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
Best cookies I made so far!
Hi Sally , do you think spelt flour could be substituted in this recipe? I expect it to have a different texture.Also could this recipe be used as a base for other flavours (add ins )
Thank you
Hi Aneta, we haven’t tried this recipe with spelt flour so we’re unsure of the results. As you mention, the taste and texture will likely be quite different. You can certainly swap out and experiment with add-ins, or see all of our other cookie recipes here.
Love this recipe, but I too made a change. Instead of chocolate chips I substituted Carob Chips. I have 2 very spoiled Border Collies who enjoy cookies as much as my husband and I do. Carob is perfectly safe for dogs, However I do have to limit everyone’s treats because of the sugar. Thanks
Hi! I love making these cookies. I was wondering if/how the recipe changes when baking at altitude? Thank you!
Hi Nicki! We wish we could help, but we have no experience baking at high altitude. We know some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
Hi, the 163° are with which oven settings? Normal above/below heat or with fan? Always confused when recipes do not specify this, is there a generally accepted default for this? Thank you very much, love the cookies!
Hi Gioia, All of the recipes on this site are written for conventional settings. Convection ovens are fantastic for cooking and roasting. If you have the choice, we recommend conventional settings when baking cakes, breads, etc. The flow of air from convection heat can cause baked goods to rise and bake unevenly and it also pulls moisture out of the oven. If you do use convection settings for baking, lower your temperature by 25 degrees F and keep in mind that things may still take less time to bake.
How do you recommend melting the butter? In microwave or on stove? Should I let the butter cool a few minutes before mixing with the sugar? I’m excited to make these with my kids this weekend! Thank you!
Hi Shelly, you can use either the microwave or the stove to melt your butter — either works. Yes, we recommending letting the butter slightly cool before using. Hope you and your kids enjoy these cookies!
This is the best chewy chocolate chip recipe that I’ve used. So easy and the result is delicious. Thank you Sally. All your recipes are great!
If I want to double the recipe are there any tweaks you suggest or just use the same ingredient measurements x 2? Thanks!
Hi Tina, You can certainly double this recipe – just double every ingredient – for twice as many cookies. Enjoy!
Love these cookies! I was gifted some rum spiced pecans that I’d like to add to the recipe. How much do you recommend I use, and should I cut back on the chocolate chips? Thanks in advance!
Hi Joanne, those sound delicious! We would keep the total amount of add-ins to 1 1/4 cups – you could try 3/4 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup rum spiced pecans. Let us know how it goes!
hi sally! i’ve been making your chocolate chip cookies for a while now and they always turn out great. however, the last time i made them, it was kind of humid and my dough was really sticky. i think i made the mistake of adding a few more cups of flour as after the dough was refrigerated, it was extremely hard. was the dough wet because of the humidity? was i supposed to add 2 cups of flour?
also, another question. every time i make your cookies, i bake them for longer than 12-13 minutes as they are extremely floppy at that time. instead, i bake them for 15 minutes. is this ok?
please reply soon, i need to make these cookies in a week :). thanks~!
p.s the over-floured cookies were kind of crumbly and had to bake for longer:(
Hi Amal, the humidity can affect dough, and next time you can try adding just a tablespoon or two more flour to help the dough come together. Keep in mind that this is a stickier dough, and refrigerating it will help make it a bit more workable before rolling them for baking. Each oven can be a bit different, so nothing to worry about if yours take a bit longer to bake through. If you have an oven thermometer, this can tell you if perhaps your oven runs a bit cooler than it reads. Hope this is helpful!
Hi Sally!
What is the weight that the buns must have so that they cook in the time indicated in the recipe. My cookies looked raw…(
Why do some cookie recipes have melted butter and other butter at room temperature?
I’m from Argentina!
Hi Viviana, we’re unsure of the weight measurement for the individual dough balls, but they should be about 3 tablespoons worth of dough each. If your cookies look undercooked after the recommended 12-13 minutes of baking time, feel free to continue baking them for a few minutes longer until the edges look slightly browned. Using room temperature butter vs. melted butter really depends on the recipe and the final outcome we’re looking for — melted butter produces the chewiest cookies. It can, however, make your baked cookie greasy, so in this recipe we made sure there is enough flour to avoid that from happening. Hope this is helpful!
I love these cookies and so do my friends and family! I have never before made such wonderful chocolate chip cookies. I baked some for my neighbors as the husband did some work on our car. A couple of weeks later his wife sent their son over to return the container. He said “Mom wants to know how she can get more cookies.” LMAO. I made her some.
I made all sorts of alterations (I’m not an avid baker and made a bushel of mistakes). -I didn’t have chocolate chips, only bars. So I chopped my chocolate,
-I didn’t have cornstarch so I used ground chia seeds? No idea if this was a good call
-I accidentally added the whole second egg just by being clumsy. And they were not room temp.
-and lastly and most importantly I only put the dough in the freezer for 30 mins. I cooked them in a cupcake tin to help from spreading (per mentioned above)
My result is what you would expect they are the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made! I can’t wait to get this recipe actually right! ❤️
I have so much salted butter in my house have you ever made this recipe with salted butter? If so should I omit the salt? Thank you for the help.
Hi Helen, if using salted butter, reduce the added salt to 1/8 teaspoon. Happy baking!
This is my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe!
Do you think these would turn out well if I brown the butter before adding to the other wet ingredients?
You can, yes, and the flavor is outstanding! But they can be a little more crumbly using brown butter — we suggest using the recipe for Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. Enjoy!
We are avid chocolate chip cookie fans in my household, and I will never have to look at any other recipe for chewy cookies again! So delicious and perfectly baked, on the gooey side! Your instructions are so helpful and I HIGHLY appreciate all the measurements in metric! Thank you!
Hi Sally,
I have been baking chocolate chip cookies for 50+ years, using the recipe on the yellow CC bag. Since your recipes are so good, I decided to give the soft and chewy CC cookies a try. I figured my husband would be upset. No, he said he prefers yours. I was amazed. I like to bake my own cookies rather than buy them to give me control over the ingredients. I am baking my second batch after having just finished the first batch two days ago.
On another note, I grew up in Baltimore County, went to U of MD, and taught in Baltimore County. Like most Marylanders, I think I know what a good crab cake is. I can’t find my mother’s recipe anymore. I have been scouring the internet for one close to the MD version. Yours is the closest I have found. Thanks you so much for that recipe also.
This is THE BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve EVER used!!!!! You nailed it with the soft and chewy! I have always used the toll house cookie recipe but it never quite hit the spot you know so I’ve always been searching for a softer AND chewier cookie that is just big enough where I only need to eat one cookie, not 2 or 3 or 4. I don’t need to look any further! At the time that I baked these cookies I only had white sugar! I know, total horror and too late to go to the supermarket. Thankfully that was the only problem I had, YAY! Anyway, I only had mint chips on hand so I decided to add cocoa powder to the mix(3/4 c.). Even though I only had white sugar to work with they came out perfectly cloudlike with no spreading! I can’t wait to bake them exactly as directed and many other ways like chocolate and peanut butter chip or macadamia nut/white chocolate chip or brown butter/bittersweet chip! There’s so many ways and these are THE PERFECT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES EVER!!!
Thank you so much for creating these cookies!!!!!!!!!!
Hi Keri, We are SO glad you love these! Let us know how all of the other variations turn out.
I love your biscuits. they are really amazing. But What will be the average calories per biscuit.
Hi Laiba, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients, and many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients. However, there are many great online calculators where you can plug in your exact ingredients like this one: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
We are avid chocolate chip cookie fans in my household, and I will never have to look at any other recipe for chewy cookies again! So delicious and perfectly baked, on the gooey side! Your instructions are so helpful and I HIGHLY appreciate all the measurements in metric! Thank you!
Can I make the cookies smaller – if so – how long should I bake them? I will use your recipe this weekend! Rhank you so much….Phyllis
Hi Phyllis! You can make smaller cookies, bake time will depend on how small you make them so keep an eye on them in the oven. You may love this recipe for mini M&M cookies as well (you can use mini chocolate chips instead).
Best choc. chip cookies I’ve ever made! Was a little skeptical of the cooking time, but followed the instructions and they came out amazing.
This recipe has gone into my own cook book now because it is literally the best. Each time for the past two rounds of making them I haven’t had the right ingredients but they still came out super good both times. I suggest using the three eggs to make them more fluffy too.
These are good! I’m glad I didn’t add the corn starch because I didn’t really want them that soft, I know the brown sugar would soften the cookies already. I baked it a few more minutes than I should, bought the temperature up when I baked and it came out amazing. Crispy and soft!
I love these cookies and your chocolate chip oatmeal cookies too. The freezing instructions are way so helpful too. Would you have the nutritional values for your recipes?
Hi Dee, We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. Readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076 Thank you for your kind comment!
Sally, Thanks A lot for this recipe. Today we have little America in our home in the heart of Europe, thanks your delicious cookies, which I baked for my daughter’s seventh Birthday. They came out perfect!! Many thanks for all the tips. Instead of brown sugar I used maple syrup. Yummy!
This is an excellent recipe! Thanks for sharing this. I just have a question, what is the shelf life of the cookies,i stored them in a jar ,room temperature
Hi Ivy, Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Can you scoop the balls before chilling or is it better to chill the dough as a whole?
Hi Jacqui, We don’t recommend scooping before chilling. The cookie dough is quite sticky and loose to section into balls before chilling.
Sally your recipes are some of my absolute faves! I made these but browned the butter and added bourbon…let’s just say I’ll be making them again, and again, and again!
Hi Jessie, We are so glad you tried and loved this recipe.
Loved it! Soft and chewy just as
Advertised! I too tried it with browned butter. Thanks for sharing
Soft and chewy. Even after it’s cooled down and not warm. I used 1/2 cup milk choc chips and 3/4 cup dark choc chips. Reduced the brown sugar to 1/2 cup lightly packed. Came out good and not too overly sweet!
The absolute best cookies I’ve ever made! My kids love them! Next time I will double the recipe.
I have made this recipe gazillions of times and it is always a favourite. The cookies disappear in days, so I do x8 the recipe! It comes with a load of cookies, and they last a little longer! This classic recipe is so much MORE than classic, it tastes delicious and is so soft and buttery! Thanks Sally!
We’re thrilled you love these cookies, Leah! Thank you so much for making and trusting our recipe.