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
Crispy 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 (spoon & leveled)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 10 Tablespoons (145g) 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: Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Silpat Baking Mat | Baking Sheet | Cooling Rack
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Keywords: crispy chocolate chip cookies
I followed the recipe to the tea and my batter turned out runny for some reason. Had to add in more flour and it ended up cakey. Tried to bake the cookies to see if it will at least still look or taste decent, but the cookies did not spread and were chewy instead of crispy. Not sure what went wrong but I am quite disappointed here. How “slightly” cooled does the butter have to be?
★★★
Hi SJ! Here’s a post on what room temperature butter means and how important it is for baking!
I tried your recipe and the cookie was delicious. But my dough is very sticky like your picture, the one before you fold cookie chips in. How to make it white like you did and can be shaped?
Hi Erika, thanks for giving this recipe a try! It sounds like there may not have been enough flour in the dough — did you use the scoop and level method to measure? It also might help to do the optional chilling. That will help the dough to firm up a bit and make it easier to roll into balls.
I followed recipe and they were not crispy at all
Really bummed out.
M
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first i would like to thank you for sharing all the recipes.. I’m a big fan of all ur recipes!!! u are the best! gonna do this soon.
second, my question.. is it ok to use manuka honey? i only have manuka honey with me.. is the taste gonna be good?
My mother always made me crispy chocolate chip cookies when I was returning to college after semester break.
I’ve been trying to duplicate her cookies for years. The results from your recipe come the closest so far.
She did tell me she just followed the recipe for Toll House cookies but used 1/2 butter and 1/2 margarine.
Anyway, my effort today turned out just fine.
★★★★★
Best cookie recipe ever!
I’ve tried many recipes and every time they don’t turn out how I want them but this one was perfect! This will now be my go to cookie recipe. Thanks
★★★★★
Makes exactly 36 cute, round perfect little cookies!
★★★★★
Followed this recipe to the T and my cookies came out in giant pools. Chilled dough for 2 hours. Not sure how anyone else got cookie shaped cookies.
★★
These cookies are delicious. They spread out a ton after chilling dough for an hour and got very crispy, but I put them in a container and the next morning, they were so soft and chewy! They lost almost all of their crisp!
★★★★
A similar thing happened to me. They got very crispy after cooling for a few minutes on the rack and after sitting there for a few more hours loosely covered with parchment paper, they lost all their crisp$
★★★★
These cookies are delicious. They spread out a ton after chilling dough for an hour and got very crispy, but I put them in a container and the next morning, they were so soft and chewy! They lost almost all of their crisp 🙁
★★★★
I had to post my review because this is literally the only chocolate chip cookie recipe I make now, and I’ve made them probably three dozen times. The main reason I. This: I like a cookie that holds up for a good week. Most recipes don’t hold up and I suspect it’s the egg whites, so that’s how I found this gem. No egg whites makes for a cookie that won’t taste stale in a day or two. The only thing I add is a whole bag of Heath bits to a double recipe. All the other chocolate chip recipes are dead to me.
★★★★★
I tried your Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies with less sugar, they are great! Now I would like to try this crispy version. Can I substitute sucanat for the white sugar or should it replace both the brown and white sugar?
Thanks for your help.
Hi, I followed this recipe today but my cookies didn’t spread as much as I liked. I’m not sure where I went wrong but they taste great! I thought it would be more flat but it came like a small dome shape. I didn’t chill it as I wanted crispy cookies. Thank you.
So good.Love these cookies
★★★★★
Same. Puffy little domes. Not spread out, nor thin, nor crisp. I smooshed down the consecutive batches a bit before going in the oven. Followed recipe exactly as written, timed everything as noted during mix-up. Chilled for only 30 minutes. Who knows! 11-12 minutes was better on my pan with the air pocket. Left the dough out as I did each batch and as the dough got less chilly, they did spread a bit more, but still puffed up and not much settling as they cooled. They taste great though. I can really taste the honey!
I’ve made these recipe so many times & its my favorite hands down. I love crispy cookies & hate soft ones & this has exceeding my expectations. I was curious if I can replace the chocolate chips with regular size m& m’s to avoid a soft chewy texture?
★★★★★
Yes, you can use M&Ms instead!
I’m wondering about the mention in the story about cornstarch. I don’t see it in the recipe. Otherwise, amazing cookies!!
I just pulled these out of the oven, and they are so bad. I followed the recipe—and chilled for an hour exactly—and they are so flat … it’s the thinnest cookie possible with lumps of chocolate chips. Not even sure if my kids will eat them (well, let’s be real—they will). I’m going to chill the rest of the dough for several hours in hopes I can salvage the rest of the dough.
★★
Hey Jaime, I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out beautiful. Simple mistakes can change the whole cookie! You should try again.
★★★★★
I think they’re perfect, but if your kids want fresh thick cookies, find a recipe that uses baking powder and baking soda. The ratios will be different, too
★★★★★
Im making this with my own made Bean to bar chocolate. Will post in Instagram 🙂
Loved this recipe! Cookies came out really crispy and DELICIOUS. Will be making this again. Thank you so much Sally! Love your website.
★★★★★
This was amazing, I loved it so much.
Can I make a combination nut and chocolate chip? Should I cut back on the chocolate chips if I do?
Yes, definitely! Just keep the total amount of chips plus nuts to around 1 and 1/4 cups.
Hey Sally, I was wondering if I could make this cookie recipe with Splenda instead of sugar.
★★★★★
Hi Karen! We haven’t tested this recipe with any sugar substitutes, but would love to hear how it goes if you do.
Every time I use the weight measurement for these, the batter comes out very cake/cup cake batter like… is there any typo in the grams? Besides that, I always make this using the cup measurements, and it always turns out perfect! I love this cookie recipe! Easy and quick to make
★★★★★
Me too! I weigh all of my ingredients in grams, except for the butter. My batter was like pancake batter, very wet. The only thing I can think is the butter, although 10 tbsp, in grams was wayyy more. My mother-in-law had this problem earlier this year when I shared a cookie recipe with her. Her cookies were spreading across the entire pan, and I asked if she was weighing her ingredients. Once her scale arrived and she weighed the butter, she ended up needed 2 -3 tbsp less than the recipe called for.
I ended up eyeballing adding flour and they turned out like regular cookies.. def not crispy. I def want to try this again though. Thoughts, Sally?
★★★★
I weigh flour and sugars too, but I stuck to the 10 tablespoons of butter as measured on the stick of butter itself and it came out fine.
I had a similar problem with the consistency of the batter, much lighter than expected- definitely not thick enough to handle and mould into balls. I had to just scoop and spoon onto the baking tray. But the taste is amazing! I also weighed all the ingredients in grams, including the butter. Is there a problem with the gramme measurements?
They did become very crispy after cooling for a short while on the rack, but I left them on the cooling rack loosely covered with parchment paper and they became very soft and cakey in texture. I thought the longer they cooled, the crispier they would get;mine was the reverse… Any thoughts on what could have gone wrong?
N/B: I live in the tropics and room temperature is usually much higher than 25°C – around this time 30 to 35°C,-could this have affected the cooling and crisping of the cookies?
★★★★
Glad to help here! Humidity/moisture in the air will definitely keep the cookies soft. The dough is meant to be loose and soft. If you try the recipe again, see if you can slightly reduce the flour. 188g is correct, try slightly reducing down to 170g. The cookies will spread more, but should crisp up nicely on the edges. Make sure you skip chilling the cookie dough.
UPDATE: My mom wanted crispy chocolate chip cookies, so I revisited this recipe. The first time, I weighed all measurements except the butter and the batter was like pancake batter, very wet. This time, I weighed it all. The tbsp marks on the butter packs were grossly incorrect. Weigh the butter! Also, melt the butter and left it cool slightly before folding into the batter. I baked in a pan with parchment and they turned out perfect!!!
★★★★★
My husband loves crispy cookies so I have been looking for a new recipe. This was a total hit. I’ve made it twice – once with honey and once with light corn syrup (because I was out of honey). I used dark chocolate chips in the first batch and half mini m&m’s half mini chocolate chips in the second. Both were terrific. Here’s what I LOVE about this recipe…
1. It works at high altitude (I live above 7,000 ft.) with no changes.
2. The recipe comes together easily without taking over the kitchen – not a lot of dirty dishes. The dough is very manageable so clean up is easy.
3. You end up with plenty of cookies, but not tons – I can bake the whole batch in 2 rounds on a large baking sheet.
Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
★★★★★
Hi! I was planning to make this recipe but Honey is expensive in my country, and there’s not much corn syrup too found in supermarkets. They only offer in big batches, which I really don’t need. Can I still make a good cookie without honey or corn syrup?
★★★★
Hi Camille! You can leave it out or replace with another liquid sweetener like agave.
I made these today as I have been in a crispy cookie Mood during COVID. They seem to fulfill that (they are still a bit warm) but I went from mixing to baking with no chilling and the 10 minutes in the oven was too long, 8 was much better. Seven might be better for my spouse who likes everything under done.
★★★★
Can I make this without the honey or the syrup?
I can’t wait to try these cookies! I usually love the chewy really soft cookies but I read that harder cookies last longer. I am wanting to send these to my boyfriend who is deployed overseas but it takes about 1.5 weeks for packages to get to him. How long do you think these would last?
★★★★★
For the butter, should you melt 10 tbsp of solid butter and put it all in or melt butter, and only add 10tbsp of the melted, liquid butter?
Hi Jennie, Measure out 10 TBS and then melt it. Happy baking!
Dear Sally,
the cookies turned out to be very yummy, however they spread out all around the baking sheet at the end were stuck together (which reminded more of the squares and not circles). I followed the recipe exactly, just added less chocolate chips. I didn’t
chill the dough beforehand. What could have gone wrong and how should I try to adjust it next time? Thank you in advance.
★★★★★
Hi Tanya, Thank you for trying this recipe and we are so glad you enjoyed the taste. If your cookies are spreading to much, next time try to cover and chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour then preheat the oven. Chilling the dough always helps!
Thankyou Sally! I’ve been following you since the lockdown and I love each and every recipe you I’ve tried of yours. I simply love how to tell the science behind it!
I made these cookies today and I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing they are.. I’m so excited.. finally a recipe that hits the spot. I find them a lil too sweet so will reduce the chocolate chips since sugar plays a big role in the texture. Thank you for sharing
★★★★★
Can I use sub the following
1) almond flour
2) monk fruit sweetener
Or
3) coconut palm sugar
Please advise. Thanks.
Hi Serena, I haven’t tested the recipe with these alternatives. Coconut palm sugar may work, but I don’t recommend subbing in almond flour for the regular flour. If you’re looking for gluten free recipes, here is my gluten free recipes category.
Best chocolate chip cookies EVER!!!!!