to make up for using the light? And if I use cornstarch in other recipes instead of the baking owder or with the baking powder would tht work? Just curious.
I’ll be making these again and again. I currently have 3 large baggies full of these cookie dough balls to bake in a week. So hard not to take some out and bake them up before tht!
Could you brown the butter before mixing it with the sugar? I was hoping to add a nutty flavor.
Absolutely!
Hi planning to make them but can I substitute the cornstarch if I don’t have it. Can I use cream of tarter if I have that.
Hi Jennifer, you can simply leave it out. No need to replace with anything.
I chose this recipe as my first batch of scratch cookies ive ever made. Im super impressed with these cookies! They came out as the recipe described. I shared to to family n friends. Thank you so much for the recipe
Hi Sally,
These cookies look amazing! My only question is can I substitute one cup of the flour for bread flour? I’ve always heard it makes for a chewier texture, but I’m not sure if that’s necessary with the cornstarch. Thanks!
Hi Nico! You can try, but I recommend making the cookies as is especially if you haven’t tried them yet!
Hi! How much cocoa powder would you add to make these chocolate? Would the baking soda need to be adjusted? Thank you!
Hi Megan! Cocoa powder is a complicated ingredient and it’s not a 1:1 swap with flour. Here are my soft and chewy chocolate cookies if you’d like to try them.
Wow!! These cookies came out amazing!!! They were a huge hit tonight at Thanksgiving. Thank you for your awesome recipes!
I made these for my coworkers and had people coming back for fourths because they were so good!! I doubled the recipe & followed the instructions exactly which made about 34 delicious cookies that did not disappoint.
I never comment on any blogs that I read, but I had to comment on yours! I make these cookies all the time and we all agree that they are the best cookies any of us have ever had! Thank you so much for posting this recipe–I really enjoyed reading your tips, too!
I made them twice. It’s unusual for me to follow a recipe exactly. But this recipe is perfect!
Just finished making my first batch using your recipe. I messed up my first two sheets because I thought they were indeed undercooked. They certainly don’t brown like traditional cookies! Those first two sheets are a bit harder because I kept trying to get them to brown! LoL!
They don’t have the same buttery taste as traditional cookies and they are more cakey but they are indeed soft! I guess I prefer more of a buttery and sweet taste from the actual dough. Much of the sweetness seems to come more from the chocolate chips. They’re still quite good for what they are but they weren’t what I was expecting. I still give your recipe 5*’s and encourage others to try it out! Thanks for sharing your recipe!
I made these, but they aren’t as beautiful as in the photos. I’ve followed the procedure exactly and checked how it should be rolled into balls but make them taller. I love that it isn’t that sweet (you know how some cookie recipes are overly sweet). Will try to make these again. Thank you for the recipe.
Best cookies ever!!!!!! I won’t make any other cookie recipe after having had these because no other recipe can compare.
Hi Sally, my daughter and I are super excited to try this recipe together. My question to you is, I want to double the batch of cookie dough and freeze half for another time. Would it be best to create dough balls then freeze them or would it be better to freeze it as a log? Thanks for the amazing recipes.
Freezing cookie dough balls is so convenient– that’s what I always do! Here’s how to freeze cookie dough.
I just made this last week.
They were super good.
I ate 3 of them.
Good recipe and great tips for chewy cookies. I knew about the cornstarch never knew how much to use. I make cookies with crisco shortening and all that eats them love them. I’ll try with butter more often. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Sally I love this recipe but find the cookies to be quite sweet how much do you think I can cut the sugar down?
Hi Sally, let me just say that I am not a baker by any means but I followed your instructions,watched the demo video a number of times, then made these cookies today. Amazing and so delicious! The only question I have to ask is if its possible to double up the recipe and bake, because I need a large number of cookies this weekend. Thanks and please don’t stop the good work.
Hi Sally
Can I use mascavado sugar instead of brown sugar.
Hi Ally, That should work!
Hi Sally, I love your recipes and truthfully I’ve had my own baking addiction since I was young and started baking with my Mom. I thought I would share a tip for this recipe that I tried and worked quite well! Just before the dry ingredients are fully Incorporated with the wet add chocolate chips then and finish incorporating the ingredients it helps the chips incorporate into the dough better.
Best chocolate chippers ever! My baking skills have reached an all time high! I’ve learned so much, Thanks Sally
I baked these cookies recently and an entire tray was gobbled up in just the matter of the evening, plus more. These are amazing! I love the idea of the chocolate chunks instead of the chocolate chips. I actually prefer that because they are bigger and I love the melting of the chocolate on my tongue!
This recipe should win an award!
Sally, you are truly an incredible baker! Keep up the amazing work, because we love all of your recipes!
God bless!
This is my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe! Instead of using semi sweet chocolate chips, I use dark chocolate chunks and toasted pecans. I also use brown butter! It’s the best!!! I add an extra tablespoon of water because, during the browning process, water evaporates from the butter.
Throughout my quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie, yours reigns supreme! Thank you!