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
i was just searching around for some recipes &&i picked yours(=
i mean they look delicious; but i'd like to see how the other from CI turned out too.
i guess i could just try some when i bake them, lol.
nvm then, ill bb for an update on how they were!
Ah Shelbie, that stinks! I wonder what happened…I can only think that something had to have been measured wrong because that shouldn’t have happened!
Can I just say how much this recipe failed for me?
Yours look so BEAUTIFUL! I was actually excited on my way home from school today to start these cookies because I knew my mom had gone to the store to get chocolate chips.
But once I had mixed all the ingredients, exactly how I was supposed to, the dough was very sticky(I guess from the melted butter?) and hard to work with. So I added about 1/3 cup more flour, but it was still pretty sticky. And after they were baked, they lacked the attractive brown color that yours had, so they seemed undercooked, yet the edges weren’t crispy–they were rock hard! The center was soft and chewy as promised, but the edges were extremely messed up.
Where did I go wrong? 🙁
WOW! These cookies turned out perfect even in my very funky Bosnian oven. I also had to use Muscavado brown sugar (its all I can find here) thats really dark which I am not a huge fan of at all, but they were still delicious. I just ate one for breakfast (Shhh!) and I thought for sure since it was the day after and I had just left them sitting on the counter all night that they would be all crispy, but no…it was AMAZING! Still so chewy and moist. I couldn’t believe it. Thanks for a fantastic recipe once again.
I find it interesting that this recipe was taken from the Cook’s Illustrated one, because there’s one appreciable different; this one contains nearly a cup more flour than the Cook’s one, and that turns out to be the difference between a moist, delicious cookie, and a cookie that leaves globs of grease on your fingers when you touch it and might clog all your major arteries. I followed that Cook’s recipe to the letter and the cookies were gross! 1 3/4 stick butter to 1/34 cup flour??? Never again. Thank God I found this recipe and turned it all around. I made them exactly as suggested and they came out perfect. Thanks so much!!!
Finally got around to trying these and they are my new favorite! Yummy!
I have always been really bad at making CC cookies, but this recipe made me look like a pro! Very delicious, even my picky hubby loved them. Thank you so much!
I tried it… and YUM! The only thing is, I think that there’s too much butter. Yeah, I know… how can there ever be too much butter… but I think 1 stick was enough. They were soooo soft though. YUM! Absolutely loved, and so did the fam.
Is there any way you have this recipe in some metric form? I’m from the states, but I’m currently in Austria. 🙁 I miss American food so badly, but using a coffee cup and soup spoon aren’t cutting it as measuring tools. (As evidenced by my chewy pancakes.)
And they don’t have cookies here. At least not this delicious kind.
OK, so I made the cookies yesterday, and they are AMAZING! YUM! I wrote at the top of this recipe, “it’s a great one!” The kids were impressed and my husband even wanted to take some to work! YEAH!