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!
hello. I was wondering if it would be possible that I can substitute part of the AP flour for bread flour? I read that in a different recipe. but I like the ingredients of yours better.
Hi Angel! That’s definitely something you can experiment with, but in this recipe I was intentionally lowering the protein content so I’m not sure I would recommend it for this cookie specifically. This recipe is supposed to be a little more “cakey” instead of a little more “chewy” and the bread flour will make them a little more chewy.
Hi Sam
i used the chocolate bar and chips like you said. i snuck in a tsp of espresso powder. They were delicious!!!. May I ask,,how long you cream the butter with sugar? I think you said 5 mins. I am going to try walnuts and will reduce flour and let you know. ty for all you do. peggy
Thank you so much for trying my recipe, Peggy! I’m so glad you enjoyed them! I typically mix my butter and sugar together for 3-4 minutes with my electric mixer on a medium high speed. Enjoy! 🙂
My son liked them, but they weren’t for me. They were a bit too cakey and pale. They were thick and soft in the middle, but I missed the outside crunch. They did not spread much at all so there weren’t those ridges and cracks on the top.
in the notes for AP flour, it shows 450g as the gram equivalent for 3 2/3 cups; and the cake flour is also 450g. Would you be able to update the note with the correct AP flour grams? I dont think it would also be 450g, like the cake flour.
Hi Carolyn! When substituting cake flour for all purpose flour, or vice versa, you will want to use the same gram measurement. The cup measurements will be different, but the gram measurements are not. I hope that helps! 🙂
What adjustments should I make for 5,280 feet altitude?
Hi Diane! Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience with high altitude baking so I can’t say for sure what/if any adjustments would be needed. Hopefully someone else can chime in with some help.
should I adjust my salt if I only have salted butter?
Hi Misty! I would reduce the salt to 1/4 teaspoon. 🙂
SOOOOOO GOOOOOOD
Hi! May I know if I need to adjust the other ingredients if my butter is only at 200g? Thanks!
Hi Aimee! Your cookie dough and cookies may be a bit on the dry side. If you are only short 26g, I’m not sure how you would adjust the recipe.
Hi Sam,
In your opinion, do you think it would be okay to add coarsely chopped walnuts to the cookie dough before baking or would the nuts interfere with the soft texture of the finished cookie?
Walnuts will make the cookie more dry and less sweet. You may want to reduce the flour a little bit, but without having done it myself I can’t say for sure how to do it.
Hi Sam,
I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but I’m really looking forward to it. The reason I haven’t made it yet is because I’m actually craving more of a “Kitchen Sink” cookie, adding Walnuts, Pretzel Stick pieces, and Toffee Bits in as well. But, I could only find that recipe for regular sized or thin cookies. And that’s NOT what I want! When I found your recipe, I thought that’s EXACTLY what I’m looking for!!! Just with a few additional ingredients. But those additional ingredients could COMPLETELY mess up this recipe!!!
So, I have to ask… Do you have a “Big Thick Kitchen Sink Cookie” recipe? Because I couldn’t find one. And, if not, do you have any advice about tweaking this recipe to suit my needs? Because I noticed a reply to a comment posted by Laurie on 12/29/25. She questioned about adding walnuts to the recipe. And you said to cut the amount of flour as it would make the cookies dry. I don’t know if that alone will work for the amount of additional ingredients I’ll be adding, or if it’s even possible. I look forward to hearing from you.
Thanks so much, and I hope you have a great day!!!
Hi Dawn! Making all of these additions could require a few adjustments and without having tried it I just can’t say for sure how to do it. 🙁 If you do experiment with it I would love to know how they turn out. 🙂
Hello Dawn. Reading your post, I just had a thought in my head of, why don’t you try making bar cookies that way?
. . . as I said just a thought.
I made these today and they were absolutely perfect, huge and thick. I followed your recipe exactly. I used my kitchen scale to measure the cake flour so there was no error on my part. In the past I always used AP flour but I will make this recipe from now on. Thank you!
Thank you for this great recipe! Just took these out of the oven. They came out great! I will definitely be making them again.
Came out perfect! Used all purpose flower per your notes.
Hi Sam! I was wondering if I could add some maple syrup to these cookies as well? If so, how would I adjust the recipe? Thanks so much! 😊
Hi Elle! I haven’t personally tried it so I can’t advise on exactly how to do it.
Sorry to say made these today an they are terrible the cake flour made them like chalk when they cooled off I’m a good baker but these are not going into my must make again file hope anyone else has better luck what a waste of ingredents
I’m sorry to hear this happened! Did you weigh your flour? Did you make any alterations? Are your baking powder/soda still good? Were they fully cooked? Maybe over-baked?
That’s a lie. These cookies taste soft and delicious! They’re like a crumbl cookie. You must be messing up the recipe 🙄
Agreed! I actually tossed out the unbaked dough as they were flavorless and not worth throwing the excessive calories in my body.
I’m sorry to hear this, Laurie! I would definitely double check the flour measurements next time. Over-baking can also cause this issue. Did you make any alterations to the recipe? Other than eliminating ingredients, adding too much flour, or over-baking I’m not sure why you would have this result. 🙁
So glad I found this recipe! My question is this…. If I decrease the cake flour to 2 3/4 cup, would I need to adjust any other dry ingredients? I felt 4 cups was too much flour, 2nd time cut back to save money and I felt they were still good size, did not flatten out. However, should I do less cornstarch?
Hi Jackie! I would adjust all ingredients proportionally for best results. 🙂
I accidentally left out the brown sugar, so they were very light and not super sweet, but they tasted good and were soft. My family really likes them. I love that it cuts way down on the sugar.