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.
Meet my best chocolate chip cookie recipe! These cookies are everything that I think chocolate chip cookies should be. They have a perfect soft and chewy texture. They’re PACKED with melty, gooey chocolate chips. And they’re easy to make with basic ingredients and equipment. No stand mixer required!
In all my years of blogging and writing cookbooks, I’ve shared nearly 50 cookie recipes. But I recently realized that none of them has been for classic, chewy chocolate chip cookies.
I’m FINALLY changing that today, because everyone needs a good chocolate chip cookie recipe in their back pocket. If you don’t have one yet, this could be the one for you. It’s simple and delicious—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 – Spoon and level it to avoid packing too much into your measuring cup.
- Baking soda – It helps the cookies rise.
- Brown sugar and granulated sugar – The granulated sugar helps the cookies spread, while the brown sugar keeps them moist and soft. Light brown sugar and dark brown sugar both work here, but I prefer dark brown. It gives the cookie dough a richer caramel-like flavor.
- Melted butter – Many cookie recipes call for softened butter, which you then cream with the sugar before mixing in the flour and other dry ingredients. This process adds air to the cookie dough, yielding lighter, cakier cookies. I prefer my chocolate chip cookies to be chewy and dense, so I use melted butter in this recipe instead. Allow the melted butter to cool slightly before adding it to the cookie dough.
- An egg + an egg yolk – The extra egg yolk is another secret ingredient that makes these cookies soft and chewy.
- Vanilla extract – For warm depth of flavor.
- 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 – To make all the flavors pop!
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies
You can find the complete chocolate chip cookie recipe with measurements at the bottom of this post, but for now, here’s a step-by-step overview of how it goes:
Start by making the cookie dough. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar.
Add the egg and egg yolk to the bowl with the butter mixture and whisk until well combined. Then, whisk in the vanilla.
Add the dry ingredient to the wet ingredients.
Use a spatula to mix until mostly combined…
..then add the chocolate chips and mix until well combined. The cookie dough will be soft. That’s ok!
Next, chill the dough. Cover and refrigerate it 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 baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between 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, 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 the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chill the cookie dough. I’m usually all for not chilling cookie dough, but in this recipe, it makes a HUGE difference. The cookies come out thicker and chewier, and they have a deeper 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 your cookies.
- Bake one sheet at a time. Temperatures can vary throughout an oven. If you bake multiple sheets at once, cookies on a lower rack might bake at a faster rate than ones on a higher rack, and vice versa. For the most even bake, work in batches, baking one sheet at a time in the center of the oven.
- They’ll look underdone when you take them out. Another secret for soft and chewy cookies is to take them out of the oven when they look underdone. They’ll be golden brown around the edges but very pale in the middle. That’s ok! They’ll set up fully as they cool on the baking sheet and then a wire rack.
- You don’t have to use chocolate chips. Chocolate chunks or a chopped chocolate bar would work perfectly too!
Recommended Tools
You don’t need much special equipment to make this recipe, but there are two tools that I think are essential for cookie success:
- A 2-tablespoon cookie scoop – A cookie scoop is by far the fastest and easiest way to portion out these chocolate chip cookies. It also guarantees that each one is the same size, which helps them bake evenly.
- Parchment paper – I always line my baking sheets with parchment paper when I make cookies. They come out beautifully 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 help the cookies stay 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 sit at room temp for an hour to thaw, or zap them in the microwave for about 30 seconds to reheat.
How to Freeze Cookie Dough
Another option is to freeze the chocolate chip cookie dough and bake it later. Here’s how:
- Prepare the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 3o minutes and up to 2 days.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a cookie scoop to portion the cookie dough onto the baking sheet.
- Freeze for at least 1 hour, or until the cookie dough balls are firm.
- Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.
Baking Frozen Dough
Let frozen dough balls defrost at room temperature for 30 minutes before baking according to the recipe.
I love keeping dough in the freezer so that I can bake off a few 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 next:
- Perfect Oatmeal Cookies
- Best Peanut Butter Cookies
- Peanut Butter Blossoms
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Gingerbread Cookies
Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, 1½ sticks, melted and cooled slightly
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 heaping cup dark chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. Add the egg and egg yolk and whisk until well combined and no streaks of egg white remain. Whisk in the vanilla.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a spatula. When the dry and wet ingredients are mostly combined, add the chocolate chips and mix until a soft cookie dough forms and no dry flour remains.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days. Cookie dough chilled for just 30 minutes will yield flatter cookies that spread more as they bake. Cookie dough chilled for 2 hours or more will yield thicker cookies that spread less.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Use a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the dough onto the baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between 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 underdone when you take them out of the oven, but they will set up as they cool.
- Let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
These chocolate chip cookies are good. The intent of the author was to create a cookie that could be someoneʻs go-to cookie. This would work for someone who has not baked a lot and needs one. I thought they were ok and certainly filled the purpose for me to get something done quickly for the “share” on Thursday at hula.
I had not baked in a really long time. Saw the Cooking Club recipe- chocolate chip cookies. I was instantly inspired. Made these with King Arthur gluten free flour. Oh, so delicious!! Brought over to a friend’s house and within a short time all gobbled up. The sea salt was a pleasantly surprising taste. Thanks for the recipe. Definitely will make again.
Hi Christine, great to hear the cooking club inspired you to bake! I’m so glad you enjoyed the cookies.
Easy recipe, They were less sweet than traditional, chocolate chip cookies. Love the tips about Refrigerating the dough before baking and especially the sprinkle of salt on top… Yum!
So glad you loved them, Regina!
Amazingly simple yet amazingly delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe! Very simple to follow. Love the melted butter ingredient. The sweet & salty flavor is perfection.
Hi Brandon, I’m so glad you loved the cookies!
This recipe came together so quickly! I love the dark chocolate and sea salt. I made them as a little parting gift after a dinner party and they were a hit!!
Hi Amellia, what a fun idea for a dinner party! I’m so glad the cookies were a hit.
My favorite snack. I’m making the vegan recipe this weekend
I hope you enjoy!
These were ok, NOT the best cookies. Followed the recipe to a T, but they taste a bit bland. I think next time I’ll add more sugar
I made these gluten free. They were delicious, soft and perfect!! This is also the first time I’ve used sea salt on chocolate chip cookies and was pleasantly surprised at the difference it made! 🍪
Hi Michelle, I’m so glad you loved the cookies!
Amazing!! The cookies came out so soft and chewy. I’ve never had cookies come out that perfect. My whole family agreed that these were the best cookies they’ve had and they did not last long in the house.
What’s not to like about these cookies? They were fabulous and didn’t last long in our house. Of course, I’m team nuts so I added some walnuts. Delicious!
Hi Maija, I’m so happy to hear!
Thank you for the yummy recipe. My cookies turned out super flat, but that is probably related to my high elevation above 9K. They still tasted amazing and were gone from the household in no time.
Such a great recipe! First time in my life trying a chocolate chip cookie recipe that wasn’t Toll House and I’m glad I did. These are way more chewy. Thanks!
Fabulous recipe! I love that they held their shape so well. I chilled the dough overnight.
Chewy, gooey, and delicious! I doubled the recipe and frozen some for the holidays!
Amazing cookies! I made them with all purpose gluten free flour and they turned out just as amazing as a normal cookie, you’d never know the difference!
LOVE this recipe and super easy! My son is obsessed and it was the perfect Saturday long weekend treat!
i’m confused on the amount of butter and is it all melted?
So yummy! Very fluffy cookies!
I chilled the max time and they came out just like I like them. I prefer a little body to my cookie so it holds up to expresso dunking!
My new favorite cookie! I chilled the dough the minimum amount of time and gave the pan a good tap as soon as it came out of the oven. The result was a delicious, thin cookie that was crisp on the edges and chewy on the inside, just perfect for me!
Delicious! Perfection. They made more than 24 for me….I win. Classic taste, balanced nicely. It was hard to wait for them to chill but we made it. I was out of flaky salt but will try that next time for a bonus.