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 agree — this is now by go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. They had a chewy dense quality that was exactly what I was looking for! I’m not sure I got that twisting thing though…
The secret to cake-like cookies is to make them bigger! You can use some cake flour too, if you like. The Times did a great article on chocolate chip cookies this time last year.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/09chip.html
The attached recipe is fantastic! It calls for special chocolate pieces and stuff, but regular semi-sweet works fine. The proportions are about the same as Michelle’s recipe here, but they use some cake flour, and call for 36 hours of chilling.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/dining/091crex.html?ref=dining
Hi Ashley, Thanks so much for coming back and reporting on the cookies! The addition of peanut butter sounds so good, I am going to try that the next time I make these! So glad you liked them :)
Oh my god, this recipe is great! I added about 1/2- 3/4 cup peanut butter to the dough and they turned out so good! Mine were, I am happy to report, much thicker than the ones in the pic, and so chewy! Yum, yum, yum! Perfect recipe!
Do you know how to get the cookies to be “cakelike” and not crispy? They came out beautifully thick.. but still crisp. I wanted them like a cake? Does anyone know the secret?
Thanks!
It needs less fat, more moisture. I achieve cake-like when I use a portion of applesauce in the place of the oil, as well as a higher ratio of flour, baking powder, etc.
Don’t cook it for as long they look a bit too soft when they first come out, but as the butter solidifies, they become perfect.
I tried this out and it worked. Great advice! Thanks, Lucas.
Make these and search no more for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. These really are out of this world. (And this coming from someone whose favorite cookie is not chocolate chip cookies.)
My hint: Use Toll House Mini Morsels – they make it even better!
Hi! I’m just wondering a bit… the nestle toll house recipe results in super flat and oily cookies, based on my experience. I never liked that recipe. I’m wondering how this turns out to be thick when it calls for only 2 cups plus 2 tablespoons of flour. do you melt the butter? it doesn’t say anything about melting the butter in the directions. Please let me know, I’m still dying to achieve the best home-baked cookies. Thanks!!! :-)
Sarah
It states right in the list of ingredients that the butter should be melted.
hubby and I tried your recipe, but added 2 oz of pecan pieces with it and it turned out divine….thanks so much for the great night of baking! =)
Thanks for posting this recipe! I made these for work today and everyone is raving about them!
I just made these… and trust me, after taste-testing, it is taking all my will power not to eat the entire batch tonight! Thanks Chelle, this is definitely the best choc chip cookie recipe I have ever found!
these look so delicious! i have to say, your soft and chewy recipe is a staple in my house. we love love love it. but i may be trying this recipe soon. i love trying new cookie recipes.
WOWZA! These are some dang fine cookies! The batter seemed a little loose and I was a tad concerned, but it was all for naught. Delicious, tender, chewy — perfect!
I used a 1/2 cup scoop and twisted them in half — they were a little more than 2.5 ounces each and made for a hefty cookie. Thanks for sharing!
These look incredibly delicious!
YUM! these definitly make you want to go and make a batch of them right now! They look delicious!
i think we’ve found a new way to make chocolate chip cookies and melting the butter is a key step, along with lowering the oven temp. this is great. i found a peanutbutter cookie recipe that uses alton browns tips to make them soft and chewy too that’s posted on my log. that has been my quest, soft pb cookies!
Kate – Thanks so much!! That’s a real compliment! :)
This is a great post. One of the reasons I love Alton Brown is his science behind the recipes – just like what you’re doing here!
This is my favorite cookie recipe – hands down! They’re also delicious when adding a big scoop of peanut butter to the batter. My husband and I have been known to polish off a batch in 24 hours! :)
excellent idea! im gonna try these!!
Hi Amanda,
I really love the Baking Illustrated book. America’s Test Kitchen basically takes tons of recipes and tests, tests, and retests in terms of ingredients, equipment, and methods until it nails the best way to make a certain recipe. I have honestly never been disappointed in a recipe of theirs that I have tried – everything has been spot on and amazing. They have a show on PBS that I think runs on Saturdays if you want to look up your listings – you could check out a couple of episodes and see what they’re all about.
How is that Baking Illustrated book? I have never seen/read about America’s Test Kitchen besides what I read from other blogs but people rave and rave about it.
Definitely count me in as one who continues to try recipe after recipe, even though I’ve tasted perfectly wonderful choc. chip cookies. I think it’s just so fun to experiment!
You are making me crave cookies now! Those look delicious!
i’m going to have to try these. i still haven’t found *the* chocolate chip cookie recipe and these look amazing! :-)
These look and sound delicious. Though, in between my Dorie baking, my hips need no more treats. I may have to try it anyway.
that is so interesting! you’re making me want to go whip up a batch right now!
katie has this recipe in her blog and it is very similar to the one in mine – but i may have to try it w/the weighed measurements instead. thanks!
I am glad to see these back again! Haven’t heard anyone talk about them for a while..
omg Chelley, those cookies look SO delicious and chewy! My mouth is watering! =)
OMG the best chocolate chip cookie in the world..got scared when I mixed the dough seemed soft but refridgerated t hem for the 1/2 hr and again a little scared when I thought they should bake longer need to get over that part but they are so good g oing to make another batch to take to MN to my sons..thanks so much.
Yes, I freezed the dough for bout 30 min. too. I love, Love, LOVE this recipe! For all of you out there that are scared to death to try this recipe, give yourself a swift kick in the butt and get cooking, ’cause you don’t know what you’re missing! :)
Someone wanted me to help them on making these thick and chewy, since they did not work out so well with them. I am sorry, but I deleted your email, but hopefully you can find me here. ;) As I said above, I freezed the cookie dough for about 30 min, to make it more workable. This helps shape the cookies better. Then I rolled the dough into balls about the size I wanted them and DID NOT pull them apart, but still got the same look on top. If you do, Im not kicking you, everybody cooks differnet. You know what they say, “Give 10 cooks the same recipe and you’ll end up with 10 different dishes!” If you’re still in doubt whether to do the pull apart thingy, toss a coin, do eeny-meeny-miny-moe, or something…or try it both ways and go with what you like best.
Sometimes if you roll your balls too small they will spread out and flatten out, whereas slightly bigger cookie-dough balls won’t flatten out all the way, making them thicker. Now, Im not telling ya”ll to make ’em as big as baseballs or anything, but then if you want a BIG, THICK cookie…! heh, heh, heh!
As for making them chewy, take them out EXACTLY when the recipe says to!!! You do NOT want to over bake these babies! Storing them in an airtight
container helps too.
And too, my cookies turned out perfect when i used soda, salt,and all-purpose flour. I don’t know if it would make a difference, but you could try that instead of self-rising flour, and who knows?!? It might turn out better!Melt yo’ butter and don’t forget to add the extra egg yolk! After all, you add eggs to a recipe to make it eggactly right! :)
Don’t forget to preheat your oven before you bake your cookies. And one more IMPORTANT step I do is COOL my COOKIE SHEEY COMPLETELY BETWEEN BATCHES to prevent cookies from spreading too much while baking.
Remember, if you just can’t get this right, DONT QUIT! Keep at it and you’ll get it! It is worth it! When you get it right, all of a sudden everybody’ll love you! Marraige proposals and everything else will start coming your way and your friends will ENVY you!!! So, give yourself a pat on the back for trying, head back in the kitchen, wrap your apron abound you, arm youself with a spoon and a mixing bowl, and go conquer that Thick & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe! You can do it!
This is absolutely the best cookie dough recipe, I added M&M’s to one batch and did another with coconut and chocolate chunks. Delicious. Here’s my adaptations: http://peanutbutterjane.blogspot.com/2011/09/m-cookies.html
Good recipe, I roll mine in a mixture of 4 parts sugar and 1 part cocoa before I bake them, nice and crispy.
I these and I started selling them for charity for Africa, made 300 dollars the first week! I had to apologise to some people couldn’t take any more orders people went crazy on them! Thanks so much for sharing..
do you have to freeze the dough? after the chips are in? also, how big are the cookies?? did you actually use 1/4 cup per cookie?! did you also rotate the cookie sheet halfway through? i plan on trying this one.
Read the directions!!!!
no refridgeration necessary :) i love them too! and so does everybody else i share them with!! :D
I have been disappointed lately with my cookie recipes – but this one looks perfect! I will give it a shot the first chance i get..thanks for posting it!
i heart my kitchen scale! :) those cookies look so perfect, i’m definitely going to have to give this recipe a try!
I am on the search for that perfect chocolate chip cookie like you said… I will have to try these.
these are the bomb! ive made them a million time, in fact, baking them right now!!! by now, youve probably made them yourself and know exactly what i mean!! i use a cookie scoop, today a small one…more to go around!! :D
How many cookies does this recipe yield ?
About 18
Did not enjy the cookies I baked. I followed the receipe and they were not thick nor weere they good.
same for me! There were very thin and butter was oozing
You are probably overmixing. I like to mix mine the old-fashion way, with a spoon, so I can make sure its not overmixed.
well that`s rude.
Maybe you made the same mistake I did the first time I made them…I mistook 1 1/2 sticks of butter for 1 1/2 c. of butter and the cookies flattened and oozed butter. When I corrected myself the second time using 3/4 c. of butter they turned out perfectly. I’ve doubled the recipe as well and they were great…as most things on this site are !
The eggs need to be at room temperature as well. The recipw forgets to tell you that.
It’s not rude unless its a criticism that is attacking someone or something. She gave her honest opinion that the recipe was not pleasant and did not work for her. This may indicate a mistake on her part or may even give the author an indication to fix or change the recipe. I appreciate seeing the good and the bad in comments because it means people at least tried the recipe, instead of just saying it “looks” good. This really helps other pick which recipes to try out.
Can I use bleached flour for this? Is there any difference between bleached and unbleached flour? Thanks. :-)
Hi Katie, You can use bleached flour, but there actually is a difference; Cook’s Illustrated actually did a write-up on this, here is what they reported:
Carotenoid pigments in wheat lend a faint yellowish tint to freshly milled flour. But in a matter of about 12 weeks, these pigments oxidize, undergoing the same chemical process that turns a sliced apple brown. In this case, yellowish flour changes to a whiter hue (though not stark white). Early in this century, as the natural bleaching process came to be understood, scientists identified methods to chemically expedite and intensify it. Typically, all-purpose flours are bleached with either benzoyl peroxide or chlorine gas. The latter not only bleaches the flour but also alters the flour proteins, making them less inclined to form strong gluten… The bleached flours in our tests in fact did not perform as well as the unbleached flours and were regularly criticized for tasting flat or carrying “off” flavors, often described as metallic.
Well, I never buy bleached flour because of the chemicals. Avoid chemicals in any food whenever possible.
Tina honey, all food is made of chemicals. I thought you might find this article interesting: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/what-you-should-know-about-chemical-free-food_us_55ad0ba1e4b0d2ded39f6b53
I was eager to try this recipe when I ran across it, because my current favorite is a bit labor intensive. Unfortunately, these did not turn out well for me. They were very thin and flat, with a bland flavor. I was surprised, because my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe is the America’s Test Kitchen’s “Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies” one. I live at 6500 feet, and that recipe works great at this altitude. There is a little less sugar and a little less flour, more butter and salt. You also have to brown the butter, and then go through a lengthy whisk-rest-whisk process, but I can really tell a difference in taste and appearance. I guess the extra effort pays off.
Julie, you have to adjust the recipe for high altitude, here is a high altitude version that is more exact than “a little less sugar…” etc.:
source: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/high-altitude-baking.html
cook time: 10-14 minutes
heat oven to: 340 degrees, not 325!
INGREDIENTS:
2 ¼ cups plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour (289 Grams)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup minus 1 Tablespoon packed (7 ounces minus 1 tablespoon) light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup minus 1 1/2 Teaspoons (3 1/2 ounces minus 1.5 teaspoons) granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
3 Tablespoons of water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 to 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
this is for a pretty high altitude, of about 7,500 feet… hope it helps! if you need to do conversions for a different high altitude use the website!
cook time should be 13-15 minutes, sorry, my bad!
I recently made the browned butter then add/whisk x 3 chocolate chip cookie, and I did not like the result. The cookie was dry and too airy, wildly different than this tried-and-true recipe that my family adores.
As a hunter, I’m usually hunting for game. But now I’m convinced the hunt is on for chocolate chip cookies. Game on. Who care what my butt looks like? Oh wait, I’ve never cared.
This is my favorite comment ever. I am also on the hunt for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever. This are next on my list. Dun dun Dunn.