Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
These large, bakery-style thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies stay soft for days and are a huge family favorite. Made with melted butter, a high brown sugar to white sugar ratio, and an extra egg yolk to ensure super soft cookies, they require NO chilling time and are the perfect after-school snack.
These cookies have been around for a LONG time! I first made them nearly 12 years ago 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!
How to Make Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Start with Butter: We use melted butter to keep the cookies super soft and moist.
- High Brown Sugar to Granulated Sugar Ratio: Brown sugar ensures soft cookies and the white sugar helps the cookies spread out. For cookies that are chewier and have a more robust flavor, we use double the amount of brown sugar to white sugar.
- Egg & Vanilla Extract: Eggs provide structure and an extra egg yolk gives the cookies a boost of softness. Vanilla is our flavor enhancer!
- Dry Ingredients: You’ll need all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt for structure, rise and flavor balance.
- Chocolate Chips: Of course! One and a half cups give you chocolate in every single bite without being overwhelming.
Ahhhh that dough!
There’s a little shaping technique that makes these cookies have that gorgeous bumpy texture on top that looks like they came straight out of the bakery.
All of that combined to make these my oldest, most favorite chocolate chip cookie that needs absolutely no chill time whatsoever.
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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?
Watch the Recipe Video Below:
One year ago: The Best Chocolate Frosting
Five years ago: Overnight Chilled Plum-Oatmeal Pudding
Seven years ago: Peach Coffee Cake
Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 g) + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup (220 g) light or dark brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1½ cups (270 g) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- 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.
Notes
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, updated in July 2016 with new photos, and then refreshed in August 2019 with updated photos and more recipe tips.
[photos by Ari of Well Seasoned]
I made these last night for my dessert, which were cookie ice cream sandwiches. I’ll start by saying great recipe and flavor/texture. No complaints there at all.
However, the pull apart method works to get the bakery look on top, but it made for a very ‘tall’ ball of dough when you mash them together, since the ball tends to mash upwards. I had to bake them longer than the 18 min mark since they made for tall/thick cookies due to the height of the dough ball and even the edges weren’t setting (which is nerve-racking since you never want to go over the max baking time out of fear of over baking).
I figured another method to get the bakery look without the pull-apart/mashing, which just didn’t do it for me. Roll a smooth ball at the desired size. Place the ball in one palm, and use your other hand to ‘ruin’ the top of the ball by scratching and picking at the top surface. I have nails, so could do this easily, but you could probably use a fork to. Ruining the smoothness gets you the scraggly look. Make sure the scraps fall into the dough bowl, so you can scoop it up in your next ball. Worked for me…! great recipe though – got rave reviews.
Hi Michelle – Just wanted to let you know I made these with carob chips and loved them! Totally satisfied my cookie craving. I posted them for Father’s Day! I’d love if you’d check the post out: http://piesandplots.net/carob-chip-cookies-sundaysupper/ :)
So I just pulled my cookies out of the oven and the are beautiful! Thanks for sharing this great recipe!!!
After years of making recipes I’ve found online, none has prompted me to leave a comment…until now. No one has to ever search for another CCC recipe again, this one is the end all. A friend made these for my husband and I, we ate them all, she had to make another batch, and then send me with the recipe. On the drive home my husband said he always thought my CCC were the best, but now he realized they were only like a 6 compared to these which are off the charts. I bring them everywhere with unending compliments. Thank you for doing all the hard work so we don’t have to (we just get the compliments). You’re the best!
I have been using this recipe for the last year, I bake these 2-3 times a month, my fiancé is a carpenter and on Fridays I like to send him with a treat for all the other guys, however HE is a hard one to please when if comes to baked goods. His mother was a goddess in the kitchen, trained in Paris, and I have been left to “fill her shoes” in the baked goods department. My fiancé also completed pastry school, so he knows his cookies. What I am trying to get to is this freaking recipe saved me. Actually all the recipes on this page have. He eats what I cook now! And raves about it! Your recipes have actually given me the confidence to cook in the kitchen! and try new things (I used to be the girl who set cakes in fire and only was allowed in the kitchen if it was to microwave soup) anyway, these are the best chocolate cookies you’ll ever make and I am so appreciative for this site!
I just made these a couple days ago and I love them!! I am extremely picky about cookie texture (I almost never eat store bought cookies, even oreos)! I hate crunchy cookies, as a result I bake all them time because I much prefer the soft and chewy texture of homemade cookies – plus that way I can make them exactly the way I like them. This recipe is perfect! Definitely my go-to for chocolate chip cookies now. My family definitely loves them too, they were gone in nearly one day! I may make a double batch next time. ;)
Yum! These look good! I was just wondring, will it make a differance if I use milk chocolate chips?
Hi Hannah, The cookies will have a sweeter taste, obviously, with milk chocolate, but that’s the only difference.
Oooh, I have really wanted a recipe for these kind of cookies, I love the cookies that are nice and soft and kind of undercooked in a way. But I’m trying to find a recipe like this for a chocolate cookie with white chocolate chips. Is there any way I can modify this recipe to have that, (like, changing the chocolate chips to white, I know, but adding cocoa powder or replacing something with cocoa powder?)
Hi Emy, I actually have a few different chocolate cookies like you’ve described. They’re all under the “Cookies” category on the site: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/category/recipes/cookie-recipes/
Hi I’m just about to make this I don’t have baking paper liner nor non stick spray can I use silver foil instead. I hope I can get a quick reply. Thanks
Hi Nadia, The cookies will stick to the foil. Definitely use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. I don’t recommend using non-stick cooking spray, as it can add extra grease and cause the cookies to spread flat.
They are delicious! I put slightly too much butter in (about 10% too much) and used almost all dark brown sugar and a half teaspoon more of the vanilla and I got some interesting results. They were chewy in the middle and the edges had a bit of a nice crunch yet without being burned.
Brown eyed baker’s recipe is excellent and this was just a variation on it. I really enjoy the comments with everyone sharing too. I recommend some Almond Breeze 80 cal milk to go with these thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies. Yum!
My daughter is wanting a bar or round pan cookie similar to those that can be purchased at American Cookie Co… My question is, can I use this recipe for that instead of doing individual cookies? Thank you for your help.
I actually just posted a cookie cake recipe today, and it is based on this recipe :) https://www.browneyedbaker.com/2014/02/20/chocolate-chip-cookie-cake/
These cookies were amazing! I did make a few changes and made them for my family! Thank you so much for this awesome recipe!!
I want to make these cookies for someone who is allergic to dairy. Will it come out as good if I use oil or margarine Instead of melted butter?
Hi Mindy, Unfortunately, these cookies will not come out the same if you use either of those products. If you absolutely must use either one, use the margarine, definitely not the oil. I can’t guarantee how they will turn out, though.
My daughter and I made these last night. We didn’t turn them and they still turned out with the right texture and thickness. Maybe she didn’t “pack” her brown sugar well enough, because we both thought they didn’t taste as sweet as they were supposed to. We alternated using two cookie sheets so it had time to cool. Only baked one sheet at a time, so we put the dough in the fridge while waiting for the first batch to cook. Probably shouldn’t have done that, because that made the dough crumbly and harder to split and mush together. I’m sure we will try another batch though. Thanks for sharing the recipe! :-)
I love your recipes!!! I made the rum cake twice. Everyone loved it!!! I made cupcakes with the extra batter. Anyway my question is can I make the cookies smaller and they have the same texture?
Hi Lauren, I haven’t tried to scale them down, so I can’t say for sure if they would have the same texture, but if you try it, be sure to reduce the baking time. Good luck!
I know this post is years old at this point, but I have to compliment you. This is my go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies now. I obsessively measure each ingredient as per your directions, and I do the pull apart method. By weighing each ball of dough, they come out perfect EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I brought some in to work and was accused of purchasing them. A million times thank you!
Ok… couldn’t resist this recipe so preheated the oven and moved my laptop into the kitchen. Had all ingredients handy and made a double-batch. Bottom Line: Cookies came out “perfect” — according to my wife, who is the ‘expert.’
Here’s what I changed:
1. Used 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, and 1/3 cup white sugar.
2. I used “banana crunch granola” Planters peanut butter.
3. I doubled the vanilla amount, using pure “Mexican vanilla.”
4. I used salted butter, so lowered salt amount to 1/4tsp per batch.
5. I used “quick oats.”
6. I used a 12-oz bag of semi-sweet morsels for the double-batch… I did not measure.
Results: Outstanding! I started checking at 10 minutes… 18 minutes was enough time. Letting the cookies finish cooking/cooling on the cookie sheets was easy… the cookies came right off the parchment paper and did not burn whatsoever.
Using the banana-flavored peanut butter was on a whim… but it turned out great! The essence is there, and the peanut butter (Planter’s) package said the banana flavor is just banana chips and sugar. All other ingredients were properly proportioned. The cookies did not fall apart when cooled, which was great!
Me again… several other things I did different, now that I slept on it:
1. I only used one egg per batch. (I omitted the extra egg yolk inadvertently). This happened because I had the two eggs out… then later decided to double my batch, and forgot to get more eggs out. Still turned out great
2. I softened the butter (in the microwave) in lieu of melting.
3. I only used 1/2 cup (one stick) of salted butter per batch.
4. I added the eggs with the sugar and butter, then added peanut butter, then flour mixture, then oatmeal, using a mixer. Then I folded the chocolate chips into the (quite thick by now) cookie dough.
5. I used an ice-cream scoop (the kind you would see at an ice-cream parlor) to ‘guestimate’ a scant-1/4 cup. My first 8 cookies were quite thick, and a bit larger than the rest… I found it easier to adjust the size of my dough using an ice-cream scoop vs. a measuring cup, being 100 times easier just to ‘roll the dough’ onto your hand to finish the dough ball and split in half.
6. Regarding shaping the cookies: When you go to “jam your dough back together” you might find yourself with something more like a blob that might leave you scratching your head. I found that after you split your dough ball in half, if you (sort-of) “roll your hands back on themselves,” with the jagged edge of the cookie dough facing up, you will get a very nice dough ball with a jagged top. What I mean by rolling your hands back onto themselves… you are holding the dough balls in your hands, after splitting, and then with a singular, rotating motion, bring your knuckles together (more or less). I found that using this motion to put together/finish off my dough balls resulted in a more consistent jagged-top cookie.
Perhaps I have made enough changes to this recipe to call it my own. Good luck with your cookies and feel free to reply to this thread with your comments, both good and bad. Cheers!
Me again… for a second time.
One last thing I did differently: I only used 1 cup of all-purpose flour per batch. :)
Me again. Well, I just figured out why my recipe was so “different” than this one… I had two recipes on two different windows/tabs, and I guess I was going back and forth between two different recipes without even realizing it! So I guess I will re-write this recipe and perhaps publish it on my daughter’s blog-sight or something like that.
Lastly… try baking at 350 degrees Fahr. (175 degrees Celc.) instead of 325 degrees… just keep an eye of the edges of the cookies. If they start turning brown (don’t worry, the centers/tops will still be soft, even if you overcook them a bit), they are done and will finish cooking on the cookie sheets.
NOT thick and chewy. I divided my dough into three batches. The first were really thin and 15 minutes was way too long. Thin and crispy cookies? No thanks. The second batch I baked shorter but were still really thin. The last batch I put in the fridge over night hoping that would help, but it actually seemed to make them worse. Not sure if I did something wrong but I don’t know if I will try them again.
I gotta say that these came out perfectly for me—I baked them for exactly 17 minutes in my oven and rotated them as in directions. They are puffy and chewy and really are not overly sweet (to me, anyway.). I hope they retain the chewiness in my tupperware container. By the way, do they turn out just as well if you freeze them or freeze the dough? I would like to make another batch and freeze the dough for Christmas baking so if any of you posters have done this, please share your thoughts. It is a great recipe and I love the fact you omit creaming the butter and sugars—takes so much time. Oh! Did want to say that I prefer using Ghiradelli chocolate over the other brand —it really is a better chocolate and you will taste the difference.
These are by far the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made! I keep coming back to your recipes- you never disappoint. Keep them coming :-)
taste delicious but spread out a lot on to tray i might have put too much butter in them
smell nice but spread out heaps all over tray !
Made these once before and they came out perfect. Changed it up a bit tonight by using 1 cup of semisweet chunks and 1/2 cup of butterscotch chips. Then I took 1 cup of kettle cooked potato chips and 1 cup of thin sour dough pretzels and crushed them and added to the dough. Awesome sweet and salty combination!
I used all purpose flour and EGGS HAVE TO BE AT ROOM TEMPATURE AS WELL. : )
I was pretty disappointed with these cookies. They turned out flat and crispy, definitely not fluffy and chewy. The whole house smelled of butter instead of baking cookies.
I just finished baking these and they are incredible! The best chocolate chip cookie ever! It even made my brother stop being angry at me and tell me it was the best chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever made. Sticking to this one now!:))
I made these and they were perfect! Ive tried so many chocolate chip cookie recipes only to end up disappointed. I cant recommend that others try these – the melted butter and extra yolk make such a difference :)
After lots of searching, compiling and comparing recipes for the best thick n chewy CCC, I made these tonight with a lil tweaking. Definitely the best looking/ tasting I have ever made! Only changes were: Used bleached flour because I already had. Used 1stick of melted butter and 1/2 stick (4 tbsp) of melted butter flavored Crisco. Used 3/4 tsp of baking soda instead of 1/2. After wet ingredients were all mixed (according to directions) I stirred in 2 cups of chocolate chunks by hand with spoon, then added the dry ingredients in 3 increments, stirring (also by spoon) after each addition. Stopped stirring as soon as flour was no longer visible. Put scooped dough onto parchment lined cookie sheet, then chilled 30min in fridge, then right into oven. Baked on convection @ 325 for 4 min, then reduced heat to 300 for 11 min. These cookies were thicker than the ones pictured. Made 16 cookies (probably would have made 17 or 18 but some of the dough disappeared!
Hi there,
I apologize if someone else has asked this already but have you ever made this cookie with oatmeal? I would love to try it but get a little “squimish” about experiments. I have an oatmeal cookie recipe that calls for craisins and white chocolate chips and I would like to adapt this recipe to make them thick and chewy and AWESOME!!!!
Hi Lisa, I would recommend this recipe for an oatmeal cookie: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/2009/12/04/chewy-oatmeal-raisin-cookies/. You could omit the raisins and add in your craisins and white chocolate chips. Enjoy!
Could I use regular all-purpose flour, and possibly chopped hershey kisses instead of semi-sweet chocolates?
This recipe does call for all-purpose flour; about the kisses – I think they would melt too much; chips tend to hold their shape in cookies a little better.