With 11 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!
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 loved… and, warning: they disappear FAST.
The recipe is also included in two of my published cookbooks (in Sally’s Baking Addiction, I swap chocolate chips for M&Ms/chocolate chips combo).
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.
Back in 2013, I 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.
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 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. 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 and even up to 3–4 days.
After chilling, the dough is quite solid, so let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes (to soften it up slightly) before shaping. (No time to chill? Make these soft & chewy chocolate chip cookie bars 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.
Another Success Tip: When you remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator, the dough may be slightly crumbly. Scooping and then shaping it with warm hands keeps it intact.
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.
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?
PrintChewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 22 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. Review recipe notes before beginning.
Ingredients
- 2 and 1/4 cups (280g) 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 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
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the egg and egg yolk. Finally, whisk in the vanilla extract. The mixture will be thin. Pour into dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft, thick, and appear greasy. 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 chill in the refrigerator for at least 2–3 hours or up to 3 days. I highly recommend chilling the cookie dough overnight for less spreading.
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow it to slightly soften at room temperature for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325°F (163°C). Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Using a cookie scoop or Tablespoon measuring spoon, measure 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, making sure the shape is taller rather than wide—almost like a cylinder. This helps the cookies bake up thicker. Repeat with remaining dough. Place 8–9 balls of dough onto each cookie sheet.
- Bake the cookies for 12–13 minutes or until the edges are very lightly browned. (XL cookies can take closer to 14 minutes.) The centers will look very soft, but the cookies will continue to set as they cool. Cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, press a few extra chocolate chips into the tops of the warm cookies. This is optional and only for looks. After 10 minutes of cooling on the baking sheets, transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Cookies stay fresh 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 2–3 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 into a glass 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 – 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.
Hi Sally, I’m new to baking and would love to make these cookies – I only have cake wheat flour and self raising wheat flour available. I live in South Africa and All Purpose is not actually widely available for some reason!
Can I adjust this recipe somehow using the above flours? Thank you.
Hi Michelle, in this case, cake wheat flour would be the best option and I would add another 20-25g to help ensure the lighter flour soaks up enough moisture from the other ingredients in the dough. I have not tested this, but it’s the way I would try them!
The cookies are fantastic. I find that mine have a more craggily/cracked texture (almost like an oatmeal cookie). The edges have a slight crisp, and the middle has the chew I’m looking for. Am I leaving them in too long? What else do you suggest to get cookies that look as pictured?
Hi Cindy, it sounds like they may be over baked just a bit—reducing the bake time by a minute or two should help for next time. So glad you enjoy the cookies!
I have made these cookies dozens of times. They’re superb! But today I would like to make them for a friend, but I find that I am out of all purpose white flour. May I substitute bread flour? If so, what accommodations should I make? Thanks so much — love your recipes!
Hi Patricia, you can use the same amount of bread flour without making any other changes. Let us know how you like them!
I’ve made these cookies 3 times for my coworkers because they love them so much! I added mini m&ms in one batch and they were especially a hit. I also had to make 3 dozen because so many people requested them!!
These cookies suck honestly. Just thick and not chewy at all, I don’t see how these are raved over. Not impressed that I wasted the time and effort on these
Hi Karl, we’re sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy these cookies. Were they not spreading in the oven? When cookies don’t spread, it’s because there is too much flour in the dough. How do you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. Thanks for giving these a try!
If you don’t like this recipe, you did not make them correctly.
I made this recipe for my friends at college, they loved it soooo much! Thank you!!
Sooo mine turned out more cake like that the anticipated chewy and crunchy texture… not sure what happened.
Hi Kris, Cakey cookies are usually caused by too much flour in the dough. How did you measure the flour? For your next batch, make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post. Hope this helps!
My go to chocolate chip cookie recipe. They come out perfectly and are a hit every time. They require a bit less bake time for me but I dont measure them so I may be making them a bit smaller! I can’t remember how many I usually get
The best ever! So easy my 2 year old did most of it!
The best chocolate chip cookie recipe… no need for taking out the mixer which makes this recipe simple and easy to make. I put my dough in the fridge overnight for better results.
Shut up. I’m addicted! Dam.
I read the comments and was SO careful about not packing the flour. I used a spoon and leveled with a knife as instructed. But my cookies still didn’t spread out. They’re delicious, though.
These are the best cookies I’ve ever made. Just ask my family. It’s the only cookie they want.
I used brown butter when I made mine and they turned out really good. A little less sweet than what I’m used to but still good!
I tried this once and it turned out great! Trying it out again and the cookie tastes good and feels chewy and soft but they aren’t spreading out as much as I’d want to. They’re compact and almost like a crinkle. I’m sure the error is on my part but what may be some reasons on why it didn’t spread out as much?
Usually when cookies don’t spread, it’s because there is too much flour in the dough. How do you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post. Thanks for giving these a try!
Best biscuit recipe
These biscuits are amazing. One of the best recipes I’ve tried. I’m not sure if it’s the brown sugar that gives them the beautiful caramelized taste. And the tip about making the dough balls cylinder shaped worked a treat. I’m definitely making these again, and again.
So glad you loved these, Jenni!
Hi! My cookies turned out delicious but they were very puffy when they came out of the oven. Do you know why?
Hi Jillian, That is usually caused by too much flour in the dough. How did you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post. Hope this helps for next time!
Hi! Yes I did pack the flour. I will definitely spoon it next time! Thanks!
Love the recipe, this is about the 6th or 7th time making it. Love from The Netherlands.
Hi, May i know the brand of the butter? Thank you
Hi Ong ah Lin, Sally typically uses Wegman’s store-brand butter, or else Challenge Butter or Land O’Lakes—but feel free to use any brand available to you.
I love this, it’s my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and always turns out so well! But I just started making a batch and realized I don’t have butter in the house. Is it possible to use melted coconut oil (or some other vegetable oil) instead of butter, or would that ruin the taste and texture of the cookies?
Hi Anna, you need melted butter here for the fat because it is a solid at room temperature. For best results, we recommend sticking with butter, although some readers have reported success with melted coconut oil. The taste will be different with that substitution. So glad these are a favorite for you!
Can someone please help me? No matter what I do my cookie dough is always too wet and sticky and my cookies just melt into puddles. I’m following this recipe exactly and I’ve tried several times, I have no idea where I’m going wrong! Any advice would be really appreciated!
Hi Amy, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. There are a few different factors that can cause cookies to overspread. Be sure that your butter isn’t piping hot—letting it sit for about 5 minutes before mixing will help. Our post with 10 tips to prevent cookies from spreading will also be helpful to review for next time. We hope this helps!
This is my favorite recipe, so easy!! Can you brown the butter in this recipe or will it change the consistency?
Hi Brooke, You can use brown butter here, 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 instead.
My go-to cookie recipe, so easy and SO delicious – every time.
Awesome recipe good work!
Can u substitute cornstarch for something else. What’s the purpose of adding cornstarch to recipe and if leave it out what will happen if it won’t effect it then why add it
Hi Linda, the cornstarch helps to make the cookies extra soft and chewy. However, you can leave it out if you wish.
Love your cookies do you have a cannoli recipe, I would love to have it thank you,
Hi Linda, we do not have a cannoli recipe at this time—so sorry!
Yum!
But my cookies didn’t spread. Not sure why…
Hi Mariko, usually when cookies don’t spread, or when the dough becomes too crumbly, it’s because there is too much flour in the dough. How do you measure the flour? Make sure to spoon and level (instead of scooping) to avoid packing in too much flour into your measuring cups – or use a kitchen scale. You can read more about properly measuring baking ingredients in this post. Thanks for giving these a try!
First time trying out this recipe. Was very good, although I think next time I’ll let them solidify enough so the dough is pliable so I can roll the cough and then completely chill them because WOO they were a doozey to attempt to roll even after 15 minutes out of the fridge. Otherwise, they came out a perfect consistency.
I only use this recipe, and I have earned a reputation for it! PLEASE POST THE RECIPE DOUBLED! I KNOW I COULD WRITE IT DOWN BUT THEN I WOULD LOSE IT! Thank you for your magic I trust you implicitly.
Hi Sally, I am trying this recipe for the first time and just realized I made a
mistake! I forgot to add the white sugar ( 1/2 cup ) I did add the brown sugar though.
The mixture is currently chilling in my fridge. Is it too late to add the sugar? Will it incorporate
properly?
Thanks in advance,
Alan McLean
Hi Alan, unfortunately, it’s a bit too late to add in the white sugar. You can try baking the cookies anyways, but keep in mind that the taste will be different, and without the white sugar, they may not spread properly. Best to start over with a new batch if you can!