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.
Save This Recipe
Enter your email address, and we'll send it straight to your inbox!
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]
Oh nooooes. I ran out of parchment paper so I had to put them an inch apart! I hope it doesn’t….oh ….nevermind its kinda already….yeaaaaaah these are NOT going to be perfect looking cookies. I wonder if I should take them out…. and space them….
Okay, It turned out alright :) Not ALL of the cookies touched together…..But I will say this…..
THESE COOKIES ARE THE BOMB DOT COM!
I have never made a cookie in my life. I barely even like chocolate chip cookies because to me they have always been very boring and too chocolatey and too sweet at times. But after I followed all your rules, and tried them once they cooled. OH MY GAWD it was like an explosion of chocolatey goodness. These cookies are amazing. THE BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe ever. And I haven’t even tried any other recipe. I don’t have to. THANK YOU SO MUCH for this recipe :) I got many compliments on it.
These look great! I looked these up because I needed them for your homemade cookie sandwiches that looked delicious too!
We made these today and they turned out really wonderfully. I didn’t have unbleached flour or unsalted butter, but they were still excellent. I did substitute 1 teaspoon almond flavoring for one of the teaspoons of vanilla, but it was fine.
Can’t wait to try some more recipes from your site! Thanks.
Made these last night and they were AWESOME. Anyone having problems with flat cookies is most likely not making their cookies large enough; this is one recipe where you have to accept that you will only get 18 cookies; trying to stretch the batter to get 24 will result in cookies that aren’t thick and chewy.
Thanks for the recipe and I can’t wait to try more recipes from this site :-)
I’ve been using this recipe since last year and never have never failed! I love Baking Illustrated ’cause I’m learning a lot with them (I am a self-studied baker)… I use 1 1/2T cookie scoop (just enough for a regular-sized cookie) and still it comes out thick and really chewy everytime… I always add 1/4tsp of ALMOND extract for an extra goodness… and for others that has the dough not-workable (very sticky), what I do is I add the dry ingredients mixture in 3 batches… There’s a science about that but I can’t explain :D just google it! And of course, bringing all the ingredients into room temp is one of the most important thing in baking cookies! :)
oh! and I used this ratio of sugar, white sugar (6Tbsp), light brown sugar (5Tbsp), and dark brown sugar (5Tbsp)… Perfect less sweeter cookies! That is just about 1cup of sugar (1cup=16tbsp)…
This is my second time making these- absolutely perfect! The texture is awesome and produced a very pretty cookie. I added white chocolate chips to the mix too, love them! Will always use this recipe as my standard chocolate chip cookie go-to!
These cookies are fantastic, my doctor told me I had to cut down on my cholesterol, so now I used Butter Flavoured Crisco 10 Tablespoons and Carob Chips, they turned out great (of course butter and chocolate is better, but these were close and doctor friendly) and no cholesterol.
How come on every website I found postings of people who are saying their cookies are not that thick? I have tried it so many times to back them and also my cookies are flat. How come we see them on a picture always thick and soft, but the majority deals with the same issue. I have had the dough in the refridge for 2 hours and they came out a little bigger. But I want that thick cookie! None of the recipes online gives me the effect.
I hear you! Try this. Use a non, non stick pan. (silver pan with no coating). Use parchment paper, to prevent spreading. Use only one stick of butter instead of 1 and 1/2 (they won’t spread as much). Take them out of the oven at 15 minutes, even if they don’t look done. Any longer, they spread. They continue to cook when out of the oven. No one tells you all of these things. All of these things make a difference. Oh, only put 6 cookies to a half sheet. I hope this helps you. I have researched it to death. Good luck!
@ Marianne,
I use a non stick and parchment paper! I think I will go for less butter this time. Do you think mixing the butter with crisco shortening will help? also I will try 6 cookies in stead of 9 this time and keep the dough refridged for a couple of hours. Thanks for the tip! Very much appreciated.
I think cutting down on the butter will work for you and 6 cookies to a half sheet. The Cisco ? I’m not a fan, I don’t use it, so I don’t know what that will do. Let me know if cutting down on the butter works for you. Also, from another suggestion, I used bread flour, with the recipe as is and they came out thick. I prefer to go by the recipe and use only 1 stick of butter, they come out thick that way. If all else fails, use bread flour, it WILL make a thick cookie. Good luck!
I am continuously looking for the perfect cookie. I finally found the perfect oatmeal cookie and NOW I found the perfect chocolate cookie recipe! I did change it a little. I used less sugar. I decreased BOTH the brown and white sugars by the same amount (2 TBSP). I also refrigerated my dough before baking and I kept it cold (this little secret I learned for the perfect oatmeal cookie). THANK YOU so much for revealing HOW to make them chewy~the ragged edges!!!! Reading through some of the negative comments, I wonder if they allow the butter to cool but not congeal or if they used it when it was too warm. I sincerely appreciate negative comments because I learn so much. In my quest for the perfect cookie, bread, roll, pita, etc. I have discovered weighing is the key. Thank you again for this recipe! This will be a part of my repertoire of tasty desserts!
Made these today…OMG…..the BEST chocolate chip cookies I have ever made!!!
This will be the ONLY recipe I use. Thanks!!!
Hi Michelle :)
I finally tried these cookies! They came out perfectly–> crispy around the edges and chewy/gooey in the middle! However the next time i tried them, i accidentally put baking powder into the batter instead of baking soda..On realizing my mistake I added the baking soda too :P So that batch didn’t come out well :/ My question is how do I get the cookies perfect everytime?
I did last week and it’s so yummy!
But it is too sweet for me, so I did again today with 2 tbsp white suger and 1/4 brown sugar. However, the cookies didn’t end up flat. But the taste is still very good.
I hate flat cookies. I discovered if I cut back on the butter by about one-third of what the recipe calls for…they come out thick and chewy. Give it a try. If a recipe calls for one-and -a-half sticks of butter, I cut it back to just one stick.
I’ve been looking for an ultimate choco chip cookies recipe for a while, and trying lots of different ones. I’m Russian, and that is not the traditional cookie for us, but my boyfriend loves them and he is very particular and picky- so it was super important to get them right. The cookies that I made turned out to be the absolutely best cookies i ever tried. And that’s what he said too :) It’s absolutely fantastic. I didn’t have vanilla, so replaced with caramel extract, and it worked just right too. I don’t know what people who failed it did wrong. The recipe is easy to make, and handcrafting part is fun. Thank you so much for sharing this! I will check out your other stuff for sure.
Just finished making a batch of these – WOW – they are my new favorite cookie! I used King Arthur Whole Wheat flour and got perfect results. The break apart method really did wonders for the texture. Thanks for sharing this!
This recipe is so PERFECT. I cooked some and my brother’s friends happened to be over and they ate them all up! Not without me taking two of them, though ;). Thank you so much! This recipe is amazing!
-From a HS baker :)
The best cookie ever! crounchy on the outide, soft and chewy in the middle! beautiful! Supposed to take to a bonfire tonight, but I might eat them all by then! ONE THING THOUGH : When rolling into balls DO NOT do the break in half thing, just roll it in a ball and leave. I made 1 batch rolled in balls and one done how the recipe said, the ones I broke in half ruined in the oven and the rest were fine! ***** 5 STARS!!!!!
I made these the other day (minus the shaping technique…hard to do with a 2 year old helping!) and they were AWESOME! So chewy, moist and delicious. Nice and thick, just like you described. My daughter loved them, and they smelled SO amazing baking. I’ll be making a batch of these when we try to sell our house in the fall. I know they say to do that when potential buyers come in. I figure I’ll leave a few on the counter as well for them to try. YUM! Thanks for posting. I think I’ll be trying your Peanut Butter Cookies recipe today as well.
I came across these cookies on pinterst! Yummy. I didn’t do the shaping the way you write though. I just rolled the dough into balls – slightly smaller than a golf ball and they turned out perfect. After 3 days they (well the 2 cookies that were still not eaten) were still soft and chewy. Now I’s off to check out your other cookie recipes! Thanks for sharing.
I absolutely love this recipe!!! i made them for my boyfriend and we both agreed they were the best chocolate chip cookie recipe i have ever used! thanks so much!!! :)
Wow- i made these cookies today because i wanted to try and recreate a gourmet cookie i tried downtown.
They turned out wonderful! though i only used a stick of butter and i used white chocolate, macadamia, and lime zest, and a dark chocolate drizzle on top. They turned out great! Thanks for the recipe, ill definitely use it again !
Hands down the best chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever had and I’ve made countless recipes. I would LOVE to put chocolate chunks in it with premium chocolate. Perfectly chewy and with a touch of crisp on the outside. Love the technique to make it appear more gourmet. The next day the cookies are still chewy even without being in an air tight container. Thank you!
Just made these and they came out PERFECT! This is such an easy and fool proof recipe, love love love :)
Thanks for sharing!
Lizzie
placeclevertitlehere.blogspot.com
For those who want to make big cookies, make one in a spring form pan it makes a great chocolate cream pie topping, serve with ice cream….yummmmmm!!!!
i have been making these cookie every chance i get, and i love this recipe, but i always hate putting in batch after batch, so on my moms b day i just decided to make it as one huge cookie it turned out awesome i baked it in a circular pan for about 25 minutes, my older sister tried them for the first time and she said they were better than store bought cookies :) (i think that’s a compliment)
Loved the cookies!!! Big hit!
I tried these cookies again. I omitted the white surgar. I used bread flour (researched online), put them in the refrigerater and the cookies came out perfect. Not thin like before. Yes, thin cookies have always been my issue. Apparently with the bread flour, you will not have flat cookies! Now I’m very satisfied, and now have my favorite cc cookie! Thanks!
I just made these and they turned out perfect! Best chocolate chip cookie I have ever made!!
I just finished making these. The first two batches (on a half sheet) I put 6 on each pan. They came out great, but a little thin. The last batch (on a half sheet) I put 2. They came out much thicker. Could that have something to do with how much they spread? I,too, am trying to get a thicker cookie. The taste and texture is exactly what I want. I will try 4 to a half sheet next time and see what happens.
I make these cookies all the time, and they are a family favorite! I was wondering if I could make these in a toaster oven instead? Please let me know ASAP. Thanks:)
Hi Rebecca, I’ve never used a toaster oven to bake (just mostly for toast and reheating pizza!) but I believe they can be used for small batches. I think as long as the temperature is correct and you use only as many balls of dough as will fit on your tray, you should be fine.