You deserve better than the recipe on the back of the yellow bag. You deserve cookies that are perfectly soft and chewy with a rich, buttery flavor, easy to make and guaranteed to wow anyone lucky enough to receive one. Hundreds of recipe reviewers agree — these are the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe you’ll ever try! So, what are you waiting for?
What Makes These Cookies the BEST
- No waiting for butter to soften! The best chocolate chip cookies start with melted butter for the butteriest flavor and the softest, chewiest texture. This means you can mix up this dough on a whim without any advance preparation (don’t get too excited, though, there’s a bit of chilling required).
- No fancy ingredients. We’re using basic pantry staples you’re already familiar with (it’s all about how we use them).
- Heavy on the brown sugar. The higher ratio of brown sugar not only gives us a deep, caramel-y flavor but it also helps the cookies stay soft for days.
- The dough is perfect for freezing. You can keep some on hand to have fresh baked chocolate chip cookies on demand anytime.
If you’ve tried my worst chocolate chip cookie recipe, you already know that when it comes to chocolate chip cookies, that life-ruining version is hard to beat! There’s a reason the video has been viewed over 8 million times and I get dozens of e-mails and comments about it every day!
However, I also get lot of e-mails from those of you who either don’t have maple syrup on hand or want to leave it out for one reason or another (oh, please don’t!). So, here’s an alternative instead of sending you off to the back of a Tollhouse bag.
A sister recipe to my “worst” cookies, these are appropriately named the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. There’s not a drop of maple syrup in this recipe, yet the flavor and texture are still just as incredible (and it’s my own sisters’ favorite version)!
Try them both and tell me which you prefer (I know which one is my favorite!) 😉
Ingredients
What do you need to make incredible chocolate chip cookies? Surprisingly, just basics (it’s more about how we use them)!
- Melted butter. Melting the butter infuses flavor into the cookies in a much different way than creaming it with the sugar does (and gives you cookies that are chewier and stay chewier). So melt your butter, but make sure to let it cool before adding the sugars; if your butter is scorching hot, it will melt the sugars and you’ll end up with a greasy, runny mess rather than cookie dough.
- Egg + egg yolk. Adding just the yolk and omitting the white enriches the dough and encourages that tender, chewy texture we all love.
- Brown sugar. While you could use all light brown, I prefer using a mixture of light and dark brown sugar here (when I happen to have both in my pantry). This blend adds a more complex flavor. All dark brown will be richer, though it will still “work” technically, but it isn’t my favorite.
- Cornstarch. Cornstarch helps the cookies hold their shape and creates a super soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture. If you don’t have it or can’t use cornstarch, subbing it for a Tablespoon of flour will “work”, it’s just not the best option.
- Vanilla. A hefty pour (half a tablespoon!) adds such a nice flavor here, just like in my buttermilk pancakes. Bonus points if you use homemade vanilla extract!
SAM’S TIP: Reserve a few of your chocolate chips for pressing into the top of your cookies after they come out of the oven. This will give them a bakery-style look!
This is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Them
Make & chill the dough
Stir together the cooled melted butter (this is very important–it cannot be even a little bit warm) and sugars until combined, then add the egg and yolk (room temp are best) and vanilla.
Whisk the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, then gradually add them to the wet ingredients. Doing this gradually allows the flour mixture to fully absorb into the dough; it will make combining much easier than if you were to dump it all in at once!
Finally, fold in your chocolate chips, saving a few for pressing into the tops of the cookies when they finish baking if desired. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. You can prep your cookie sheets with parchment and gather your cooling racks and cookie scoop while you wait.
Scoop & bake
Roll about 2 Tablespoons of dough between your palms (makes them more round and uniform after baking, if you don’t care about such things simply drop them right on the baking sheet, unformed). Give the cookies some room on the baking sheet so they don’t spread into each other.
Bake until the edges are just starting to turn a very light golden brown, then remove from the oven (bonus points if the centers of the cookies look almost underdone still). If desired, you can and should press a few additional chocolate chips in the tops of your cookies now.
Let the cookies cool completely on the warm baking sheets for perfectly soft and chewy results!
SAM’S TIP: Don’t over-bake your cookies! Pull them out when the centers are still slightly underdone; they’ll finish baking outside the oven on the hot cookie sheets. I use this trick for so many of my soft and chewy cookie recipes, like my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and M&M cookies.
Frequently Asked Questions
If your butter was too warm when your sugar was added, if the dough wasn’t chilled long enough, if the cookie dough is placed on a hot cookie sheet or the cookies are placed too close together, or if something was simply mis-measured your cookies may spread all over the pan. If you run into this issue or your dough seems especially soft, try chilling it longer. As a last-ditch save, you can add a few additional spoonfuls of flour and this should help, too.
If your dough is dry, crumbly, or difficult to work and your cookies aren’t spreading as they should, with you may have accidentally over-measured your flour. Another sure sign of this is having your cookies stay in a ball shape after baking instead of spreading properly.
Over-measuring flour is easy to do, especially if you are measuring with cups instead of weights. If this happens to you often, make sure you brush up on how to measure your flour the right way!
Yes, and you’ll get even richer, more flavorful cookies if you do, you patient person you. Just make sure to keep it tightly covered in the fridge so the dough doesn’t dry out. If you chill your dough much longer than an your, you’ll likely need to let the dough sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before scooping as it gets quite firm. You can also freeze this dough, see my instructions on how to freeze cookie dough.
If you are feeling especially lazy, my chocolate chip cookie bars taste very similar but require zero chilling or scooping.
Alright, when you try them, please leave me comment and let me know what you think of them! I always love your feedback 💜
Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled until no longer warm to the touch
- 1 ¼ cup (250 g) brown sugar firmly packed (see note)
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups (350 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 ¾ cup (300 g) semisweet chocolate chips plus additional for tops, optional
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Combine melted butter and sugars in a large bowl. Stir very well.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 ¼ cup (250 g) brown sugar, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- Add egg and egg yolk, and vanilla extract and stir well.1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk, 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.2 ¾ cups (350 g) all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon table salt
- Gradually add flour mixture to wet ingredients — stir well so that all the flour is absorbed.
- Stir in chocolate chips.1 ¾ cup (300 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- Place dough in refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350F (177C) and prepare cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper.
- Scoop dough by rounded 1 ½ Tablespoon (47g) onto prepared cookie sheets, placing at least 2″ apart.
- Bake on 350F (177C) for 11 minutes — cookies may still seem slightly soft in the centers, that is OK, they will cook completely on the cookie sheets. Don’t over-bake or your cookies will be too hard.
- If desired, gently press additional chocolate chips into the tops of the warm cookies.
- Allow to cool completely on cookie sheets.
Notes
Brown sugar
You can use all light brown sugar or a 50/50 blend of light and dark brown sugar (my preference and recommendation, if you have both available). This gives the cookies an even deeper, richer flavor.Chilling
Cookie dough may be tightly covered and stored in the fridge for up to 3 days before scooping and baking. Just note that the dough gets pretty firm, you may need to let it sit at room temperature a bit before you’re able to scoop it.Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week.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.
I originally shared this recipe for perfect chocolate chip cookies over on Spend with Pennies! I shared it on my blog as the “second best” chocolate chip cookies, too, and have updated it with new photos and a new video (the recipe remain the same).
Derek Cholivia
delicious and simple!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed the cookies, Derek! Thanks for commenting. 🙂
Stacey
Hi Sam! I haven’t made these yet, but have to say the pictures look Amazing!! I’ve made the Worst cookies and we love them, and like I’ve said in another post, I use that as a base and add other ingredients like coconut and walnuts and they’re divine! But these truly look delicious too and I can’t wait to make them!
Today will be baking your Zucchini Bread, so excited!!
Thank you for all your delicious recipes and tips!
All the best,
Stacey
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that you enjoyed them, Stacey! I hope that you love the zucchini bread just as much. Thanks for trying my recipes and for commenting. 🙂
Jamie
I just made these, this recipe is the best my cookies have ever turned out! Thank you so much for sharing! My family is in love!
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that your family has enjoyed them, Jamie! Thank you for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
Anna
Dear Sam,
you did it again! Another favorite for my stash of recipes.
These cookies are so extremely delicious, we had to make them twice in the last three days.
Your cookies are the only thing my 4y old wants to help me bake. We bought ALL the sprinkles… that were available and take our sweet time to roll and decorate the cookie balls.
They may be runny and messy but they keep him happy. And thats all a stressed out mommy needs 😊
Thank you so much for the happy time!
Anna
Sugar Spun Run
I love that you are spending this time baking together, Anna! The mess is just apart of the memory and process. I am glad that you both loved your final baked creations. Thanks for commenting and stay safe. 🙂
Kelly Crowder
I made these according to instructions, but then added a bit more flour, as well as chopped pecans and cashews (I wanted to make some nut-heavy cookies). They turned out great, though they did spread thinner than I”d like. I think my butter could have been cooler despite how long I allowed it to cool. My family really enjoyed them. They’ll make a great lunchbox treat this week. Thanks so much. Will try the “worst” cookies soon. 🙂
Sam
I am so glad everyone enjoyed the cookies so much, Kelly! 🙂 I hope you love all of the cookies you try.
Susan Wilson
Where can I find the “Worst” Chocolate Chip recipe? Or do I just add Maple syrup to this recipe? If so, what amount?
Susan
Sam
Hi, Susan! Here is the recipe for the Worst Chocolate Chip Cookies. Enjoy! 🙂
Megan
Since I did not have maple syrup on hand, ended up using this recipe. As if the no maple syrup was not sad enough, somehow had several bags of white chocolate chips, but no semi sweet chocolate chips 🙁 I used the white chocolate chips instead and came out really good. Once I have semi sweet chocolate chips, I plan on trying this the correct way. But based off results so far, I’m sure they will be even better. Also adding maple syrup to my shopping list! LOL Thanks for the great recipe!
Sam
I am so glad you still enjoyed them! I know you will love them with the semi sweet chips too! ☺️
Lori
Can these be baked in a jelly roll pan for bar cookies?
Sam
I think that should work, I am not sure about the temperature to cook them on and I would be concerned about the edges getting burned.
Pam Williams
Why do you need to chill the dough?
Sam
Otherwise the cookies will spread too much
Mary
They are delicious, so yummy and everybody enjoyed them!
Thank you for this recipe!!!
Deborah
Hi, I did not follow your structions yet, but I i’d like to ask What should I do to make my cookies look a little more “flat” like the ones in your Pic. I’d like to know how i make them rounded too. Mine doenst get the same results as the ones in this pictures or the ones you took for nutella cookies. I’ll try both u recipes and see What I can make… wish i could do some beautiful cookies too.
Thanks, your fan from Brazil
Brittany
Any reason why you recommend room temperature eggs, and then chill the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes? I feel as if chilling the dough makes the temperature of the eggs unimportant.
Sam
You want them to be room temperature because it will help the ingredients better combine, if you add cold eggs to the somewhat warm batter (due to the melted butter) the ingredients won’t combine as well as if you add room temperature eggs. Once everything is well combined, then you want to chill the dough.
Babe
Can i leave out the salt, on no salt diet by doc.
Sam
They won’t taste as good but yes you can
Taylor
YUM YUM 😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋😋 why do these have to be so good! *crunch* delicious!!!
Sam
Glad you enjoyed them, Taylor! 🙂
Angela
Hi sam! I am yet to try your ‘worst’ recipe. But in there you told to cool the butter for 5 mins.
Should I cool it for 10 minutes with both recipe? Thanks!
Sam
I’d let it cool 10 minutes, better for it to be cooler rather than too hot and risk melting the sugars. Enjoy! 🙂