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
Hello Natasha,
Been following your recipes for a while one of them I tried is the Soft Chewy Chocolate chip, I strictly followed your recipe but I’m not sure where did I make a mistake.
Taste, my niece and nephew loved it😊 , but it’s a bit dry and when I used the ice cream scooper the cookie did not flatten on it’s own it became like biscuit:( . I have to flatten the dough so it will look more like a real cookie 😊
I’m not sure if it’s the oven that I’m using that makes it dry..(I’m using gas range oven)
Hi Rochelle, I recommend checking the tips in this part of the recipe: Why did my Cookies not Flatten? If your cookies ended up too thick and did not flatten, the usual culprit is too much flour. Be sure to measure by fluffing the flour first with a spoon, then spoon it into a dry ingredient measuring cup and scrape it off the top. If you push your measuring cup into a flour bin, you will get up to 25% too much flour. Also, do not tap the flour down in the measuring cup.
Also, form cookies with 3 Tbsp of dough. If you make them too large, they will take longer to spread.
This is the only recipe that worked for me! All the other ones I tried, my dough was way to runny! Thanks very much. Saving this one.😊
You’re very welcome, Chloe! I’m glad that you enjoyed the recipe.
Hello again! I love your recipe so much, but I need to make some sugar free chocolate chip cookies. I’m not having a lot of luck or confidence in finding the right recipe. I tried one & it didn’t turn out well but tasted alright. Is there a way I can make yours into a sugar free version? Is it as easy as replacing things?
Hello Rebecca, I honestly haven’t tried any other substitute aside from sugar to advise. If you do an experiment and find out something, please share with us how it goes.
Honestly everything I’ve made from you has come out wonderful and this was no exception. These will be our go to cookies from now on. Thank you so much!!!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Tamara!
These cookies are fantastic! Nice texture, crispy edges with a soft center and not overly sweet. Our new favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie! Next week we’re making your Peanut Butter Cookie recipe. Natasha’s Kitchen always has the best recipes.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Abbie!
Great Recipe!! My husband loves them!!!
I’m happy to hear that, Marian. Thank you for sharing!
i tried this recipe and the chocolate chip cookie came out really good. like it!
Very nice, I’m glad you loved it!
These are great! Not too thick, not too thin, really just perfect in my opinion!
That’s great feedback, Heather. Thank you for sharing!
Hi Natasha,
I made the soft chocolate cookies twice. My family just love them . Your instructions are excellent .
Thanks so very much.
Alice M
I’m so glad my instructions were helpful! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Hi Natasha, this will be the first time I’m using a recipe from you. I’ve read many great reviews and I’m 100% sure my cookies will come out delicious. but I have a question? How long does the cookies stay fresh for? Also how do I store them after baking to ensure it stays soft for days?
Looking forward for your help.
Thank you
Welcome to our blog, Areefa! I hope you love this recipe! We store ours in an air-tight container for a few days.
Chocolate chip cookies are amazing! Thanks once again for a great recipe. You are my go to for many recipes Natashia and always with success.
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review!
Hey Natasha!
I’m using your recipe to make some cookies for my fellow teachers. It’s Saturday, & I’m bringing them in Monday. Pretty much everyone wants chocolate chip so I have a ton to make. How well do these cookies store? Will they stay chewy even on Monday & beyond. Or should I make the dough ahead then store for baking tomorrow on Sunday?
Thank you!
Hi Rebecca, I hope they all love this recipe! We store ours in an air-tight container for a few days.
I wanted to use this yummy recipe for my sons birthday cake. He wants a cookie cake. Do you think it will be okay to just spread out the cookie on a large baking sheet – would you know approximately how long to bake it for?
Or I was thinking of using the batter to make cookie cups and put ice cream in it. I think that would work too, right?
Hello Dimple, that sounds like a good idea however, I haven’t personally tested that yet to advise. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes!
Hello, I made these cookies and they were amazing! The only thing was I only got 18 cookies instead of 26. What do u think happened. I followed recipe and the only thing I used different was bleached all purpose flour if that makes a difference. And I used a regular ice cream scoop
Hi Anneta, it’s hard to say without being there. Substitutions are usually the culprit but how big they’re made could also have caused that.
I love these! They are so chocolaty and soft and they actually stay soft for a really long time (which is why my family and I love them)! I use this recipe every time when making cookies and it is a keeper! But sometimes I forget to let the eggs come to room temperature but they still turn out amazing! I make them all the time! Thanks so much Natasha for giving me this recipe and I really recommend it to anyone who loves cookies! They’re so delicious 🤤😁🤤😁
Aren’t they the best?! I’m so happy you’re enjoying this recipe, Ayni!
Hi! How about making smaller size cookies, should I bake for just 10-12 minutes?
Hi Joy, without testing that myself, it’s hard to advise on a time. I would recommend watching it closely, and it will definitely require less time.
Hi Joy, I bet that would work. I recommend keeping a close eye on it towards the end there, so they don’t burn.
I made these twice before and they turned out amazing. Making them again bf they don’t turn out good at all and they don’t flatten out they just stand up like cakes. Anyone know what I did?
Hi Taha, did you make sure to measure the flour correctly? If you push the measuring cup into the flour bin, it will compact the flour and you can get 25% too much flour.
Has anyone added instant coffee grounds in batter?? I know it brings out rich flavor in cookies?? Natasha any thoughts??
Hi Kasey, I haven’t tried that yet to advise. I checked the comments section and didn’t see anyone else commented on that as well. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes!
Me and my dear friend made this recipe, excepting scrumdidlyumptios, warm, soft, FLAT cookies… they turned out super plain, and… well… fat… Please do NOT use this recipe if you want good cookies
Hi Julian, I’m sorry to hear that. Typically if the cookies are too thick or don’t spread as you see in the video and photos, it is due to using too much flour. Check out our post on how to measure ingredients for baking which may help.
Can I use a hand mixer and what speed to use. I will be making a lot for a graduation party
Hi Barbara, You could definitely use a hand mixer instead. If the batter gets too thick for your hand mixer, just use a spatula to mix the rest of the way.