My favorite type of recipe to bake is absolutely COOKIES. They’re so fun and simple and can teach us SO much about the science of baking.
Watch the video below to step into my kitchen and see exactly how to bake these delicious cookies with me. I give tons of tips and tricks for getting perfectly thick cookies with chocolate chunks, and you can see what every step of this recipe should look like!
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How to Make The Best Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
How to make soft chocolate chip cookies:
The key to the best soft cookies is to take the chocolate chip cookies out of the oven just before they look like they’re done baking. They should still appear slightly wet in the very center. The residual heat of the oven and pan will finish cooking the cookies through to soft perfection once you allow them to cool completely.
Also, measure your flour correctly to improve your baking forever. Too much flour will lead to dry, dense, or crumbly chocolate chip cookies that barely spread.
Why are my chocolate chip cookies flat?
When making cookies, be sure your butter is at a cool room temperature before beating with your sugar. It shouldn’t be greasy or overly soft otherwise it’ll melt and spread the cookies too much.
The warmer your chocolate chip cookie dough is when it enters the oven, the thinner and flatter your cookies will be. To prevent flat cookies, try freezing your balls of cookie dough while your oven preheats. Learn more about how to bake THICK cookies here.
Better yet, refrigerate your chocolate chip cookie dough for 24 to 48 hours. This ‘marination’ process will transform your chocolate chip cookies by making them thicker, chewier, and more flavorful! Plus, this is a perfect way to make your delicious cookies ahead of time. Read more about the magic of chilling your cookie dough here. NOTE: chilling is OPTIONAL for this recipe but using chilled dough will enhance your cookies!
How to make chewy chocolate chip cookies:
One of the keys to CHEWY chocolate chip cookies is to use more brown sugar than granulated sugar. The molasses in the brown sugar draws in more moisture, making the cookies thicker, softer, and chewier.
For extra chewy cookies, try adding an extra egg yolk to this recipe. You can also replace half or all of the all-purpose flour in this recipe with bread flour for an ultra chewy bite.
How to bake chocolate chip cookies:
For the BEST chocolate chip cookies, make the recipe below keeping these top tips in mind:
- Use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients for the BEST most consistent results.
- Make the recipe exactly as written, without substitutions, at least the first time you bake it.
Use the correct baking pan and a spring-loaded cookie scoop for bakery-quality cookies at home. More on that below!
Why use a cookie scoop?
Using a stainless steel spring-loaded cookie scoop when portioning out cookie dough is one of the KEYS to beautiful, uniform, evenly-shaped and evenly-baked cookies. My cookie scoop is one of my most frequently used kitchen gadgets. A spring-loaded scoop saves you *so much time* in forming the balls of dough. When using a scoop, you ensure each ball is evenly sized so the cookies bake evenly, meaning you don’t have any small overbaked cookies or large underbaked cookies. Learn more about Cookie Scoops and how to use them here!
What’s the difference between baking soda and baking powder?
Baking powder and baking soda are both chemical leaveners that work to create light textures in baked goods.
Although baking powder actually contains baking soda, the two leaveners are very different. Baking powder and baking soda are not interchangeable – just take a look at the impact the type of leavener used had on each of the cookies below!
Find out more in my Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder article here.
Which baking pan is best for cookies?
Take a look at the chocolate chip cookies below. These cookies are all the same batch of cookie dough, baked at the same temperature of 350°F, baked for the same amount of time of 12 minutes. The only difference? The type of baking pan used!
Check out my Best (and WORST) Baking Pans article here for more details on the science of baking pans.
How to Keep Chocolate Chip Cookies Fresh
The best cookies are the freshest, there’s no magical way around that. However, here are a few tricks to keeping them fresh and soft for as long as possible!
Can you freeze chocolate chip cookies?
I love the taste of cookies straight from the oven the best. I always keep pre-scooped balls of chocolate chip cookie dough in a resealable bag in my freezer, so I can bake cookies off and have them warm from the oven in a matter of minutes whenever I want. Here are more tips for freezing cookie dough.
But for those times when you need to keep already-baked cookies soft, see below for my tips. First of all, most cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temp for up to 5 days. Be sure they are completely cooled before storing.
How to keep cookies soft:
To keep your baked chocolate chip cookies soft, you can add an apple wedge, piece of bread, or a tortilla on the top and bottom of the cookies to the container a day or two after baking them, or whenever you find the texture starting to harden. The moisture from the bread or apple will migrate to your cookies, making them soft and chewy again.
A tortilla is a favorite of mine because it takes up much less room than a slice of bread, and doesn’t transfer any flavors or aromas like an apple wedge. Not to mention, it fits into a round cookie tin pretty perfectly.
How to refresh stored cookies:
What I like to do is reheat and refresh the cookies in a 350°F oven for 3-5 minutes. Your toaster oven should work just fine. This improves the texture and there’s nothing like a warm chocolate chip cookie!
I have been on a quest to find the best big, soft, chocolate chip cookies for about a year. I have tried so many recipes, and finally found THE ONE.
This is the second recipe I’ve measured by weight, and I 100% recommend it – food scales are relatively inexpensive.
These are delicious! Crunchy on the edges and soft in the middle. The only things I did differently were add a couple of tablespoons of mini chocolate chips (my husband loves lots of chips in his cookies) and a portioned out the cookies and refrigerated them for 15 minutes before cooking (my kitchen was warm and the “room temperature” butter was very soft.) Make these!
My teen found this recipe on Pinterest and made them herself. She’s made them twice and both times were fantastic. I made them over the weekend to bring to a party and have to say, this is a fantastic recipe. Very easy and outstanding results. We added mini-M&Ms and it was delicious! Note in case anyone doesn’t have unsalted butter: I made this not noticing that the butter was supposed to be unsalted. The cookies were still excellent, but next time I would just omit the salt if I only had salted butter. Thank you for posting this! It will be my go to going forward!
This is my go to cookie recipe to add different goodies. I use chocolate chunks and skor pieces its a real favourite!
The best cookie recipe hands down!! Better than bakery cookies
OMG! Love it! My husband considers himself a cookie connoisseur and approves this recipe lol We are obsessed! Highly recommend!
These are perfectly amazing and will become my new go to recipe!!
A house is not complete without a batch of your bakery style chocolate chip cookies!! No matter where I am, I always have to have a stash of your cookies in the freezer to bake off at any time!! Thank you for the most wonderful and scrumptious recipe!!
So glad you love these cookies so much, Isabella! Thank you so much for your lovely comment 🙂
Best cookie recipe ever. Make these now.
The BB toffee chocolate chip is now my absolute favorite cookie–even got me past my fear of browning butter:-) I follow the directions each time and end up each time with dough that is so firm it cannot be “scooped”. That is before I even refrigerate it as directed. I have to push the scoop into the dough and one time the scoop broke. So clearly I am doing something wrong even though I do follow the directions–please help.
Hi Marydeth! Hmm, that sounds super strange! Are you using a digital scale to measure your ingredients? Or do you measure using cups? When measuring using cups, it’s so easy to mis-measure ingredients (particularly flour) and throw off the entire chemistry of a recipe. Such stiff dough, especially pre-chill, sounds like you may be compacting a lot of additional flour into the dough. Check out Tessa’s article here, where she talks about how to best measure ingredients to ensure accuracy every time. I hope this helps! 🙂
My first making this cookies, I divided the dough added chocolate chips to one batch and added almonds to the 2nd batch. DELICIOUS
These were perfect! Thank you so much for sharing so much information and an amazing recipe ❤️
Never left a review for recipes, but wow these cookies were that good! I didn’t know i was baking mediocre cookies till today. Followed the recipe as is. Perfect-O! **chefs kiss
Hi! I was wondering if you knew why my cookies flattened instead of stayed thick? They still tasted great but was curious how to get them to be thicker!
Hi Abbey! Your butter could have gotten a little too warm, and/or your leavening agents may no longer be active! Check out the pink tip box above the recipe for more info on this, and also check out Tessa’s article all about how to bake THICK cookies! 🙂
i have a question
why do you have to put the dough in the fridge and what diffrence would it make if you put it in for 2 hrs than 24 ?
Hi Nikki! Check out Tessa’s article about chilling cookie doughs here! Happy baking 🙂
Hello! I am very excited to try this recipe. I have what is probably a rather silly question, but I just want to be sure.
You say “vanilla” in your recipe, but do not state if it is vanilla extract or vanilla flavoring. I’m guessing you mean vanilla extract, but I just want to be sure.
Thank you for your time. I look forward to making these!
Amanda
Hi Amanda! Either way will work just fine, but real vanilla extract is definitely recommended for maximum deliciousness! Let us know what you think when you give these cookies a try! 🙂
Hands down!! These are THE best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. I’ve tried so many different cookie recipes to make the perfect cookie every single time and this one absolutely nails it. Thanks for sharing
Why preheat the oven first if you let the dough sit in the fridge for 24 hrs? Also you left out the step to mix the dry and wet ingredients. Just trying to help since the directions confused my 7 yo Daughter.
Hi Kasey! The 24-hour chill time is totally optional, so you can preheat the oven if you’re planning on making the cookies right away, as many of our readers do. The directions do mention adding the dry ingredients: “In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and eggs. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips.” I hope you and your daughter enjoyed these cookies! Happy baking! 🙂
I followed instructions exactly… I think ? Mine stayed more round and didn’t flatten. I actually tried 3 cookies 3 different ways- one more at room temp after mixing, one chilled, and one that I froze. All are ‘dome’ shapes?
Hi Renee! Cookies that don’t spread out are generally because of one specific thing: accidentally adding too much flour. How do you measure your ingredients? By volume (using cups), or by weight (using a digital kitchen scale)? When measuring by volume, it’s so easy to mis-measure ingredients (particularly flour) and throw off the entire chemistry of a recipe. Check out Tessa’s article here, where she talks about how to best measure ingredients to ensure accuracy every time. I hope this helps, and I hope you give these cookies another try sometime! Happy baking 🙂
I always fail at making cookies. Something about them tastes weird. I bake them too long. I bake them too short. They look kind of “off.” Holy moly. These were simple and delicious and gorgeous to boot! It’s no wonder this site has become my “go to” for desserts.
I’ve tried many chocolate chip cookie recipes and stopped trying new ones after I found this one! It’s my go to and I make it several times a month. I usually bake enough for my husband and I and freeze the rest of the dough in individual cookie portions and freeze them. When we want cookies we pop a few in the oven. Delicious!
i’ve made this recipe a couple times and they come out delishious but every time they come out not flat any tips?
Hi Sophie! It sounds like it could be your butter – it may be getting too warm before you cream with the sugars. Check out Tessa’s article here on How to Bake THICK cookies. It’s also worth checking that your leavening agents are still active – learn more about Baking Powder and Baking Soda (and how to test for freshness) here. I hope that helps! Happy baking 🙂
I followed the wisdom of the 24 hour marinating method and these are the best CC Cookies, I have ever had or made. This will be going into our family cookbook. Thank you so much for sharing!
I’ve tried a lot of chocolate chip cookie recipes just trying to get the perfect cookie . This recipe never fails me . It is the best !!!!!❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
These Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies are the best!
Delicious!!!
Bake perfectly !
I filled some with Nutella and it was delicious.
Thank you for sharing the recipe❤️
Very very good!!
My go to cookie recipe. I weigh each one out since I don’t have a cookie dough scoop I find that 2 oz is the perfect size. They’re always a hit and the first to go anywhere I bring them!
Having made these before and found them delicious, I was wondering if I could use a regular sized scoop and what I would cut the cooking time to
Hi Toni! So glad to hear that you’ve enjoyed these cookies! I’m not sure what size a ‘regular’ scoop is exactly. Tessa recommends a 3-Tablespoon (Oxo’s large cookie scoop) scoop for this recipe for best texture. As we haven’t tested a smaller or larger cookie scoop, and every oven runs a little differently, we cannot say exactly how long to increase or decrease your bake time – but you can always bake one test cookie, to see how well that goes, and adjust accordingly from there, to bake the rest of the batch to your preferred doneness. Happy baking 🙂
I’d cut the salt down to 1tsp next time. Everything else was great. Will be making these again. A winning recipe.
I have never left a recipe comment but have to for these. I have made these so many times. My go to CC cookie recipe! I use the recipe exactly and make them at least once a week. Try it 🙂
I have made chocolate chip cookies from scratch since I was a kid and I’ve tried so many different recipes over the years. These are by far the BEST chocolate chip cookies!!!
i’ve made a lot of chocolate chip cookies and these are hands down the best i’ve ever tasted in my life
This recipe is the best. They are soft and melt in your mouth. This is my Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe forever!
Thank you for putting the recipe in here!
Dayle…
Can you tell me the temperature & time instructions for making these in a microwave? it has a bake setting. also, i don’t have all the baking utensils, i only have access to a silicone plate that came with the microwave which i use after spreading some butter paper (which is an alternative to parchment paper on top). will that be fine?
Hi Muskan! I’m sorry but we haven’t tested anything like that, so I can’t say for sure! If your microwave’s bake setting acts like a conventional oven, then time and temp should be about the same as specified in the recipe. If it acts more like a convection oven, then I recommend reducing the temperature by about 25°F and bake for approximately the same time as specified in the recipe. It’s always a good idea to bake one cookie and allow to cool, to get an idea of how that went and then adjust for the rest of the cookies from there. I’ve never heard of butter paper, but if it acts like parchment and doesn’t have any sort of nonstick coating or oiliness, that should work just fine (otherwise the bottoms may overbake). Finally, we don’t recommend baking on silicone typically, as silicone is not a good conductor of heat (light-colored metal pans are best, but that’s for a typical oven), so again, I can’t speak to how well that will work – but it should be okay if that’s all you have! Good luck, and let us know how it goes 🙂
All six of my teenage hay balers couldn’t get enough of these! They all complimented me on how chocolaty and delicious they were. I’ve made a lot of cookies in 30 years, but never got this many raves.
I may have done something incorrectly! My cookies came out puffy, with the chocolates all sunken to the middle of the cookie. I added maple syrup instead of vanilla extract, and used half butter and half oil instead of all butter as the recipe calls for. I have extra batter and will try adding something to make them better!
Hi Madeline! Using half oil in place of the butter will have a massive impact on the structure and flavor of the cookies. Maple syrup, even if only a little, will also alter the structure slightly. We recommend making the recipe as written for best results. Happy baking 🙂
Everyone said they are the best chocolate chip cookies they have ever had…definitely a keeper.
Hi! If I want to double the recipe, does it change the instructions at all? Or can I just literally double every and follow the recipe. Thanks!
Hi Jessica! You can definitely double this recipe without changing the instructions etc – but just keep your mixer’s bowl size in mind. If your mixer’s bowl isn’t super large, we recommend making the single batch of dough twice, rather than doubling the dough in one batch. If your bowl is large enough, then simply double all the ingredients (double-checking that you’ve added the correct quantities of everything!) and just be careful to mix everything thoroughly and scrape the bowl down extra, to account for the larger dough batch. I hope that helps! Let us know what you think of these cookies once you’ve given them a try! 🙂
I made a batch of this cookie dough this weekend and flash froze it in cookie sized portions like I’ve done for years. I baked a dozen this evening and OMG these are amazing! They taste just like the premade cookie dough in the tubes. So good. This will be my new go-to! I wanted to give it 5 stars but for some reason, it will only let me choose 4 stars.
Hi Karla! So glad to hear that you enjoyed these cookies! I was able to manually adjust your star rating to a 5 – thanks so much for mentioning that 🙂 Happy baking!
I am looking forward to making this recipe, but I don’t have a standing mixer. Will this recipe turn out just as good with a hand mixer?
Hi Jan! Yes, these cookies will work just as well using an electric hand mixer. Just be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of your bowl with a rubber spatula frequently while making the dough, so you ensure everything is well mixed. Let us know what you think of these cookies once you have given them a try! 🙂
Do you have nutritional info on these cookies?
Hi Kristin! We don’t have nutritional information for our recipes, as we believe that dessert should be an indulgence! You should be able to find a nutritional calculator online to assist with this, if you wish! 🙂
Made these tonight and they turned out amazing! I was a little worried when I was mixing the dough because it seemed almost like a sugar cookie dough texture but after they baked and cooled they were so good and thick and soft and just perfect. I will definitely be using this cookie base for many flavours! Thank you
Followed the directions and measurements, other than chilling before use, and they came out delicious! They even came out thick without chilling them. It made enough to have some dough to freeze for later too. So so good!
I was given your website by a friend who knows I love baking, so I’m very new. What I really enjoy about your site is the science and the comparisons of different ingredients, pans and materials. Amazing. I’m hooked. Thank you!
One trick I’d like to pass along, I overheat the oven by 50 degrees before adding the cookies, then reduce it to the baking temperature right away. It minimizes heat loss when opening the door, and prevents the oven from turning on which can over brown the bottom of the cookies. It also reduces the cooking time, but you need to know your oven and how fast it cools to be able to judge baking times. I find it gives a chewier cookie. Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Cheers!
Good tip, David! Glad that’s working so well for you! 🙂
I am not a big chocolate chip cookie fan. Usually I only eat 1/2 cookie for quality control. I ate four of these ! They were SO good. Will make often. My hay balers loved them.
My son made these cookies and they are excellent!! He added 1 cup butterscotch chips, he cut the chocolate chips down to 1 cup and added 1/2 cup old fashioned oats. This recipe will be our go to recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies. Thank you for sharing this recipe!!
I have made this wonderful recipe many times and am not one to sub ingredients. So, before I experiment with a change, wanted to get your opinion on the light brown sugar. What would be the impact if I used dark brown instead, or 1/2 light and 1/2 dark? Thank you.
Hi Paula! We are happy to hear that you enjoy these cookies! Using dark brown sugar will change the flavor and texture a little. Dark brown sugar contains more molasses than light brown sugar, which brings more moisture and also carries a deeper, more butterscotchy flavor. Feel free to experiment a little and see how you like it with that sub! I’d recommend starting with half light and half dark brown sugar, and increase from there if you wish. Enjoy and happy baking! 🙂
nice and chewy..
Omg I made these 2 weeks ago as a trial to see how they tasted and they were a huge hit! I then made 2 more batches for me and my brothers teachers and they loved them and asked for the recipe! 1000000000/10 recommend!!!
very good recipe…I added nuts to some of them.
soft and chewy.
Quick question!!! Should the oven still be at 350 degrees when cookies go in?
Which rack should I place them?
Should the oven be at circulating air or cook on top air logo!!!!
Clearly a novice here!!!
Hi Neha! Unless otherwise specified in a recipe, always bake on the middle rack, for the most even heat distribution. 350°F is the temperature your oven must maintain throughout the course of baking for best results (this means you should avoid opening the oven door too often, to prevent heat escaping). Most American recipes assume you don’t have a convection oven, as conventional ovens are standard, but you’ll have to research your specific oven to know which button does what. I recommend reading through Tessa’s articles here for more info:
– Article on ovens
– Article on butter and sugar – temperatures matter, and creaming is super important!
– How to Measure Ingredients
– Our Science of Baking homepage, for any further reading
I hope this helps, Neha! Happy baking 🙂
I would give this recipe a thousand stars if I could! I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve made it and it’s perfect every time. this makes the world BEST tasting cookie dough as well. thank you thank you thank you!
So glad to hear that you love these cookies so much, Sarah! 🙂
We are 3 graders and we did a cookie competition and we won second place with this recipe. We gave it 4 stars. They were good. But they had too much chocolate chips. And they were a little bit too salty.
Glad the kiddos enjoyed these cookies! 🙂
Made these. They spread a lot and didn´t turn out as thick as yours. . The recipie only called for Baking Soda. I was thinking this was the reason, so next time I´ll leave out the soda and use only baking powder. . They taste good. I left out 1/4 cup of sugar. Panama where I live is going thru a heat wave (33° as I write) so chilling was cruicial. I floured my hands to be able to make dough balls, and it helped a lot with the stickyness. Let´s see what my co-workers think. Abrazos, Sandy
Hi Sandy! I’m sorry to hear that these cookies didn’t turn out as they should. We always encourage people to make the recipe exactly as written the first time, so you have a baseline to compare the recipe to as you experiment for your own preferences if needed. Leaving out some of the sugar will greatly impact the outcome of your cookies – read more about that here. How do you measure your ingredients? By volume (using cups), or by weight (using a digital kitchen scale)? When measuring by volume, it’s so easy to mis-measure ingredients (particularly flour) and throw off the entire chemistry of a recipe. Check out Tessa’s article here, where she talks about how to best measure ingredients to ensure accuracy every time. It also sounds like your butter may have been a little too warm – which happens so easily when it’s so warm out! I encourage you to read through all of Tessa’s info and tips in the pink tip box, above the recipe, for further info on recommended butter temperature and recommended dough chill time. I hope something here helps, and I hope you give these cookies another try – they really are delicious! Happy baking 🙂
thank you Tessa.. the cookies are as good looking as you..
Just made these cookies and they are delicious! I didn’t put them in the fridge because I needed to make them right away. I used the big scoop. Definitely my go to chocolate chip recipe from now on. Thanks!
These are the best chocolate chip cookies! Since finding this recipe 2 weeks ago I’ve made them 4 times. Everyone I know is obsessed with them. I sprinkle them with sea salt flakes as soon as they’re done baking. 10/10
I am going through a work transition. I left my company to gain more life balance ( I was traveling A LOT)
I found this recipe and now my 12 year old daughter says her friends are begging to buy cookies from me. Thank you for giving me a little “sweet success” while job hunting! My family and the middle school kids say thanks too 🙂
These are my husbands favorite chocolate chip cookies, I always make them with semi sweet chips and chopped up Dove milk chocolate and they never last more than a couple days. I made a double batch for his station for Easter and they were gone before noon and there hasn’t been a day someone hasn’t asked when I’ll be making them more! Definitely THE best chocolate chip cookies!
Soooooo delicious and not too sweet and gooey
10/10
my go-to reipe now
These are perfect! I just finished my spring cleaning and had my carpet cleaners come, so I wanted to make some fresh cookies to make the house smell homey and delicious. This did the trick and they were so yummy! I will definitely be making these again soon!
Yummers! I’ve made these multiple times and they’ve turned out perfectly each time. They are so thick and delicious. This is definitely my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. I appreciate all the tips and tricks in the article as well.
This is one of the best cookie recipe i have ever seen