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Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

Need the perfect chewy chocolate chip cookies? Look no further! This recipe was the result of years of searching and I was so happy to find this thick, chewy, and delicious American classic recipe.

If you love classic dessert recipes as much as I do, you will also enjoy this apple upside down cake, these simple homemade sugar donuts, and this yummy strawberry rhubarb crisp.

Three chewy chocolate chip cookies on burlap with a glass of milk.

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

A good soft chocolate chip cookie recipe is something that should be guarded just like a family heirloom. It was years and years before I found a recipe that has become our family’s absolute favorite!

This soft chocolate chip cookie has all the qualities we like and want in the perfect cookie. It’s thick, chewy, and has the luscious smell of browned butter. Honestly, biting into these cookies is like reliving your best childhood memory. Add a cup of cold milk to it and you’ve got heaven. Right. There.

A soft chocolate chip cookie being ripped in half with chocolate chip morsels.

The Best Cookie Recipe

Over the years I kept trying different recipes and while they were not bad, in fact even good, they were not “it”. They were just not the best cookie recipe! Then, a couple of years ago while I was subscribed to America’s Test Kitchen magazine, I stumbled upon their Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip cookie recipe.

Let me tell you, it was instant love! Ever since trying it for the first time, we all swore that it was the best cookie recipe ever! This is the only recipe I use.

A plate full of the best cookie recipe with chocolate chips

Make Extra, You’ll Thank Me Later 😉 

Whenever I make this recipe, I double or triple it and freeze the shaped balls of dough, so that anytime we want a treat we just pop a couple of cookies in the oven and 10 minutes later you’re ready to savor each bite of the best cookie recipe ever!

The best cookie recipe stacked on top of each next to a glass of milk.

How to Make Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

For detailed recipe instructions see the recipe card bottom of the post.

Have I tempted you enough with these photos and all the descriptions about how incredible these chewy chocolate chip cookies are? If so, it’s time to make a batch (or two!) and enjoy them for yourselves. Trust me, these cookies are worth the effort!

Ingredients for Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies:

  • all-purpose flour
  • baking soda
  • unsalted butter
  • granulated sugar
  • packed dark brown sugar
  • kosher salt
  • vanilla extract
  • large egg
  • large egg yolk
  • semisweet chocolate chips, or chunks
  • chopped pecans/walnuts (optional) – I did not add nuts

All the ingredients needed for chewy chocolate chip cookies.

How to make Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies:

  • Preheat oven to 375F degrees with the rack in the middle. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
    Combine the flour and the baking soda and whisk to combine, set aside.
  • Brown the butter in a skillet, then add it to the cold butter and whisk until melted.

Making the chewy chocolate chip cookie batter step by step

  • Whisk the sugars, salt, vanilla until smooth.  Let the mixture sit for 3 minutes, then whisk it again. Repeat 3 times (if you’re in a hurry, you can skip this step).

Adding the sugar and vanilla to the chewy chocolate chip cookie dough and mixing with a mixer.

  • Now add the egg and the egg yolk, one at a time, whisking or mixing after each addition until smooth batter forms.

Mixing the chewy chocolate chip cookie dough batter and adding in an egg.

  • Add the flour all at once and mix with a spatula or whisk with mixer just until combined. Then add chocolate chips and nuts (if using) and mix again.

Combing the dry ingredients with the wet cookie dough batter mixture for chewy chocolate chip cookies

  • Scoop up 16 balls, 8 per sheet, spacing them evenly between each other.

Scooping the chewy chocolate chip cookie dough onto a baking sheet.

  • Bake the cookies for about 10-14 minutes. You want the cookies to be golden brown with the edges set, but the middle still soft and puffy. Each oven is different so you will have to figure out for yourself how many minutes exactly (between 10-14) is the perfect chewiness texture for you. I bake mine for 11 minutes.

Baked chewy chocolate chip cookies with chocolate morsels on a baking sheet.

  • Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool before serving.

To freeze: If you plan to freeze the dough, just scoop the balls of dough onto a baking sheet and freeze. Then transfer to a ziplock bag and keep frozen for up to 2 months.

To bake frozen cookies: put frozen cookies on a tray, about 8 per sheet (18×12) and bake for 12-15 minutes.

Scroll to the bottom for the full recipe with precise ingredient amounts.

Here are some more great Cookie recipes:

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies - The only recipe I use and the best one for chocolate chip cookies that I have found so far. | By Let the Baking Begin!
4.73 from 11 votes

This Thick Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie with be your new favorite cookie recipe! A soft cookie with chocolate chips, the best homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Author: Cook's Illustrated
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chocolate chip cookies
Calories: 329 kcal
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 16 cookies

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F degrees with the rack in the middle. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

  2. First, combine cup flour and ½ tsp baking soda and whisk to combine, set aside.

  3. In a skillet, melt and then brown for about 2-3 minutes 10 tablespoons of butter. You want a slight golden color, not dark amber color. The butter will start to smell like toffee. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and add the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter. Whisk until the butter is melted.

  4. Add 1/2 cups granulated sugar, 3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 tsps vanilla extract and whisk until smooth, about 30 seconds. Let the mixture sit for 3 minutes, then whisk it again. Repeat 3 times (if you're in a hurry, you can skip this step).

  5. Next, add 1 egg and 1 egg yolk, one at a time, whisking or mixing after each addition until smooth batter forms.

  6. Now add the flour mixture all at once and mix with a spatula or whisk with mixer just until combined. Then add chocolate chips and nuts (if using) and mix again.

  7. Using a 3 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop up some dough and place 8 balls on a baking sheet, spacing them evenly between each other.
  8. Bake the cookies for about 10-14 minutes. You want the cookies to be golden brown with the edges set, but the middle still soft and puffy. Each oven is different so you will have to figure out for yourself how many minutes exactly (between 10-14) is the perfect chewiness texture for you. I bake mine for 11 minutes.

  9. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool before serving.

Recipe Notes

To freeze:
If you plan to freeze the dough, just scoop the balls of dough onto a baking sheet and freeze. Then transfer to a ziplock bag and keep frozen for up to 2 months.
!To bake frozen cookies:
put frozen cookies on a tray, about 8 per sheet (18x12) and bake for 12-15 minutes.

Nutrition Facts
Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie
Amount Per Serving
Calories 329 Calories from Fat 180
% Daily Value*
Fat 20g31%
Saturated Fat 10g63%
Cholesterol 50mg17%
Sodium 195mg8%
Potassium 139mg4%
Carbohydrates 35g12%
Fiber 2g8%
Sugar 22g24%
Protein 4g8%
Vitamin A 349IU7%
Vitamin C 1mg1%
Calcium 31mg3%
Iron 2mg11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Marina | Let the Baking Begin

Welcome to Let the Baking Begin! I'm Marina and my love and passion for eating only the most delicious foods drive me to share that love here on Let the Baking Begin (since 2009). With over 20 years of experience in the kitchen, you know the recipes are tested and retested until perfect. I'm so happy to have you here. Enjoy! Read more...

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  • Susie Bonney

    The thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies from America’s Test Kitchen call for 2 cups + 2 TBSP. of unbleached all- purpose flour, 12 tablespoons of unsalted butter and 1/2 teaspoon table salt. I have the Cookbook and looked it up.

    · Reply
    • Hi Susie,
      This recipe is actually America Test Kitchen’s Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie. I have it linked in the beginning of the post. I found their “Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie” recipe to be thick and chewy, hence the post name. I’m not sure, may be the one they call “thick and chewy” was posted after their “Perfect chocolate chip cookie” and I was unaware that they had two versions that differed with ingredient amounts at the time of posting this one.

      · Reply
  • Alyssa

    The original recipe has almost a whole cup more flour! These came out just plain weird

    · Reply
    • Hi Alyssa, sounds like you might be thinking of a different recipe as this one is identical to the original. I would check how you measure the flour or weigh it to make sure it is correct.

      Hope you have better luck next time. I’m here if you have any questions though.

      · Reply
  • Rhonda

    I’ve been looking for the perfect cookie recipe. I was skeptical at first, but this is IT!
    Mine were perfectly baked at exactly 10 minutes. I made chocolate chunk and ruby chocolate chip. This is definitely my go to recipe because it was really easy to make, and comes out perfect.

    · Reply
  • Dianna Haber

    Thank you for the most wonderful cookie recipe. My husband came home from work and hone on the kitchen. He had 2 cookies, before I knew it.

    · Reply
  • Guest

    Hi Marina,
    Do you know why these cookies flatten out in the oven and the dough looked to buttery? Is it because of the flour? What flour do you use? Thanks.

    · Reply
    • Hi,
      I’ve not had this happen when I made them so I am not sure what could be causing this, but if I had to guess, I would think that something with the measurement of four is off. You could also try refrigerating or freezing the preshapes cookies before baking them, that usually helps with them retaining the shape better. But if you do this again, just make sure the flour measurements are what they’re supposed to be. I use Canadian flour, but this recipe is from the Cooks Illustrated and they use regular all-purpose flour.

      · Reply
  • Katya Z

    Thank you soooooo much!!! I had almost given up on making chocolate chip cookies, but when I saw this I decided to try once more and boy were they good!!! I made 2 batches and they disappeared fast! Thank you again!!

    · Reply
  • Yana Lozovinskiy

    The best chocolate chip cookies that I ever ate !!! Thanks for such a good recipe !

    · Reply
  • sarah

    one of my fav cookies yesterday i added nutella and they were amazing Thank you sooooo much for posting this recipe

    · Reply
  • Audrey

    Hi Mila,

    I love how these cookies baked and the gooey consistency and I am curious if the salt amount of 1 tsp is correct. The dough tastes edible but pretty salty to me and maybe I am just ultra sensitive but I am curious if you can taste the salt in your dough and cookies when you eat them, and if that is what you are going for. Might be, just curious! Not going to stop me from eating all of them, let’s be honest!

    · Reply
    • Hi Audrey,
      This was America Test Kitchen’s recipe and their indicated amount is indeed 1 teaspoon. When something has a lot of sugar, like this recipe does, to make it less toothachingly sweet and to have a good balance salt is usually added. Just like salt and caramel go together for some reason, same in this recipe the salt is kind of needed. If it is too much for your palate, feel free to reduce it to 1/2 or don’t even add it at all. Good thing about baking on your own, is you can adjust the recipe however you would like, to make your tastebuds dance. No harm in that at all 😉

      · Reply
  • Janice Rose

    This is not the correct cookie recipe for their thick and chewy cookie. THis flattens out and is waaaaay to sugary.

    · Reply
  • Elizabeth

    Chocolate Chip cookie is reminding me of my childhood. When I was a little girl I didn`t have so many choices and I had chocolate cookies only for X-mas. Now I`m happy I can make them for my children … even if they are taking everything for granted.

    · Reply
  • Diana

    Hi Marina! Thank you for the recipe. They turned out yummy and soft. The different recipes I tried always turned out hard, but these are wonderful and my kids loved them too! 🙂

    · Reply
  • Luda

    These are THE BEST chocolate chip cookies I’ve made. I tripled the recipe today worried they won’t turn out cuz it was my first time making them but they turned out SO good!!! My children loved them too and said to always make them. I’m tossing all my other recipes for chocolate chip cookies and this one is now my family favorite! Thanks for the awesome recipes and God bless you and your family!!!

    · Reply
  • We shall be on the road this weekend and I decided to make these for me and my son. Thank you so much !

    · Reply
  • Mila

    Thank you sooooo much for posting this recipe. My daughter made about 5 batches (for the trip) and as you can tell we loved how these cookies came out. What size of a scoop did you used? We used 2 tsp scoop and baked it for about 8 min. Size of the cookies were smaller and I think it was a great size since I have little kids.
    Once again thank you!!! Looking forward seeing more posting from you. God bless

    · Reply
    • Hi Mila,
      You’re welcome and thank you for posting your wonderful comment!
      Wow, 5 batches seems like a lot, but that depends on how long the trip is and how many people are traveling I guess, haha!
      For the recipe pictured I did use a 3 tablespoon scoop, but usually I use a scoop that is a little less than 2 tablespoons, I think it is 1 tablespoon and 2 tsp exactly. I agree that the smaller size is better for portion control, especially if you have kids. Nevertheless, it is much easier to overbake them when they’re smaller, so I guess you have to do what works for you. Thanks for sharing your feedback and hope you find more recipes that you will like!

      · Reply

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