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.
Notes
Love cookies?
Try my Soft & Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies next!
I’ve been baking chocolate chip cookies for years and this is by far the best recipe I’ve ever found. My husband noticed the amazing delicious difference when I switched to your recipe and I have never looked back. I’m also at high altitude (almost 5500 feet) and they still turn out great! Thanks again!
So happy to hear that, Sammy!
I dont know what happened. I chilled dough and still the cookies came out flat and huge!
Sorry to hear that, Kate. Was the cookie dough still cold when you put it into the oven?
Should the cookie dough be still chilled when put in the oven?
It shouldn’t be warm, otherwise, the cookies may spread. I suggest leaving it chilled until right before you bake them.
Hi, I have a lot of leftover Almond Flour from making macarons, could I substitute the AP flour for Almond Flour?
I haven’t tried it, so I’m not quite sure. Almond flour is much different than all-purpose flour though, so I don’t think it would substitute 1:1 very well.
I’m so glad I found this recipe! I have searched for a good chocolate chip cookie recipe that my family would enjoy, and this is it! Thank you so much for sharing!
I love these cookies! I make them vegan with vegan butter, eggs, and chocolate chips and they still come out amazing!
My absolute favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe!! The only problem, they never last more than 2 days in my house!! Lol
Big hit with my family. I substituted half coconut oil for 1/2 the butter and they turned out amazing!
That sounds delicious!
Thank you for this coconut oil suggestion!!!
I made these for a banquet and I was very pleased at not only how they baked but how good they tasted. I would recommend these to anyone!!
Great recipe! I followed the steps closely and the cookies turned out perfect. In addition to the chocolate I also added some chopped almonds, dried cranberries and a little cinnamon.
These cookies are the absolute best. They come out very big with the right amount of thickness, sweetness and chewiness! My husband and I are in love with this recipe.
Hi! I’m in a hurry, so is it OK if I put the cookies in the freezer for 1 hour instead of the refrigerator for 2? Thanks.
Do you mean just freeze the cookie dough? It would be too hard to scoop if you do that. You can scoop it and freeze the balls of cookie dough for 20-30 minutes and then bake them.
If i wanted it to spread, do i still have to put it into the refrigerator? Thanks
The cookies will still spread even if you refrigerate them, it just helps them from flattening out too much. If you want a thinner cookie then you can skip the dough chilling.
My cookies came out absolutely amazing thank you, but I had to add an extra egg due to the fact that the dough was super thick but otherwise came out perfect I love this recipe, oh I managed to get 42 cookies instead of 38
Great recipe! I’ve been looking for a simple one that produces chewy cookies but I haven’t been satisfied. Until now! Just baked a batch and they are great. Five stars
Hi! This is my FAVORITE chocolate chip cookie recipe and the ONLY one I’ll make from now on..question…I’d like to add raspberries to this. Would you suggest fresh or frozen? Any tips to ensure they come out perfectly?
Thanks!
Hi, Jillian! Fresh raspberries would probably be okay, just keep in mind that they’re pretty soft so you’ll want to stir them in gently. I would avoid frozen raspberries just because they may add too much moisture to the cookie dough as they’re baking.
I did not have 2 hours to chill the dough, so I put it in the freezer for 1/2 hour, stirring it every 10 minutes. It still worked out great, and will certainly go into my (digital) recipe box. Also I didn’t have parchment paper, so used the old-fashioned lightly grease & flour. Not as good as the parchment paper, but still OK.
This is hands down the best cookies recipe I’ve ever made… I’ve been looking for the perfect one and I can finally let a breath out (yes cookies are that important for me!!) and say that this is the one. I followed all the instructions and even a day later they’re still soft and chewy (I also added a piece of semisweet chocolate in every cookie).
So glad you liked the cookies, Isabelle!
Could this be made in a 12″ pizza pan for a giant birthday cookie?
Yes, that would be fine! I’m not sure on baking time, but you’ll know it’s done when the top is set and lightly browned.
Thanks for your response. When I made the 12″ cookie, the batter overflowed my pizza pan as the batter rose so next time I will just use less batter. Turned out great! Cookie was moist and delicious. Will definitely make again. Kids loved it.
Oh no! Glad it still turned out great for you though, Susan. You can freeze any extra cookie dough too.
I love your recipe and I made a lot of cookies a few days ago. It was delicious! The only question I have is is it possible to make less sweet but still keep the cookie crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside?
Glad you liked the cookies! You could probably reduce the sugar slightly, about 1/4 cup. If you reduce it any more than that it will affect the chewiness and they won’t spread as well either.
Hi! Thanks for your response! Should I reduce the white sugar and brown sugar by 1/4 cup each (e.g., white sugar 1/4 cup and brown sugar 3/4) or reduce sugar (white and brown) total of 1/4? Thanks!
I would probably just reduce the brown sugar or the granulated sugar by 1/4 cup, not both of them.
I have one additional question. If I want my cookies to be more chewier, can I substitute all-purpose flour with bread flour? What would be the prefect ratio between the two? Is there any other alternations I need to consider if I use bread flour?
If you want them chewier, you can use bread flour. I would probably use half all-purpose and half-bread flour though. Or maybe like 1.5 cups of all-purpose and 1.25 cups of bread flour.
Thank you!!:D I just try to bake a batch using the ratio of bread flour and AP flour like you suggested. It tastes kind of cakey after 5 minutes out of the oven. Is this normal? Will it become chewier the longer it sits after being brought out from the oven?
Bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose, so I’d imagine that it would just make them chewier. Did you make sure to spoon and level the flour too?
Thank you! I think that explains why my cookies were too cakey! I measured the flour wrong. Need to remember to spoon and level next time.
If I want to lower the granulated sugar content for whatever reason…….. will it drastically affect the outcome of my cookie? Or can you sub granulated sugar for like a splenda or something similar?
The granulated sugar helps the cookies spread, so reducing it too much may cause them to not spread very well. I haven’t tried using Splenda, but I imagine you could use some. I probably wouldn’t substitute all of the sugar for Splenda though.
Hi, me again 🙂
do you think I can use this recipe in a cast-iron skillet to make sort of a pizzokie? Or do you think it would come out too dry / not chewy?
You could certainly use a cast-iron skillet, but this may be a bit too much cookie dough. I have a chocolate chip cookie cake recipe here, you could use that and bake it in a skillet.
If I use half of the dough for the skillet and the rest to make cookies would it work? Or just it wouldn’t bake correctly in the skillet?
It would be fine to do that!
This has been my favorite chocolate chip cookies recipe for a few months now!
Can these cookies be frozen (after baked)? If yes, how long may they be frozen?
Yes, that’s fine! They’ll freeze well for up to 3 months.
Have you heard of using the addition of cream of tartar to make a cookie soft/chewy ??
I haven’t ever heard of that, Sue. Will have to look into it!
My kids love to bake, and this is their go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies!
Hi I want to try this recipe with my daughter but I don’t have semi sweet chocolate chips. How would this affect the sweetness of the cookie if I use milk chocolate chips? Would I have to decrease the amt of sugar?
It will make them sweeter. You can reduce the sugar by a few tablespoons or just use fewer chocolate chips.
I make a lot of chocolate chip cookies as they are my favorites, and this recipe is the best I have used to date. They are wonderful and stay up nicely. Followed the recipe to the ‘t’, didn’t change it at all.
Nicely done Danielle!
Thank you, Shari! Glad you liked the cookies!
LOVE this recipe! I’m not a fan of flat crispy chocolate chip cookies, and so these are perfect! I make smaller 2-bite cookies and can usually get about 4 dozen cookies. They are gone in a matter of days, though! Smaller cookies means I can eat 4, right? Even my mother-in-law recently commented on how good these were… and that’s a HUGE accomplishment! 🙂
So happy to hear that, Julie!
Hi, will the chocolate on the baked cookies stay melty after a few days in room temp?
As long as it’s not too warm, they shouldn’t be melty.
Is it ok to chill the dough overnight?
That would be fine! If it’s too firm to scoop, you can let it sit at room temperature for 20-30 minutes and that should help.