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
Perfection! I’ve used a lot of chewy chocolate chip recipes in my life and this one is by far OUTRAGEOUSLY THE BEST. This website never misses, never disappoints – foolproof to quote Ina Garten’s excellent book. Sally is a genius as far as I’m concerned. My family prefers these chewy ones to all others, but if you are looking for the thin and crispy choc chip cookie, Martha Stewart’s is a great one. BUT, nothing in the world beats this recipe as far as all my family cookie experts are concerned.
These cookies are amazing! Made them for my family last night and the whole batch was gone by lunch time today! 10/10 highly recommend!!
13 minutes was not nearly long enough. I followed the recipe exactly and after the ten minutes on the cookie sheet my daughter and I tried one. They were way undercooked. I threw them in for another 7 minutes and they were still doughy. My oven is high end and one year old, so that wasn’t the problem. I also wasn’t a fan of the taste, sadly.
This is my go to Choc cookie recipe. It’s the best. I was just wondering if I can substitute cranberry and white choc with the choc chip? I saw your cranberry cookie recipe, but I’d rather use melted butter. Thanks in advance.
Definitely! Keep total add-ins to 1 and 1/4 cups. So glad you enjoy this recipe, Edith!
I made these 2 days ago and my family absolutely loved them. I melted 2 sticks of butter (not unsalted because I didn’t have it)and refrigerated it to cool it down. When I measured it out it came out to 3/4 cup which was perfect. I then refrigerated overnight as stated and they were perfect. I added walnuts to my second tray and they were delicious. My new go to recipe. Thanks
These are probably the best I am not even a fan of Chocolate Chip cookies
Dont tell anyone you made them or they will beg you for more
Thank you for this recipe. These are the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had.
Cant fault this recipe the cookies dont last very long in my house. I would like a tip on how to make a chocolate dough cookies as this has been requested
Hi Sally, would this recipe still be doable without the extra egg yolk? Because I am making them today, and I only have one egg. 🙂
Hi Purvija, Without the extra yolk your cookies will not be a chewy or rich.
Hi Sally,
I LOVE making these cookies! I follow the recipe exactly and they do turn out great. However mine never turn out thick? I build them tall as you say to do. I chill the dough to prevent spreading etc.
But they still turn out more like a thin chewy cookie akin to one from Subway instead of thick?
Help please!
Thank you!
Hi Hollie, To help troubleshoot you can visit the post 10 Guaranteed Tips to Prevent Cookies from Spreading. I hope this helps!
Hi!
Is it possible to freeze the dough for chilling so I can bake them quicker? Rather than leaving them in the fridge for 2-3 hours? Thank you!!
Hi J, unfortunately not. Freezing won’t evenly chill the dough. You really need a good 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.
I’ve been making my “tried and true” chocolate chip cookies for 25 years (basically the one on the back of the yellow bag). I was looking for a Smores cookie recipe for the kids and made the ones on your site. While the marshmallow and Graham crackers were fun, I was floored at the chocolate chip cookie itself. This is my new go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe AND I don’t need a mixer. Not greasy, super soft and fluffy, just perfection!!
These are the best and chewiest chocolate chip cookies ever! I’ve been on the hunt for a good chocolate chip cookie recipe and so glad this finally accomplished that! Going to be my go-to recipe from now on. Thank you Sally!
By far the biggest baking failure I’ve ever had. Followed recipe 100% exactly. Dough was crumbly before chilling but afterwards it was near impossible to shape. Made them taller like recommended, half fell apart into pieces while baking, the other didn’t spread whatsoever. They look identical to how they were before baking, except really flippin hot. Worst part is I made a double batch based with Ghirardelli chocolate and for the first time in years I’m going to have to toss them all in the trash.
I made these and put them in the freezer for about 40min-1hour before baking
The oddest thing though, they didn’t spread much at all! So much so that I took them out at 10 minutes and flattened them down with a spoon so that they would actually be cookie-like. I did make them taller rather than shorter, and they basically completely kept that shape… I wonder what I did wrong. Maybe If I waited till the 12th minute they would go down quickly? I was expecting a gradual sync, but that didn’t happen. I think i’ll try again and bake them for 14-15 minutes next time with the remaining dough (and no flattening) and see what happens
Also if you are putting add-ins (I used Pecans) I would highly suggest reducing the chocolate chips to 1 cup. There was just too much chocolate chips in my dough and didn’t incorporate with the dough. For reference, I used about 1/4-1/3 cup pecans (was eyeballed)
Hi Jenna, When cookies aren’t spreading, it means that there’s too much dry ingredient (flour) soaking up all the liquid. See number two in the post 5 Cookie Baking Tips to Improve Your Next Batch and scroll down to the section “What if cookies AREN’T spreading?”
Hi Sally, Can I use pastry flour instead of regular flour? How much pastry flour do I need for this recipe?
Thanks,
Hi Brinda, pastry flour is too light. I recommend sticking with all-purpose flour here.
This is my go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies!! It is a great tasting cookie! Sally, you are a genius and a hard working recipe developer. I’ve used lots of your recipes and I am so happy with how they turn out.
I am going to experiment with trying this recipe in a jar (the dry ingredients) so I can send them to my grandchildren in FL so they can make them by adding the eggs, melted butter and vanilla. I think it will work!
So fun, Janie! We did something similar over the holidays if you would like to take a look: Cookies in a Jar.
Since finding this recipe a couple of weeks ago I must’ve made over 100 cookies, they are actually so amazing. Next on the agenda is to think of different things to put in them!
Thanks Sally!
Hi Sally!
I really enjoyed this recipe! I even added different flavors of chocolate chunks to the cookies!
I would like to make my friend these cookies, but she eats gluten free. What flour do you recommend using? Are there limitations when using gluten free flour?
Hi Dajah, We haven’t tested this recipe with gluten free flour but let us know if you try it!
Holy cow… soo good. Perfect soft and chewy cookies with a beautiful sheen. We made each cookie with 3oz of dough for large cookies with 60% dark chocolate chips which turned out fantastic. I think 2oz ea. might be ideal size.
Hi Sally!
Thanks for this recipe, used a couple of times and an absolute winner in my family 🙂
Quick question- this time I forgot to add salt into my mix! Plus I’ve used unsalted butter and it’s currently chilling in the fridge!
What can I do? Can I go back and add it now? Or will it be ok to leave?
Thank you!
Hi Zoe, Your cookies will simply taste sweeter. You can give the tops of the cookes a sprinkle of coarse salt if you wish!
I picked up baking as a way to pass the time through quarantine and ended up finding a new hobby that I really enjoy. Prior to covid, I had never baked a thing. Thankfully I found your site early on and have stuck to your recipes faithfully. Whenever I want to try something out, I always check to see if you have something for it. All of your recipes have turned out wonderfully. My family thinks I have a special talent for baking but really I just follow your ingredients exactly.
The BEST chocolate chip cookies we’ve ever made. Never need another recipe again. Thanks Sally.
Hi Sally! Can I add oatmeal for this recipe? Thank you
Hi Angel, You can follow the recipe for Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. Enjoy!
hey sally, do you think i could use whole wheat instead of all purpose?
Hi Annalise, I don’t recommend it for these cookies. Here are all of my recipes that use whole wheat flour.
Hi sally. I want to use the dough to roll in tiny balls and add to one of my Blondie recipes. Would this work with this cookie receipe ? And would I need to chill/freeze them before adding to my Blondie mix ?
Hi Lucy, I haven’t tried this cookie dough that way before. It wouldn’t hurt to chill the cookie dough for 1 hour in the refrigerator, roll into balls the size you want, then chill for 1 more hour before using in your blondie recipe.
Hi Sally! Can I use this recipe to make bite-size cookies instead of the large thick ones?
Absolutely! Follow the directions from my mini M&M cookies, swapping this dough for that dough. You will still need to chill this cookie dough though.
You weren’t lying, these are THE BEST! Love the trick of rolling them tall instead of wide. This made the cookies so thick and chewy. These will be my go to from now on!
Absolutely yummy!! I’ve been looking for a cookie recipe like this one for ages!! Thank you!!
Love this recipe!! Super soft and chewy and not too sweet. However, it didn’t spread at all so i had to shape them into circles before baking. Probably too much flour (even if I followed the recipe to a T). Also, I noticed that it didn’t turn to brown, I wonder why’s that. Could it be the sugar? (i used light brown sugar and white sugar)
Hi Angela! I recently added some help to my 5 Cookie Tips page for cookies that won’t spread (see the bottom of #2). There could simply be too much flour soaking up all the butter. Make sure you are spooning and leveling the flour. If there’s too much butter soaking up all that butter, the cookies won’t spread or brown as much.
My husband and I loved this cookies!! I followed all your cookie tips and they came out perfect, so delicious and pretty that they looked like from a magazine! Thanks!!