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Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Large, bakery-style thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies that stay soft for days – a family favorite!
These cookies have been around for a LONG time! I first made them over eight years when I fell in love with America’s Test Kitchen and my new Baking Illustrated cookbook. I had long been on the hunt for a fabulous thick and chewy chocolate chip cookie and I had finally hit pay dirt! This was my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe for years upon years, until I stumbled upon The New York Times chocolate chip cookie, which I modified a bit to become my NEW favorite thick and chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe.
However, these cookies made a resurgence in my kitchen last weekend and were due for a revival here on the site, especially since they’re one of my all-time most popular recipes!
A few months after finding this recipe, my sister and I traveled out to Chicago for a family event and stayed with a cousin. I brought a package of these chocolate chip cookies as a thank you for having us stay with them. Their family (my cousin, her husband, and their two girls) went CRAZY for the cookies. So much so that any time my sister went back out there, she would ask me to make a batch to bring to them.
MY OTHER RECIPES Well, they were here in Pittsburgh visiting over the weekend, so I immediately knew what I would be baking to have on hand for them. When I pulled out the cookies, it was truly Christmas in July, they were so excited!
THEN, my husband tried one. He said, “this isn’t the recipe you usually make, these taste different”. I told him he was right and he probably hadn’t tasted these because I had been making the NY Times cookies since shortly after we began dating. He immediately exclaimed, “these are so much better!”
My husband and I have never seen eye to eye on chocolate chip cookies – I like massive, thick, super soft cookies with loads of chocolate chips. He prefers way less chips (what!) and isn’t opposed to a super crunchy cookie (bleh). So the fact that we both love these cookies speaks VOLUMES to how amazing they are!
While the NY Times cookies that I love require some refrigeration before they’re baked, these can be mixed up and baked right away, so you’ll have warm cookies fresh from the oven and ready to devour in about 45 minutes. Can’t beat it!
What’s your favorite type of chocolate chip cookie?
One year ago: Coconut Bundt Cake with White Chocolate-Coconut Glaze
Four years ago: Homemade Butterscotch Sauce
Five years ago: S’mores Cupcakes
Did you make this recipe?
Large, bakery-style chocolate chip cookies that stay soft and chewy - a family favorite!
- 2
cups
+ 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½
teaspoon
baking soda
- ½
teaspoon
salt
- 12
tablespoons
unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1
cup
light or dark brown sugar
- ½
cup
granulated sugar
- 1
egg
- 1
egg yolk
- 2
teaspoons
vanilla extract
- 1½
cups
semisweet chocolate chips
Adjust the oven racks to the upper- and lower-middle positions and preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
Using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and sugars until thoroughly blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Reduce the mixer speed to low, add the dry ingredients and beat until just combined. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips.
Roll a scant ¼ cup of the dough into a ball. Hold the dough ball with the fingertips of both hands and pull into 2 equal halves. Rotate the halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, join the halves together at their base, again forming a single ball, being careful not to smooth the dough's uneven surface. Place the formed dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, jagged surface up, spacing them 2½ inches apart.
Bake until the cookies are light golden brown and the outer edges start to set, yet the centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheets front to back and top to bottom halfway through the baking time. Cool the cookies on the baking sheets. Once cool, store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. These can also be wrapped in plastic wrap, placed in a freezer bag and frozen for up to 2 months.
Nutritional values are based on one serving
Calories: 280kcal
Fat: 13g
Saturated fat: 8g
Cholesterol: 40mg
Sodium: 105mg
Potassium: 121mg
Carbohydrates: 36g
Fiber: 1g
Sugar: 23g
Protein: 2g
Vitamin A: 5.4%
Calcium: 2.6%
Iron: 9.7%
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
This recipe was originally published on June 21, 2008.
What’s your favorite chocolate chip to use in this recipe?
I buy Ghiradelli semisweet chocolate chips.
It seems like a lot of complaints about this recipe could be because one person’s cup of flour is not the same as another person’s cup of flour. If enough flour is not used cookies can turn out flat and too buttery. Just wondered if you used 5oz per cup as mentioned in your May 24, 2016 Baking Basics: Weighing Ingredients post. Thanks!
Yes I did!
I made these today. They are great. Perfect sweetness. I made my own brown sugar using unrefined cane sugar and added a some molasses to it (just Google it!). Then I measured it like you would with regular brown sugar. I didn’t want to waste the egg white so instead of a yolk I used a substitute – 1T coconut milk. Apparently, you can use applesauce or banana too. Ok. My point is this recipe works and it’s great. Yes, I made substitutions but they are minor. I a trained chef and I know this recipe will work even if I didn’t do the substitutions. My son said it’s the best chocolate chip cookie he’s had. And oh – do measure your ingredients properly and follow the instructions. That’s all. Thank you for the recipe, browneyedbaker!