Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Classic chocolate chip cookies with crisp golden edges and soft, chewy centers. A short chill keeps them thick instead of flat.
23% of it needs you at the counter
- Hands-on
- 15 min
- Cooking
- 20 min
- Resting
- 30 min
- Serves
- 24
- Calories
- 235
- Protein
- 2 g
- Per serving
- $0.40
Why this recipe works
Most flat or cakey chocolate chip cookies come down to two things: butter that was too soft and flour that was packed into the cup. This version fixes both, with weights for every dry ingredient and a short chill so the dough holds its shape in the oven.
- Equal parts white and brown sugar give crisp edges from the white and a chewy, caramel-flavored middle from the brown.
- Chilling the dough for 30 minutes firms the butter, so the cookies spread slowly and bake up thick.
- Pulling them while the centers still look slightly underdone lets carryover heat finish them without drying them out.
Ingredients
You will need
- 2 rimmed baking sheets
- Parchment paper
- Stand or hand mixer
- 1½-tablespoon cookie scoop
- Wire rack
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done.
Mix the dry ingredients
Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugars
Beat the butter, white sugar and brown sugar on medium speed until smooth and lighter in color, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.
Add the flour and chips
Mix in the flour on low speed just until no dry streaks remain, then stir in the chocolate chips by hand.
Chill
Cover and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 375°F with a rack in the center and line the baking sheets with parchment.
Scoop and bake
Scoop 1½-tablespoon balls of dough 2 inches apart, 12 to a sheet. Bake one sheet at a time until the edges are golden and the centers look puffy and slightly underdone, 9 to 11 minutes.
Cool
Let the cookies firm up on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move them to a rack. Repeat with the second sheet.
Cook's notes
- Spoon flour into the cup and level it, or weigh it. Scooping straight from the bag can add 20% more flour and gives dry, cakey cookies.
- Softened butter should dent when pressed but still feel cool. Butter that is shiny or greasy makes cookies spread thin.
- For bakery-style cookies, press a few extra chips onto the tops of the dough balls right before baking.
Nutrition per serving
235 calories
$0.40 estimated cost per serving
Where the calories come from
| Protein | 3% of calories | 2 g |
|---|---|---|
| Carbs | 52% of calories | 31 g |
| Fat | 45% of calories | 12 g |
| Fiber | 1 g | |
| Sodium | 170 mg |
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for the listed ingredients and amounts; not lab-tested. Cost estimated from average US retail prices.
Questions people ask
Why did my chocolate chip cookies come out flat?
Usually the butter was too warm or the dough wasn't chilled. Too little flour from loose measuring and a warm baking sheet also cause spreading. Chill the dough and let the sheet cool between batches.
Can you make chocolate chip cookies without brown sugar?
Yes. Use 1½ cups granulated sugar in total. The cookies will be paler, crisper and less chewy, because brown sugar adds moisture and caramel flavor.
Can you freeze chocolate chip cookie dough?
Yes. Freeze scooped dough balls on a tray, then bag them for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen, adding 1 to 2 minutes.
