These perfectly chewy chocolate chip cookies are, truly, the end-all-be-all of cookies for me. They strike that ideal balance of crispy edges, soft chewy centers, and deep buttery flavor, plus two different kinds of chocolate in every bite.
They're a year-round staple — holiday cookie trays, back-to-school lunches, bake sales, or just a casual weekend bake. If you love these, you'll also love my triple chocolate chunk cookies, brownie crumb bars, and fudgy sourdough discard brownies.
Quick Look: Perfectly Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
⏱️ Ready In: about 1 hour 27 minutes (including chill)
🔥 Bake Time: 10–12 minutes
🍽️ Serves: 18 cookies
✨ Calories: 272 per cookie
🥄 Main Ingredients: butter, brown sugar, two chocolates, egg + extra yolk
🌿 Dietary: Vegetarian
💛 Why You'll Love It: crispy edges, chewy centers, and pools of melty chocolate
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
Crispy edges, chewy centers. The textbook chocolate chip cookie texture — golden and crisp at the rim, soft and gooey in the middle.
An extra yolk for chew. A whole egg plus a yolk adds richness and that irresistible bakery-style bite.
Two kinds of chocolate. Chopped semi-sweet bar gives you melty pools, while milk chocolate chips keep every bite sweet and classic.
A chill that's worth it. Resting the dough deepens the flavor and bakes up thicker cookies, the same trick behind my sourdough brown butter chocolate chip cookies.
Freezer-friendly "emergency cookies." Pre-portion dough balls and bake straight from frozen whenever a craving (or company) strikes.
Jump to:
- Quick Look: Perfectly Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients
- Easy Substitutions & Variations
- Instructions
- Expert Tips
- What Makes This Recipe Special?
- Chocolate Chip Cookie FAQs
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Troubleshooting Guide
- Storage
- Other Chocolatey Recipes to Try
- The Chocolate Chip Cookie
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour — the structure; spoon and level, or weigh it.
- Baking soda and baking powder — a mix for lift and just the right spread.
- Kosher salt — balances the sweetness and sharpens the flavor.
- Unsalted butter — softened and creamed for a tender, buttery base.
- Brown and granulated sugar — brown for chew and caramel depth, white for crisp edges.
- Egg and egg yolk — the extra yolk is the secret to ultimate chew.
- Vanilla extract — for warmth and rounding out the flavor.
- Chopped semi-sweet chocolate bar — for big, melty chocolate pools.
- Milk chocolate chips — for classic, sweet bites throughout.
- Flaky sea salt(optional) — a finishing touch for that sweet-salty contrast.
See recipe card for quantities.
Easy Substitutions & Variations
Less sweet: Use all semi-sweet or dark chocolate instead of milk chocolate chips.
Brown sugar: Light or dark both work — dark adds deeper caramel notes.
Gluten-free: A 1:1 gluten-free baking blend works; cookies may spread a little more.
No spare yolk? Replace it with an extra tablespoon of melted butter (the chew won't be quite as pronounced).
Nutty: Fold in chopped walnuts or pecans for crunch, like in my brown butter coconut pecan cookies.
Espresso twist: Add ½ teaspoon espresso powder to deepen the chocolate flavor.
All-chunk version: Use only chopped chocolate bar for maximum melty pools — a cousin to my easy double chocolate filled cookies.
Instructions
Step 1: Make the dough: Whisk dry ingredients. Cream butter and sugars, then beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients and fold in chocolate. Chill dough for at least 1 hour.
Step 2: Scoop & bake: Scoop dough onto a lined tray and bake at 350°F for 10–12 minutes. Let cool on the tray, then sprinkle with flaky salt if desired.
Hint: Weighing your ingredients with a kitchen scale is the easiest way to guarantee accuracy, giving you perfect texture and consistent results every time you bake.
Expert Tips
1. Chill longer for better cookies. An hour is the minimum; overnight is ideal. A longer chill deepens the caramelized flavor and bakes thicker, chewier cookies.
2. Underbake slightly. Pull them when the centers still look a touch underdone — they finish setting on the hot pan and stay soft.
3. Use chopped bar chocolate. Chopping a bar gives you melty pools and thin shards that a bag of chips can't match.
4. Scoot them round. Swirling a cookie cutter around each cookie right out of the oven gives that bakery-perfect round shape.
5. Weigh your ingredients. It's the single easiest way to get consistent texture batch after batch.
What Makes This Recipe Special?
The difference here comes down to two small choices that make a big impact. First, the extra egg yolk: that bit of added fat and richness is what gives these cookies their signature chew instead of a cakey or crumbly texture.
Second, the two-chocolate approach — chopped semi-sweet bar for dramatic melty pools, plus milk chocolate chips for sweet, classic bites — means no two forkfuls are quite the same. If you love chocolate, you need to give my sourdough chocolate-stuffed peanut butter cookies a try too!
Add a proper chill (which deepens flavor and controls spread) and a finishing sprinkle of flaky salt, and you get a cookie that tastes like it came from a bakery case. It's the same attention to texture that makes my sourdough chocolate crinkle cookies and brown butter sugar cookies worth the little bit of extra effort.
For more chewy options, try my brown butter chocolate chipless cookies or sourdough brown butter chocolate chip cookies. Looking for something lighter and brighter for spring and summer? Try my lemon raspberry cookies!
Chocolate Chip Cookie FAQs
For the best flavor and texture, yes. If you're in a rush you can bake right away, but the cookies will spread more and taste less developed.
Absolutely — this is my favorite trick. Freeze pre-portioned dough balls and bake straight from frozen, adding 1–2 minutes to the bake time.
Usually warm dough or too little flour. Chill thoroughly and measure your flour by weight.
For a tangy, chewy take using your starter, try my sourdough brown butter chocolate chip cookies — or pair these with my sourdough discard peanut butter cookies for a mixed cookie tin.
A good semi-sweet baking bar, chopped, plus milk chocolate chips (or a chopped milk chocolate bar!). Use higher-quality chocolate for noticeably better results.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Troubleshooting Guide
| Problem | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Cookies spread too thin | Dough too warm or too little flour | Chill thoroughly; weigh the flour (280g) |
| Cakey, not chewy | Too much flour, or skipped the extra yolk | Measure by weight; include the yolk |
| Dry or crumbly | Overbaked | Pull when centers look slightly underdone |
| Pale, no crisp edges | Underbaked or oven too cool | Bake until edges are golden; verify oven temp |
| Uneven shapes | Dough scooped unevenly | Use a 3-Tbsp scoop and scoot round when warm |
Storage
Room temperature: Store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
Freezer: Freeze baked cookies for up to 2 months, or freeze the dough balls and bake straight from the freezer — just add 1–2 minutes to the bake time.
Other Chocolatey Recipes to Try
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The Chocolate Chip Cookie
Equipment
- Kitchen Scale
- Cutting board and knife (for chopping the chocolate, this is my favorite knife but any knife works)
- Stand Mixer
- Measuring spoons
- Plastic wrap (for chilling the dough)
- Baking sheets
- Parchment Paper
- 3 Tablespoon cookie scoop
- Large round cookie cutter (at least 6 inches wide) or wide glass for shaping (optional)
- Cooling rack
Ingredients
- 280 g all-purpose flour 2 ¼ cups
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 170 g unsalted butter softened (¾ cup)
- 150 g brown sugar packed (¾ cup)
- 100 g granulated sugar ½ cup
- 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk room temperature
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 226 g chopped semi-sweet chocolate bar 8oz
- 85 g milk chocolate chips ½ cup
- Flaky sea salt optional, for topping
Instructions
- Prep the dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Cream butter and sugars: In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy (2–3 minutes).
- Add eggs and vanilla: Beat in the egg and egg yolk, one at a time, followed by vanilla.
- Mix the dough: Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined—don’t overmix. Fold in the chopped chocolate chunks and chips.
- Chill the dough: Cover and chill for at least 1 hour (up to 24 for best flavor).
- Bake: Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Scoop large portions (about 3 tablespoon each) onto a parchment-lined sheet. Bake for 10–12 minutes, until edges are golden and centers look slightly underbaked.
- Finish: As soon as they come out, use a large round cookie cutter (bigger than the cooked cookies) to scoot them into perfectly round shapes. I've used a large-mouthed glass cup in a pinch, and it works! Sprinkle with flaky sea salt if desired. Let cool on the baking sheet for 5–10 minutes before transferring.
Notes
- Chill the dough at least 1 hour, but longer is better — overnight deepens the caramelized flavor and bakes thicker, chewier cookies.
- Freeze baked cookies for up to 2 months, or freeze dough balls and bake from frozen (add 1–2 minutes).
- Weigh your ingredients for the most consistent results.
Olivia says
Can I make a sourdough variation of this recipe?!
Audrey says
I've been meaning to make a proper variation of this recipe for a while, so I'll get on this right away! I'll send you a message to let you know when it is up!
Paige Gary says
Can attest to the fact that this is THE chocolate chip cookie recipe. My family ate an entire batch of these in 24 hours. They were SO good!