Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies that are perfect in every way! This is the only chewy chocolate chip cookies recipe you’ll ever need. Soft, chewy, tender cookies that are so easy to make! Craving chocolate? Make sure to try my Chocolate Chip Salted Caramel Tart and Flourless Chocolate Cake!
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate chip cookies are far and away America’s favorite cookie. And I totally understand why! That chewy, chocolatey goodness is too much for me to resist too!
There seem to be a couple of camps of people when it comes to their chocolate chip cookies: those who like them crisp and crunchy or those who like them soft and chewy. Me? I call firmly into the soft and chewy category with one small exception. I want my cookies to be slightly crisp around the outside edges but soft and chewy in the middle.
With all the chocolate chip cookie recipes on the internet, they usually fall into one camp or the other. I like to be right in the middle – the best of both worlds.
The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies
I spent a bit of time wondering what to title this blog post… maybe “The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies”, or “Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies”… because after experimenting with LOTS of chocolate chip cookie recipes (tough job I have, right?), this recipe is my absolute favorite.
In the end, I settled on the title “Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies”, because that’s what they are. And although these are in fact “perfect” to me… I know there is a wide range of thoughts on what makes a perfect chocolate chip cookie.
What Makes a Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe?
For me, a perfect chocolate chip cookie has a lightly browned, crispy edge with a soft and chewy center, and, of course, rich flavor. They shouldn’t be too puffy or cakey, but also not be totally flat or crisp. Wow, that’s lots of words to describe a pretty simple cookie!
So, I came up with one and now I’m sharing my recipe with you. If you like chewy (but also crisp), gooey, flavorful, easy to make chocolate chip cookies, then this recipe needs to come to life in your kitchen very soon!
Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients
- All-purpose flour – All-purpose flour is what most of us have in our pantries and that’s what you’ll need for this recipe.
- Baking soda – Baking Soda creates a leavening reaction to give your cookies just a bit of lift so that they aren’t flat.
- Salt – Salt within the recipe helps to balance and pull forward the sweetness from the sugar and the chocolate chips.
- Unsalted butter (melted) – Using unsalted butter helps to control the amount of salt (and the flavor) of the cookies. You want that buttery taste with the right amount of salt instead of too much salt. Using melted butter helps your cookies stay chewy and soft. If you do use salted butter, omit the salt that the recipe calls for.
- Dark brown sugar and white sugar – Using dark brown sugar in this chewy chocolate chip cookies recipe helps to keep your cookies soft and chewy while adding some depth with a slight caramel flavor. The white sugar helps to balance out the flavors so that the cookies have just the right amount of sweetness and caramel flavor without being too much.
- Egg and egg yolk – these add texture to the recipe while also helping to bind everything together. The extra egg yolk makes the cookies extra chewy.
- Vanilla extract – no cookie worth its salt omits the vanilla extract. It adds a flavor that, while subtle, is definitely noticeable when missing. It’s job is to enhance the flavors of the other ingredients.
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips – Can’t have a chocolate chip cookie recipe without chocolate chips! I opted for semi-sweet chocolate chipsThe ultimate flavor ingredient in this recipe. See below for optional substitutions.
- Walnuts or pecans (optional) – These aren’t necessary for great chewy chocolate chip cookies, but they do offer some crunchy texture to complement the softness of the cookie.
How to Make the Best Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Combine dry ingredients: add flour, baking soda, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Set aside.
- Melt the butter: Once it’s melted, add it to another large mixing bowl (or the bowl of an electric mixer).
- Blend melted butter and both sugars: Beat (or stir vigorously by hand) until the butter and sugars are well combined and the mixture is smooth and shiny.
- Add the eggs and vanilla: Continue to beat until fully combined.
- Add the dry ingredients, chocolate & nuts: Pour your flour mixture slowly into the mixer, then the chocolate chips (and nuts if desired), and blend just until all the flour is mixed in (don’t over-mix).
- Chill the dough: Preheat oven to 350℉ and move the bowl of cookie dough to the fridge for 10-15 minutes (while the oven heats up).
- Scoop the dough: Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper, then use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the batter onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheets. If the dough is too soft, move the entire baking sheet (with the cookie dough on it) to the fridge for an additional 10-15 minutes.
- Bake the cookies: one baking sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes (I usually bake mine for 10 minutes). Remove the cookies from the oven when the edges of the cookies are just BEGINNING to get golden brown, and the centers of the cookies appear slightly under-baked.
- Cool: Allow the cookies to cool about 5 minutes on the baking sheets. During this time they will continue to cook, firm up, and brown. Once partially cooled, carefully transfer cookies to a cooling rack.
Tip: Keep the remainder of the dough in the fridge while you are baking the others. Keeping the dough cool will help the cookies keep their shape while baking.
FAQs
Baking is part science and part art. Here are some frequently asked questions and their answers to help you make a batch of the best chewy chocolate chip cookies ever so that you say “wow” every time!
What Makes a Cookie Chewy? The most important factor in making chewy cookies is moisture content. Cookie dough with a higher moisture content will yield a softer, chewier cookie.
The butter, eggs, and brown sugar (thanks to being made with molasses) all contribute moisture to your dough. Also, brown sugar is slightly acidic, which helps the baking soda to leaven your cookies so they aren’t flat and crispy all the way through.
How Do You Make Chocolate Chip Cookies Chewy?
- Use more brown sugar than granulated sugar – the higher moisture content helps keep your cookies soft and gives the best chocolate chip cookie flavor.
- Underbake them (just slightly – we aren’t going for raw “cookies”!)
- Store them in an airtight container – the longer you leave them out in the air, the harder they’ll get.
- Melted butter in this chocolate chip cookie recipe makes the most chewy chocolate chip cookies.
Why Use Melted Butter? Some cookie recipes use softened butter instead of melted butter. I use melted butter in this recipe because it yields cookies that have a softer and chewier texture.
Why Refrigerate the Dough? I know, I know. As soon as the dough is mixed up, you want to throw those bad boys into the oven so you can enjoy them faster (trust me, I understand!). However, there is a purpose behind chilling the cookie dough before you bake it. Putting your cookie dough in the fridge solidifies the fat so that it takes longer to melt than room-temperature fat does. The longer the fat takes to melt, the less your cookies will spread! Chilling the dough also gives the flavors to meld together and intensify.
The longer you chill the dough, the better the flavor.
Do You Have to Use Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips? No, not at all! One of the best things about this recipe is its versatility. While semi-sweet chocolate chips are the classic go-to, if you want to change things up, try replacing them with:
- Milk chocolate chips
- Chocolate chunks
- M&Ms
- Chopped candy bars
Can chocolate chip cookies be frozen? Yes. You can freeze after they have baked and cooled but my preferred method is to freeze the cookie dough. Form the dough into cookie dough balls and then flash freeze for an hour. Then just transfer the frozen cookie dough into a freezer safe bag. The cookie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months!
To bake, remove the cookie dough from the freezer, preheat the oven and add an additional couple minutes to the bake time. You can also just the dough that in the fridge overnight and bake for the indicated bake time.
Can they be made in advance? Yes. The cookie dough can be prepared and chilled for up to tw0 days before baking.
These Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies now have a permanent place on my list of favorite recipes! I love that they can be mixed up and enjoyed all in less than an hour, perfect as an after-dinner treat. And because this recipe is so easy to follow, kids can help make them (or maybe even make them for you)!
Happy baking!
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More Cookie Recipes
How to Make Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 1/2 sticks, melted
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar packed
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans optional
Instructions
- In one large bowl add flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.
- Melt the butter, then add to another large bowl, or the bowl of an electric mixer.
- Blend melted butter with both sugars, and beat (or stir vigorously by hand) until the butter and sugars are well combined and the mixture is smooth and shiny.
- Add the egg, then the egg yolk, and continue to beat until fully incorporated.
- Add vanilla and blend well.
- Pour flour mixture slowly into the mixer, then the chocolate chips (and nuts if desired), and blend just until all the flour is incorporated.
- Preheat oven to 350*F and move the bowl of cookie dough to the fridge for 10-15 minutes (while the oven heats up).
- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Scoop the batter (using a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop) onto the parchment paper lined baking sheets. If the dough is too soft, move the entire baking sheet (with the cookie dough on it) to the fridge for an additional 10-15 minutes. The cookie dough should be somewhat firm before baking, or the cookies will turn out very flat.
- Bake cookies, one baking sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes (I usually bake mine for 10 minutes).
- Remove the cookies from the oven when the edges of the cookies are just BEGINNING to get golden brown, and the centers of the cookies appear slightly under-baked.
- Allow the cookies to cool about 5 minutes on the baking sheets, and they will continue to cook, and firm up. Once partially cooled, carefully transfer cookies to a cooling rack.
- Keep the remainder of the dough in the fridge while you are baking the others. Keeping the dough cool will help the cookies keep their shape while baking.
Notes
Tools Needed
2 Tablespoon Cookie Scoop | Cookie SheetNutrition
Originally published September 15, 2013.
Hi Glory! I’ve made this cookies a few times and each time I’ve made them, they’ve completely flattened out on the tray (although I imagine chilling them could combat this issue), and they always turn out cakey rather than chewy. The first time I made them, I failed to melt the butter but after correcting this the second time round, I still had the same results. Any ideas? 🙂
Hi Sophie, Yes, as you mentioned, if the cookies are baking flat the dough needs to be chilled longer.
The melted butter is an important factor in the cookies being chewy, other than that it may come down to personal preference, and what you or I might consider cakey or chewy. I might suggest baking the cookies a bit less as well. Remove the cookies from the oven when they appear slightly under-baked. They will continue to bake and set up after you remove them from the oven.
Happy baking!
Hi Gloria I was wondering why does the butter have to be unsalted?Does it affect the cookies?
Hi Dalilah, The standard for baking is always to use unsalted butter because then you know exactly the amount of salt being added to a recipe (salted butter can vary in the amount of salt it contains). I imagine you could use salted butter in this recipe, but you would need to reduce or eliminate the additional salt listed.
When I made them first time, they came out flat but soooo delicious that it didn’t matter to me 🙂 Even my husband ate 6 of them (he doesn’t like sweets). I made them again (I left the dough longer in the fridge) and they look like cookies! Thank you for this amazing recipe 🙂
Have you ever tried freezing these? If so, do they turn out okay after defrosting?
Hi Eliza,
No, I have not tried to freeze these yet. I would guess it would work out pretty well. If it were me I think I’d rather freeze balls of dough and bake them fresh when I needed (wanted) them.
My 8 year old daughter and I just made these and all we have to say is…………YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!
These were the first cookies I’ve ever made from scratch and they were delicious! I’ve made them twice and here are my observations…baking the two cookie sheets separately is indeed very important! I also think these taste better after they sit overnight. Thanks Glory!
Hi. These look great! This may be a really stupid question, but I want to make sure I don’t mess anything up. When you say one egg and one egg yolk, does that mean you use one whole egg and the second should just be the yolk? What would the difference be if you used two eggs? Thanks!
So I’ve made TONS of your recipes, and they’ve always turned out amazing! I must have had bad luck with these because they turned out super thin and flat. I know another baker had the same issue and you recommended further cooling the batter, so I did that, and they were marginally better but still very thin. I know you said to use a two tablespoon cookie scoop (which I used), but the cookies were HUGE, much bigger than in the pictures. Were they meant to be that big? It’s interesting though because any cookies I’ve made with baking soda and no powder always turn out super flat. Any suggestions?
Hi Mariellle, So glad you’ve enjoyed my recipes in the past! Sometimes it’s hard to diagnose the exact issue without being with you in the kitchen. Yes, the dough should be chilled, and firm (or at least slightly firm). You can really make most any size cookies you like. I used a 2 Tablespoon scoop as noted, and the baking time is reflected for that size, so if you make larger, or smaller cookies you’ll need to adjust the time. I recently used this same base recipe for White Chocolate Cookies (here, https://www.glorioustreats.com/white-chocolate-macadamia-nut-cookies/ ) with very similar results. I’m sorry it’s hard to know exactly what else to recommend. You might experiment with reducing the oven temperature a bit.
You couldn’t have chosen a better name for these cookies and they look like they live up to it. Pass the plate and glass please 🙂
Yum! These look great!