The best recipe for double chocolate chip cookies must obviously include extra doses of chocolate. These soft-baked thick and chunky cookies are as indulgent as they look: rich and fudge-like with chewy centers, slightly crisp edges, and oodles of melty chocolate chips in each glorious bite.
It’s the chocolate dough recipe I’ve been making for years and even included it in my cookbook stuffed with peanut butter cups. There’s no reason to stray from this basic chocolate dough!
Included in my cookbooks and used all over my website, this cookie dough is my go-to base for chocolate cookies. There’s a reason I work with this dough often: it’s because it WORKS and it’s pointless to stray from a tested, dependable recipe. (That’s also delicious!)
One reader, Kat, commented: “Wonderful recipe! By far my favorite chocolate chocolate chip cookie and very well received by everyone who tries them. They are like brownie cookies in the best way and stayed the perfect softness for a few days after baking. Adding to my yearly cookie rotation for sure! ★★★★★”
Another reader, Amber, commented: “Arguably the best cookies I’ve ever had. ★★★★★“
And another reader, Cynthia, commented: “Love these. I’ve made them too many times to count, and I always double the recipe. I’ve made them with dark chocolate chips, white chocolate, nuts, coconut, Andes candies in the middle. So many ways. It’s just a perfect chocolate cookie. ★★★★★“
Why You’ll Love These Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Easy to make with a basic dough
- Soft-baked and chewy with fudge chocolate centers
- Recipe is easily doubled
- Cookie dough balls freeze well
- You can use the cookies to make chocolate cookie ice cream sandwiches
- Versatile dough! Turn them into s’more chocolate crinkle cookies in the summer, peppermint mocha cookies, Andes mint chocolate cookies, or peppermint frosted cookies in the winter, chocolate crinkle cookies, chocolate frosted cookies, or salted caramel dark chocolate cookies any time of year, or switch to white chips for inside out chocolate chip cookies
My team and I receive many questions about turning this base chocolate dough into regular double chocolate chip cookies, so I figured having a separate spot for that particular cookie recipe would be ideal for chocolate cookie lovers everywhere. And I’m guessing that’s you. 😉
Grab These Ingredients
All of the ingredients required for this cookie recipe are kitchen staples. You need:
- Wet ingredients: Butter, white & brown sugars, egg, vanilla extract, and milk
- Dry ingredients: Flour, unsweetened natural cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt
You also need chocolate chips and I recommend semi-sweet. Mini chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or other flavors such as peanut butter chips or butterscotch morsels work too. You could even keep them plain and roll in chopped pecans to make chocolate turtle cookies.
Success Tip: Use Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
Because the double chocolate chip cookies use baking soda, it’s important to use natural cocoa powder since it’s acidic. You could get away with dutch-process here (since brown sugar is also acidic), but the cookies may lose shape and taste dense. To avoid issues, I recommend natural. For further information, you can read about the differences between natural and dutch process cocoa powder.
Did you know? Cocoa powder is a very light, yet drying ingredient. To keep the cookies tender and moist, the dough needs liquid like milk. That’s why chocolate cake calls for so much liquid.
Overview: How to Make Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
Cream the butter and both sugars together before adding the egg and vanilla extract. If you need extra guidance on this step, I have a separate tutorial on how to cream butter and sugar. Separately, whisk the dry ingredients together and don’t be concerned about how little flour this recipe requires. (Remember that cocoa powder is another dry ingredient to bulk up the dough.) Combine wet and dry ingredients, then beat in the milk and then the chocolate chips.
Ensure you use proper room temperature butter, which should still be cool to the touch at about 65°F (18°C). If it’s too cold, it cannot cream and if it’s melty in the slightest, your cookies will be a mess.
Success Tip: Chill the Dough
The dough definitely comes together easily, but it’s sticky and tacky as a result of the cocoa powder mixing with liquid. It’s even stickier than the chocolate layer of pinwheel cookies. Therefore, the dough requires chilling before you can shape and bake. I recommend at least 3 hours in the refrigerator, but you can also refrigerate it overnight. Need cookies right NOW? Try giant chocolate chip cookies, Nutella chocolate chip cookies, or even one giant double chocolate cookie.
Expect a sticky, tacky dough:
How to Shape The Cookie Dough
This cookie dough is still a bit sticky even if you’ve chilled it, but it’s much more compact since it’s cold. Use a cookie scoop to help you portion the sticky dough. The medium size is perfect because each dough ball should be around 1.5 Tablespoons. After scooping the dough, shape it as best you can into tall column-like balls. I know that sounds odd, but it’s the trick I teach when making regular chocolate chip cookies. Taller balls of chilled dough = thicker baked cookies.
The cookie dough will undoubtedly stick to your hands during the shaping step, so have a kitchen towel or paper towel nearby. I usually wipe my hands clean after every few cookie dough balls because clean hands make rolling easier. (Same tip I recommend for peanut butter filled brownie cookies.)
If you’re looking for cookie cutter style cookies, here are my chocolate sugar cookies.
Get your cookies to spread: The cookies take at least 11 minutes to bake, however if they aren’t really spreading by minute 9, remove them from the oven and lightly bang the baking sheet on the counter 2-3x. This helps initiate that spread. Return to the oven for a couple more minutes.
How Do You Know When Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Are Done?
It’s hard to see when the cookies are done because they’re so dark. Instead, give a cookie a light tap on the edge and if it feels slightly set, they’re done. Be careful with this because they’re hot! The centers will still look very soft and that’s ok. They usually take about 11-12 minutes.
Can I Freeze the Cookie Dough Balls?
Yes, once portioned and before baking, the chocolate cookie dough balls freeze beautifully. If the dough balls are a bit sticky, chill them in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes first. Place the balls in a single layer in a zipped-top freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. You can take a few dough balls out of the freezer at a time, and bake (no need to thaw) whenever that chocolate craving hits. Simply add another minute to the bake time. Read my full tutorial on how to freeze cookie dough here.
After publishing 200+ tested cookie recipes and 3 cookbooks, I know what works and what doesn’t, so check out my top cookie baking success tips if you’re ever having trouble. Additionally, my entire team and I put together our recommended 10 best cookie baking tools if you need top-rated suggestions. Happy baking!
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Favorite Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
- Prep Time: 3 hours, 15 minutes (includes chilling)
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes
- Yield: 20-22 cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These soft-baked thick and chunky double chocolate chip cookies are rich and fudge-like with chewy centers, slightly crisp edges, and oodles of melty chocolate chips in each glorious bite. The dough needs to chill for at least 3 hours, but you can make it ahead of time and refrigerate overnight.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2/3 cup (55g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 Tablespoon (15ml) milk (any kind, dairy or non)
- 1 and 1/4 cups (225g) semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus a few more for optional topping*
Instructions
- Preliminary note: This cookie dough requires at least 3 hours of chilling, but I prefer to chill the dough overnight. The colder the dough, the thicker the cookies.
- In a large bowl using a hand-held or stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar together on medium high speed until fluffy and light in color, about 3 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the egg and vanilla extract, and then beat on high speed until combined. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together until combined. With the mixer running on low speed, slowly pour into the wet ingredients. Beat on low until combined. The cookie dough will be quite thick. Switch to high speed and beat in the milk, then the chocolate chips. The cookie dough will be sticky and tacky. Cover dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory for this sticky cookie dough.
- Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. If the cookie dough chilled longer than 3 hours, let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes. This makes the chilled cookie dough easier to scoop and roll.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. (Always recommended for cookies.) Set aside.
- Scoop and roll dough, a heaping 1.5 Tablespoons (about 35-40g; I like to use this medium cookie scoop) in size, into balls. To ensure a thicker cookie, make the balls taller than they are wide (almost like a cylinder or column). Arrange 2-3 inches apart on the baking sheets. The cookie dough is certainly sticky, so wipe your hands clean after every few balls of dough you shape.
- Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes or until the edges appear set and the centers still look soft. Tip: If they aren’t really spreading by minute 9, remove them from the oven and lightly bang the baking sheet on the counter 2-3x. This helps initiate that spread. Return to the oven to continue baking.
- Cool cookies for 5 minutes on the baking sheet. During this time, I like to press a few more chocolate chips into the tops of the warm cookies. (This is optional and only for looks.) Transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. The cookies will slightly deflate as they cool.
- Cover leftover cookies tightly and store 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 (step 3). 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. Check out my tips + tricks for how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Stand Mixer or Handheld) | Medium Cookie Scoop | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats | Cooling Rack
- Larger Batch: The recipe is easy to double in 1 mixing bowl without overwhelming your mixer. Simply double all of the cookie dough ingredients. Dough chill time remains the same.
- Natural Cocoa Powder: Do you know the difference between natural cocoa powder and dutch-process cocoa powder? Use natural in this dough.
- Other Add-Ins: Instead of chocolate chips in the dough, you can use the same amount of peanut butter chips, white chocolate chips, M&Ms, chopped nuts, or butterscotch chips.
- 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
These double chocolate chip cookies look absolutely delicious! The texture is perfect, and I can not wait to try them. I love finding new cookie recipes to bake at home, but sometimes it is nice to visit a local Bakery in Placentia for a treat.
Does the dough need to be chilled if you’re making the cookie cake version as linked in the Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake. Here’s an except from that page:
“By the way, you could absolutely make this cookie cake with the dough from these double chocolate chip cookies. Same bake time as below.”
Hi Gabbsey, you don’t have to chill the dough for a cookie cake.
Thank you so much for the quick response ☺️
I am making these with a broken wrist… so I’d like to avoid the scooping. Could I roll the chilled dough into a log and slice off column sized portions?
Hi Jessica, you could certainly give it a try. We haven’t tried ourselves, but other readers have had success with this!
It totally works. I cut the chilled dough in 1/4 and rolled each into cubes and used a dough cutter to sliced off medallions. They came out perfect
I meant logs… not cubes…using wax paper
I had another cookie for pre-breakfast this morning. They are fudgy and chewy and I love them! They will be added to my recipe book and will be made again, soon!
Is it better or a must to make this using a mixer? Or it can be done also by manual mixing? Same question also for the red velvet cookies recipe.
Hi Denise, because this recipe uses softened butter that requires creaming with sugar, an electric mixer really is best here. If a recipe calls for melted butter, like these chewy chocolate chip cookies, you can easily mix it by hand.
Thanks to Jillian for the idea to put the batter in a 9 x 9 pan and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. I also added 1 tsp mint extract, because we love chocolate mint cookies.
I haven’t made this but would like to. The recipe mentions a heaping 1.5 tablespoons. A #40 scoop, leveled, in 1.5 tablespoons, so do you mean to use a #30 scoop, which is 2 level tablespoons? I am trying to get the correct amount without weighing the dough for each cookie. Please advise. Thank you.
Hi David, you could really use either one. A medium cookie scoop (#40) holds 1.5 T, as you mention, which usually weighs about 35g. So a heaping scoop might be closer to 40g, or getting closer to 2 T. Use whichever cookie scoop you have!
Made with mini M&M such a great chocolate flavor.
Sally you have changed how I bake every recipe I have tried using all your tips turns out amazing!
I batch cook and freeze cookies and slices of cake for my kids’ lunchboxes. They choose one item each day as a lunchbox treat. We’re in Queensland Australia so they defrost before snack time.
When I baked these cookies they flew out of the freezer so fast!
This time I’m baking a double batch!
Great recipe. I wonder if this would still work if I reduce sugar amount? I like it when it is not too sweet. Will try soon!
These cookies made with half chocolate chips and half Trader Joe’s peppermint chips are INSANELY GOOD. Holy cow.
Do yourself a favor and make a double batch and keep some dough balls in the freezer. You will not regret it.
Thanks Sally for making an amazing recipe that can still be awesome weven when it is tweaked.
These cookies are wonderful. Gooey and melty like a brownie when warm, and even after cooling off, they stayed fudgy and intensely chocolatey. I brought them to work and my coworkers can’t stop talking about them.
I used dark brown sugar, and added a bit of espresso powder to the dough as well (maybe 1 tsp). For anyone that’s as much of a chocaholic as me, I also recommend a blend of chip types (white choc, milk choc, semisweet, and dark). Just after taking them out of the oven, I sprinkled a bit of chunky sea salt which stuck nicely to the melty chocolate chips. When I make this dough again, I might try adding almonds and mini marshmallows for a rocky road cookie!!!!
My daughter made this recipe and it is absolutely delicious
Love making these cookies. I generally add a small packet of Expresso powder, to punch up the chocolate flavor. It really makes their flavor stand out!
Can i use this recipe to make crinkle cookies? I saw your other recipe but i don’t want to roll with sugars
Hi Yuna! Rolling in powdered sugar is what gives a crinkle cookie its signature look.
I love the chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe. Can I substitute softened butter with melted butter?
Hi Joanna, softened room temperature butter is best here. Melted butter would cause the cookies to spread too much.
My 10 yr old son and I love baking together. We use Wilbur Chocolate’s Midnight cocoa, it’s THEE best with this recipe!!
There absolutely no need to chill these for 3 hours. I let them rest in the freezer for about 20/30 minutes while the oven preheats. I also bake them at 325 for 13 minutes, and they come out beautifully every time! I have also just baked them without letting them sit, and they come just fine.
This looks great! Do you think it would work to scoop and shape the dough balls while the dough is still soft/moldable and then chill them, or would that result in a different texture than chilling in bulk and then scooping?
Hi Dorothy! We find it to be tricky to shape the unchilled dough, since it is quite sticky. But you can certainly do it that way if you prefer.
I love this cookie recipe so much! I’ve made it many many times and it is always a big hit. Can this recipe be made with less sugar? Thanks!
Sugar is used for moisture and texture in baked goods as well as taste. You can certainly try reducing the sugar, but the resulting texture will be different than intended.
Took these to a community event and they were a hit! Firm and chewy with a deep chocolate flavor. I used natural processed cocoa as recommended. Definitely saving this recipe.
Is it better to freeze baked cookies or the cookie dough?
Hi Susan, Freezing cookie dough balls is so convenient– that’s what we always do! Here’s how to freeze cookie dough.
these are pretty good, although in my honest opinion I think they have too much cocoa powder in them. its a bit overpowering, cuts into the sweetness, and you don’t really taste the chocolate chips, only the cocoa.
I made 2 batches. One was made with Robin Hood gluten free flour. Both batches were well received.
I’ve made these a few times and they always come out super flat, regardless of chilling. This time, I even froze the dough (which always works with regular chocolate chip cookies) and they’re still super flat. I think maybe they need more flour. Not sure.
Hi Heather, I’m sorry to hear this! If your butter was a little too warm, that could be the culprit here. Proper room-temperature butter is actually cool to the touch. It may be that you need to add a little extra flour to your dough next time. If you try it again, try adding an addition 2 Tbsp flour. Here are some more tips to prevent cookies from spreading. Thanks for giving this recipe a try!
I agree with this. They came out flat and greasy. Definitely needs more flour.
Does this recipe give the same as your chewy chocolate chip cookies? I love melted butter in my cookies so can I just sub less flour and add cocoa powder in your other recipe?
Hi Jen, these cookies are nice and chewy as well!
Amazing recipe! I used half the quantities all around (1 whole small egg instead of 1 large egg) to make 10 cookies and added half a teaspoon of instant coffee for that extra oomph. Truly phenomenal and so easy to make.
These can easily be made in the air fryer as well at 165C for the same amount of time!
Do you think I could swap chocolate chips for Cadbury mini eggs for Easter?
Hi Richelle, yes, absolutely! Chop up/crush the mini eggs before adding to the dough.
Holy balls. These the best cookies I’ve ever had. I did a combo of semi sweet, bittersweet, and white chocolate chips and added some instant espresso. WONDERFUL
My husband and youngest daughter LOVE chocolate. This was so easy and fun to make. They absolutely adored them. This recipe will be a regular at my house!