Even soft chocolate chip cookie lovers will reach for these crispy chocolate chip cookies. Crackly and buttery, you’ll love the satisfying crunch you get in every bite. They’re so irresistible that it’s almost impossible to eat just one.
Crispy vs. Chewy: The Different Types of Chocolate Chip Cookies
All chocolate chip cookies—whether they’re soft, chewy, or crispy—are made from the same ingredients. It is the ratio of ingredients and a few simple modifications that create the textural differences. Let’s take a look at some of our chocolate chip cookie recipes and how the proportion of ingredients can make or break your cookie. (Literally!)
- Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies: Creamed butter, cornstarch, and a higher ratio of brown sugar to white work together to achieve this cookie’s perfect melt-in-your-mouth softness.
- Chewy chocolate chip cookies: Melted butter, an extra egg yolk, and more brown sugar than white sugar will help you bake a supremely chewy cookie. The melted butter is the secret to this dense, indulgent treat.
- Crispy-edged chocolate chip cookies from Sally’s Cookie Addiction cookbook (page 26): Milk plus a higher ratio of white sugar to brown help create the spread needed for a crispier cookie. The creamed butter and sugar create a soft and light center. These are the perfect blend of soft, chewy, and crispy. Definitely a favorite around here.
Tell Me About These Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Texture: For that pleasing buttery CRUNCH when you take a bite, let the cookies cool completely. The longer the cookies cool, the crispier they will be. I suggest using a cooling rack if you have one. It circulates air to the bottoms of cookies and, as a result, cools them quicker and more evenly.
- Flavor: Crispy chocolate chip cookie fans will love the rich, buttery flavor contrasted with sweet chocolate chips in every bite.
- Ease: This quick and easy recipe makes a lot of cookies in a short amount of time. Perfect for no-fuss bakers who want big flavor without a big mess.
- Time: Unlike many cookie doughs, chilling isn’t required (see Note), so this recipe comes together in minutes. Here are all of our cookie recipes without dough chilling.
Recipe Testing Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies: What Works & What Doesn’t
Chocolate chip cookies can turn out differently depending on a few different factors, particularly the proportion of ingredients. Every ingredient has a job to do. That’s cookie science! The good news is that as long as you know which type of cookie you want, you can learn how to make it successfully each and every time. Here are the secrets to making a crispy chocolate chip cookie:
- Melted butter. Creaming butter and sugar together, like you do for most cake recipes, aerates the cookie dough, creating a softer, fluffier cookie. Since we crave a crispy cookie here, we’re using melted butter instead. Melted butter = a chewy and dense center.
- Sugars. Since brown sugar is soft, we want to use more white sugar for a crispy cookie.
- Milk. Just like melted butter, milk helps the cookies spread in the oven which produces crispier edges.
- Honey. This natural sweetener crisps and melts in the oven, creating a crackly top on your cookie. If you don’t have honey, you can substitute light corn syrup instead.
- Egg yolk. One egg yolk adds richness and structure but leave out the egg white. Why? Egg whites fluff up when beaten or whisked. We want to avoid the fluff in this crispy cookie
- Smaller cookies, hotter oven. Roll the cookies smaller and bake at a higher temperature so the whole cookie crisps up perfectly.
To Chill or Not to Chill?
It’s entirely up to you—baker’s choice! The first time I made these cookies, I chilled the cookie dough for my usual 2 hours, and the cookies had a lovely crisp edge with a chewy center. They were delicious but tasted like my soft chocolate chip cookies. I wanted something different: a thinner cookie with an overall crunch so I continued testing the recipe. Here’s what I discovered:
- No chilling: For thin and mega-crispy cookies, skip chilling the dough entirely.
- Chill for 1 hour: For cookies that are a little thicker, have a little chew and a lot of crisp, chill the dough for 1 hour.
- Chill for 2+ hours: For thicker cookies with less crisp, chill the dough for 2 hours or longer.
I appreciate that this cookie recipe works all 3 ways.
More Cookie Recipes
- Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
- White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Crisp Molasses Cookies
- Sugar Cookies
For a gluten free cookie, try my flourless almond butter chocolate chip cookies or flourless peanut butter oatmeal cookies. The latter are chock full of chocolate chips, too!
PrintCrispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours, 25 minutes
- Yield: 32-36 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
Crispy chocolate chip cookies with a satisfying crunch. With their crackly tops, crisp buttery edges, and overflow of chocolate chips, I have a feeling even soft chocolate chip cookie fans will get a kick out of these.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 10 Tablespoons (142g) unsalted butter, melted + slightly cooled
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 Tablespoons (43g) honey or light corn syrup
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) milk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/4 cups (225g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- See step 4. If not chilling the cookie dough, preheat oven to 375°F (191°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- Whisk the melted butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, honey, egg yolk, milk, and vanilla extract together until combined. Pour into dry ingredients and mix everything together until completely combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. (You can use a mixer for this step if needed.) Dough will be soft.
- For thin and crisp cookies, do not chill the cookie dough and proceed with step 5. For slightly thicker and crisp cookies, cover and chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour then preheat the oven. For slightly thicker cookies with soft centers and crisp edges, cover and chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours then preheat the oven.
- Roll cookie dough into balls, 1 scant Tablespoon of dough per cookie, and arrange 2 inches apart on the baking sheets. Bake for 10-11 minutes or until browned on top and around the sides.
- Remove from the oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Cookies crisp up as they cool.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Cookies stay fresh lightly covered at room temperature for up to 1 week. You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Allow to come to room temperature, preheat the oven, then continue with step 5. Keep in mind that cookies are the thinnest and crispiest when baked right away. 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): Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Rubber Spatula | Cooling Rack
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Made these last night! I love the texture, however I found the cookies to be intensely sweet with the proposed sugar combos, and I used dark choco chips. I’m wondering if I use less white sugar how it would impact the crispiness … or if I can just decrease both sugar components by 1/4 how it would impact the overall cookie composition. Any advise Sally?
Hi Sally! I tried making this recipe today and my cookies didn’t get thin! They really looked a lot like the chewy chocolate chips that I’ve made before. Do you have any idea what could have caused this?
Hi Ashley! When cookies don’t spread that means there is too much dry ingredient (flour) soaking up the wet. (Or too much wet and not enough dry.) Regardless, this is a very easy fix. Make sure you are spooning and leveling your flour. Also, try reducing the flour down by 2 Tablespoons. You’ll have a much thinner cookie that way.
Made these today for the first time. The cookies turned out perfectly. A home run with my family! Thanks for a great recipe Sally!
Hi, i tried this recipe. The taste is all good. But i have a slight problem. After the cookies cools down. It was very crispy. But after it cool down longger maybe and hr or more. The crispness slowly become softer. And when i eat the next day.. No longer crispy at all. Not sure what when wrong.
Same thing happened here. I’m making them again later and will chill the dough for one hour this time. Maybe they’ll stay crispy when stored. Wish me luck!
Hihi just to help I’ve read up on this cuz I had the same problem and turns out if you store them in tupper ware containers they stay crispy longer thanks!
Thanks.. Will try it once it cools for awhile.. Will immediately put in the tupperware container.
First time baking for my son and the cookies turned out great! Any modification I can make for the cookies to be less sweet?
I’m so happy you like them, Christina. If you cut the sugar in the recipe just keep in mind that it will also alter the texture. Try sprinkling a bit of course salt on top which will help cut the sweetness and add a delicious level of salty sweet flavor!
Amazing as always! I doubled the recipe to give away to friends and family and everyone appreciated it so much! Thank you Sally for doing all the hard work in experimenting with these recipes so we can make foolproof treats! You are the best!
This is the cookie I have been craving! Awesome recipe. Without any chilling they are crisp and a little chewy inside. And they are made in no time at all! Thank you for making my lockdown a bit sweeter!
Hi.. I’m from Malaysia. & im just love to cook. I’ve tried this recipe. & it’s turned out amazing! My kids love it. Thanks for the tips. It’s really help me. Love.
I have tried several of your recipes and they have always turned out amazing, thank you so much. I have a question about the ingredients in these cookies. Can you use fat free/ skim milk and ad an additional amount of butter for the fat than the two extra tablespoons already added. I only have fat green milk in hand and am trying to stay away from the stores right now. Thank you.
Hi Keith, thank you! I don’t recommend additional butter. Skim milk will work in a pinch.
Sally, thank you so much for sharing your recipes. I’m baking a batch of these cookies right now. I’ve made them before and they are so good! I always refer to your website for all my baking needs and I’ve never had a failure! Your recipes helped me gain confidence in baking and encouraged me to learn more. Thank you Sally, it is much appreciated!
Dearest Sally,
Thank you for the amazing baking tips on all your recipes. Everything that I have made via your blog has been outstanding 🙂
Just wanted to share my “gotta be happy with whatever the store has on the shelves pandemic shopping substitutes”
Unbleached flour – probably made no difference in recipe
Salted butter….no unsalted available – how much less salt should I have used? I just poured a little in my hand and tossed it in 🙂
Milk Chocolate Chips – I prefer semi sweet but that’s all my store had
5 LB tub of baking soda……yep – smallest size that was left on the shelves…
Stay well Sally!!!
My mom and I made these for my dad one loves crispy chocolate cookies, and they were fantastic! All three of us love them, and I end up wanting more every time I eat one. Thank you Sally! I will definitely keep making these cookies and refer to this website for more recipes.
I used this recipe to introduce my 12 year old son to baking. We are currently following stay-at-home orders for virus. It’s great and he loves it. They are just the right amount of crispiness and chewy goodness. Love them and he has already made the recipe 3x.
Best chocolate chip cookie
Would something need to be increased or decreased if I opt out of the honey?
No changes necessary or you can replace with another liquid sweetener like light corn syrup or agave.
Excellent, I chilled my dough for almost 2 hours……
THERE ARE NONE LEFT
So good and easy to make!
Made these for my boyfriend (and friends) are part of a valentine’s treat and these were gone in a minute!!! I’ve previously made the chewy cookies and they were amazing, but even these beat them! Also added in white chocolate chips (his favorite). Can’t wait to make another batch (half of the dough is in my freezer waiting for us)!
Without a doubt these are the absolute best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made and I have been baking for many many years. When you bite into them they have just the right amount of crispness and they taste so buttery. I used the corn syrup and did not chill the dough. Because the dough was wet I thought they would spread too thin but they did not. This is now my go to chocolate chip cookie recipe. Thank you so much!
These cookies taste pretty good, but turned out neither crispy nor flat. They stayed in a rounded shape.
Can I use agave instead of honey (due to honey allergy)?
Absolutely.
Girl this is my new chocolate chip cookie recipe. After wasting a lot of ingredients on disappointment I’ve finally found it. I panned mine up and put them in the fridge for about 45 minutes. I also used some local raw honey. Perfection. Thank you!
This might change the taste some, but I used 40 mL of agave syrup in place of the 1/4 cup brown sugar. Used only 1 tablespoon each of milk and honey to reduce the liquid, and added 2-3 mins to the bake time. Worked out well, the cookies tasted great! Thanks Sally, would love to replicate your original recipe when I remember to buy brown sugar!*backs away slowly*
hi sally, can i use baking powder instead of baking soda for this recipe…waiting dor your reply to make it ASAP..
Hi Chris, Baking powder and baking soda are both leaveners, however they are chemically different and not interchangeable. I wrote one of my Baking Basics posts on the subject if you are interested in learning more: Baking Powder vs Baking Soda
I knew that I’ll find the best cookie recipe on your page . I just made it with my kids , it’s absolutely amazing very tasty, crunchy and balanced .
I thought the honey will give a honey taste to the cookies but actually it improved the taste .
Seriously those cookies what you would die for
My cookies never spread when I bake these cookies. They always stay in the ball shape without spreading at all! What am I doing wrong?
Hi Ester, Make sure you are measuring your flour correctly (spoon and level instead of scooping). Extra flour will soak up the liquid and stop the cookies from spreading. You can always help them along and use the back of a spoon or fork to gently press them down to help them spread!
The cookies turned out crispy and super yummy, but they didn’t spread much like the ones in the photos. Wonder what I did wrong in the mixing process. Should the butter be melted to a point that it would look clear?
Hi Patty, Your butter should be melted just until there are no solid pieces left and then slightly cooled. I would double check the way you are measuring your flour. Make sure you spoon and level it instead of packing it into a measuring cup. When there’s too much flour, it absorbs all the wet ingredients preventing cookies from spreading.
I don’t bake well. I follow recipes but they never taste great except for your chocolate chip crispy cookies. They were GREAT. I appreciate most of all your explanations of why milk works, why honey, brown sugar, egg yolk versus egg white.
Baking is a science, a chemical reaction. For me, understanding why certain ingredients gel is important. Maybe that’s why your recipe works for me. You answered my cookie ingredients question. THANK YOU
Hi… I’m from India and I really love your recipes. Yesterday I made the favourite white cake from your recipe. It turned out awesome. Everyone loved it. Now for this crispy cookie, I’d love to use almonds and cashews instead of chocolate chips. Do I have to dry roast them first? Please help
No need to roast the nuts first, though you certainly could if desired! So glad you made and loved my white cake, too!
I loved these. I didn’t have time to chill the dough two hours so I decided to put it in the freezer for about 10 minutes and they were still crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.