When it comes to defining the “perfect” chocolate chip cookie, I’ve found that everyone has their preferred type of recipe and many factors (elevation, humidity, personal preference) can influence that definition. These Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies are definitely one of my favorites! I recommend scooping them large so they have time to develop their signature buttery-crisp edges and retain their soft centers.
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- All-purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Butter – Always use real butter if you can. One thing that’s unique about this recipe is that we’re using melted butter. Melted butter coats the flour more thoroughly than creamed, softened butter, limiting gluten development and resulting in a denser, chewier cookie.
- Brown sugar – Light or dark.
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs –You’ll need one whole egg and one egg yolk. The extra egg yolk adds fat without extra liquid, creating richer flavor and the soft, chewy texture these cookies are known for.
- Vanilla extract
- Chocolate chips – Semi-sweet or bittersweet.
How to Make Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- We’re starting with some melted butter. I recommend melting slowly at half power until all the pieces are almost melted and let residual heat finish melting it. It should be just warm to the touch, not hot.
- That gets mixed up with typical cookie dough ingredients: all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, vanilla, a whole egg, and and egg yolk.
- Fold in some chocolate chips and you’re good to go!
- Transfer the dough to a parchment lined baking sheet. I prefer the texture of these cookies best when scooped large, in a ball of about 3 tablespoons of dough. A scooper works great! Don’t flatten them down after placing them on the baking sheet.
- I’ve learned you can under-bake them by quite a bit because they set up well and get more crisp around the edges as they cool. So don’t wait for them to get browned, just set. Once they come out of the oven, let them cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a baking rack. Enjoy!
Storing and Other Tips
- Store fully cooked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy with days for best results.
- Freeze cookies in single layers, with each layer separated by parchment, in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw desired number of cookies at room temperature.
Frequently Asked Questions
You don’t need to, unless your butter was too warm. However, if you find your cookies are spreading flat in the oven, refrigerating the dough for 30 minutes before baking can help!
Yep! Feel free to prep the dough up to 48 hours before baking. For ease of baking later, scoop the dough into balls and refrigerate in single layers, with each layer separated by a sheet of parchment, in an airtight container. This will make it easy to transfer portioned dough onto your cookie sheet when ready to bake.
Yes. Portion dough into balls and freeze on a cookie sheet. Once frozen, transfer to a freezer-safe container or zip-top bag and freeze up to 3 months. Bake directly from frozen at 325°F for 14-16 minutes, or until edges are set and centers look slightly under baked.
Yep. Feel free to add nuts or change up the flavor of baking chips. You can also add citrus zest, spices, or whatever you’d like!
We’ve had readers report great success using a good quality 1:1 gluten-free flour blend!
Find your Favorite chocolate chip cookie!
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoon butter 1½ sticks melted and cooled until warm*
- 1 cup brown sugar light or dark
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- *You want your butter melted, but not hot. It’s best when it has a milky look, not clear yellow. Your dough will be quite loose if you use hot melted butter and you’ll need to wait for it to harden a bit before scooping your dough. I recommend melting slowly at half power until all the pieces are almost melted and let residual heat finish melting it. It should be just warm to the touch, not hot.
- Heat oven to 350℉. Adjust oven rack to middle position. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
- Beat butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Scoop into balls (see Notes below for alternate scoop method) and bake until outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy. Baking time will depend on the size of your cookies. I think the texture of these cookies are best when scooped large, about 3 tablespoons of dough, each, which will bake for 9-12 minutes. Cool cookies on cookie sheets. Serve or store in airtight container.
Notes
- Store fully cooked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy with days for best results.
- Freeze cookies in single layers, with each layer separated by parchment, in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw desired number of cookies at room temperature.
- Alternate scoop method: This recipe as written from ATK suggests rolling 1/4 cup dough into a ball and then breaking it in half, placing the broken side facing up on the cookie sheet. The craggly texture of the top creates a nice shape and texture to the baked cookie. That being said, I almost always just use an extra large cookie scoop and skip the breaking part because it’s quick and easy and they still turn out amazing.
Nutrition
Questions & Reviews
This is THE BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe! It is the only one I will use when making chocolate chip cookies. I have made them over and over again. Perfect, every time!
My darling husband was craving cookies so I thought I’d try this recipe. He wasn’t sure he wanted me to deviate from our tried and true recipe but I convinced him to try these and now he is SOLD! In fact he made a cookie dough sandwich with them. (some of the dough between two warm from the oven cookies). What men think of!
Hi, can someone give me a tip or two? I attempted am attempting to make these awesme cookies, but the step where I am wondering if I did right is mixing the 1 1/2 cups of melted butter with the 1 cup of brown sugar, then I added the vanilla extract and the 1 egg + 1 yolk , ok at this stage my brown sugar would sink and it seemed as though the butter kept separating from the brown sugar no matter how fast and long I mixed it for( it didn’t look like pasty like on the picture posted at all) so I shrugged my shoulders and figured maybe after I add the 1large egg + egg yolk it will improve well it did but still did not look right. But it may workout in the end. Ok so I added the flour mixture and I put the “cookie dough” mine looks more like gooey paste consistency so I put it in the fridge to harden it a bit so that I can shape them put on the sheet. I’m still waiting for it now, but someone please give me a tip
Perhaps you had a mis-measurement somewhere? Did you use real butter? It should come together with no problems so I’m not sure!
Ps oops I meant 1 1/2 sticks of butter. I wrote cups instead of writng sticks. But I measured it right. My cookies came out just fine they looked awesome and had great flavor. A little cakey due to my part because while I was making this recipe I discovered I had no baking soda so I got a tip” but I’m going to do the recipe with baking soda and do it the right way!
I’m trying this recipe asap! I like a soft cookie not chewy, gooey, nor cakey. I can’t really explain it but I hope this recipe is just what I need. I will let you know how I liked this recipe…
P.S. What’s Kate’s recipe?
Kate’s recipe is right here: https://fit-over50.news/2008/03/chocolate-chip-cookies/%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
Oooooh! Thank you Sara!!! I can’t wait to try these ! I just threw my batch of chewy chocolate chip cookie dough in the oven my kiddos love the chewy, I may like Kate’s recipe better I haven’t tasted anything yet though but I will let you guys know!
Made these two weeks ago and they didn’t last long at all! I plan to make more tomorrow! Best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever!!! Thanks for sharing!!
So, I’ve just found a new Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe….This one!! WOW!! It is SO yummy and SO easy!! I even baked them with my two daughters (ages 9 and 4), and they turned out!! Thanks again for yet another wonderful recipe!! 🙂
So I have made these several times and now have figured a few things out:
– The original recipe from CI says to break the 1/4 cup of dough in half and then squish those two halves together. These make really big cookies (although that didn’t stop me from downing 3 out of the oven…) so I would stick with Sara’s way and just do the halves
– Oddly enough, the dough seems to work better mixing by hand (don’t know why?!) but the good news is it is really easy to mix by hand
– The dough usually seems runny even after mixing in the flour, but by the time you measure out the choc chips and dump them in it is more dough-like. Still really sticky, but more like cookie dough. Like Sara said, DO NOT ADD MORE FLOUR! Chill or just have faith that sticky = chewy
– I am in Utah, and even after chilling or freezing the dough for a bit, mine tended to bake really flat (although still yummy and chewy!) I read on a CI message board to chill for an hour or more in the fridge (I usually cut it down to 15-20 mins in the freezer) and then bake at 375. Obviously shorten your time from the original recipe, but that seemed to help, they were more bakery like after that.
YUM! I love me a chewy cookie.
Oh, these are my favorite, too! I’ve been making them since the recipe first appeared! In fact, I have about 3 dozen in the freezer right now.
I need this cookbook!
I love Cook’s Illustrated too. They are so beautiful, have yummy recipes and they are so informative. I love your website! Thanks for all your hard work. I gave my daughters (and myself) OBB calendars for Christmas. 🙂