My best chocolate chip cookie recipe! It’s easy to make with simple ingredients and the cookies come out soft, chewy and delicious every time.
Check out my best chocolate chip cookie recipe! These cookies are everything I think chocolate chip cookies should be. They have the perfect soft and chewy texture. They’re packed with gooey, melty chocolate chips. And they’re easy to make with basic ingredients and equipment. No mixer needed!
In all my years of blogging and writing cookbooks, I’ve shared nearly 50 cookie recipes, but I recently realized that none of them were for classic, chewy chocolate chip cookies.
Today I’m finally going to change that, because everyone needs a good chocolate chip cookie recipe. If you don’t have one yet, this might be the one for you. It’s simple and delicious, and everyone I share these cookies with loves them. I hope you love them too!
Ingredients for chewy chocolate chip cookies
Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy chocolate chip cookie recipe:
- All purpose flour – Scoop out the mixture with a spoon and level it off to avoid putting too much into the measuring cup.
- Baking soda – Helps the cookies rise.
- Brown sugar and granulated sugar – Granulated sugar helps the cookies spread, while brown sugar keeps them moist and soft. Both light brown sugar and dark brown sugar work well here, but I prefer dark brown sugar. It gives the cookie dough a richer, caramel-like flavor.
- Melted butter – Many cookie recipes call for softened butter, which is then creamed with sugar before being mixed with the flour and other dry ingredients. This process adds air to the cookie dough, resulting in lighter, more textured cookies. I prefer my chocolate chip cookies to be chewy and dense, so I use melted butter in this recipe. Allow the melted butter to cool slightly before adding it to the cookie dough.
- One egg + one egg yolk – The extra egg yolk is another secret ingredient that makes these cookies soft and chewy.
- Vanilla extract – For a warm depth of flavour.
- Chocolate chips – I love dark chocolate chips here, but feel free to use semi-sweet chocolate chips or milk chocolate chips if you prefer.
- And sea salt – So that all the flavors stand out!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to make chocolate chip cookies
You can find the full chocolate chip cookie recipe with measurements at the end of this post, but for now, here’s a step-by-step description of how it works:
We begin by preparing the cookie dough. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, mix together the melted butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar.
Add the egg and yolk to the bowl with the butter mixture and beat until well combined. Then add the vanilla.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.
Use a spatula to mix until almost combined…
…Then add the chocolate chips and mix until well combined. The cookie dough will be soft. No problem!
Then chill the dough. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days.
Then, shape the cookies. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the dough onto the sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between the cookies. (If the dough is too firm to scoop right away, let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes to soften.)
Finally, bake the cookies, Bake one sheet at a time at 350°F for 9 to 11 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. Let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy!
Tips for making the best chocolate chip cookies
- Chill the cookie dough. I don’t normally recommend chilling cookie dough, but in this recipe, it makes a HUGE difference. The cookies are thicker and chewier, and have a more intense flavor. I recommend chilling the dough for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days, but in a pinch, even 30 minutes of chilling will improve the cookies.
- Bake one sheet at a time. Temperatures can vary throughout the oven. If you bake multiple pans at once, cookies on a lower rack may bake at a faster rate than those on a higher rack, and vice versa. For more even baking, work in batches, baking one pan at a time in the center of the oven.
- They will look undercooked when you take them out. Another secret to soft, chewy cookies is to take them out of the oven when they look undercooked. They’ll be golden around the edges, but very pale in the middle. No problem! They’ll harden completely when they cool on the baking sheet and then on a wire rack.
- It is not necessary to use chocolate chips. Chunks of chocolate or a chopped chocolate bar would also work perfectly!
Recommended tools
You don’t need a lot of special equipment to make this recipe, but there are two tools that I think are essential to the success of the cookies:
- A 2 tablespoon cookie scoop – A cookie scoop is by far the quickest and easiest way to spread out these chocolate chip cookies. It also ensures that they are all the same size, which helps them bake evenly.
- Parchment paper – I always line baking sheets with parchment paper when making cookies. They turn out a beautiful golden brown on the bottom and cleanup is a breeze. Baking cookies directly on the baking sheet can cause the bottoms to burn.
How to store chocolate chip cookies
To keep the cookies soft and chewy, store them in an airtight container at room temperature. They keep well for up to 4 days.
You can also freeze these cookies for up to 3 months. Let frozen cookies thaw at room temperature for an hour or microwave them for 30 seconds to reheat.
How to freeze cookie dough
Another option is Freezing Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and bake it afterwards. Here’s how:
- Prepare the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a cookie scoop to portion the dough onto the sheet.
- Freeze for at least 1 hour, or until cookie dough balls are firm.
- Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Baking frozen dough
Allow frozen dough balls to thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking according to recipe.
I love to keep the dough in the freezer so I can bake up some chocolate chip cookies whenever I’m craving something sweet!
More Favorite Cookie Recipes
If you love these homemade chocolate chip cookies, try one of these easy cookie recipes below:
The best chocolate chip cookies
Serves 24
My best chocolate chip cookie recipe! These homemade cookies are soft, chewy, and packed with chocolate chips. They’re easy to make, too. No mixer needed!
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In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
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In a large bowl, beat together the melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Add the egg and yolk and beat until well combined and no streaks of egg white remain. Stir in the vanilla.
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Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a spatula. When the dry and wet ingredients are almost combined, add the chocolate chips and mix until a soft cookie dough forms and no dry flour remains.
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Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days. Cookie dough chilled for just 30 minutes will result in flatter cookies that will spread more as they bake. Cookie dough chilled for 2 hours or longer will result in thicker cookies that will spread less.
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Preheat oven to 350°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to drop the dough onto the baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between the cookies. Bake, one sheet at a time, for 9 to 11 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown but the tops are still pale. They will look undercooked when you remove them from the oven, but will firm up as they cool.
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Let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
