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.
It’s amazing how much people love a classic chocolate chip cookie, and can you blame them? Sometimes, there’s an itch only a delicious and full-of-chocolate-chips cookie can scratch. And with over 100 cookie recipes on my website, I hope you’ll believe me when I say this recipe will be your new favorite if you give it a shot.
It was one of the first recipes I developed when I was just learning how to bake from scratch, and I did a little happy dance once I took the first bite of what came out of my oven. That can be you, too, if you struggle with getting chocolate chip cookies perfectly baked. We’ll walk through everything together!
Why you’ll love these Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
I love my chocolate chip cookies a little but crunchy on the edges and soft and chewy on the inside.
This stems from my high school days. Our cafeteria served amazing cookies, and every single day after I finished lunch, I would get 2 of them: one soft sugar cookie and one slightly crisp but chewy-on-the-inside chocolate chip.
Chocolate chip cookies have been studied by bakers all over the world for a long time. The science behind what makes them crunchy or chewy or puffy or cakey or however in the world you prefer them to be… Is incredible.
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 the lengthy version and here is a short one.
I am such a science geek, so I really love the long version. If you’re not as big of a science geek as me or just prefer a concise version, check out the shorter one.
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.
For these chocolate chip cookies, you will need:
• all-purpose flour
• baking soda
• cornstarch
• salt
• unsalted butter
• brown sugar
• granulated sugar
• an egg + an egg yolk
• vanilla extract
• chocolate chips (we’ll use both milk and semi-sweet in these cookies)
NESTLé TOLLHOUSE, BUT BETTER
I’ve said before, the Nestlé Tollhouse recipe is a winner. It’s a classic. It’s a go-to. It’s a no-fail. I use it as the base for my chocolate chip cookie dough bites, leaving out the eggs and leavening agents.
But in order to create my absolute favorite texture in my chocolate chip cookies, there are a few things I like to change.
ADD SOME CORNSTARCH
Just the same way I add a little cornstarch to my red velvet donuts 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 before aaaand 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.
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.
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.
I like to use a mixture of mini chips and regular chips, and also milk chocolate and semi-sweet chips.
The size and flavor of your chips is totally up to you… This is just the way I prefer mine and I love the variety it brings to each bite.
Once your dough is chilled (at least 2 hours and up to 3 days), you’ll roll it into balls that are 1 ounce in size (about 1 Tablespoon).
How to know when Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies are done
Bake 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 told you… Chocolate chip cookie science is real.
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.
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.
So with that, crunchy-edged-soft-centered-cookie lovers unite. I can’t wait for you to fall in love with these cookies!
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 chocolate chip cookie dough dip.
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.
The most AMAAAAZING chocolate chip cookies! To die for 😋
Thanks so much, Cheryl!
These were ABSOLUTELY delicious! The description is spot on. Crunchy outside, chewy inside. I chilled it in the fridge overnight, they were perfect. Definitely will be making them again.
Thanks so much, Joanna! I love that you love them!
These are by far the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had!
Thank you so much, Kellie! 🙂
I’m a huge chocolate chip cookie fan and love a good cookie, this is my go to cookie for now on. I hate when people say this is the best recipe try it and when I do I’m disappointed, so I figured I’d try this one and it did not disappoint at all. One batch made 3 dozen cookies and I used the pampered chef medium cookie scoop and I cooked it a little longer than the 10-11 minutes. But I checked after the 10mins and went from there. I left them cool for the full 5 minutes until I transferred them to the cooling rack and I just can’t wait to dig into them some more.
I’m SO happy to hear this, Crystal. Thank you so much!
A couple questions! Does it matter if I use salted or unsalted butter? Does it affect anything other than taste? Also, light brown or dark brown sugar? Lastly, how long do I cream the butter and sugar together?
Hi, Jacob– great questions. I always use unsalted butter, but if you want to use or all you have it salted, just reduce the added salt by 1/4 teaspoon per 1/2 cup of butter. Light brown sugar (dark brown sugar has more moisture and this recipe has not been tested with it), and cream the butter and sugar until it is light in color and fluffy in texture. This is typically about 3-4 minutes depending on the strength of your mixer. Hope that helps. Enjoy the cookies!
I’m always looking for a great chocolate chip cookie recipe and when I think found one then make it, it’s a flop. Never chewy or soft soon after they cool off. But this cookie was great! Still soft after cooling- i even subbed 1/2 whole wheat flour and added walnuts, they are delicious. The only thing I would do different next time is scoop and shape them before chilling because they were difficult to scoop when it was just a big lump in the bowl. Every baker needs a go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe and it seem like I’ve finally found mine!
Thank you so much, Kristen! I could not agree more about needing a solid go-to and I’m so glad you found my recipe 🙂
These were sooooooo good!!!! Even better the next day! 😋 this will definitely be on regular rotation!
Thanks so much, Sandra!
A really great recipe!
Thank you so much, Isa!
Followed the recipe exactly and they turned out fantastic! I’ve been making the toll house recipe for my husband for the past 27 years and he said this recipe is the only one I need to use from now on. That’s saying a lot about how good these are. 🙂
That means SO much, Claire, really! Thank you 🙂
I don’t think i’ve had better.
Thank you so much, James!
This is an unpopular opinion, but chocolate chip cookies are not usually very exciting to me. But they seemed quick and I had the ingredients so I decided to make the kids a snow day treat.
WOW! The reason I’ve never been that excited about chocolate chip cookies is because I’d never had these before! They are perfectly crispy and chewy and full of chips! 5 stars! Totally recommend! Will certainly be doing this again!
Thanks so much, Brooke!
These cookies were so east to make and taste amazing
Thank you, Diana!
Made them this evening they taste amazing the children loved them. I will definitely make them again.
Loved them. Made them today they taste amazing thank you for sharing
Thanks so much, Maj!
10/10
Finally a brown butter cookie recipe that I got right
Thanks for the recipe
They taste good but mine looked kinda wrinkly and were thicker than the photo. I used a cookie scooper.
Hi, Jay! I know we talked in email, and the picture you sent along made it look like there was too much air incorporated into the cookie dough, which typically happens when you cream butter and sugar. Since this recipe uses melted butter, it’s unlikely that happened, but it’s still possible, especially if you used a mixer instead of a whisk or spatula/spoon to mix the ingredients. Other things I’d check are that you weighed your flour properly so that the leavener ratio was correct.
i cannot begin to tell you how ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS this recipe is. these are by far the best chocolate chip cookies i’ve ever had!!! and that’s saying something as a cc cookie lover. LOVE THEM, THANKS
Thank you so much, Sofia!
Lynn! I made these for the first time this week….amazing!! I let the dough chill for more than 2 days. This is the perfect chocolate chip cookie texture for me. I used a mix of milk, semisweet and mini semisweet chips. They will have a permanent home in my cookie repertoire!! Thank you
Thank you so much, Janet! 🙂 this means a lot to me.
Absolutely delicious! My 16-year old son said, “they are the best chocolate chip cookies he’s ever had!” Easy to put together — love how you don’t need mixer! I made before cooking dinner and chilled the dough while we ate. Perfect timing to have warm cookies for dessert!
Thank you so much, Stacey! Tell your son he is my new favorite fan, haha. Appreciate the feedback 🙂
These are quite literally the best chocolate chip cookies i’ve ever tasted!! i’m usually big into making like elaborate, unique flavored baked goods but these are my new go to, keep on hand cookie. i even froze some dough so i can always have it.
Thank you so much, Haley! There’s something special about a basic classic 🙂
Made these and they are the best. Got so many compliments and can’t wait to try other recipes here. This is a keeper for my kitchen.
Thank you so much, Raji! I’m so happy you like them.