The Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
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This classic chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe features slightly crisp edges that lead to a soft and chewy interior, and there’s no mixer required! With dozens of 5-star reviews and folks who have adopted this recipe as their standard go-to chocolate chip cookie, you are sure to find something to love about it, too! You can also find this recipe on page 15 of my cookbook.

Tested, Trusted, Totally Beloved: Your Forever Chocolate Chip Cookie
Let’s get one thing straight: there are a lot of chocolate chip cookie recipes on the internet. Like, a lot a lot. And while I respect the hustle of every baker out there chasing the perfect cookie, I’m here to lovingly inform you that this one is the one.
Originally published on my site in 2014, this recipe has had a bit of a glow-up over the years. It now includes updated notes (which I’ve curated from the feedback of thousands of bakers), step-by-step visuals, and a video to guide you from “hopeful home baker” to “cookie hero in your group chat.” It’s the most viral recipe I’ve ever created– millions of views, thousands of repeat bakers, and yes, people literally Googling “Fresh April Flours chocolate chip cookies” because once they try it, they’re totally hooked.
It’s the kind of recipe that turns skeptics into believers. The kind people thank you for in Instagram comments, DMs, emails, and Facebook cookie groups. The kind that gets shouted out in reviews that say some form of “I’ve finally found my chocolate chip cookie recipe.”
Listen, I know a chocolate chip cookie can seem basic. But let’s not pretend that finding the one isn’t basically the baking equivalent of striking gold. This recipe is soft, chewy, perfectly balanced with sweetness and chocolate flavor, and hits every nostalgic note you didn’t even know you were missing. I’ve made it more times than I can count (seriously, I’ve definitely lost count), and it never lets me, or anyone else, down.
So grab your spatula and your mixing bowl (no electric mixer needed!), and maybe hide a few cookies for later. Because these? These disappear fast. You’ve officially been warned.


Why READERS love these Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
I have a degree in biology, which means I’m wired to ask why, especially when it comes to baking. And chocolate chip cookies? They’re basically the holy grail of baking science.
What fascinates me is how nearly every chocolate chip cookie recipe starts with the same basic ingredients, but subtle shifts in ratios, mixing methods, ingredient and oven temperatures, and even rest time can completely transform the end result. Whatever it is you love about your favorite chocolate chip cookie is all (delicious).
My personal gold standard? A cookie with slightly crisp edges and a soft, chewy center. That preference was almost quite literally baked into me early. In high school, I ended every lunch with two cookies from the cafeteria: one soft sugar cookie and one slightly crisp, chewy chocolate chip. That combo basically shaped my ideal cookie experience.
I’ve done a lot of research on what makes a chocolate chip cookie behave the way it does, and if you’re nerdy like me and want to dig deep into the science, I’ve compiled some of my favorite resources [link here, if you have one].
I’ve read up on the science A LOT, and if you care to see the resources that I love and have read multiple times (true story), here is a great read. If you want the Cliff’s Notes: baking is science, and this cookie is my best experiment yet.
Ingredients for Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
There’s not a whole lot of variety in the actual ingredients involved in chocolate chip cookie recipes. It’s more about the why, which we will talk about in a bit. Here’s a visual of what you’ll need. You can find specific amounts and details about how to prepare these ingredients in the recipe card below.
The ratios and temperatures of these ingredients will dictate the success of your chocolate chip cookies, so pay attention to the details and be sure to read all the notes before you begin the recipe.


I love using a mix of standard size milk chocolate chips and mini semi-sweet chocolate chips. You are welcome to use any mix you like or stick to one size. This flavor and size combination is my favorite for variety of texture and intensities of chocolate.
TOLLHOUSE: RESPECTFULLY, WE MAKE IT BETTER
The Nestlé Tollhouse cookie recipe? Those folks knew what they were doing when they created that recipe. Phoebe’s grandmother wouldn’t have relied on it so heavily if it wasn’t awesome, right? Printed right there on the bag, it’s a reliable, nostalgic, no-fail go-to. But when it came to creating my ultimate cookie, I had to tweak a few things.
ADD SOME CORNSTARCH
Just the same way I add a little cornstarch to my white cake as well as my angel food cake to give them a softer, cakey texture, I add some cornstarch to my classic chocolate chip cookies to help increase the chew factor but not so much that we start talking “cakey” cookies.
ADD AN EGG YOLK
What makes a cookie chewy vs soft? A lot of stock lies in eggs. Eggs, as a whole, add structure to baked goods and help them rise. Egg whites bring a large quantity of the moisture to a cookie, and yolks create a source of fat. With fat, we find a great vehicle for flavor and a lot of chew.
For my cookies, I remove one egg white (we’ll add in more moisture in a second) and leave the yolk. Doing so brings a large source of fat to the cookie and helps keep the cookies fudgy (like brownies) and dense (fewer pockets of air).
Denser cookies will cook from the outside faster (think flatter) creating crunchy edges and leaving the inside chewy.
MELT THE BUTTER
Butter, while imperative to the flavor of cookies, can cause cookies to spread a lot in the oven. Furthermore, using softened butter and creaming it with sugar incorporates air into cookie batter, bringing lift to cookies while they bake.
You would do this if you wanted your result to be a puffier cookie (classic Nestlé Tollhouse cookies require creaming of butter with the sugars).

I like to melt my butter because it helps keep the cookies chewy and dense, and we will refrigerate the cookie dough once it’s all mixed together to solidify the butter again, preventing greasy cookies.
INCREASE THE BROWN SUGAR
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again– brown sugar brings super chew to baked goods. Brown sugar is white (granulated) sugar with molasses in it, so it automatically brings moisture with it when it’s added to cookies (remember, we took some moisture out by removing that egg white).
Plus, it caramelizes faster, so the toffee/butterscotch flavors in the cookie are unparalleled vs a cookie made with all or mostly granulated sugar.
CHILL THE DOUGH
There is much debate over this in the chocolate chip cookie world, but I have made a lot of chocolate chip cookies in my life, and I am here to tell you…
Chilled cookie dough > non-chilled cookie dough.
For one, since we are using melted butter in the dough, we need some time for the butter to solidify again so that our cookies don’t end up as cookie puddles (although I’m sure those are delicious).
Secondly, the longer your cookie dough sits, the longer the flour has to absorb moisture from the butter, eggs, and brown sugar which leads to chewiness.
Lastly… Marriage of flavors. You can’t argue with that one.

Don’t have time to chill the dough? Turn the dough into a chocolate chip cookie cake or press it into a 9″ x 13″ baking pan and bake at 325ºF/163ºC for 22-24 minutes.
Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe substitutions and variations
While I wouldn’t encourage you to stray too far from the original chocolate chip cookie recipe listed here, you can certainly change the chips to be any kind of chips you want. You can even play around with the extracts you use to add fun flavorings.
If you are looking for specific variations on a chocolate chip cookie theme, here are all of my chocolate chip cookie recipes.
How to make the Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Because I use melted butter in these cookies, you don’t need your mixer (yay!).
It is as simple as combining the dry ingredients, setting them aside, combining the wet ingredients, then putting it all together. The chocolate chips go in last before you’ll chill the dough.
Over the years, I have discovered I prefer to scoop and roll the dough balls before I chill it. But if you’re low on space, you can chill it in the bowl. Allow it to sit out at room temperature for about 20 minutes before trying to scoop it– it will be super hard upon removal!




This cookie dough will be soft, and the chocolate chips might slide around at first thanks to the melted butter, but just keep stirring. It will come together, I promise. Between the melted butter and extra egg yolk, the dough might not look like your typical cookie dough… And that’s exactly how it’s supposed to be. Trust the process!


How to know when Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies are done
Bake your cookies for 10-11 minutes, remove from the oven when they juuuuust start to turn brown, and then allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes.
Leaving them in the oven until they just start to brown will ensure you have a bit of crispiness to your edges. Allowing them to cool on the sheet continues to bake the bottoms and parts of the edges, caramelizing the sugars further and bringing more toffee/butterscotch notes to the overall flavor.

I know it may seem like a lot to put into just simple chocolate chip cookies, but trust me, the work is worth the result.
And if you need another reason to make these cookies, taste testers have often related them to those cafeteria chocolate chip cookies I spoke about, so if that elicits any kind of nostalgic elementary/middle/high school memories for you and you’d like to recreate them in your own kitchen… This is your chocolate chip cookie recipe, my friend!
Fill them with chocolate chips, mini-m&m’s, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips… Whatever kind of chips you love! A classic chocolate chip cookie recipe is something every baker should have in their repertoire.
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe storage
Store chocolate chip cookies at room temperature in an airtight container up to 1 week. My best tip is to reheat cookies for 6-8 seconds before enjoying.
HOW LONG ARE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES GOOD FOR?
For the most part, chocolate chip cookies are pretty resilient. They will keep their perfect texture pretty well stored properly, but you can add a slice of bread to the container if you think they are losing their soft chew too quickly.
HOW TO FREEZE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
You can freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months. Wrap them tightly and allow to thaw at room temperature before enjoying.
You can also freeze rolled dough for up to 2 months. Bake from frozen and add 1-2 minutes to the baking time.
HOW DO YOU MAKE COOKIES STAY SOFT AND CHEWY?
Proper storage is the key to keeping cookies soft and chewy. Be sure they’re in an airtight container or zip bag and utilize the slice of bread if they’re losing softness as they sit.

FAQs for the Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Love chocolate chip cookies in different forms? Check out any of these chocolate chip cookie-based recipes next: chocolate chip cookie dough bites, chocolate chip cookie cake, cookie dough brownies, and edible chocolate chip cookie dough.




Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 and ¼ cups (270g) all-purpose flour be sure to measure properly
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (227g) unsalted butter melted1
- 1 cup (200g) firmly packed light brown sugar
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk room temperature2
- 1 and ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 and ½ cups (255g) chocolate chips3
Instructions
- In a large bowl, toss together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt. Set aside.2 and ¼ cups (270g) all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1 teaspoon salt
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. When sugar clumps disappear, whisk in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.1 cup (227g) unsalted butter, 1 cup (200g) firmly packed light brown sugar, ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar, 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, 1 and ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spatula. Fold in the chocolate chips and stir until evenly dispersed.1 and ½ cups (255g) chocolate chips3
- Chill the dough: roll the chilled dough into balls4 (I use this #50 cookie scoop for all of my standard size cookies) and place balls of dough onto a large baking sheet, large platter, or something else flat that you can stick in the refrigerator so the dough can chill. You could also chill the whole bowl of dough, but this dough is difficult to scoop once chilled, and chilling is mandatory. Cover the dough balls/bowl of dough and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, move a rack to the middle position in the oven, then preheat it to 350ºF (177ºC). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
- Place no more than 8 balls (with a preference of 6) of dough onto each cookie sheet. If you like, you can press a few more chocolate chips on top/sides of the dough balls for aesthetic purposes. Keep dough/dough balls that are waiting to bake chilled.
- Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes or until edges just start to turn brown. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely. You can reshape cookies while they are hot using a round cookie cutter or the rim of a mug or glass if they're more misshapen than you prefer. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 7 days. Baked cookies may be frozen up to 3 months. You may also freeze rolled cookie dough up to 3 months. Bake frozen for 11-12 minutes.
Video
Notes
- Melted butter: take care to melt the butter just until it’s melted and not foamy. My best tip is to melt it until there is still some stick visible, then stir it to help distribute the heat to melt the rest of the butter. If the butter becomes foamy, you may be losing too much moisture which could drastically affect the success of the cookie.
- Room temperature eggs: these are preferred for even distribution into batter. As a rule of thumb, when a recipe calls for room temperature or melted butter, it’s generally a good idea to use room temperature eggs as well. If you don’t have time to let eggs come to room temperature, place them in a bowl of warm water for 5-10 minutes before using.
- Chocolate chips: I prefer to use a combination of 1 cup milk or semi-sweet standard size chocolate chips and ½ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips for these cookies.
- Balls of dough: I have made these by just dropping cookie dough right from the scoop onto the baking sheet and also rolling the balls smooth with my hands. Dropping will give your cookies extra texture on the outside while rolling will make the cookies a little more uniform in texture. I do not prefer one way or the other, and the taste is exactly the same.
- Turn these into brown butter chocolate chip cookies: see my brown butter chocolate chip cookies recipe for full details.
- Extra large cookies: you can use a #16 cookie scoop or ice cream scoop with a trigger for larger cookies. Bake 3 cookies at a time for 15-16 minutes.
- Mini cookies: I do not recommend using this recipe to make mini cookies. Use my carefully tested recipe if you are looking for mini chocolate chip cookies.
- If your cookies are spreading: in my decade of experience with folks making my chocolate chip cookies, you can do everything right (weighing flour, chilling dough) and your cookies can still spread. Try reducing your oven temperature to 325ºF (163ºC).
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
I’ve been on a years long hunt to find my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, and I’ve found it! The only modification i made was i used arrowroot powder because i didn’t have corn starch. And i didn’t let the first batch chill long enough because i was too excited to wait and they still came out delicious.
Thanks so much, Kelly! I”m so glad you enjoyed them and happy they will make a reappearance 🙂
Me and my friend had high hopes for this recipe, but were left disappointed. Before you ask, yes, we did weigh the flour and followed the recipe to a tee even refrigerating it for hours and yet the cookies were thick, dry and barely even sweet. Atleast the chocolate chips were good 😕😩😭💅. Please help make this cookie recipe work for us!
Hi, Brittany– I’ve removed your star rating and deleted the thread of comments since you ended my questions and feedback with “you can shut up now.” I’m unsure what your intentions are for coming to my website and claiming an experience that’s never been reported over 10+ years of folks making this recipe, but you’ve invalidated your authority to speak on it. But thanks for stopping by!
Hi Lynn, these cookies were so good! I saw the comment by Brittney there, don’t let people talk to you this way, these cookies were so effing good and my whole family loved them. Brittney needs to get outta here.
Ha! Thanks so much, Mellissa 🙂
Made these today and OH EM GEE – absolutely fantastic. Followed it to the T! The dough was super tasty. I would put less chocolate chips next time as I prefer more cookie dough 😉 Thank you! YUMM
Thank you so much, Noor!
Truly an amazing cookie. The perfect blend of crunchy edges with a chewy center. I only used dark chocolate chips and added walnuts and they are just fantastic. Follow the recipe carefully and do as told, each step is critical to the success of this cookie.
Yum! Thanks so much for your review, Laurie!
Hi. Cookies is delicious soft and tasty. When I took them out the oven they were kinda greasy. I only baked 10 mins, should I bake shorter time to not have greasy cookie?
Hi, Sarita– it sounds like you MAY have heated your butter too much. Be sure when you’re melting it, it is not spattering or foaming.
Another delicious recipe! I replaced the chocolate chips with M&Ms. I love that this recipe uses melted butter so I can easily mix everything up with a rubber spatula without pulling out a mixer.
Made these today after seeing them in Instagram. My new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe! They’re the greatest!
Thank you so much, Patricia!
They came out delicious. The only drawback was that I didn’t make a double batch. The second time I did.
Haha, so glad you liked them, Roger!
I made these cookies and I was very excited but ended up disappointed. My cookies ended up puffy and cakey, not flat and chewy like I was hoping. I did follow the recipe exactly (not weighing but measuring carefully) not sure what went wrong. I chilled the dough about 3-4hours instead of the minimum 2 since I had to run to the store while it was chilling.
Hi, Aubrey– I’m so glad you gave my cookies a try! Unfortunately, this sounds like a case of too much flour. Weighing the flour exactly is the key to the perfect result. You CAN fluff/level/scoop flour if you’re familiar with doing this 100% correctly, but after more than a decade of making these cookies and hundreds of people’s reports on their experiences, I can say with the utmost confidence that not weighing the flour is the culprit.
Made these for my partner’s birthday and they are the best we have ever had! They were absolutely perfect and will be our go-to from now on.
Thank you so much, Rob!
I made these today and whooooaaaa! Absolutely delicious. I think these will be my go to recipe from now on!! Thank you!!!
Thank you so much, Shelby! I love reading reviews like this one!
took 15-16 minutes in my oven. checked every two minutes starting at 10 min.
delicious and relatively easy! i weighed all the ingredients.
one recommendation is to mix the dry ingredients thoroughly before adding in the wet.
Hey, Erin– yep, that’s what the instructions say to do with the dry ingredients 🙂 glad you enjoyed them!
These are amazing! Made for my 18 yo grandson who is leaving for his summer job on Sunday. He will be the final judge, however I think he will love ❤️ them too! I prepared exactly as the recipe using Kerry Gold unsalted butter. They are crispy and soft at the same time. Now my go to recipe. Will add walnuts/pecans and use dark chocolate next time for my husband and myself. Thank you for an amazing recipe!
Thanks so much for your detailed review, Lynne! 🙂
This is the only way I make chocolate chip cookies now! Every time they are perfect and people RAVE about them! I can’t wait to try more of your recipes!
Thank you so much, Trudy!
How long do you chill the dough before rolling it into balls?
Step #4 in the recipe: Cover the dough balls/bowl of dough and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.
Hands down, these are the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. I was hesitant to try them at first because of the melted butter, but I’m a believer now! The only thing I did differently was to chill the batter for about 10 minutes before rolling into balls.
I made these to serve on Father’s Day with ice cream. I’m sure I’ll have to make another batch soon
Thank you so much, Diane 🙂
My girls are obsessed with this recipe now that we’ve made it! My only question—I’ve followed the recipe exactly (only swapping out monkfruit sweetener because I can’t have granulated sugar), and they didn’t actually spread out in the oven. They baked as perfectly round balls 😂 any tips would be helpful! They taste amazing anyway!
Hi, Lauren– I don’t recommend making any adjustments to the sweetener in this recipe, and I’ve never worked with monkfruit sweetener so I have no advice except just not to use it! Granulated sugar has very specific humectant properties that make it work a certain way in baking, so you’d likely have to add more moisture if you want to make that swap. If you keep trying, let me know. Wish I could be more helpful.
Made these for the first time and they are fabulous! They have the perfect texture and the ratio of chocolate to dough is spot on. I like to chop up some chocolate to go in my chocolate chip cookies so did that with these, as well, and that meant that every bite had some chocolate (and even some puddles). Delicious!!!
YUM! I’m so glad you enjoy these cookies. Thanks for sharing, Melissa!
Outstanding. This has 100% become my go to (and only!) chocolate chip cookie recipe. You don’t need another — these are delicious and everyone loves them! Thank you, thank you!
Thank you SO MUCH, Serena!