These chocolate chip cookies are extra soft, thick, and chewy. This is my FAVORITE recipe for chocolate chips cookies and they turn out perfect every time!
I feel like a good chocolate chip cookie recipe is one that everyone should have in their recipe box. I’ve had several requests for a full batch chocolate chip cookie recipe over the last couple months. So I decided it was time to roll up my sleeves and get to work on perfecting a recipe.
And let me tell you, these cookies are good. In fact, I made these cookies for a party and every single one of them were gone by the end of the night. That’s when you know you have a good recipe for chocolate chip cookies.
So let’s talk about what makes a good chocolate chip cookie. To start, you’ll be using some simple dry ingredients like all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt. One important thing with the flour is to make sure to measure it correctly by spooning it into the cup and leveling it off with the back of a knife. You don’t want to scoop the flour out of the container with your measuring cup because the flour can become packed inside of the cup. I have a full post about how to measure flour with the spoon and level method here.
You’ll also be using one cup of unsalted butter in this recipe. Have you ever wondered why some recipes specifically call for unsalted butter? It’s because the amount of salt in salted butter can vary quite a bit between brands. By using unsalted butter in a recipe, you can control the amount of salt in it. You can use salted butter in this recipe if you like, but I suggest reducing the amount of salt to about 1/2 teaspoon if you do.
Another thing that makes this chocolate chip cookie recipe so delicious is the amount of brown sugar. I prefer to use more brown sugar than granulated sugar in most of my cookie recipes because it adds moisture and more flavor. I like to use 1 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar in these cookies. Brown sugar is a wonderful ingredient to bake with, especially when it comes to cookies!
You’ll also be using a couple of room temperature eggs. Just make sure to set your eggs out with the butter and let them both come to room temperature before getting started on your cookies. If a recipe calls for room temperature butter, it’s best to make sure your other ingredients are room temperature as well.
And the chocolate chips? I use an entire 12-ounce bag (or 2 cups) of semi-sweet chocolate chips in this recipe. It may seem like a lot, but keep in mind that this recipe will make about 38 cookies. Plus, you can’t have a good chocolate chip cookie recipe without a good amount of chocolate chips in each cookie. Am I right?
Another important that with this recipe is that you need to chill the cookie dough. I know it can be a pain to have to wait to chill cookie dough, but trust me here. Not only will the cookies taste better, but they’ll bake up so much thicker. I’ve found that 2 hours is the perfect amount of time to chill this cookie dough.
And if you want soft cookies, I suggest taking these cookies out of the oven as soon as the edges are lightly golden brown and the tops are set. Then, let them cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes and transfer them to a wire rack to finish cooling. I do this all the time with my cookies and they turn out perfectly soft every single time!
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) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200 grams) brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 12-ounce package (2 cups) 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 an electric mixer, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar for 1-2 minutes until well combined. Add in the eggs and vanilla extract one at a time and mix until fully combined.
- Slowly mix in the flour mixture and continue mixing until just combined, then mix in the chocolate chips, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- 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. Line large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
- Remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator, using a 1.5-2 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 as they will spread a little while they bake.
- Bake in separate batches at 350°F for 10-12 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly golden brown and the top is set. Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Recipe Notes
Cookies may be stored in an airtight container on the counter for up to 5 days.
Love cookies?
Try my Soft & Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies next!
O boy! I am craving chocolate chip cookies now looking at these pictures!! These look so good, wish I had some for after dinner treat!!
Thank you so much, Ami!
I love your cookie recepies they are delicious oatmeal cranberry now im making chocolate chip know they are gonna good as well. I make batches at a time roll them in a log and freeze them to have on hand. Keep up the good work.
Thank you, Latasha! I’m glad you’re enjoying the cookie recipes!
Each scoop is two tablespoons? Mine don’t look anything like yours. After 10 minutes they are still large mounds. Should I be flattening them somewhat? They smell delicious though!
Hi, Pat! I use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop when measuring the dough. And I don’t press them down, they do flatten some as they bake. I’m wondering if maybe there was too much flour in your cookies and that’s why they stayed so large? Did you scoop the flour out of the container or spoon & level it? I hope the cookies still turned out good for you!
yummy Thanks fpr sharing
I made this recipe twice by now. I baked for 10 minutes and turn to be just how I like it. Soft and yummy. Another batch I baked it for 12 minutes and it’s crispy.
Delicious recipe. Thank you very very much??
So happy to hear you liked the cookies, Yurika!
These are the best I have ever made!
I’m so glad you liked the cookies, Jayme!
I plan on making these tonight and I have a few questions .
Are you supposed to pack the brown sugar ?
Do you sift the flour ?
I typically just lightly pack the brown sugar and there’s no need to sift the flour, but make sure to spoon & level it instead of scooping it out of the container.
I made these cookies last night , and they were so so good , they came out so soft and chewy. MY kids ate 2 of them as soon as they came off the cookie sheet and went on the cooling racks even though they were still hot . Even my most pickiest child loved them. I am making some more tonight to take to my parents tomorrow for them , my sister and brother . Great Recipe Thank you for sharing it.
So glad you and your kids enjoyed the cookies, Justine!
Bombdiggidy. Best ive ever made. Holler girl!
Glad you liked the cookies, Noah!
Forgot to rate.
Tastes excellent! Baked some for my neighbor and they loved it! Soft and chewy. Best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made and tasted!
So nice of you to bake cookies for your neighbor, Brielle! I’m glad you liked the cookies!
Hi I just baked your oatmeal raisin and your oatmeal cranberry. White chocolate cookies and they were a hit! Now I want to try these but I only have milk chocolate morsels. Is it ok to substitute the semi-sweet ones with the ones I have?
Yes, they’re just a little sweeter than semi-sweet but that would be fine!
This is the second or third time making this recipe and they are delicious. However, I have run into a dilemma. I make these cookies for gift boxes that I transport from Kentucky to Tennessee (about 2 1/2 hours) for New Years Eve. At this point I am going to have to try to make three batches of these cookies on Friday night along with two other types of candy. I was wondering if I could make the dough ahead of time ( a couple days) and bake them on Friday to cut down on the labor on Friday night.
I’m glad you liked the cookies, Cindy! You can make the cookie dough 2-3 days in advance, cover tightly, and refrigerate it. It may be a little hard to scoop at first. If so, you can leave it on the counter for 20-30 minutes and that should help. Or you can scoop out the cookie dough, roll into balls and store in the refrigerator covered tightly, then just bake when you’re ready. Hope that helps!
I have made these 2 times now. I do 1 teaspoon scoops perfect size for my kids. And I put double the amount of vanilla. And I cook 8 mins. But love these
So glad you like the cookies, Melinda! I just made a batch the other day 🙂
Baked 15 minutes and they’re still raw. Followed recipe exactly too.
Every oven is different, but it sounds like yours may not be hot enough? Have you tested your oven temp with an oven thermometer? Baking times are always a suggestion, you need to bake the cookies until the tops are set and edges lightly browned.
Can I reduce or cut sugar? It’s too sweet for me.
You could probably reduce the sugar by 1/4 cup. But keep in mind that sugar is what helps cookies spread, so you may need to flatten them a little to help them spread if you do.
Tried this recipe and substituted the sugar with honey. They turned out awesome, the best chocolate chip cookies I have made! Thanks so much for sharing the recipe it will be a staple in our house.
Glad to hear that the cookies turned out great with the honey, Terrell!
Can dark brown sugar be used in this recipe? Will it make the cookies dark in color?
Yes, that’s fine! It will make the cookies a little bit darker.
This recipe is perfect! I added dark chocolate m&m’s to the top right after I took them out of the oven. So good!
So glad you liked the cookies, Dani!
Mine look like soft mounds but the taste is just right for us. This will be our choco cookie recipe. We loved it.
Sending thanks from the Philippines
You want to make sure to spoon & lever your flour, if you scoop it from the container it can cause that to happen. I’m glad you liked the taste of the cookies though!
I made these for the first time in my new home I purchased last month and I have to say….. they’re AMAZING! My children can’t stop sneaking a cookie here and there! Best cookie recipe over come across . Great advice on how to make them chewy… mine came out tasting like bakery goods. Thank you again!!!🙌🏼
So happy to hear that, Michele!
ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS RECIPE but can this dough be frozen?
Yes, absolutely! You can freeze balls of cooking dough on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, once frozen place in a freezer bag/container. You can bake the cookie dough from frozen for an additional 1-2 minutes or thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bake as directed.
Hey love….this recipe was amazing!!!!….it worked out so well….instead of using mixing bowl…I heated the butter and sugars on the stove on a very low temp….also I used self rising flour….my family couldn’t stop eating them…I made half a batch and making the rest tonight….thanks for sharing have a great week!!!!……😊
So happy to hear that everyone enjoyed the cookies, Ranada!
Quick question, do we have to wait the 2 hours? It’s getting closer to my kids’ bedtime and I want to make these before they go to bed so they can also enjoy them :).
If you don’t chill the cookie dough, the cookies will spread some. How much they will spread just really depends on how warm the butter is in the cookie dough. You could bake a dozen and see how they turn out? If they spread too much, then I would chill the dough. You could also scoop it and freeze the cookie dough balls for 15-30 minutes and that may help speed up the process. I do have a small batch chocolate chip cookie recipe that only requires 10 minutes in the freezer. Here’s a link: https://www.livewellbakeoften.com/small-batch-chocolate-chip-cookies/.
Wow I just made these tonight and they are going to be my got to recipe! Thanks so much for the super instructions to! To bad we can’t share photo’s on here tho. My grandson is going to absolutely love these.
In case anyone is wondering about the salt…..I only had salted butter and did as the recipe instructs and decreased the salt down to 1/2 tsp perfect results!!
So glad to hear that, Sheri! If you have Instagram you can tag me there or just e-mail me a picture too! 🙂
I tried this recipe and I thought it was very sweet for my taste.
There is some way to make less sweeter without changing much the recipe?
Thks!
You could reduce the sugar by 1/4-1/2 cup. Keep in mind that sugar also helps cookies spread, so if you reduce the sugar you’ll want to slightly flatten them otherwise they may not spread well.
will it still be chewy if i refrigerated the cookie dough? thank you in advance!
Yes, absolutely!
Cookies Were Amazing. My Daughters Loved It! & Husband Ate About 4 Once Cookies Were Done. & Let Me Tell You Hard to Find Cookies 🍪 He Likes. I Will Definitely Be Keeping This Recipe In My Home. & Will Be Using For Upcoming Holidays. Perfect!
Thank you, Yolie! So glad everyone enjoyed the cookies!
Made these tonight and they were delicious! The family devoured my first batch as soon as it cooled. My sister made cookies last night from another recipe, and she must not have known your flour trick—they ended up a bit mountainous—so you’ve given me the tool to earn some sibling superiority. Thanks!
So glad the cookies turned out great for you!
Seriously the most amazing homemade chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had. This recipe is perfection! Thank you. ❤
Thank you, Rylee!
About what size cookies would this recipe yield? I would like to try these very soon.
Once they’re baked, the cookies are about 2.5-3 inches in diameter.