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Thick, soft, chewy, and fully loaded with chocolate chips, this easy recipe turns an everyday treat into the indulgence of a lifetime. Everyone will be smitten with these meltingly tender Chocolate Chip Cookies!
If you’re looking for more classic cookie recipes that the whole family will love, try these soft molasses cookies, these cut out sugar cookies, or these chewy oatmeal raisin cookies!
It’s hard to adequately express the utter amazingness of these chewy chocolate chip cookies. To make things easier, I put together a list that highlights some of my top favorite elements.
- Perfect texture. If you love thick, super chewy, pillowy soft cookies, these ones are going to turn your whole world upside down. It’ll be love at first bite!
- Simple ingredients and instructions. This recipe is made with kitchen staples and requires just half an hour of prep work. No need to chill the dough or let it rest!
- Adaptable. I usually just pack these cookies with chocolate and leave it at that, but it’s really easy to add other mix-ins of your choice, too!
- Easy to store. These chocolate chip cookies stay soft and chewy for days and maintain this texture even when they’re cool.
Recipe Ingredients
Enough said! Let’s get started on the greatest homemade cookies of all time. Check out the recipe card toward the end of this post for the amount associated with each ingredient.
- All-purpose flour – Use a food scale to measure your flour for guaranteed accuracy.
- Cornstarch – I like to use some cornstarch in these cookies. It helps to prevent them from spreading too much while they rise in the oven.
- Baking soda & baking powder – You’ll need both to achieve just the right rise and texture.
- Salt – To complement the richness of the chocolate chips and ensure a soft, moist result.
- Unsalted butter – Bring this to room temperature before you use it.
- Light brown sugar & granulated sugar – Unlike the flour, the light brown sugar should be packed tightly into the measuring cup.
- Large eggs – I threw in an extra one to add even more moisture and mass to these cookies.
- Vanilla extract – Choose a high-quality extract to achieve the best flavor.
- Semisweet chocolate chips – Or any other chocolate chips of your choice.
This recipe is likely just as easy as the one included on the packaging of your chocolate chips – only the results are far superior! Here’s how it’s done:
- Prep the baking sheets. Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set the prepared pans aside.
- Mix the dry ingredients. Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set the mixture aside.
- Cream the butter and sugars. Cream the butter and sugars together in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until the mixture is light in color and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. You should be able to see the change in color happen and know it’s ready.
- Add the eggs. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well after each addition.
- Pour in the vanilla. Stir in the vanilla extract and mix until well combined once more.
- Combine the wet & dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until mostly combined. Do not over-mix the batter.
- Mix in the chocolate chips. Add the chocolate chips and use a silicone spatula to fold everything together into a uniform cookie dough. The dough will be thick and a little sticky.
- Shape the dough into balls. Use a 1/4 cup measuring scoop to scoop out the cookie dough and drop it onto the prepared baking sheet. Use your fingers or a spatula to shape the cookies and make them a bit round. They should be about the same size as the measuring scoop – thick and tall.
- Bake the cookies. Bake the cookies for 11-12 minutes. They will spread a bit and the centers will look soft, but done. Remove them just as the edges begin to turn golden. Don’t over-bake the cookies.
- Let them cool. Remove your chewy chocolate chip cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheets for 4-5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling. You can enjoy them while they’re still a bit warm if you’d like.
Tips for Success
Bring a batch of these cookies to any event and you’ll leave with a bunch of new friends. These tips will help you make sure every cookie comes out absolutely flawless!
- Measure the flour carefully. Never fill a measuring cup with flour by scooping it directly out of the bag. Instead, fluff up the flour and spoon it into the cup little by little, then level it off at the top with a butter knife. This prevents over-packing, promoting an accurate measurement. Of course, using a food scale is the best way to achieve accuracy.
- Don’t over-mix the dough. If you over-mix your dough, the cookies won’t come out as soft and chewy. Stop stirring it as soon as the wet and dry ingredients are mostly combined. After that, fold in the chocolate chips gently.
- Make them pretty. I like to press a few extra chocolate chips onto the tops of my dough balls before I bake them to enhance the aesthetic of the finished cookies. You could even sprinkle on some flaky sea salt for an extra special touch.
- How can I tell when my cookies are done? Once the edges of your cookies start to turn golden brown, they’re ready to be removed from the oven. The centers will be soft, but they shouldn’t look doughy.
Substitutions & Recipe Variations
This fail-proof cookie dough can be used as a base for all sorts of different creations. Try one of the irresistible flavors below!
- S’Mores Cookies: Fold crushed graham crackers into the cookie dough and swap out 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips for mini marshmallows.
- Cookies & Cream Cookies: Substitute 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips for white chocolate chips and exchange the other 1 cup for roughly chopped Oreo cookies.
- Butterscotch Cookies: Use butterscotch chips instead of chocolate chips.
- Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies: Replace a portion of the chocolate chips with peanut butter chips and drizzle the cooled cookies with melted peanut butter. Alternatively, you can swap out all or some of the chocolate chips for chopped Reese’s peanut butter cups.
- Salted Caramel Cookies: Reach for chopped Rolos instead of chocolate chips and top each ball of cookie dough with a sprinkle of coarse sea salt before baking.
How to Store
Once cooled, these cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. Good luck getting them to stick around for more than one!
Warm up individual cookies in the microwave for 5-10 seconds at a time before digging in, if desired.
Chocolate chip cookies tend to do well in the freezer, and these chewy delights are no exception. Freeze the cooled cookies in a heavy-duty freezer bag with all of the air squeezed out for up to 1 month. Alternatively, you can wrap each cookie in a tight layer of plastic wrap and freeze them in an airtight container. Thaw out frozen cookies before you enjoy them.
You can never have too many chocolate chip cookie recipes on hand! Here are some others that you’ll love:
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pizza
- Cherry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cake
Watch How to Make It
Print
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 24 minutes
- Total Time: 49 minutes
- Yield: 14
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These chocolate chip cookies are extra thick and chewy. Every bite is absolutely packed with chocolate – they’re sure to be a hit anywhere you bring them!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups (325g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (168g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (112g) packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (52g) sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups (296g) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugars together in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until light in color and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. You should be able to see the change in color happen and know it’s ready.
- Add the eggs one at a time and mix until well combined after each addition.
- Add the vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until mostly combined. Do not over mix.
- Add the chocolate chips and use a silicone spatula to fold everything together into a uniform cookie dough. Dough will be thick and a little sticky.
- Use a 1/4 cup measuring scoop to scoop out the cookie dough and drop onto the prepared baking sheet. Use your fingers or a spatula to shape the cookies and make them a bit round. They should be about the same size as the measuring scoop – thick and tall.
- Bake cookies for 11-12 minutes. The cookies will spread a bit and the centers will look soft but should look done. Remove just as the edges begin to turn golden. Don’t over bake.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on baking sheets for 4-5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Yield: Makes 12-14 cookies.
- To Store: Cooled cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. Warm each one in the microwave for 5-10 seconds at a time before digging in if desired.
- To Freeze: Freeze cooled cookies in a heavy-duty freezer bag with all of the air squeezed out for up to 1 month. Alternatively, wrap each cookie in a tight layer of plastic wrap and freeze them in an airtight container. Thaw out frozen cookies before enjoying.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Cookie
- Calories: 357
- Sugar: 27.3 g
- Sodium: 181.1 mg
- Fat: 18.7 g
- Carbohydrates: 44.9 g
- Protein: 5.1 g
- Cholesterol: 52.7 mg
I made these a few days ago and they looked amazing, but tasted like flour :/
What can I use instead of a cookie scoop? I don’t have one so I’m wondering if I could possibly use something else instead.
I actually used a regular measuring spoon, not a cookie scoop. So that would work.
Hi! Just want to ask what kind of sugar do you use? And sorry to be asking this because this is my first time, what do you mean to cream the butter and sugar? Is this the same as mixing them in a mixer? Thanks
These cookies use both light brown sugar and regular granulated white sugar. As for creaming, it’s a method of mixing. You want to cream the butter and sugars together for about 3-4 minutes, until you actually see the color of the mixture lighten noticeably and the texture get creamy and fluffy. You can check out the video for these white chocolate macadamia nut cookies too, where I talk about it and show it. I hope that helps!
Looks like the perfect recipe! Can’t wait to try this!!
HI there! I cant wait to try these I have never used cornstarch. One question about the butter – salted and unsalted? i have read most blogs are saying unsalted now….
I use salted butter. If you use unsalted, you’ll want to add about 1/4 tsp of salt.
You might want to edit the recipe card to say that you use salted butter, and to add 1/4 tsp of salt if you use unsalted. I used the unsalted butter I already had at home and didn’t read the comments before baking, so they’re salt-less. They’re tasty, but just don’t have that “classic” chocolate chip cookie flavor.
Great suggestion Alexis! I’m sorry about that! I’ve updated the recipe.
Do I need to chill the dough before making these?
Thanks!
You can, but you don’t have to.
Hi!
I followed the recipe and instructions perfectly, but my cookies turned dome-shaped, and cakey. Why could this have happened?
Hmm, it’s so hard to say without being there. I’m sorry.
I just made these and they were a disaster! Trying to figure out what I did wrong since there are so many success stories in your comments. I used unsalted butter and spooned my flour into the measuring cup, so I am thinking not enough flour and should have added a little salt-though the flavor is good, they spread wayyyy too much and weren’t even close to being done on the inside but nearly burnt on the outside. Do you cool the cookie dough at all before you scoop it onto the cookie sheets? I also had no cornstarch but substituted 2tsp of flour (something I found on line as an acceptable substitute but maybe not for baking? Idk.) Any suggestions anyone?
The cornstarch is actually pretty important in this recipe and the additional flour wouldn’t work as a substitute. The cornstarch helps the cookies not spread as much while cooking, so they stay thick while they bake and bake evenly. I’d suggest trying again with the cornstarch.
The same thing happened to mine and I did have the cornstarch, they spread into one giant cookie and the flavour is decent. No idea what happened, but it’s almost put me off to try them again even though these look heavenly!
Hi 🙂
So I’m about to make these cookies, but I was just wondering about a few things..
1) I usually use margarine, I’ve heard that using margarine will keep the cookies soft and chewy even after they’ve cooled. But you say to use butter, I’m just wondering if you’re sure they’ll turn out chewy because my cookies almost always turn out hard.
2) In a cooking class once, I learned that you shouldn’t pack the flour. As in, you should just fill the cup with flour till it’s overflowing, then use a spatula or butter knife to make it even. Is that what I should do? Or should I just scoop flour out of the bag and make sure it’s nice and packed?
And 3) if I use a normal cookie scooper, how big do you think the cookies will turn out? And is it ok if I chill my cookie dough for a bit?
I can’t wait to try these, they look amazing and I hope mine turn out like these too. I can bet you I’ve tried almost a hundred cookie recipes 🙂
I haven’t ever tried margarine in these cookies so I can’t say how that would work. These do turn out chewy if not over baked. It’s very important to remove the cookies at the specified baking time. They might look a little undercooked in the center, but will continue to cook and firm as they cool.
You are correct that the flour shouldn’t be packed.
Cookie scoops come in different sizes in my experience, so I can’t really say what size they’ll be. You’ll want to watch them as they bake so as not to over or under bake them. It is fine to chill the dough first.
I hope you enjoy them!
I made a batch the other day, and they were delicious!
One question tho, they turned out pretty soft and chewy, yet kind of cakey almost. Is that ok?
They are definitely meant to be soft and chewy. I find them to be more dense than cakey though. I’m glad you enjoyed them!
I am totally going to make these this weekend. Thank you for posting this!
One real quick question though, did you flatten out the dough after you scooped it? You put the dough into the 1/4 cup and then round it out onto the cookie sheet, but then do you flatten it at all, or do you just leave it in a big ball?
I do flatten them a bit, but they will also spread while they bake.
Hi,
Can I confirm what type of flour do I use for this recipe, & if I could use unsalted butter instead of salted?
Will it also be possible to share the recipe in gram instead of cups?
Thank you.
I use all purpose flour. You can use unsalted butter, but might want to add some salt yourself – probably 1/2 tsp. I will try to get grams added asap. Thanks!
I was a little cautious to try this recipe simply because the ingredients it called for were foreign (using them in cookies) to me, such as cornstarch and baking powder. But oh my gosh! These cookies are amazing!! They are definitely my new favorites! And my family agrees! I ended up adding about 1/2 cup more flour than what was called for and they turned out perfect. Great recipe.
I’m so glad you gave them a try and that you loved them! Thanks!
Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
I use salted butter
They look heavenly. I want to make my hubby some. I live in a town over 4,500 above sea level so all my recipes have to be modified. Do you also live at a high altitude or have any idea how to adjust for it?
I don’t Megan, I’m sorry.
Is there a difference if i freeze them over night first? Thanks
You can definitely freeze them, just make sure they come back to room temperature (or close) before you bake them. If they are too cold, they won’t spread.
Oh my god, these look amazing. I have been searching for the perfect chocolate chip recipe for so long! One question, do you scoop or spoon your flour when measuring?
I use a measuring scoop. I have all different sizes – 1 cup, 1/2 cup, etc.
No, I mean how do you put the flour into the scoop? You get more flour if you stick the measuring scoop into the flour container than if you spoon the flour into the scoop, so with some recipes the difference is enough to affect the end product. I think a couple of my past failures were due to not enough flour, that’s why I’m asking.
Oh, I gotcha! I stick the measuring scoop into the flour bag, scoop it, shake off most excess, then level it with the flat end of a knife.
I tried these today, and SUCCESS! I have found my one true chocolate chip cookie recipe! 😀 You have no idea how happy I am. For the longest time I could reliably make just about any cookie other than chocolate chip. Well, technically I could make chocolate chip cookies, they just turned out flat and crunchy. Or underbaked in the middle. Or floppy (yeah, I don’t know how I did that either). Springerle, sure, every Christmas for years. Gluten-free citrus macaroons, absolutely. Soft bakery-worthy sugar cookies, many times without fail. The humble chocolate chip? Not so much. Until now!
I did make one modification, which was to use a large cookie scoop instead of the 1/4 cup scoop to form the cookies. Big cookies are great, but lots of times after dinner I just don’t have room for a giant cookie, you know? They turned out soft and delicious even though they were smaller than yours. 🙂
That’s so awesome! I’m glad they were a success! 🙂 Thanks Lindsay!
I use a 1/4 cup scoop for my big fat chewy cookies too!
Awesome! It seems to make the perfect size cookie!