This easy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe makes perfect cookies that are crispy on the outside with a soft & chewy center.
Make these alongside Classic Peanut Butter Cookies or Fudge Brownies for the perfect classic baking day!
Chocolate Chip Cookies are one of the best things on earth and this recipe is no exception!
There’s something so special about homemade cookies. The smell alone just makes you happy and feels like home and childhood memories rolled into one.
And the first bite is always pure bliss – especially when they are fresh from the oven.
Why This Recipe Works
- The use of brown sugar adds flavor and cuts sweetness, and its high moisture level produces a soft, chewy cookie.
- Adding bread flour keeps the cookies from flattening too much & creates a chewier bite at the center of the cookie.
- Using butter instead of shortening gives these cookies a buttery richness that’s hard to beat.
Tried And True Chocolate Chip Cookies
I’ve been making these chocolate cookies for years. It took many tries to perfect them, but once I did, they became one of the recipes I am most proud of. I am famous for these cookies; they’re requested by my friends and family more than any other treat.
Achieving A Soft, Chewy Cookie
The key to a soft, chewy cookie is using high-moisture ingredients like brown sugar (which contains molasses), butter (which has water in it), and eggs.
This recipe uses a high ratio of brown sugar to white, a good amount of butter, and eggs. The result is an indulgent, soft, and chewy cookie that will knock your socks off!
Cookies That Don’t Fall Flat
If you’ve had trouble with your cookies falling flat when baked, then this recipe is for you! I’ve solved that problem in two ways.
- The use of bread flour – Cookies with higher amounts of butter spread more, making them flatter. Using a small amount of bread flour with a higher protein level helps to stabilize the cookie and lowers the spread.
- Chilling the dough – Cookies will come out flat when not chilled before baking. Chilling allows the butter to solidify and stops your cookies from flattening when baked.
Which Chocolate Chips
You can use whichever chocolate chips you like best! Just remember that milk chocolate and white chocolate chips are much sweeter than dark chocolate, semi-sweet, and bitter-sweet, so you may want to adjust the sugar levels.
How to Make Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Sift the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
- Beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until fluffy.
- Mix in the eggs and vanilla until combined
- Mix in the flour mixture by hand.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Shape into a log and chill wrapped until firm.
- Bake and cool 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Step By Step Instructions
Start by sifting the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together.
Add the butter, sugar, and brown sugar to another bowl. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Mix in the eggs and the vanilla.
Add the flour mixture and mix until combined.
Stir in the dry ingredients by hand. Over-mixing will make cookies tough, and it’s easily done with electric mixers.
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Shape into a log in plastic wrap and chill until firm 30 minutes – overnight.
Cut the dough into 1-inch thick slices and then place onto a cookie sheet two inches apart.
Bake for 12 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack – try not to eat the whole batch right out of the oven!
Let cookies cool before storing – Storing cookies when they’re still warm will create steam, which makes them soft and crumbly.
Achieving Your Perfect Results
Everyone has a different idea of the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Some like them thin & crispy, some like soft cookies, and others like chewy (like this recipe).
Here are some variations to create your perfect cookie wherever you weigh in.
- For a flatter crispy cookie: Don’t chill before baking. Use a cookie scoop to add them to the pan and bake as directed.
- For a softer cookie: Omit the bread flour and add half a cup of flour to the recipe. It creates a soft cookie that only gets softer as they cool.
- For a light, cakey cookie: Omit the bread flour and brown sugar. Instead, use 2½ cups of all-purpose flour, 1½ cups of white sugar, and reduce the butter to 12 tablespoons.
Tips For The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Use ingredients that are at room temperature. Room-temperature eggs and butter combine easier with dry ingredients that are already at room temperature. The result will be a well-combined dough.
- Use an electric mixer for creaming butter. An electric mixer forces air into the butter in a way that’s almost impossible to do by hand. This will make the cookies lighter.
- Stir in the dry ingredients by hand. Over-mixing will make cookies tough, and it’s easily done with electric mixers.
- Space out the cookies on the pan. Place the cookie dough about 2 inches apart to prevent cookies from spreading into each other when baking.
- Don’t overbake your cookies. When chocolate chip cookies come out of the oven, they should be slightly underdone in the middle. Leave them to set on the hot cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
- If your dough is so cold that it’s hard after chilling, leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes before slicing, or they won’t spread in the oven.
- Cool completely before storing cookies. Storing Chocolate Chip Cookies when they’re still warm creates steam, making them soft and crumbly.
Other Great Cookies
Yes, chilling the dough is an important step in this recipe. After mixing, it allows the butter to solidify and stops your cookies from becoming too thin.
Chilling also allows the flavors in the dough to develop, and it helps create that crisp outside and chewier middle.
Cookie dough freezes well. Freeze the prepared dough for up to three months. Just thaw in the fridge, slice the chilled dough, and bake.
Store softer cookies in an airtight container with a slice of white bread. The moisture in the bread will be absorbed by the cookie.
Store crisper cookies in an airtight container that’s not completely sealed. Be sure to keep them separate from soft cookies as their moisture will seep into the crisp cookie, softening them.
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Let’s Make Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour* If outside the US see notes
- 1 tablespoon bread flour optional (see notes)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 16 tablespoons butter (1 cup/2 sticks) softened
- 1½ cups packed light-brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Sift the flour, bread flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder together into a large mixing bowl.
- In a large mixing bowl. beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in until fluffy.
- Mix in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla.
- Mix in the flour mixture and mix until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand. Shape into a log, wrap with plastic wrap and chill until firm 30 minutes – overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F/190C. Cut the dough into 1 inch thick slices and place onto a cookie sheet two inches apart.
- Bake until the cookies are golden brown around the edges but soft in the middle, about 10 – 12 minutes.
- Remove the cookies from the oven and let cool 10 minutes on the baking sheets, then transfer to racks to cool completely.
Tips + Notes
- Use ingredients that are room temperature. Room temperature eggs and butter combine easier with dry ingredients that are already at room temperature. The result will be a well-combined dough.
- If your dough is so cold that it’s hard after chilling, leave it at room temperature for 30 minutes before slicing or they won’t spread in the oven.
- Use an electric mixer for creaming butter. An electric mixer forces air into the butter in a way that’s almost impossible to do by hand. This will make the cookies lighter.
- Stir in the dry ingredients by hand. Over mixing will make cookies tough and it’s easily done with electric mixers.
- Don’t over bake your cookies. When chocolate chip cookies come out of the oven, they should be slightly underdone in the middle. Leave them to set on the hot cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Nutrition Information:
Update Notes: This post was originally published on Jan 15, 2014, but was republished with a slight change in recipe, step by step instruction photos, and a video, and tips in February of 2019.
Mrs Angela Angeline says
If I only have bread flour, can I still make this recipe?
Erren Hart says
Hi, This is really hard to advise on. I tested this recipe with all different ratios of bread flour and all-purpose flour (but never with all bread flour). If I was going to try it with all bread flour, I’d start with a smaller batch and use half the amount of the total flour measurement. It may result in some flat cookies, but even my failures have always tasted good! 🙂 Hope this helps!
betty says
in your video, you added the baking soda, powder and salt to the wet batter and mixed it before adding the flour.
but in the instructions, it says to mix the dry ingredients together and then add to the wet mixture. Does it make a difference in the outcome? the cookies in the top pic look different than the bottom pics. Just wanna get it right before I make them. thank you so much
Erren's Kitchen says
Hi Betty, no I don’t think it will make any difference, either way, it should be fine. I hope you enjoy the finished results.
betty says
ok, thank you Erren, but why do the cookies look like completely different cookies in the pictures? Sorry, I dont mean to be a pest.
Erren's Kitchen says
Hi Betty, I think it’s simply a case of the lighting and staging for the photograph. I hope this answers your question. Enjoy 🙂
Jewel says
Forgot to send a rating in my last comment but definitely 5/5 stars!!
Jewel says
I have used so many ‘best chocolate chip cookie’ recipes, but this one is seriously the best. It’s exactly what I’ve always wanted in a cookie. Thank you so much for this and for all the helpful tips and info!
Erren Hart says
That’s wonderful to hear! It’s a favorite in our house!
Angelica says
Oh my God I can’t stop making these cookies your recipe is the best 😋😋😋😋😋 thanks for sharing it
Erren's Kitchen says
Haha, thank you that is awesome to hear Angelica!
Marge says
Hello, what temperature do you have your oven at to bake these? Thank you!
Erren's Kitchen says
Hi, Marge, the preheat temp is the baking temp, hope this helps!
Joe says
We made the cookie for our coffee shop for first time very good chocolate chip cookie easy to make.
Erren's Kitchen says
Ah, Thank you, Joe!
Tina | The Worktop says
Hi Erren! Just a quick note that the metric measurement for the white sugar is off. Otherwise these are chilling in the fridge and I can’t wait to bake them!
Erren Hart says
Hi Tina! Thank you for letting me know! I had a problem with the recipe cards not liking fractions. It’s been a nightmare to sort out!
sandra says
I made these (I had double the receipe) to last me a couple of weeks. The Grandkids & daughter all 3 got into them. Now I don’t have any left. They were gone
in 5 days. Oldest grandson 18 said “Boy, these are sure a hit gramma, you’ve got to
make more”. I have to admit they were so good.
Erren Hart says
That’s so great to hear, Sandra! Thanks for letting me know!
Linda says
Very light and delicious…not too sweet, just right. Took more than 12 minutes to bake to get them crispy gold and inside moist. No more buying cookies…these homemade cookies are the best! Thank you for taking the time and effort for your precision in doing and the reason why!
Erren says
So glad to hear it, Linda! These cookies are a favorite of mine!