I have a few tricks that make these the best soft chocolate chip cookies that you’ll ever try. With hundreds of positive reviews from bakers around the world, I’m confident you’ll fall in love with this chocolate chip cookie recipe too. Chilling the cookie dough is imperative and cornstarch makes them extra soft and thick!
Chocolate chip cookies are a household favorite, a timeless classic, an unparalleled snack… warm, cold, dunked in milk, in dough form, or in baked form. No one can resist the comfort of a chocolate chip cookie and everyone has their favorite recipe, whether it’s on the back of the yellow chocolate chips bag or scribbled in your grandmother’s recipe book.
Heck, I even have separate recipes for crispy chocolate chip cookies and chewy chocolate chip cookies!
Like many of you, I’ve searched far and wide for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe: the best chocolate chip cookies, a recipe I can bake again and again for years. I’ve lost sleep, I’ve burnt dough, I’ve tested and retested and retested… and retested, countless times. And I’m so happy to report that I finally found a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I’ll treasure for years. And I know you’ll enjoy these cookies too!
This exact recipe has served as the base for several exceptional spin-off cookies, too:
- Dark Chocolate Cranberry Almond Cookies
- White Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies
- S’mores Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Sandwiches
- Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Salted Caramel Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
How to Make Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Start With Butter: Use room temperature butter. You can soften butter quickly with this trick or set the butter out 1–2 hours before you begin.
- Use a Mix of Sugars: Cream the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar together. This process aerates the butter, which promises soft chocolate chip cookies. Brown sugar yields soft chocolate chip cookies, and white sugar helps the cookies spread. For chewier and more flavorful cookies, use more brown sugar than white sugar.
- Dark Brown Sugar: Light brown sugar and dark brown sugar are interchangeable in most recipes. Though either works in this chocolate chip cookie recipe, I love using dark brown sugar for extra flavor because it contains more molasses.
- Add Egg & Vanilla Extract: Eggs provide structure and richness, while vanilla adds flavor.
- Use Cornstarch in Dry Ingredients: Cornstarch, a thickening ingredient, is the secret weapon in this cookie recipe, just like in shortbread cookies. 2 teaspoons give the cookies extra lift and leave them extra soft. You can’t taste it! You also need all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Add Dry Ingredients to Wet Ingredients: Combine all the ingredients, then add the chocolate chips.
- Chill the Cookie Dough: For extra thick chocolate chip cookies, chill the cookie dough for at least 1 hour. Chilling cookie dough will make or break the recipe! The colder the cookie dough, the less the cookies will over-spread. If you’re interested, here are 10 tips on how to prevent cookies from spreading.
- Extra Chocolate Chips: This is optional, but as soon as the cookies come out of the oven, press a few chocolate chips on top. They’ll melt right down into the cookie, making them extra pretty. And melted chocolate is never a bad thing! I recommend doing the same with double chocolate chip cookies.
Room temperature butter is cool to touch and about 65°F (18°C), which may be cooler than your kitchen. To test it, poke it with your finger. Your finger should make an indent without sinking into the butter. The butter should not be shiny or greasy. You can’t cream cold butter and you can’t cream partially melted butter, either. Room temperature butter is imperative to the outcome of these cookies! You need 3/4 cup, which is 1.5 sticks, 12 Tablespoons, or 170g.
Don’t Have Time to Chill Cookie Dough?
If you don’t have time to chill the chocolate chip cookie dough, try my crispy chocolate chip cookies, giant chocolate chip cookies, or Nutella chocolate chip cookies. Or even these soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie bars or cookie dough frosted cookie cups, which don’t require individual cookie rolling, either.
I also have an entire section of no-chill cookie recipes. Snickerdoodles and shortbread are two more favorites!
How to Freeze Cookie Dough
Freezing chocolate chip cookie dough is really easy. I have a whole post dedicated to how to freeze cookie dough, but here’s a recap:
- After the cookie dough has chilled in the refrigerator, roll the cookie dough into balls. Chill the cookie dough balls in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
- Place the solid and cold cookie dough balls into a plastic zipped-top freezer bag.
- Label the bag with the month and the baking temperature, and place the bag in the freezer.
- Freeze cookie dough for up to 3 months. The date will help you determine when the cookie dough is fresh, and the temperature is written for obvious reasons. Really, you can write whatever is helpful to you. The date, temperature, time, recipe name, etc.
- When it’s time to bake the cookies, remove them from the freezer. Preheat the oven according to the recipe’s instructions.
- Bake the cookies for a minute or 2 longer, since the dough is frozen.
Bake the frozen cookie dough balls whenever that chocolate chip cookie craving hits, or when you need a big batch of fresh-baked cookies. I do it all the time!
Sometimes the simplest recipes are what stick. I really don’t need to convince you—it’s a chocolate chip cookie. THE chocolate chip cookie!
Print
The Best Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
- Yield: 2 dozen
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
I have a few tricks that make these the best soft chocolate chip cookies that you’ll ever try. With hundreds of positive reviews from bakers around the world, I’m confident you’ll fall in love with this chocolate chip cookie recipe too. Chilling the cookie dough is imperative and cornstarch makes them extra soft and thick!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/4 cup (225g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and sugar together on medium speed until combined and creamy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.
- In a separate bowl, whisk flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt together. Add into the wet ingredients, then beat on low speed until combined. The cookie dough will be slightly thick. On low speed, beat in the chocolate chips.
- Cover dough tightly and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour and up to 3–4 days. Chilling is imperative for this cookie dough.
- Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator and allow to sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Once chilled, the dough will be slightly crumbly, but will come together when you work the dough with your hands. Roll cookie dough, about a heaping 1.5 Tablespoons of dough per cookie (I use this medium-size cookie scoop), and place 3 inches apart on baking sheets.
- Bake for 11–12 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges. The cookies will look extremely soft when you remove them from the oven. Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet. If the cookies are too puffy, try gently pressing down on them with the back of a spoon. They will slightly deflate as you let them cool. If desired, while the cookies are still warm, press a few extra chocolate chips into the tops. This is optional, just for looks.
- Transfer cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely. Cookies stay fresh covered at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: You can make the cookie dough and chill it in the refrigerator for up to 3–4 days. Allow to come to room temperature, then continue with preheating the oven in step 4. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months. Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw. Read my tips and tricks on how to freeze cookie dough.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Medium Cookie Scoop | Cooling Rack
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
- Adapted from Anna Olson
Love all your recipes. You are my go-to. I am wanting to make the soft chocolate chip cookies. All I have is salted butter. Is it ok to use?
Hi Dianne, You can leave the recipe as is or reduce the salt down to 1/4 teaspoon. Enjoy!
Made these yesterday. Didn’t chill like you said to (kids are impatient) and added one additional yolk. Followed every thing else. BEST chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made.
These seriously are the Best soft chocolate chip cookies! This is the only recipe I make now. I’ve tried so many different chocolate chip cookie recipes and have always been disappointed. But, not this one. They are perfect in every way. Chocolatey✔️ soft ✔️delicious ✔️ easy✔️. At first I didn’t like that they had to chill, but now I really like that I don’t have to bake immediately. Planning on making a stash of these for my freezer before I have my baby. Thanks Sally for another amazing recipe!!
So glad to read that you love these! Thank you for the review.
I didn’t see on the recipe what temperature I should bake it at does anyone know?
Hi Kate! See step 4: Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
baked these for all of my neighbors and multiple people said they were the best chocolate chip cookies they ever had. My neighbors are seniors so they’ve had a lot of cookies, lol. So many people asked for the recipe! Thanks Sally!
Just made them in my Ninja air fryer/toaster oven on the bake setting and it turned out perfect. I didn’t have to adjust the time at all. These are seriously the best chocolate chip cookies. Everybody loves a secret ingredient!
Approximately how big are the cookies with this recipie as written? 24 count.
Hi Tara! We haven’t measured. Maybe about 2 and 1/2 inches in diameter?
Can I substitute M&M’s dr the chocolate chips. This is the only chocolate chip cookie recipe I use and have been baking for years. I prefer the texture of this dough better than your soft-baked M&M cookies; although that’s a good one too.
Definitely!
It was a hit with my classmates, I have people asking me to make it again soon!!
I wondered if I could chop up with chocolate and add that to the dough?
Thank you so much for this recipe!
Hi Temari, do you mean chopping up a chocolate bar to use instead of chocolate chips? Yes, that definitely works!
I make these cookies all the time now but I make them smaller so I get 3 1/2 doz and only bake for 10 minutes or so. I usually only refrigerate dough for 1 hour but last time left it overnight but it was a struggle getting the dough out to roll. Had to leave it out for at least an hour. My family loves them, I could make this twice a week!!
I would like to add nuts to this recipe? Do I need to adjust the flour?
Hi Tracy! You can add nuts to this recipe – simply replace some of the chocolate chips with chopped nuts.
They tast great but always turn out flat for me and I can’t figure out why. I don’t change anything.
Hi Cait! Here’s our best tips for preventing cookies from spreading – the most common culprit is not using proper room temperature butter.
Actually a question, do I change anything for high altitude? We live at 6,100 feet. Thanks!
Hi Hilarie, I wish we could help, but have no experience baking at high altitude. Some readers have found this chart helpful: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/high-altitude-baking.html
OMG the best chocolate chip cookies. I’ve tried several recipes over the years but none compare to these. Corn starch who would’ve thought that this is the secret! I wish I had doubled the recipe!
Hey, I just wanted to say that whenever I look for a recipe for something I love coming to your page and your “baking addiction” has been my favorite all through the years! So thank you!
Can I make this cookie with gluten free flour
Hi Kim, we haven’t tested these cookies with gluten free flour, so we’re unsure of the exact results. But let us know if you try it!
Hi there, my cookies came out flat and not puffy at all. I don’t know what I did wrong
Hi Laura! It could be that your baking soda is old (we find it starts to lose its power after 3 months or so, even if not technically expired). It’s also possible that your butter may have been a bit too warm. Here’s more on what room temperature butter really means (it may be cooler than you think!) as well as 10 tips to prevent cookies from spreading. Hope this helps for next time!