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
Could you convert this recipe into grams? That would be so helpful! Then we’d have consistent results every time:)
You may convert them to grams, just click Jump to Recipe then click Metric. Hope that helps!
Ok, these are amazing. Exponentially better than the Nestle Tollhouse recipe!! Making this my new go-to. They stayed fresh and delicious for WAY longer than nestle recipe ever did!
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Kelsey! That’s so great!
Is it possible to spice these up with allspice, cinnamon, or something else? If so what would the amounts be?
Hi Doug, I haven’t tried those substitutions, so I can’t speak to that. Substitutions may hinder the recipe outcome. I always suggest making a recipe as written the first time around.
I followed the ingredients used in video. Will using baking powder instead of baking soda make a difference
I substituted gluten free flour for the regular flour and they turned out ah- mazing!!!!! So tasty and you can’t even tell they are GF. The rest of the ingredients mixed well with the proportion of flour to make the tastiest soft cookie ever. Definitely making these again!!
Thank you for sharing, Julia! We love the feedback and I’m happy to hear they turned out great GF.
These are the best chocolate chip cookies I have made out of butter! I’ve always had bad luck with butter chocolate chip cookies as they would always turn out too buttery resulting in a flatter and greasier cookie. They were also very inconvenient as I would have to wait for the entire dough to chill. Unfortunately, I don’t have time for that. When I think cookie then I want to make it that same day and not have to wait a few hours to overnight. Because of my bad luck with butter chocolate chip cookies, I started making chocolate chip cookies out of coconut oil (they were good but not as good as this recipe!). I’m so glad I got my hands on your updated version of this recipe! Thanks a lot, Natasha!
Love it, this makes me smile. Thank you for your excellent comments and review!
We prefer smaller cookies. Will these work if I use 1-2 tbls?
Hi Candy, I think that’s okay. If you try it, please let us know how it goes!
Love this recipe! What adjustments would you make to make them red velvet cookies?
Hi Kim, I haven’t tried this as red velvet. I imagine you may need to make quite a few adjustments resulting in a new recipe. Thank yo for that suggestion, though.
Hey Natasha
I would like to ask how many grams is a stick of butter?
Βecause in Europe we measure differently and have different packages of butter.
Thanks a lot
Hi there, I usually use this Ingredient Weight Chart as a guide if I need assistance on some conversions.
Hi Natasha,
These are the best cookies I’ve ever made! I’m so surprised at how well they turned out! The cookies I’ve made in the past were often really dense and hard. These ones were perfect!
I’m not an avid baker, and actually haven’t baked in 3 years… until this month! I’ve been watching your videos (love them!) and this was the third recipe of yours that I’ve tried. It will be my go-to recipe for cookies from now on!
Thanks so much! 🙂
I’m happy that you loved these cookies!
The taste is phenomenal and was told they were the best cc cookies ever. I am just wondering how to keep them soft and chewy. They are soft and chewy right out of the oven but not after they are cooled.
Also, i used Crisco instead of butter because i did not have unsalted butter. Would butter keep these softer?
Hi Denise, I haven’t tried these with Crisco so I”m not sure if that is the culprit but usually they will stay soft if they are not overbaked.
These are the best chocolate chip cookies ever! I’ve made them multiple times and they always come out perfect. Everyone loves them. Thank you so much for this recipe and the details on how to make them so perfect! I’ll never use another chocolate chip cookie recipe!
You’re so very welcome, Monica! I’m so glad to hear that. I appreciate the feedback and review. I’m glad they were a bit hit. 🙂
I made this recipe and made sure to follow every instruction and measurement, and yet after 15 minutes the cookies came out still in a ball shape. I have no idea what I am doing wrong
Hi Julia! This can often be to using too much flour. Be sure to watch my tutorial on how to measure ingredients.
I love how chewy these stay. I added 3 tsp. of fresh orange zest to the butter and sugar mixture to change it up a bit.
That sounds like a good idea, thanks for sharing!
You seriously are the best. This recipe is unreal! You never fail to amaze me with your recipes! Baking as I post this!
Thank you, Renee! That is very kind. 🙂
Natasha, thank you for this recipe! Cookies turned out perfect: not too flat, not too hard/crunchy. And delicious!
Glad to hear that, Johnny! You are so welcome.
Love the cookies! Added coco to the flour mixture and blended, dark, milk and white chocolates. Yum!! Thankfully yours, from Quebec Canada
Sounds delicious! 🙂
These cookies were delicious. I didn’t realize the butter and sugar mixture are mixed for so long. I thonk this really helps with the fluffiness. My cookies were also not flattened, probably a first. So soft and chewy, thanks for the recipe. Will be keeping this for future baking.
Hi Krystal! That’s great. I’m so glad they were enjoyed. 🙂
They turned out perfect! Every cookie I make comes out flat but not this one, it was fluffy! Thank you, love your recipes!
I’m so glad this one worked out perfectly, Susie! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
I’ve made these cookies twice. First time I didn’t have any brown sugar so I made them just with white sugar, they were good, but I knew since it’s natasha’s recipe it has the potential to be so much better so I made them again today exactly as the recipe is written and everything it calls for, yup I knew these would be amazing if I stuck with the recipe and I was right , natasha’s recipes never disappoint. Thanks Natasha for creating and sharing these recipes with us.
That’s wonderful, Sara! Thank you for sharing. I’m glad they were enjoyed.