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
I just made these cookies, They came out really flat. I followed recipe to a tee. Wonder what happened? We still loved the taste!!!
Hi Michelle, thank you for giving this cookie recipe a try! Here are our best tips to keep cookies from spreading. Make sure to let the melted butter cool a bit before continuing with the recipe as well.
Easy to follow recipe. Perfect crunch on the outside, soft on the inside. Entire family loved these chocolate chip cookies.
These cookies are AMAZING. I’ve made these 7 times, always turned out perfect! I have 2 questions though. Is it okay to use cornflour instead of cornstarch? Also, I used a little less baking soda, since there was a smell of it coming off the cookies last time. It turned out better. Thanks!
Hi! Cornstarch is the same as cornflour. They are the same, just different names depending on where you live. It is different, however, from cornmeal. I’m glad you enjoy these cookies!
Instructions were easy to follow, especially with the video. We use a scale to ensure accuracy of ingredients. Dough was left to chill overnight. First attempt – cookies came out a bit raw after 13 minutes in the oven, and wouldn’t set even after a couple of hours. Popped the batch back in to re-bake for a further 5-7 minutes, after which it set into perfectly chewy cookies (albeit a little greasy). Might try with less butter/more flour for the next attempt!
Very dry not enough moisture to make dough, cookies then did not bake well following directions and were hard. 100% do not recommend.
Hi Kelli, did you accidentally over-measure your flour or let the butter cool and thicken too long? I can’t imagine how the dough would be dry; it’s supposed to be quite wet.
Hi Sally, I had the same experience on this one. I usually have good success with your recipes but this one was a bust. I knew it was bad before I even put them in the oven because the dough was dry and definitely not greasy. I don’t think I over measured the flour so the butter must have cooled too long and thickened? It was probably 7-8 minutes before I mixed it altogether. I also allowed some chunks to remain after microwaving because I knew it would melt if I gave it a little stir. It did but maybe I also shouldn’t have done this? Your feedback is appreciated!
Hi Emily, the butter was likely not melted enough, or it cooled too much. If you try these again, only wait about 3 minutes. And melt it completely. Let me know if this helps.
My 6-year-old is really picky about sweets, doesn’t like most of them, but absolutely loves these. They came out exactly as written, lovely soft texture and melty chocolate (I chopped a bar of baking choco into irregular chunks.) Perfect with a glass of milk on this cold rainy day! Thank you!
These cookies were delicious.
Can you substitute Baking powder for baking soda? I tend to have better luck with powder for some reason. Just wondering if that would work or if the measurement would change?
Hi Rachel, you can learn about the differences and what they would mean if you swap one for another here: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/baking-powder-vs-baking-soda/
can u just put it in the freezer or do u have to chill 4 a while
Hi JJ, if you are freezing the cookie dough, you don’t have to chill it in the fridge first.
Any ideas how to have the egg yolk when using powdered whole egg? Will using more egg work? (not in a place where I have fresh eggs) Thank you (and I understand you may not know)!
Hi Laura, I wish I could help, but we have no experience with using powdered egg! It looks like you can buy/order powdered egg yolk online, so if you have access to that, you could try using that, but I’m afraid I don’t know for sure how the cookies would turn out. My best recommendation would be to use the equivalent of 1.5 whole eggs, and expect that the texture may not be quite as soft and chewy. If you try it, please report back!
I went with the 1.5 egg. Cookies were soft and chewy! I followed the bag’s directions and mixed the water with the liquids and the egg powder with the dry ingredients. Only issue, which may have been due to other reasons, was after chilling (overnight), the dough was SO hard even after leaving out of the fridge for well over 10 minutes it was hard to get out of the bowl. I did chisel parts with a solid spoon, and working with my hands it warmed up enough to do ok. Next time I will not chill overnight. I also now have ordered but not yet used powdered egg yolks (and whites) to complement the whole egg bag o’powder. (We are trying dried whole milk, dried heavy cream, dried eggs since so much goes bad because Grandma does not cook or bake much. A container of eggs will go bad without many used.) Thank you for your help!
These cookies did not meet my expectations for a chewy cookie. They didn’t spread but they were dry and much too sweet. I was hesitant to make them when I read how much sugar was in
the recipe but I was willing to try them if the end result was a chewy cookie. I was disappointed after following the recipe exactly.
Hi Mona, I’m sorry to hear they didn’t turn out well! We’re happy to help troubleshoot. How did you measure your flour? Be sure to weigh your flour with a kitchen scale, or else spoon and level it into the cups. Too much flour can often be the cause of dry cookies. I hope you’ll give the recipe another chance, or try one of our other chocolate chip cookie recipes, like these soft chocolate chip cookies.
I do love this recipe and it’s my go to for this classic cookie.
I’m curious if I would be able to add large chunks of cut up Reese’s peanut butter cup to this recipe and if it would turn out?
Hi Lydia, we haven’t tested this recipe with chopped Reese’s cups, but I can’t see why it wouldn’t work! If you give it a try, please report back!
Hey! So my cookies came out a little flat (had to chill in a mini fridge/possibly to warm of butter) ANYWAYS the person that requested said they *loved* the Reese’s in. Like over the moon raving, multiple people approached me complimenting them and even one who used profanity to exclaim their delight in them I would love to see a tested recipe from Sally that includes mini Reese’s cups!
Love this recipe so much best chocolate chip cookies I ever made. Thank you.
love the recipe, my go-to recipe when i want to bake something. Can i take the dough out of the fridge for about half an hour and then put it back in, or will that ruin the dough?
I’m glad you enjoy these cookies. That would be fine, as long as the dough has chilled long enough in total.
I loved this recipe ! I thought they were very underbaked after taking them out of the oven after 14 minutes but after allowing them to cool on the cookie sheet they turned out perfect. A little sweet for me but a big hit with everyone so far!!
This recipe is now for chewy cookies. I should have realised based on the ingredients added but still gave it a go. Good ingredients but NOT for chewy cookies.
Hi Charlie, were you sure to use melted butter and not over-bake the cookies? What was the texture like in your finished cookies if they did not taste chewy?
These turned out like pancakes … and I followed the directions to the tea. I also chilled them overnight.
Hi Jennifer, thank you for giving this cookie recipe a try! Here’s our best tips to keep cookies from spreading. Make sure to let the melted butter cool a bit before continuing with the recipe as well.
I found this recipe over 2 years ago and I’ve been making it ever since. My family loves these cookies so much! It makes a great cookie cake too 🙂
When I mixed the dry and wet the consistency you described didnt happen. It wasnt sticky at all they turned into crumbles. pls help
Hi Andy, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. How did you measure your flour? Be sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to ensure the flour isn’t over measured. Too much flour can often dry out the dough and make it crumbly as you mention.
This recipe is simple, easy and quick nor do you have to wait hours or days to bake when dough is settled. The recipe called for melted butter and then cool. I opted out of that and just used room temperature butter.this is my first batch of chocolate chip cookies to not go flat on me. I love this recipe.
I’ve been looking for this my whole life! Crispy edges and chewy inside. The perfect chocolate chip cookie!
These cookies are delicious. My one concern is with the baking time and temp. I still find them too soft at 15 minutes using conventional oven setting. Should I use some other setting or maybe just bake a bit longer?
Hi Ika, we bake these cookies on conventional settings, too, but you can certainly feel free to bake them a bit longer if you’d prefer. Glad you enjoy them!
My chocolate chip cookies always come out flat and buttery! That was a thing of the past~ this recipe is the bomb! It never fails and now I’m passing it on to others!!
I have tried so many chocolate chip cookie recipes in the past and they never quite fit the bill until this one. These are so good that my husband begs me NOT to bake them because he can’t help when I do. He says they remind him of all his best memories of his mom and are the best cookies he’s ever had. I tend to agree!
We’re so glad these were a big hit, Zoe!
Hello dear Sally, I have been making your recipes more than four years and everything always is amazing!!! My kids love the chocolate chip cookies recipe, but they want it less sweet, if I use only 100 grams of sugar half brown and the other half white will it change the texture?
Greeting from Greece
Hi Chrissa, You can try reducing the sugar, but keep in mind that sugar plays an important role in the taste, texture, and structure of a recipe, so we’re unsure of the results when using less sugar. We’d recommend starting small, and then you can reduce further in future batches as needed.
I made these exactly as written but instead of using chocolate chips, I chopped up all of my leftover Halloween chocolates that were peanut butter or caramel related and used those instead! I tripled the batch and chilled overnight and they turned out incredible!
Tried this and could not get enough! My go-to cookie recipe! Thanks Sally!
In the past I’ve always felt disappointed making chocolate chip cookies but this recipe was amazing! Seriously the best choc chip cookies I’ve ever made. Thank you for sharing recipes with us!
In the past I’ve always felt disappointed making chocolate chip cookies but this recipe was amazing! Seriously the best I’ve ever made. Thank you for sharing recipes with us!
Best cookie recipe I have ever made! Such a crowd favorite every time.
I tried to make the chocolate chip cookies like that. However, my cookies still like a cookies dough after 10 minutes baking.
Hi CH, you may need to bake a few minutes longer. Ours take about 12-13 minutes.