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
How many calories per cookie ( 16 large )
Hi Tammy! 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
I’ve struggled with chocolate chip cookie recipes for years. I tried the Ghirardelli one the Nestle one and then my own renditions because they’re a family favorite but for some reason something changed and they don’t come out like they used to. I decided to give this recipe a go because Sally has never failed me before and they came out AMAZING!! I didn’t chill them overnight but a couple hours seemed to do the trick.
Hi. Absolutely love this recipe. Just like everyone else says, they get compliments every time I make them.
I’m making my Christmas batch but I’m going to be lazy and ask if the recipe can be doubled or if best to just make the dough as is in the recipe twice? I’m sure this has been asked before but I can’t find it in the comments?
Hi Martin, you can double or even triple this recipe if your mixer can hold the added volume. Be very careful not to overmix. So glad these are a favorite for you!
A few months ago I made these cookies and they were incredible. Delicious, perfectly textured, etc. Since then, I’ve made them four more times, and every single time I’ve had a problem: they won’t spread! Somehow I’m totally missing the “thin and soft” mark and ending up with tall, thick, and cakey. I keep trying, and I’m 95% sure I’m not making any mistakes with the recipe, but I must be doing SOMETHING wrong because they were perfect the first time. Does anybody have any input/has anyone experienced this problem themselves? They were great the first time and I’m pretty stubbornly determined to get them right again.
Hi Kelly, 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. Hope this helps for next time!
I made these cookies and they are very cakey? With a sponge like consistency… not sure where i went wrong.
Hi Laura, 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. Thanks for giving these a try!
Do you sift your flour into the canister before you use it for baking anything?
Would you consider putting the oven temp in top of the recipe, where the yield is?
Thanks
Hi Faith, we would note in the recipe if the flour needs to be sifted, but if your flour seems particularly lumpy, you can certainly sift it. Thanks for the suggestion!
I’ve been making this recipe for about a year now and follow it to the T. They taste great, but even though I’m shaping into a tall cylinder, they still are not thick like I want them to be. Today by accident I added 2 tsp of cream of tartar. OMG…..they are thick like I have always wanted and taste just as delicious as the original recipe!
Would I be able to substitute with a gluten-free flour in this recipe?
Hi Martine, we haven’t tested it, but let us know if you do.
Hi from Miami!! about how many cookies does this recipe make?
Hi Denisse, 16 XL cookies or 20 medium/large cookies.
I get rave reviews every time I make these and have become the only choc chip cookies I make. I melt the butter just barely to the point of being melted. Seems when it goes much farther it is “oilier” and harder to incorporate. The main thing I do to ensures they bake properly and makes it much easier to shape the cold dough: instead of refrigerating in the bowl, dump it onto plastic wrap, form it into an even rectangle approximately 1″ thick & 10″ long, wrap it in the plastic wrap, refrigerate overnight. When ready to bake, remove from fridge and use a knife to easily cut 16 or 20 rectangles. Makes it much easier to form the pillars of dough and the dough isn’t handled as much.
Followed the recipe exactly and let refrigerate for two days. Cookies were then shaped into cylinders. Came out flat and seemed very buttery greasy. How would these do without melting the butter and or a little less butter?
Hi Vicki, Are you allowing the butter to cool just slightly after it’s melted? This helps prevent any overly greasy texture and any excess spread. If you’d like to use softened butter, we’d recommend using this recipe for soft chocolate chip cookies instead.
Melted butter doesn’t seem to work, the middle is too soft and falls out the bottom whenever you try and pick them up?
Hi Justin! It sounds like your cookies may be under-baked, or they need to cool more before you can pick them up.
If I like a less sweet cookie could I use unsweetened chocolate chips? Should add extra sugar to balance the bitterness a bit?
These cookies never turned out for me – such a shame! I followed the instructions exactly, I even made my cookie dough towers 2-3 times as tall as they were wide. I was so hopeful.
Hii i tried this recipe and the first time i did it it gave me perfect cookies but subsequently it’s been giving me cookies that look smooth on top without that cookie texture. can overmixing wet ingredients be a problem here?
Hi Alice, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue here. Are the cookies not soft and chewy? What cookie texture is missing? Finally, 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.
Hiii thanks for replying and by texture i mean the wrinkly look that the cookies have on top. Mine looks more smooth and kinda puffy i would say. And i also did do the spoon and level method to measure flour. One problem i feel like i kinda noticed would be that the butter sort of never incorporated fully into the sugar. Like some butter would remain seperate from the sugar and it would sit on top like soup so i thought maybe i miscalculated the amount of butter and i removed just a tiny smidge and i was able to incorporate the rest much better. Maybe i shouldnt have removed that butter?
Hi Alice! Removing some of the butter certainly could have changed the texture of the dough. Make sure to let it cool enough before adding to the other ingredients as well.
Taste great but mine spread paper thin even after chilling 2 hours. Maybe should have included baking powder as well
Hi Tina, we’re so sorry you had trouble with these spreading. Here are our best tips to prevent cookies from spreading. Hopefully these tips help for your next batch!
Today I accidentally added 2 tsp of cream of tartar to the dry ingredients and mine finally came out thick! I also melted the butter all the way and stirred, where in the past I kinda cooked it a bit after melting. Maybe that helped too? I’ve made this recipe many times and this time they are perfect!
My batter came out very liquid I tried adding flour and cornstarch and chilling it for 2hrs.
Mine came out like dry cake, didn’t settle, or get chewy. I measured out my flower by weighing it and followed the rest of the recipe. What could I have done wrong?
Hi Lauren, cakey cookies are usually the result of too much flour in the dough, but if you weighed your flour that shouldn’t be the issue here. Were any of the other ingredients accidentally mis-measured or omitted? Was your butter not melted fully and/or did it cool off too much after melting?
What would happen if i scoop the chilled dough regularly using a big cookie cookie scoop instead?
Hello. I am having a hard time with these cookies. I followed the recipe to the T and didn’t change or alter anything. All my ingredients are in date and nothing is expired. I made them on 12/13 and then wanted to bake them today (12/15). I followed what Sally said about letting them sit out for a bit and then shaping them into a cone and then if they spread out too much to use a spoon and reshape them. But they are so thin and not chunky looking like what Sally got. I didn’t know if I could get help because I made these for Christmas cookies to pass out with other cookies this week. Thank you so much.
Hi Grace, we’re happy to help troubleshoot. Was your butter piping hot when you made the dough? You’ll want to let it cool slightly before using. Here are even more best tips to prevent cookies from spreading. Hopefully these tips help for your next batch!
Could I make a “cookie pie” instead of individual cookies? I don’t have a cookie sheet.
Hi Janice, here is our cookie cake recipe instead. You can use a cake pan or a pie dish for that recipe. Enjoy!
What bake time when making medium/large cookies?
Hi Renee, the baking time is the same — 13-14 minutes. Keep a close eye on your first batch, as time can vary slightly by oven. Enjoy!
Would browning the butter and cooling change the recipe at all??
Hi Mike! You can certainly use brown butter here, and the flavor is outstanding! But they can be a little more crumbly using brown butter – we usually suggest using the recipe for Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies instead.
Very flavorful but very hard.
One word, YUM!
Chewy with a slight crunch around the edges.
My favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. Would there be any difference if I made the dough balls then chilled? thanks
Hi Barbara! We find this dough is a little too loose to shape before chilling, but you certainly can if you prefer!
I have made these cookies several times, and they’re always a hit. For a Christmas cookie, I add chopped glazed cherries for a festive look. Yum…
This was an amazing recipe I use it to make Christmas cookies for gifts and everyone loved them
when chilling what can i cover the dough with.
Hi Jazmin, we usually use plastic wrap.
I usted to think that I had the best chocolate cookie recipe ever….but as their pintures looked great and lumpy, I decided to give Sally,s recipe a try. Oh my god! This AREEEE the best! Thank you for sharing all the details. Follow everything exactly as she tells, and you will see….best cookies ever!