Big Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies
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These HUGE, thick chocolate chip cookies are the kind you’d find front and center in a bakery case. My recipe takes just 15 minutes to prep before chilling and yields an incredible, gourmet chocolate chip cookie. Recipe includes a how-to video!
Bakery-Inspired Chocolate Chip Cookies
We’ve made big chocolate chip cookies and mini chocolate chip cookies, thin & crispy chocolate chip cookies, brown butter chocolate chip cookies, and even my best chocolate chip cookies… but these thick chocolate chip cookies are a first! Another gourmet-style cookie, these super thick and fat cookies are tender, soft, melt-in-your mouth, and oh-so-chocolatey.
They’re the sort you’d spy behind bakery glass and just wouldn’t be able to resist ordering one… or a dozen.
But before we get started, it’s so important that I note that while they are thick, these cookies are NOT cakey (dry, cakey cookies are unwelcome here!).
In order to achieve this tricky balance of melt-in-your-mouth-ness AND pillowy thickness, it’s very important you don’t accidentally overmeasure your flour, or your cookies could actually end up cakey. I recommend using a kitchen scale to be safe, but if you don’t have one of those (you should really get one, I link to the one I like in the description), check out my post on how to (properly) measure flour!
What You Need
Most of these ingredients will be pretty familiar, but let’s chat about a few that can be customized to your liking:
- Brown sugar. You can use either light or dark brown sugar, or do what I do and use equal parts of each. Personally, I find that using all dark brown sugar yields a cookie that’s just a bit too rich.
- Cake flour. For someone who doesn’t stand for cakey cookies, I’ve found cake flour has made its way into an awful lot of my cookie recipes, recently. From my blueberry muffin cookies and coffee cake cookies to my Lofthouse cookies, I’ve found that, while not a typical cookie ingredient, cake flour contributes to the thick, tender texture we’re going for here. It creates a fine crumb that really does melt in your mouth. You can substitute all-purpose flour (instructions below), but the texture won’t be the same.
- Vanilla extract. I love using my homemade vanilla extract in these cookies. By the way… if you start making a batch of homemade vanilla now, it will be ready just in time for holiday baking 😉
- Chocolate. Chocolate chips work great (opt for semisweet), but I really enjoy using 8-10 oz of chopped dark chocolate or semisweet chocolate bars. The bars just melt nicer and leave varying sizes of chocolate throughout the dough.
- Cornstarch. Okay, this one isn’t customizable or negotiable, but it is highly important and therefore worth mentioning! Cornstarch helps with the thickness of these cookies (it prevents them from spreading too much) and their melt-in-your-mouth (I have repeated this phrase so often only because it is so relevant, I promise) tenderness. Don’t skip it!
SAM’S TIP: Add the dry ingredients gradually! If you add the flour all at once, you will have a tough time mixing everything together and your dough will be dryer and more difficult to work with than necessary (and this is already a stiff dough).
Remember, 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 Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Cream together the softened butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add the eggs and vanilla and stir well to combine.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients in a separate bowl, then gradually add them to the wet ingredients.
- Fold in the chocolate until thoroughly incorporated, then cover the dough and let it chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Scoop ⅓-cup sized scoops onto a parchment lined baking sheets, spacing at least 2″ apart.
- Bake for 13-14 minutes at 375F or until the edges look slightly golden brown. The centers will still be a bit underdone and fragile when you remove them from the oven, so let the cookies cool completely on the baking sheet before enjoying.
SAM’S TIP: I use an ice cream scoop for this dough since we are going for huge chocolate chip cookies. You can always drop the dough right on the baking sheet, but I like to roll mine into smooth balls to make them more uniform first.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you don’t let these cookies cool completely on their baking sheets, they will likely fall apart on you (they are super fragile while warm). This isn’t a bad thing, but it can be unexpected if you are were planning to enjoy the cookies right after baking!
Yes! This dough can stay tightly covered in the fridge for up to 3 days. The dough might be a bit hard to scoop at first, so you can let it sit at room temperature for a bit to soften back up.
Unfortunately I don’t have a great substitute. I know sometimes bakers use tapioca starch and arrowroot powder instead, but I’m not sure how they would work here. If you do try either of these, please let me know how it goes for you!
Love these cookies? Try my thick peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies next!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! I’ll be walking you through all the steps in my written recipe and video below! If you try this recipe, be sure to tag me on Instagram, and you can also find me on YouTube and Facebook
Big Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Ice cream scoop
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar, firmly packed (use light, dark, or a blend of the two)
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature preferred
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 cups (450 g) cake flour, (SEE NOTE – DO NOT SUB ALL PURPOSE FLOUR WITHOUT READING NOTE!!)
- 2 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2 cup (340 g) semisweet chocolate chips, see note
Instructions
- Combine butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl and use an electric mixer (or stand mixer) to beat until light and well-creamed.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 cup (200 g) brown sugar, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- Add eggs and vanilla extract and stir well.2 large eggs, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.4 cups (450 g) cake flour, 2 Tablespoon cornstarch, 2 teaspoon baking powder, ¾ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- Gradually add dry ingredients to wet, stirring until completely combined.
- Add chocolate chips and use a spatula to fold in until well distributed.2 cup (340 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- Cover bowl and chill for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat oven to 375F (190C).
- Once dough has chilled, uncover and scoop into ⅓-cup sized scoops (I use an ice cream scoop). Drop onto prepared baking sheet, spacing at least 2” apart, and bake for 13-14 minutes, until edges are just beginning to turn light golden brown. Allow cookies to cool before removing from the baking sheet, cookies will be fragile and prone to breaking while warm and will appear under-baked in the center if they’re broken into before they’re cooled completely.
Notes
Flour
I recommend cake flour for best results. However, you may substitute all-purpose flour (cookies will be less tender). Use 3 2/3 cup (450g) all-purpose flour. DO NOT use 4 cups of all-purpose flour and please DO NOT make a cake flour substitute where you remove some of the flour and replace it with an equal amount of cornstarch. You’ll end up using too much flour! The commenters who complained of too dry cookies made these mistakes, don’t be one of them!Chocolate
I like to use a blend of mini and regular-sized chocolate chips or I’ll chop up 8 oz of semisweet chocolate and use that instead.Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Cookies may also be frozen after baking and cooling. Wrap tightly and frreeze up to several months.Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like this? Leave a comment below!
DELICIOUS!! I’m so picky with cookies and these were amazing! I used regular flour so followed guide to use 3 2/3 cup. Everybody loved them!! Thanks!
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Allene! 🙂
I had all the ingredients except cake flour so I made my own. Not a big fan of cc cookies but, my goodness these are scrumptious. I definitely will be making these again. Thank you so much.Keep up the good work.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Caroline! 🙂
Can you omit the corn starch?
Hi Victoria! You can substitute the corn starch with more flour but the cookies just won’t be quite as thick and *as* melt in your mouth.
Your recipe calls for 4 cups / 450g of flour. 4 cups would be 500g. I made them with 4 cups and they had to much flour. I believe 450g / 3.5 cups of flour is correct.
Hi Chad! This recipe uses cake flour. 4 cups of cake flour is 450g as indicated. If you used 500g of flour (either cake or all purpose flour) then yes that would be too much flour. The measurement listed is correct, if you use that I think you will have better results. If you only have all-purpose flour, there is a note at the bottom on how to substitute (the weight will be the same, but the cup amount would be different).
Hi sam! This is the second time i tried one of your recipes, the choco chip oatmeal cookies were perfect! Unfortunately this one tastes great BUT didn’t spread much and was light in color. Wonder where i went wrong? A big thank you for putting up great recipes that’s easy to follow
Hi Maria! These cookies are meant to be very thick, so they won’t spread too much in the oven. It honestly sounds like you didn’t do anything wrong! If you want regular (but still amazing!) chocolate chip cookies, we’d recommend our worst chocolate chip cookies.
I enjoyed the texture of these cookies. However, when I bite into them it leaves a bitter aftertaste. What user error would cause this to happen?
I’m so sorry to hear that, Kay! I would recommend a new baking powder. Sometimes it will clump and you don’t notice it until you bite into the cookie. I find this problem with generic baking powder more frequently, but this can also happen if it’s not new. 🙁
I made a double batch for my son’s football team (dinner with desserts before each game). They were a huge hit and now I am “the cookie lady.” I will be making more with variations in chips. Also, I didn’t have cake flour, but they were exactly what I was hoping for. I may get that for the next time.
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Stephanie! 🙂
I have always used unbleached all purpose flour for all of my baking. I made these as the recipe states using cake flour. I did use 3 types of chocolate chips. I made these for co-workers and they say its a keeper. Someone that normally doesn’t eat much sweets said it was the best cookie he’s ever had.They went fast!
I will be making these cookies often! Thanks so much for this delicious recipe!
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Penny! 🙂
Made them again lol. So good
These Big Thick Chocolate Chips Cookies are my new Favorite cookies! Great recipe.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Sharon! 🙂
The texture of these cookies are really nice, however the flavor wasn’t really there for me… I did sub the cake flour for all purpose so not sure if that made a difference in terms of taste. These are definitely cakier and resemble more of a sugar cookie with chocolate chips rather than a traditional, rich chocolate chip cookie. Mine also came out quite tough and did not spread much at all in the oven. May have been user error so might have to try this one again in the future with cake flour instead 🙂
Hi Annie! I would definitely try with cake flour, it makes a difference and is what I recommend. The cookie will also be more tender with cake flour. They shouldn’t really spread much BUT from what you’ve described there are two things I would look out for next tine you try them.
1) Make sure your flour isn’t accidentally over-measured. Unfortunately it’s very easy to accidentaly over-measure flour. This would account for not spreading at all and them being more tough and flavorless.
2) Make sure the oven temp isn’t too high (many ovens run hotter than they let on, unfortunately) and that the cookies aren’t baking too long. Baking for too long can diminish the flavor and texture.
I do hope you give them another try, and let me know how they turn out for you! 🙂
These cookies were amazing! I ran out of cake flour, so I had to use 50 grams of all-purpose flour and they still turned out delicious. Everyone loved them. They were truly thick and melt-in-your mouth texture. Thanks for another great recipe, Sam!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Mariel! 🙂
Just made these chocolate chips cookies and they’re delicious I
Am your fan now keep up the baking
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Paul! 🙂
Love this recipe! Thick choc chip cookies are the best and yours are #1!!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Sally! 🙂
Oh Sam, you did it again. I am just not a fan of thin and crispy cookies. These big beautiful cookies were just delicious. Mine must have been over an inch tall out of the oven. I used my # 12 scoop and got 14 cookies out of this recipe. So convenient that the chill time is only 30 minutes. Quick and easy to whip up. My new favorite cookie! Thx!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Lorley! 🙂
When the dough smells good, the cookies are gonna’ taste good. And these are delicious. Made ice cream sammies with these. Thanks for all your hard work & dedication in researching & developing these recipies.
That sounds so good! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed them! 🙂