Today we’re making GIANT Chocolate Chip Cookies! These gourmet cookies have soft and chewy interiors, slightly crisp golden brown exteriors, and are absolutely loaded with chocolate! Oh, and did I mention they’re huge!? Almost 6″ in diameter!
Really Really BIG Chocolate Chip Cookies
Do these photos make my cookies look big?
No, really, I feel like they just don’t do justice to the size of these massive, thick & chewy, bakery-esque cookies! Each one is made with half a cup of cookie dough and loaded with three different types of semisweet chocolate chips. I think those chocolate chips might be part of the problem here, actually. Some of the chips in the pictures are actually jumbo chips (I used Ghirardelli), so maybe the cookie isn’t looking as big in comparison to the giant chips??
Whatever the reason, you should know that these are BIG, Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies! Like, half a foot in diameter big. And while they may not be my “worst” chocolate chip cookies, they’re still incredible in terms of flavor and texture, and I think you’re going to love them just as much.
When I started testing these giant cookies, I realized that making them wasn’t as simple as just scooping larger portions of my favorite cookie dough and baking for a longer time. Too many of my trial versions ended up with raw centers and rock hard edges, and when I dropped my oven temperature they just ended up spreading all over the pan like a sad rendition of my chocolate chip cookie bars.
Ultimately what worked with this recipe was reducing the amount of baking powder and baking soda that I typically like to use when making cookies and increasing the amount of cornstarch.
It’s no secret that I love baking with cornstarch. It helps to hold the cookie together and keeps it from spreading without drying it out or making it crumbly (which would happen if you opted to simply add more flour instead). Here it plays a critical roll in making the cookie soft at the center while still providing us with a dough that bakes evenly in the oven. See why it’s one of my favorite secret ingredients in the kitchen?
Tips for Making Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
- You can use a half-cup measuring cup to measure out your dough, but I like to use a cookie scoop with a release lever. You’ll need a heaping scoop to get to ½ cup, but this is the easiest way I’ve found to portion the dough.
- Roll the dough between your palms for a smooth ball. This is the best way to get uniform, round cookies with rounded edges. It also might sound super obvious but for years I struggled with amoeba-like cookies because I just plopped them right on the cookie sheet.
- This cookie dough needs to be chilled for 30 minutes but you may chill it in the refrigerator for up to a week. Keep in mind that if you chill it for longer than an hour, the dough will get very hard and difficult to scoop, so you’ll have to let it sit out at room temperature before you’ll be able to scoop it. I personally recommend that if you don’t want to bake your cookies right away, chill the dough for 30 minutes, scoop the dough as indicated, then wrap each cookie dough ball up in plastic wrap or in a ziploc bag and store that way. Saves you a lot of wrestling with the dough later on!
- Never place cookie dough on a hot baking sheet, it will cause the dough to begin to melt/cook prematurely, resulting in cookies that spread way too much.
- One of my favorite tricks for pretty, picture-worthy cookies? Reserve a handful of chocolate chips and once your cookies have finished baking gently nestle additional chips into the tops of the cookies. This must be done 1-2 minutes after coming out of the oven.
- Let these cookies cool completely on the baking sheet. The centers should still be a bit underdone when they come out of the oven, and allowing them to cool completely allows them to finish baking all the way through. Plus, they’ll be to fragile to handle while they are hot!
If you’ve been following my other cookie recipes, you’re probably familiar with a lot of these tips, but they’re definitely worth repeating!
Enjoy!
More Great Cookie Recipes!
Let’s bake together! Be sure to check out my video at the bottom of the recipe where I’ll show you exactly how I make these GIANT Chocolate Chip Cookies in my own kitchen! If you enjoy watching, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel where I’ve already uploaded over 150 recipe videos that you can watch for free!
Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled to room temperature (226g)
- 1 cup brown sugar¹ firmly packed (200g)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar (150g)
- 1 large egg room temperature preferred
- 1 large egg yolk room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (350g)
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoons baking soda
- ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoons salt
- 1 ½ cups chocolate chips -- I recommend using ½ cup each of mini regular, and jumbo semisweet chocolate chips (255g)
Instructions
- Combine melted/cooled butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in a large bowl and stir well.
- Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir until combined.
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture, stirring until completely combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Cover cookie dough with plastic wrap and transfer to refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes.
- About 15 minutes before dough is finished chilling, preheat oven to 350F (175C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper².
- Once dough has chilled and oven has preheated, remove cookie dough from fridge and scoop ½ cup (yes, cup!) of dough and roll into a round ball.
- Place cookie dough on prepared baking sheets, spacing several inches apart.
- Transfer to 350F (175C) oven and bake 14-16 minutes or until edges are beginning to turn golden brown.
- Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet before removing and enjoying.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Nikki
Is it ok to double the recipe as is? I making these for a school bake sale!!
Sam
Sure thing! 🙂
Tamitra
Yeah…it’s true; these Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
they’re amazing! These cookies are absolutely delicious. I followed Sam’s recipe the only thing I did differently was let the butter set to room temperature; aside from that, I followed Sam’s directions to a “T,” and they came out perfect! Thank you, Sam, for sharing will be making it again, and this will be my go-to recipe! I wish I could post a picture because they did come out perfect! One other thing I almost forgot I used a #20 scoop using two scoops per cookie
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you loved them, Tamitra! You can always tag us on Instagram @sugarspun_sam or share in our Facebook Group ❤️
Miriam
can you bake this into bars?
I saw that your bar recipe uses less flour and an extra egg but I like when the bars are thicker
Sam
Hi Miriam! I think that should work just fine. 🙂
Bernice
Why did my cookies stay round they didn’t flatten.
Sam
Hi Bernice! The most common cause of this is too much flour in the dough. 🙁
Blue Apple
Would love to bake these. How big are they? Because I’m going to put it in a paper bag.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
They are about 6″ in diameter, as indicated in the post. Hope you love them! 💙
Lynn S.
OMG, outstanding cookies. I made the dough yesterday and baked them off today and they look exactly like the photos. I can’t eat sweets but hubby said they are the best he’s ever eaten. I’m a very experienced baker but chocolate chip cookies always frustrated me until now. This is definitely a “Keeper Recipe”. Not only is it chewy and delicious but it’s a beautiful cookie. Thanks for sharing.
Lorraine
I made them regular size got sound 35 nice size cookies. Delicious 🤤
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad you enjoyed them, Lorraine 😊
Brad
I’m looking forward to trying this recipe. Besides needing to change the bake time, will these turn out ok if I make the cookies smaller? (1/3 cup dough cookies, 1/4 cup dough cookies, 2 tablespoons dough cookies, etc.)
Sam
Hi Brad! While it would probably work, I would probably recommend trying my worst chocolate chip cookies instead. 🙂
Louise
1/3 cup works fine…no problem, still makes a pretty large cookie…delicious too
Brianna
I absolutely love this recipe! Question! Could I make this into a cookie cake? I know I’d have to make more dough, but I just love this recipe so much! And really hope it would work! Thank you!
Sam
Hi Brianna! If you put it in a round pan, I think it could work, but I’m not sure on the bake time here.
Nicole
I’m doing a chocolate chip cookie bake off with my family next week. I’d like to try this recipe! If I choose to use my mixer, rather than mixing it by hand, will that affect the end result in anyway?
I can’t wait to try these!
Sam
Hi Nicole! You can certainly use a mixer here. 🙂
Amber
Hello, My question is could you pre-scoop the dough into balls and then chill them or do you absolutely have to chill the dough before you scoop?
Thanks! Amber 😊
Sam
Hi Amber! The dough may be a bit sticky to scoop and roll into balls before chilling, but if you can manage it you can certainly do it. 🙂
Carol B
Absolutely my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe! It never fails. I tweaked it slightly by creaming room temperature butter instead of melting, and scooping 1/4 c scoops. Perfect cookies every time. Sam’s recipes literally never disappoint
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thank you for trusting our recipes, Carol; it means so much to us. Enjoy the cookies! ❤
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Tina
If using salted butter can I omit the salt completely in the dry ingredients?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Tina! You’ll still need an additional 1/4 tsp of salt if you use salted butter. We have a post on using salted vs. unsalted butter that explains how you can substitute one for the other. Hope that helps 🙂
Chelsea
If I cut the recipe in half, can I just use one egg instead of cutting 1 egg and 1 yolk in half? I’m not sure how much a little bit of extra egg white would effect anything. Thanks!
Sam
Hi Chelsea! I would try just using 1 egg when cutting the recipe in half. 🙂