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!
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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 love your recipe! It does stay soft for days! I used dark chocolate chunks instead of semi-sweet chocolates and they are still good.
If i wanted to do small batch of these cookies, should I just measure half to all the ingredients? Thank you!
Yes that should work, Rose. Thank you for your excellent feedback!
Hi, love your chocolate chip recipe. I would like to know how can I make them eggless? Thank you so much.
Hi Ramona, I haven’t tested these being eggless but I do have a good chocolate cake that is eggless – not sure if you’ve seen that one.
Yummy! What if you want to add nuts?
Hi Kat, You can add chopped nuts when you add the chocolate chips.
Can you recommend any changes for high altitude? I usually have to add an additional 3 tbsp or so to a cake recipe.
Hello Terry, I haven’t tried that yet but you can refer to this reference for High Altitude Baking.
Oh Natasha !!! these chocolate chip cookies are just wonderful !!! love your recipe !!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed that!
Best Chocoloate chip cookie recipe !
I’m so glad you enjoyed that Charlotte!
Super recipe many thanks Natasha, my boys and I really liked the cookies
That’s so awesome Manana! Thank you for that wonderful review!
Best cookies ever
I’m so glad you enjoyed that Amy!
This looks amazing! I am 18 and I want to try these right now! Thanks for the recipe
You’re welcome! I hope you can try this, I think you will love it.
I am goig to try these def! I am 17 years old and they look so good!!!! Thanks for the recipe1
Sounds like a good plan, enjoy!
Hi Natasha! Tried these chocolate chip cookies and they are amazing! My grandchildren and husband loved them. And are begging for me. BTW-I accidentally bought mini chocolate chips, and used those (according to directions) and it worked perfectly. (P.S.) Love you and your delicious recipes!
Yay so lovely to hear that Genny! So glad to know that the mini chocolate chips worked great too, thanks for sharing that with us.
Hi Natasha!
Can I substitute margarine for butter?
Hi Hiba, sorry but I have not tried using margarine yet in place of butter to advise if it would have the same effect.
Natasha thank u so much for all your recipes and ur quick n easy way of explaining.
I have a question regarding these cookies…. For how many days do they last without turning stale ?
I’m so glad you’re enjoying our recipes. We store ours in an air tight container for a few days.
I baked these chocolate chips and they were a success! I baked all the batch and thought they were too much for my family of 3, I just gave as a gift to a friend around 7 cookies and now my husband and son are asking when I will bake more since they are gone! They love them! Thank you so much for the easy way you explain all your recipes, I am new on this, (actually doing it because of the quarantine), and I am happy to discover that I can do it.. But it is because of your lovely and easy way to explain!!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it! It sounds like you have a new family favorite!
Natasha first of all I love your recipes!! I ran into a little problem with my cookies, they turned out waay too cake-like and fluffy versus the chewy gooey consistency I was looking for. I followed the recipe to a T including measuring instructions for the flour. I refrigerated the remaining 2/3 of the batter, is there anything I can do to remedy the rest of it before I bake them all? Thank you!
Hi Iryna, the way you described the results (cakey and fluffy) is usually indicative of too much flour. I suggest this post on how to measure flour and also be sure to use the same all-purpose flour as other flours can vary in gluten content.
Thank you!!
On the video it says baking powder, and on the recipe it says baking sofa…..could you advise which on to use?
Hi Alida, I suggest following the written recipe. We added an annotation in the video and updated the recipe card. The extra salt and switching to baking soda makes these cookies even better. Both versions work but we loved the soda so much more.
Thank you for your reply!:
Hi, Natasha…
Can’t wait to try your recipe as it’s the exact texture I want!! My question is can I use bread flour instead, & if so, how would it change the end result? LOVE your recipes!! You’re my exclusive source these days!! Thx!!
Hi Ginny, without testing I can’t advise but one of our readers reported using bread flour and it didn’t work quite well for them. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
Thx, Natasha! I think I’ll stick with the all purpose!
Hi Natasha,
Thank you for your great recipes! Also, the way you explain the procedure in your video is great to follow and learn!
I am a baker in my house, and recently learning how to cook as I am home and have lots of time on my hands.
I tried your recipe for lemon poppy seed cake for my mom’s birthday, and it was so great and successful, that it was all gone the next day.
I will bake chocolate chip cookies tomorrow and try sandwiching some oreo cookies in them as well, as they are my favourite too.
Anyways I just wanted to say thank you for all your great recipes!
Thank you,
Shalaka
That’s so great Shalaka! Thank you for that wonderful review! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe! I hope you love the cookie recipe!
Yes, the cookies did turn out great! My family and I love them so much!
Thank you soo so much again!
—
Shalaka
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it!
I’m in Colorado at high altitude. Would you make adjustments to the ingredients? I haven’t had much luck with cookies that come out looking like pancakes.
Hi Terry, since I don’t live in a high altitude area, I really don’t have any experience with high altitude baking and there’s no way for me to test it. You might do some research on google to see what changes are required for baking cookies in high altitudes. Sorry, I wish I could be more helpful!
Thanks for the recipe, my Cookies are in the oben right now!
I just wondered why my batter was not as “firm” as in your video.. I followed all of your steps and also didn’t substitute any ingredients, but my batter turned out way more soft. Maybe my butter was too warm?
Hi Vivi, that could be if your butter was melted or over softened, but its more likely due to an imbalance of wet to dry ingredients. Also, make sure you are using large eggs (not extra large).