These chocolate chip cookies are extra soft, chewy, and they turn out perfect every time. This is the only chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need!
I feel like a homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe is something that everyone should have in their recipe box. Several years ago I spent quite a bit of time working on creating the perfect chocolate chip cookies and after several attempts I finally landed on the perfect recipe.
So today I wanted to share this classic cookie recipe with you again because it’s one that I make all of the time! Not only are these the best chocolate chip cookies you’ll every try, but they’re also:
- Easy to make
- Incredibly soft and chewy
- Full of melted chocolate chips
- Super delicious!
Every single time I make a batch of these cookies, people go crazy for them and ask how to make them. That’s when you know you have a good recipe!
Recipe Ingredients
First things first, you’ll want to gather all of your ingredients for these cookies. Let’s discuss each one and why it’s important to this recipe:
- All-Purpose Flour: The flour is what provides the structure and helps them hold their shape. Just be sure to measure your flour correctly. Too much flour can lead to cookies that won’t spread in the oven.
- Baking Soda & Salt: The baking soda helps give the cookies a little lift and the salt enhances the flavors.
- Unsalted Butter: I prefer to stick with unsalted butter in all of my recipes, since the amount of salt in salted butters can vary quite a bit between different brands. Only have salted butter on hand? Simply reduce the salt in this recipe to 1/2 teaspoon.
- Brown Sugar & Granulated Sugar: The brown sugar adds moisture and creates chewy chocolate chip cookies while the granulated sugar helps them spread.
- Eggs & Vanilla Extract: There are two eggs in these cookies to bind everything together plus a little vanilla extract. I also recommend using room temperature eggs as they will disperse more evenly into the dough.
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips: I find that semi-sweet chocolate chips work best because they’re not too sweet and not too bitter. Feel free to use any kind that you prefer though!
How To Make Chocolate Chip Cookies
Once you’ve gathered all of your ingredients, it’s time to prepare these easy chocolate chip cookies. Here’s a simple breakdown on how to make the cookie dough and bake the cookies.
- Whisk together your dry ingredients: Whisking the dry ingredients separately will help ensure that the baking soda and salt are evenly dispersed in your dough.
- Beat the butter and sugars together: I like to mix the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together for 1 to 2 minutes or until they’re well combined.
- Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract: It’s best to mix in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the vanilla. I also suggest stopping to scrape down the sides of your bowl at this point and mix one more time before adding the dry ingredients.
- Add the dry ingredients: You only need to mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.
- Mix in the chocolate chips: You can either gently fold in the chocolate chips or mix them in on low-speed until they’re fully incorporated into the cookie dough.
- Chill the cookie dough: This will help ensure that your cookies don’t spread too much in the oven. I find that two hours is the perfect amount of time!
- Scoop and bake the cookie dough: I suggest using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop because it creates the perfect cookie. The cookies will also take about 10 to 12 minutes in a 350°F (177°C) oven. You’ll know they’re done when the tops are set and the edges are lightly golden brown.
- Allow the cookies to cool: I prefer to let them cool on the baking sheets for 5 to 10 minutes, since the residual heat helps the cookies finish setting up. Then, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Quick tip: If you want perfectly round cookies, use a spoon to shape the warm cookies once they come out of the oven.
FAQ’s
How do you prevent your cookies from being flat?
If your cookie dough is too warm your cookies may spread more in the oven. If you find that they’re spreading too much, chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator longer. You can also place the balls of cookie dough in the freezer for 20 minutes to speed up the process.
What do I do if my cookies don’t spread in the oven?
Too much flour in your cookie dough can lead to cookies that won’t spread very much. If you find that your cookies aren’t spreading very well, simply press the cookie dough down to flatten them some before baking.
Can you freeze the cookie dough or baked cookies?
Yes! I suggest scooping the cookie dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place the baking sheet in the freezer. Once the cookie dough is frozen, you can store it in a freezer bag or container in the freezer for up to 3 months. To bake the cookie dough from frozen, add an additional 1 to 2 minutes of baking time.
Baked cookies that have cooled completely will freeze well for up to 3 months too. Simply place the cookies on the counter and thaw to room temperature before serving.
Can I prepare the cookie dough ahead of time and refrigerate it?
Yes, you can! The cookie dough may be covered tightly and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. If it’s too hard to scoop, let it sit at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes and that should make it easier.
Baking Tips
- When measuring your flour, make sure to stir your flour around, spoon it into your measuring cup, and level it off with the back of a knife.
- If you forget to bring your eggs to room temperature, simply place them in a bowl of warm water for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Feel free to swap out the semi-sweet chocolate chips for dark chocolate or even milk chocolate chips.
More Homemade Cookie Recipes!
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Soft & Chewy Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Soft Peanut Butter Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Classic No-Bake Cookies
Video Tutorial
Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 and 3/4 cups (345 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (230 grams; 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 grams) light brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 12-ounce package (2 cups; 340g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large mixing bowl using a handheld mixer, cream the butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar together for 1 to 2 minutes or until well combined. Mix in the eggs and vanilla extract one at a time until fully combined, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Slowly mix in the dry ingredients and continue mixing until just combined, then mix in the chocolate chips on low-speed until fully incorporated into the cookie dough.
- Cover the cookie dough tightly and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours.
- Once the dough is almost chilled, preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Line three large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
- Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator, using a 1.5 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough and drop onto the prepared baking sheets. Make sure to leave a little room between each ball of cookie dough.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly golden brown and the tops are set. Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Absolutely best recipe I’ve tried and I’m not a talented baker haha! I found this recipe shortly after I got married go surprise my husband, and now they’re his favorite! I’ve been making them for 2 years now and love them!
I just don’t get why you need to freeze them but they are really good…
Not sure what you mean about freezing them? You do chill the cookie dough so that the butter is cold and they don’t spread in the oven.
I was hoping for slimmer chewy types but these were not. Tasty but now what I was hoping for. Followed exactly.
Why do my cookies keep coming out ugly and bread like ??? My flour is new my sugar is new I followed the recipe…. the chocolate chips are hidden they are ugly!! What am I doing wrong 🙁
Are you making sure to spoon and level your flour? Or are you scooping it from the container with the measuring cup?
At first I had my doubts, especially when I read to chill the dough for 2 hours, But I ended LOVING them they’re so fluffy and too sweet!
I’m looking to make the best chocolate chip cookies this Xmas. But I’m looking for chewy soft and NOT flat. For some reason they always come out flat. I would like them fluffy at last a little fluffy. I’m baking for my nieces and nephews. Hope this works out for me this year. Since my mom was just diagnosed with kidney failure stage 5 so we are all devastated were all traveling to spend Xmas with her. Lost our dad in 2009. And me and my husband moved so far 7 hrs away. He’s the only one with a job as a driver. So I appreciate him taking me. I regret moving here to Modesto no job no friends no family. I’ve always enjoyed office work. We moved away at the wrong time. So paycheck to paycheck. I thought baking works saves$$ wishme luck. Sorry for venting
Debbie, Sorry to hear your Mother is not well. It is always hard to have a family member ill when we are close by, let alone far away. Safe travels this Christmas Season. I will pray for your Mom, you and your family.
If your cookies are coming out flat, perhaps your eggs were not warm enough or you haven’t chilled the dough long enough. Warm eggs help trap air and makes your baking fluffier. The cooled dough makes the butter melt slower when cooking and helps the cookies not to spread out so much.
Best cookies ever ! Omg my husband loves them , Sometimes I make 2 batches a week
These cookies are really good I made the for school and everyone loved them too. If the author sees this i am wondering how many calories would be in one cookie.
So happy to hear that, Addie! I’m not sure about the nutritional information, but you can plug everything into an online calculator to get an estimate.
I really appreciated all the tips in this recipe. It was like you were reading my mind. Only thing I changed was 1/4 cup less flour. I was a little afraid it would be too much. I compared this to the toll house recipe while I was mixing it and decided I would go half way between the two. I did forget to bring eggs to room temperature. Of course I put 2 tsp. Vanilla in. That is just genius. Who doesn’t love extra vanilla. I made them too big but that was just my first batch. They became very hard to mix and my cheap mixer was struggling. Probably should have mixed by hand. I think my recipe could have handled the extra 1/4 cup of flour now. Actually think it needs it. I think it will help form a better cookie. I don’t understand why some people said they tasted cake like. I was worried after I read those comments. Thanks for posting this recipe and going the extra mile and giving the extra info. I took a picture but I don’t see where I can add it. Thanks again.
Fool proof delicious cookies! Oh my goodness these are the best tasting and easiest from scratch cookies ever. Followed the recipe exactly but only had time to chill the dough for about an hour, and they still came out perfect.
YUM! Soft and delicious. Perfect cookie recipe. No freezing cookies or dough here, they were all eaten!
I followed the recipe exactly but the cookies came out very “Cakey and fluffy” the taste was there, but the texture was not what I expected. Now I have a ton of dough to a cookie I’m not very fond of; would there be a way to fix it, or should I toss it?
I checked flour measurements properly and I used my scale to the grams.
If you followed the recipe exactly it’s really hard to say why they would have turned out cakey. Some reasons this can happen are due to over mixing the butter and sugar (which incorporates too much air), using too much baking soda (or accidentally using baking powder), using another kind of flour, using larger eggs than the recipe calls for, etc. You can try letting the dough come to room temperature before baking it and reducing the baking time slightly and see if that helps.
Thank you so much. I did use unbleached AP, but I do think I might have mixed the butter sugar mix too much. What are your thoughts on melting the butter first?
You can melt the butter first, but you will want to still chill the cookie dough if you do.
My cookies were cakey as well. Did you bake yours as a ball? I think that might be why mine came out so tall and cakey. They didn’t spread too much. I may have also packed the flour too much when measuring, throwing the ratio off. Not sure.
They should still spread in the oven. Did you make sure to spoon and level your flour? If not, that’s probably the reason the cookies didn’t spread very well.
Can you double or triple this recipe??
I haven’t tried it, but I imagine that you could double it. You will want to be very careful not to over mix the dough though.
Good cookies, but they didn’t turn out soft and chewy…more cake like.
This is the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe I have found yet. I have been baking for years, and make about a 1000 cookies every Christmas season, and have tried so many different chocolate chip cookie recipes to find the perfect one, and this is it!! These didn’t spread thin, they were soft and chewy (even several days after baking), and they look beautiful! One tip I do, to get that perfect round cookie, is as soon as they are out of the oven and still warm, I use a round cookie cutter, slightly bigger than the cookie, and swirl the cookie inside of it. That makes the edges round and perfect and it also squishes the cookie up a bit, adding to the chewiness. (Also, follow the directions and make sure to let your dough chill! I let it get cold overnight and I think that really is the key to not spreading).
Thank you for this amazing recipe!!
I tried these today- and they came out absolutely perfect! This is the best batch of cookies I have ever made, and I got rave reviews from everyone that tried one! Thanks!!
These came out fluffy and chewy and just perfect bite size! I did about 1 1/2 table spoon dough balls and right at 10 minutes, left them on the bake tray from another min or 2 then set on cooling rack. I also had some course chopped pecans thrown in that set these off. I chilled overnight, halved the batch and froze one half and baked the other. They came out just as good after being frozen. Will become a staple recipe I think.
I accidentally mixed alll dry ingredients together including sugar and then realized the recipe called for them to be mixed with the butter. How will this change the texture??
I’m really not sure, I’ve never mixed the dough together that way. Hopefully they still turned out okay for you!
Can you please help me half this recipe? I am only baking for two people and do not want 38 cookies, haha. I just want to make sure I get the measurements right. Thanks 🙂
To halve the recipe, you would use:
1 and 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons (173 grams) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar packed
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated sugar
1 large egg at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (170 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips
This was the worst recipe I’ve ever used my cookies were dry and I followed the recipe exactly! I am not happy with this.
Sorry the cookies didn’t turn out well for you, Diana. Did you make sure to spoon and level your flour? And did you happen to scoop the cookies smaller, but still bake them for the same amount of time? If you over baked the cookies, that could be another reason they were dry.
I absolutely love this recipe! However, my family finds it too sweet. Is it possible to not put white sugar?
You could probably reduce the sugar slightly, but keep in mind that sugar helps cookies spread. Depending on how much you reduce it, you may need to flatten the cookies some before baking. You can also reduce the chocolate chips if you prefer.
This recipe works well all the time for me.
It truly makes the best chocolate chip cookies. Thanks for sharing.
Today I have dark brown sugar on hand would this make a difference if I incorporate dark sugar instead of light brown?
It would be fine to use dark brown sugar!
These were great! I had to extend the baking time to 14 minutes for my oven, which is not uncommon. I’m not sure where people get “cakey”, these were spectacular, gooey, chewy discs of happiness. Thank you for the recipe!
These are excellent oatmeal choco chip cookies. The best I’ve tried over the past decade!!! Making them again right now and thought I’d provide a review. They are delicious. I use large flake oats and prefer it this way instead of the quick regular sized oats. Also milk chocolate chips (not semi sweet) – they make all the difference!!!!
Do they taste bad if you don’t let them sit for 2 hrs?
No, they still taste fine. You want to chill the dough for 2 hours so the cookies don’t spread too much in the oven.
Substituted almond flour (cleaned out the pantry) and the family can’t stop raving. Easy, delicious and foolproof! Thank you!!
I’ve tried to make this recipe twice. Both times the cookies are chalky and do not spread. They’re very crumbly and don’t taste good. I’ve followed it to a tee so I’m not sure how everyone else gets good results. I think there is too much flour.
Did you make sure to spoon and level your flour? Or did you happen to scoop it from the container? And did you use 2 sticks of butter? I’ve made these dozens of times and never had any issues with them not spreading.
Super chewy and delicious! I used salted butter and the taste was perfect, I didn’t need to use less salt. This is a great recipe, surprisingly simple and easy to follow along. I definitely will be baking these cookies again!
will it make a difference if I use dark brown sugar instead of light?
The dark brown sugar will give the cookies a slightly richer caramel flavor, but you may not notice the difference very much.
I’m still chilling my dough but from the taste and texture; I can tell these will be amazing!! Thank you for all your hard work and testing to make such a great recipe and sharing it with the world! (: to all the people complaining about a “cakey dough” make sure you’re measuring flour correctly.. scooping compact cups of flour will give you too much and end you’ll end up with crumbly dough and cakey cookies. I’ve made hundreds of cookies and these are wonderful! ❤️ Thank you for sharing (:
Update: I baked them and they are AMAZING. chilled for about 3-4 hours. And added m&ms to some. SO GOOD!
Thank you for this recipe. I bake a lot and research new recipes often. I REALLY appreciate that you scaled your recipe to use whole measurements (like 1 standard bag of chocolates chips, whole sticks of butter, and whole eggs). In case you wonder if anyone noticed 🙂
Thank you, Jennifer!
Loved these cookies! My cookies were tasty, chewy and soft. However, they spread a lot and became really thin. Any tips to keep them from spreading thin to have a thick cookie that maintains the soft and chewiness? Thanks!
Hi, Savanna! You can try chilling the cookie dough longer or add an extra tablespoon or two of flour.
These cookies taste very floury and the next day they were quite hard. Would not do this recipe again. Way too much flour!
Did you make sure to spoon and level your flour? The cookies shouldn’t taste like flour.
I followed this recipe exactly yet they came out cakey and fluffy which I have never experienced with chocolate chip cookies before. I usually use a simpler recipe and they always turn out great. I have an old fashioned gas oven so I even tried at slightly different temperatures and at different levels of chilling and they all turned out like cakey balls. They still taste okay, but kind of a bland flavour compared to what I’m used to, and I definitely prefer more of a chewy texture. I put in about half the amount of chocolate chips but I’m not sure that would make that much of a difference..
Did you make sure to spoon and level your flour?
Delicious, I used coconut oil instead of butter and turned out amazing! I think the key is creaming the butter (or coconut oil) with the sugar!
LOOOOOvee This recipe! I’ve tried so many and your advice about the room temperature eggs and flour was on point! I did use alittle less flour… I was afraid they would be too fluffy! Like a 1/4 cup and had salted butter so I used 1/2 a teaspoon of salt. My cookies have been coming out flat and would get hard if not eaten right away! These were perfect! Once I mixed everything I did chill in the freezer in the bowl for about 20 minutes and while a batch was cooking i would put the bowl in the freezer again until all the dough was gone. Made about three batches! Found my go to recipe!
Thank you for your time and energy to write and out this out for us and all your reply’s I have seen!
Love~ Making cookies in the Sun in Arizona!