These chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies are the perfect cookie with a soft and moist center, melty morsels of chocolate, and crisp edges. It’s the only chocolate chip cookie recipe you’ll ever need because it’s classic—not fussy, complicated, or time-consuming.
There’s no need for refrigeration, special tricks, or complex cooking techniques to get the best chocolate cookie. Our foolproof, classic recipe tastes exactly how it should—insanely delicious. After all, it’s the incredible flavor and easy-to-make recipe that keeps traditional desserts like Gingerbread Cookies, Banana Bread, and Baklava so popular for ages!
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
My high school used to sell the best chocolate chip cookies at lunchtime. They were soft, thick and irresistible. With this cookie recipe, I sought to recreate that memorable texture and this recipe takes me back to the days when I saved up my quarters for the rare treat of the cafeteria cookie.
There is no match for homemade chocolate chip cookies with chewy and soft texture, gooey chocolate chips, and the sweetest aroma coming from your oven. As America’s most loved cookie, they are perfect for every occasion, whether you’re making Christmas cookies, comforting a neighbor, or surprising your kiddos with a sweet after-school treat.
Just like with Chocolate Crinkle Cookies or Christmas Sugar Cookies, everyone needs a go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe, so here’s why this one is a keeper:
- The cookies stay soft for days
- Easy, straightforward recipe with tips to make it foolproof!
- No resting/refrigerating time—so you can satisfy your craving immediately
- Pantry staple ingredients
- True to the classic flavor everyone loves
- Stores and freezes well
- Make ahead option to always have dough on hand
Chocolate Chip Cookies Video
In this video, Natasha shows you how easy it is to whip up a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies. *Note that we updated the recipe and now use 1 tsp of baking soda because we loved the results even more.
Ingredients:
The best chocolate chip cookie recipe is made with pantry and refrigerator staples—nothing fancy or hard to find here.
- Unsalted butter – room temperature butter creates the best consistency to trap air for a chewy, airy dough with the best texture and rise.
- Granulated sugar – white sugar adds sweetness without adding moisture for the perfect spread
- Brown sugar – molasses keeps the cookie moist, soft, and chewy. Be sure to press the sugar tightly into the cup when measuring
- Eggs – room temperature eggs mix more evenly to bind the dough
- Vanilla extract – store-bought or homemade vanilla extract gives that classic chocolate chip cookie flavor
- All-purpose flour – be sure to measure correctly to get the right amount: fluff with a spoon and then scoop the flour into the measuring cup. Finally, scrape off the top. Be sure not to pat the flour down
- Baking soda – sift to eliminate clumps
- Salt – balances the sweetness of the sugars
- Chocolate chips – we prefer semi-sweet chocolate chips, but you can use milk chocolate or bittersweet chips for a slightly different taste. See our buying guide below – be sure to use the full amount because they add moisture and give good form to the cookies
Pro Tip:
If you don’t have time to let the butter come to room temperature, try this trick to soften the butter quickly, because it makes a big difference.
How to Buy Chocolate Chips
Chocolate chips come in different varieties. Here’s what to look for:
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips (46%-60% cocoa): the traditional chip for chocolate chip cookies. You can use full-size or mini chips, chunks, or even chopped chocolate. Nestle, Tollhouse, Ghirardelli, Guittard, Kirkland, Hershey’s….they all work!
- Milk chocolate chips (10% cocoa): these make very sweet cookies, so have your glass of milk ready. Try mixing with semi-sweet.
- Bittersweet chocolate chips (70% cocoa): less sweet and intensely chocolatey. These produce a more “adult” cookie.
Substitutions
It’s easy to make these cookies your own. You’ll need 2 cups of mix-ins, so if you’re feeling adventurous, try some of these fun alternatives to chocolate chips:
- Peanut butter chips
- Sprinkles
- Butterscotch chips
- M&M candies
- Macadamia nuts
- Chopped unsalted peanuts
- White vanilla baking chips
- Shredded coconut
- Pretzel pieces – the options are endless!
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies
It’s so simple to mix up this easy chocolate chip cookie recipe with pantry staples and no refrigeration is needed.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and cover 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats. Cream the butter and sugars together for 5 minutes until light and fluffy—this is the most important step to get a chewy cookie. Be sure to beat for the full amount of time!
- Beat eggs into the butter mixture one at a time followed by the vanilla extract.
- Combine the dry ingredients (flour, salt, and sifted baking soda) in a separate bowl, and then add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in thirds. Finally, fold the chocolate chips into the dough. Be sure not to over-mix (this can cause the dough to become tough).
- Roll balls of dough or use a trigger release scoop to scoop 3 Tbsp balls onto the prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake one cookie sheet at a time for 12-15 minutes. The tops should still look a bit wet and not browned. We usually bake 1/3 of the cookies at a time and refrigerate or freeze the rest for later, so see our tips below.
- Rest the cookies on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Store cookies in an airtight container on the counter for 5 days. To warm the cookies, try toasting in a toaster oven or baking at 350 for 2-3 minutes.
Pro Tip:
For a prettier cookie, press a few extra chocolate chips into the top of each cookie dough ball just before baking.
Common Questions
Room temperature butter and eggs, beating the butter and sugars thoroughly, and not over-mixing create the best cookies! No need for fancy techniques, because the best chocolate chip cookies are easy to make!
These homemade chocolate chip cookies spread perfectly without flattening.
Over-baking is the #1 cause of hard cookies, so remove them before they brown, when the edges are just turning golden. The top should still look a bit raw.
Once baked, store the cookies in an airtight container to keep them soft. You can even place a piece of bread in the container to maintain moisture.
Usually, cookies go flat when a recipe doesn’t include enough flour. Be sure to measure the ingredients correctly. Also, check to be sure your baking soda is still fresh by placing 1 tsp baking soda into a cup with a splash of vinegar. It should fizz, but if it doesn’t, replace your baking soda.
This usually means you use too much flour. Be sure to fluff and spoon your flour into a dry ingredient measuring cup, and don’t pat it down. Also, be sure not to make the cookie dough balls too large, or they may take longer than the cooking time to spread in the oven.
Make-Ahead
Our homemade chocolate chip cookie dough is refrigerator and freezer-friendly, so you can always have dough on hand. To make a few days ahead, mix the dough as directed and store:
- To Refrigerate: put dough into an airtight container, or cover rolled dough balls on a cookie sheet in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, and then bake as usual. It may take 1-2 minutes longer if starting with chilled dough.
- To Freeze: Scoop the dough onto a parchment-lined cookie sheet and freeze for 1 hour. Then, once the dough balls are frozen, store them in a freezer zip-top bag until ready to bake.
- To Bake: thaw in the refrigerator and bake as directed. You can bake from frozen, but the cookies will take a few more minutes to bake.
You will love these homemade chocolate chips with melty chocolate, a chewy cookie center, and an irresistible aroma. Our easy recipe uses pantry staples without unnecessary techniques! Grab a glass of milk because this will soon become your go-to recipe!
More Cookie Recipes
If you love this chocolate chip cookie recipe, then you won’t want to miss these other delicious cookie recipes.
- Peanut Butter Cookies
- Snowball Cookies
- Russian Tea Cakes
- Shell Cookies
- Cranberry Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Thumbprint Cookies
Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, (16 Tbsp), softened
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, measured correctly*
- 1 tsp baking soda, sifted
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, (12 oz), divided reserving 1/4 cup for the top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚ F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or Silpat liner. In the bowl of a stand mixer with paddle attachment, combine 2 sticks of butter, 1 cup of packed brown sugar and 1/2 cup of white sugar. Beat 5 minutes on medium/high speed until creamy and light, scraping down the bowl as needed.
- Add 2 eggs, one at a time, beating well with each addition, scraping down the bowl as needed, then beat in 2 tsp of vanilla.
- In a separate bowl, combine 3 cups of flour, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp of baking soda (sifted to eliminate lumps). Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter in thirds, mixing to incorporate with each addition. Fold in 2 cups of chocolate chips.
- Use an ice cream scoop to get even balls of dough (3 Tbsp each). Place scoops of dough onto lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Mine fit onto 3 cookie sheets and made 26 cookies. Roll balls lightly with your hands then stud tops of cookie balls with reserved chocolate chips. Bake right away or cover and refrigerate until ready to bake.
- Bake one cookie sheet at a time for 12-15 min at 350˚F (we bake 12 minutes), until edges are just turning golden. The tops should still look under-baked. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet 5 min then transfer to a rack to cool.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
I made these cookies last night and they came out great! I followed the instructions and they came out soft, chewy and delicious. This is one of this best choc chip recipes I’ve stumbled upon! Thank you so much for sharing
Aww that’s just awesome! Thank you for that amazing review, Ranee!
Hi going to try your recipe to see how it compares to my favorite one. My favorite recipe for Soft chocolate chip cookies came from the 1970’s Instant vanilla Jello pudding box. You can Google it if you want to try it. Hard to beat, but I will try your recipe of my favorite cookie.
Thank you so much for sharing that with us, Jeffrey! I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Hello Natasha. I m making these right now and was wondering if I can fridge half of the batter mix?
Hi, that will be fine. They will need a slightly longer baking time after refrigeration.
can I include toasted walnuts to this recipe, how much would suggest?
Hi Diane, maybe 1/2 cup of toasted chopped walnuts and I would probably take out some chocolate chips if adding walnuts.
Hi
What is ur one cup measurement??
For ex it’s 3cups so what’s the exact measurements in grams ??
Hi, if you click “Metric” in the recipe card, you will see the measurements displayed in grams.
Our family love chocolate chip cookies. Noticed that you called for baking powder. I have never used that before. Always have used baking soda. Is there a difference?
Hi Maureen, Baking powder is correct. I haven’t tested this recipe with baking soda and it most likely won’t work because there is nothing to activate baking soda. Hope this helps.
Hi Natasha, if I want to reduce the sugar what would you suggest in terms of quantities? Please revert back ASAP
You should be able to lessen the amount a bit. Some of our readers opted in for brown sugar as well to help with color. I don’t have the exact measurements, however.
I just made these and they were great, but I was looking at your 2019 recipe vs 2015 one (the one I used) and there is a difference in the brown sugar and flour amounts. Also, the 2015 recipe states to chill the dough balls for an hour before baking. So, no chilling necessary anymore?
Hi Rickie, this is our new and improved recipe or as we like to call it an “upgraded” version.
Hi Natasha, would it be OK to add nuts to this recipe?
Planning on making these today – they look so yummy! Love your recipes.
Do you have one for Oatmeal Raisin cookies!
Hi Joan, that should work! One of our readers left an amazing review using walnuts. I do not at this time.
How much in grams one cup of butter pls ?
Hi Carmen, we have the metric conversion option on the recipe with you click “Jump to Recipe” at the top of the recipe post. If I’m doing my math correctly it should be about 226.8 grams. I hope that helps you convert.
I got a chance to try this recipe..
That’s so great! I hope you enjoyed that!
Natasha! I’m typing as I’m eating this cookie from your receipt. WOW WOW and WOW.
You are the best!
Best cookie EVER….!
c’est parfait.
I’m so happy to hear that, Samia!
Hi I made this cookies it was great but could I use less sugar than recipe?because it was a bit sweet for my family
Hi Mina, the sugar does help with the consistency and I have found that using less sugar can result in a more cake-like cookie. You could reduce it slightly or use semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate. You could also use slightly less chocolate chips.
I have made these cookies and they are great!
I would like to make the dough ahead of time and refrigerate it before baking. Does the dough have to be brought to room temperature prior to baking?
Hi Marion, I have baked straight from the refrigerator and it worked well. You may need to bake a minute or two longer.
My cookies did not flatten. I measured correct. Used organic everything. Too bad 🙁 I was excited
Hi Olena, when you watched the video, did your dough look the same? Did you possibly make any substitutions in the recipe?
These cookies are perfect! I made them smaller than what the recipe calls for and they turned out great! Perfect combo of crunchy and soft. Will make these from now on.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Kim!
Hi, Natasha. I’ve tried your recipe, it works good. But I have a question, what brand of all purpose flour did you use? What is protein of the flour? Thanks!
Hi Sherie, we are using organic all-purpose flour. Any American All-Purpose flour should work fine. I’ve tested it with Bob’s Red Mill also.
Thanks Natasha! So happy got your reply. I don’t have red mill here but I use similar one, works great as well. Love your recipe
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I just made this… It tasted so nice!
The only problem I had was trying to gauge how long to leave the cookies in the oven for… cos the cookies got too overcooked on the outside when I left it to bake for 12 to 15 mins. Regardless, all is good!
I’m happy to hear you liked this recipe, Fal. There are many factors that may affect it including oven temp and whether it is calibrated or not or if anything is altered in the recipe.
Umm you said baking powder? Powder puffs and is for muffins and such, while baking soda spreads… I think you mean baking soda not baking powder
Baking powder is correct. I haven’t tested this recipe with baking soda and it most likely won’t work because there is nothing to activate baking soda. Hope this helps.
Hi Natasha, I made these cookies with my daughter and everyone loved them! Our’s turned out thick as opposed to flat cookies. We used a small scoop. They cooked but didn’t flatten out. Any suggestions?
Hi Stacie, it sounds like too much flour. Make sure you spoon the flour into the measuring cup and scrape off the top. if you plunge the measuring cup into the flour bin, you can get up to 25% too much flour. I hope that helps!
That’s exactly what happened (and I even read your measuring tips too, ugh). I made them again, measuring correctly, and they came out delicious! I did use dark brown sugar the second time, because that is what I had on hand, and they were amazing!
Same thing happened with mine but I have learned how important it is to measure the flour properly..
Hi! I went by the recipe, but they came out too fluffy. Probably too much flour, even though I used a knife to level off. I have alot of dough left; is there something I can add to it to make it less fluffy?
Thanks! 😀
Hi Laura, when you measured the flour, did you spoon it into the measuring cup before leveling it off? Plunging the measuring cup into the container can get you around 25% too much flour because it is compacted.
Thanks natasha
I tried this recipe I loved it but it a little bit sweet can i reduce the quantity of sugar
Best Regards
Maryam
Hi Maryam, you can adjust the sugar to your taste or use less chocolate chips which also contributes to sweetness
Why do recipes call for unsalted butter? Can you substitute salted butter?
Hi Kenna, salted butter should work but yes, hold off on adding the extra salt if using that.