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
Absolutely the best recipe I’ve ever made and taste amazing!!! Thank you
I’m happy you loved it, Margaret!
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe！I made it for my family last night- they loved it. they were a little “cakyer” than the recipe I normally use, and I usually prefer a crispier, thinner cookie, However, even for being caky, these were pretty slayyyy! thanks Natasha, keep up the good work!!! God bless!
I’m glad you still liked them, Rose. But they should not be cakey. Usually a cakey cookie is due to either using too much flour or too much leavening, or both. Check out my post on how to measure ingredients which should help.
I have a NEW Chocolate Chip cookie recipe. OMG. They are delicious. Can the finished cookies be frozen for mailing overnight to a family member?
I’m so glad you loved them! These cookies store and freeze well.
without fail, this is our go recipe for chocolate chip cookies. nothing beats this recipe
Thank you! We’re glad that this has been your go-to recipe!
I’m making this my go to Chocolate Chip Cookies, they are truly soft and delicious, my family loved them
I’ve always thought chocolate chip cookies weren’t worth making homemade when you can buy the break n bakes in the store. But, these cookies changed my mind. They are the perfect crisp on the edges with the perfect soft chocolatey goodness on the inside. I didn’t have quite 1 cup of brown sugar so I added a couple tablespoons of honey to make up the difference. Perfection!! Never going back to break n bakes.
That’s so wonderful! Thank you so much for sharing that with us and I’m glad you decided to try this recipe!
The very best Chocolate chip cookie recipe! My #1 go to!
These were delicious! Chock full of chocolate chips and soft and flavorful. I made mine a bit smaller and dropped them rather than using a scoop so they are not uniform circles but still fabulous!
These cookies are so good! Everything you want out of a chocolate chip cookie. And super easy to make.
This is far the BEST Chocolate Chip recipe I had ever made!!! Double thumbs up!! This recipe is a keeper! Will not try any other! Thanks Natasha!!
Natasha, I just love your chocolate chip cookies! I made these for the first time yesterday, for the cooking challenge, and everyone loved it! I have a feeling I will be making these again soon!
P.S. The other cookies I make always turn hard after cooling down, but these cookies stayed awesomely soft!!
That’s wonderful to hear, Aisha! Thanks for sharing and I’m so glad you’re part of the cooking challenge!
The best choc. chip cookies ever! Big hit with our family, grandchildren and adults! Followed recipe , thought ice cream scoop sized would be too big but they turned out great size. I have gas oven so left them in about 10-11 min. Thank you for this wonderful tried and true chocolate chip cookie recipe-one to keep for good!
My go to recipe! Everyone loves these all year long!
Great recipe. Very easy to follow recipe. My daughter loves to bake and she’s only 12.
I like your recipes .
Thank you, Lina! I’m so glad you’re using my recipes and making memories baking together with your daughter.
Great recipe. My friend gave me the tip to not refrigerate the dough because the butter will harden and the texture will turn out different! They turn out wonderful all the times that I’ve made them! I like adding different things to them this time I added red and green M&m’s for Christmas to make for my neighbors! 🎄🍪
Hi Jenny, thanks for the wonderful review! Do you refrigerate your dough each time? I’m so glad you love the recipe!
I’m speechless they’re not just great looking they’re great tasting
Hi Natasha. In the video you say to use 2 tsp of baking powder and 1/2 tsp of salt. However, the written recipe states to use 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp salt.
Hi Michelle. Follow the written recipe, it’s the most up to date. There is a note above stating we updated the recipe tonuse baking soda because we had better results. Unfortunately we can not edit the video since it’s already been filmed.
Thank you for clarifying. I missed the note!
These cookies are amazing!!!
They turn out great every time.
I’m glad you enjoyed them!
I want you to know that I have tried MANY chocolate chip cookie recipes and every time they go flat and seem so greasy! After looking at your recipe I decided I would try one more time. Tonight I made my 4th batch! This is the best, pretty much fool-proof recipe I have ever made! I did follow the instructions exactly how written. I feel like refrigerating them first is better, but not totally necessary. They are not only pretty but are so delicious! This is going to be my go to from now on! Thank you so much!!!
That’s so great to hear, Patty! Thanks so much for sharing.
I made these cookies with my daughter and they turned out perfect!
So happy to hear that, Paula!