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 made this recipe and it was great! The sweetness is just perfect! One thing to notice: the video vs the written ingredients. The video says baking powder and the recipe says baking soda with different amounts. Also, the salt amount on the video is much different than the written recipe. I opted to follow the video instructions.
Thank you for your comments and feedback, Maria. We first published this chocolate chip cookie recipe in 2012. We are always working on perfecting our recipes so we modified the recipe with a tad more salt and switched to 1 tsp baking soda. This resulted in a softer, chewier cookie that spread perfectly with or without chilling the dough.
thanks for clarifying the instructions! I will try the written instructions next time! Yum!
You’re welcome!
Hi Natasha I tried making your chocolate chip cookies 3 times and they didn’t turned out! I followed your recipe exactly, I even watched your video on it too and still they didn’t turned out!! My batter was too dry and the cookies didn’t even expand in the oven.
Hi Charlene, I wonder if the liquid to dry ingredient proportions were off. Check out our post on how we measure ingredients for baking.
Charlene , I think it depends on what brand of flour you use. I used Canadian flour and after 2.5 cups of flour , I noticed my dough was too dry and the cookies didn’t flatten and don’t look like Natasha’s. Next time I will start with 1.5 cups of Canadian flour and add as needed. Hope that helps!
No-fail and best cookie recipe! So soft and the whole family loved it. Cut down the sugar about 1 tbsp each and replaced chocolate chips with chunks. They’re fantastic.
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies!
Hi Natasha! I’m a huge fan of your recipes and so are all my family and friends! Was thinking about making these cookies not with the usual chocolate chips but with the rainbow chocolate m&m’s! Do I stick to the same quantity of chocolate chips that the recipe calls for?
Hope to hear from you soon!
Hi Gracie, yes using the same quantity will work. I hope you enjoy these cookies!
Thanks Natasha for the amazing recipe. This recipe is what I’ve been looking for all my life!! soft cookies with a cakey texture, really amazing. I reduced the sugar slightly and used half the amount of chocolate chips and loved it so much
Fantastic! I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe and thank you for sharing some of the changes that you did with us. Truly appreciate it!
Question pls: If I am using the cookie sheets that are specifically for cookies, should I still use parchment paper? I baked the cookies on Saturday and did not use p.paper.. also I think I used the wrong attachment for my new KitchenAid mixer.. I made have beat it too much.. the cookies came out like one big pancake.. lol Is it possible to beat the batter too much?
Hi Linda, that is very possible. The attachment incorporates air and too much air = volume why they looked like a pancake. Without knowing the exact time of cookie sheet and trying it myself I can’t say but we have always made it with parchment paper.
Thanks so much…
Perfect recipe Natasha. I followed each instruction step by step, and turned out the softest, most delicious cookie ever. I tried many before but this was the easiest to bake with its great taste. Greetings from Istanbul Turkey (and also thank you for providing metric measures)
Yay love it! So great to hear that it was successful, thanks for giving this recipe a wonderful review!
These cookies are delicious but they came out a little cakey for my liking. I like my cookies to flatten out more as they bake and these ones didn’t. I’m an avid baker, and chocolate chip cookies are always hard for me to get perfect. I fluff, spoon, and scrape my flour for accurate measuring so I’m not sure what I did wrong. I will try this recipe again with my scale for more precise measuring next time and then leave an updated review. Any advice or tips is appreciated!
Besides the slightly off texture/ consistency, I love the flavor and they are still a really good cookie
Hi Christina, a change in the texture usually indicates too much flour. Check out our post on how we measure for baking.
Hi Natasha!
I was wondering if you could help me. The first time we baked these the batter was way too runny but tasted nice. The second time I added a tad bit more flour and sugar, but it was oddly tasteless. Where did I go wrong?
BTW I love your recipes and wondering if you can do a double chocolate cookie.
Hi Marianne, thank you for sharing this with us, I’m more than happy to troubleshoot! Make sure you are using baking soda (also making sure it and your flour are not expired). Was anything possibly altered in the recipe?
Hi, love the recipes of yours that I have tried. I need a flavorful, moist/chewy oatmeal raisin cookie. I haven’t found one when looking on your site. Please help me!
Hi Linda, we don’t have a recipe like that yet but it is on my list! Thank you for that suggestion!
What size of cookie scoop did you use to make it perfectly flat?
Hi Lori, we are using 2 1/4″ cookie scoops. I have a link to the size I used in the post. Hope that helps!
Another great recipe!! These cookies barley lasted the night! Your recipes have got me cooking and baking for the first time 😀
Hi Anna, I’m so happy you enjoyed the chocolate chip cookies. Thank you for your wonderful review!
These are the best chocolate chip cookies 100% hands down! They are soft and chewy and the best part is that they are filled with chocolate morsels! Thanks for all your recipes and the effort that you put into each and every delicious recipe it is very much appreciated by me! You’re my romodel when it comes to the kitchen! Loads of love!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that Mesha! These are popular for good reason! Thank you for that wonderful review!
These chocolate chip cookies are the best 100% percent hands down! So soft and chewy and the best part filled with chocolate morsels! Thanks for all your recipes and your effort that you put into each recipe it is very much appreciated by me! You’re my romodel when it comes to the kitchen! Loads of love!
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us!
These are the best homemade cookies I’ve ever had! I’ve been making them for a while now, and each time they come out perfectly!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Hannah!
If the flour is weighed, how many grams would it be? I have noticed some recipes have weight for ingredients.
Hi Candy, if you are at the recipe just click on “Jump to recipe” and click “Metric” and it will convert the ingredients to grams. Hope this helps!
hi natasha!
fantastic cookie great recipe, a become fan of u after this recipe .,how about triple chocolate cookie, how much is the amount of cocoa powder i need to added hope you could help me.
Thank you for your awesome feedback! I haven’t tried doing triple chocolate cookies yet but that’s a good idea.
This is the recipe you’ve been looking for! It is no-fail and the best part is that there is no chilling required!!! This is a fantastic recipe! Thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you’ve enjoyed this recipe ER!
These Chocolate Chip Cookies are Awesome, making them for the third time, just wanted to know what happened to the video with the stand mixer, hope I am doing this right, do I sift the flour, salt and baking soda together or sift the baking soda by itself, the fried chicken sandwich was delish!
Hi Yolita, yes, in a separate bowl, we combine 3 cups of flour, 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp of baking soda and sifted it all to eliminate lumps. I hope that is helpful.
Which is it baking powder or baking soda? In the video you say baking powder but in the recipe it says baking soda just wanna clarify thank you!! Love all your recipes you are amazing!
Hi Mally, we added a notation in the video for it at that step but there’s no way to refilm that portion in a published video. The written recipe is correct. It is 1 tsp of baking soda. We have tested both and loved the results with baking soda so much more which is why we updated the post. I hope you love these chocolate chip cookies!