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 giant and mini chocolate chip cookies, thin & crispy 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), 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
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)
- 2 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 2 cup (340 g) semisweet chocolate chips see note
Recommended Equipment
- Ice cream scoop
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 ⅔ 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
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.
DJ
Hi I just tried your recipe with a couple of substitutions (coco sugar instead of white, half vanilla/half pandan extract) and the cookies smell and are amazing! Thank you for your recipe, it is an amazing recipe and your video helped a ton to help me reference what the cookies should look like every step of the way!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Sounds tasty! We’re so happy you enjoyed them 😊
DJ
I just made these again for a holiday party and it was a huge hit! Going to need to try your blueberry cookies next! <3 Thank you so much for sharing your recipes.
Alicia
What’s the best way to combine these with your recipe for the Worst CCCs? Basically I want a big, thick, AND chewy ccc, but the worst ones are flat and these aren’t chewy enough.
Sam
That’s a tricky one! Thicker cookies are inherently going to be less chewy because of the lower ratio of sugar to flour. It’ll take some experimentation. I think I’d start by reducing an egg white in the worst cccs and maybe reducing the sugar just a tad, too. Also make sure you slightly underbake these thick cookies, they can’t possibly be as chewy as the “worst”, but if cooked properly they should still be perfectly melt-in-your mouth and soft even when cooled.
Crys Hairston
This is the only recipe I’ll use! I’ve tweaked it to make cookies and cream, lemon, and sugar cookies just because I love them thick and soft! They are also a huge hit! Thank you so much for sharing!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy it’s been such a hit for you, Crys! 🩷
Paige
so great and the instructions were spot on.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for trying our recipe, Paige! We’re so happy you enjoyed the cookies 🩷
Victoria
Are they okay to throw straight in the oven frozen?
Sam
I have had people report success doing so. They just need a minute or two longer to bake. 🙂
Mrs. C
I thought if you used cake floure that baking powder , baking soda was already in the cake & you that you don’t add extra and why cornstarch is in it
Sam
Cake flour does not include baking powder and baking soda. Self rising flour does though. 🙂
Karen Whitehead
I made these cookies and my family loves them so much! Thanks for sharing. 🥰
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for giving them a try, Karen! Enjoy ☺️
Theresa Tucker
Hey, I followed the recipe to a T. The cookies are delicious but a little dry. Did I leave them in the oven too long?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Theresa! That could definitely be the cause 🙁
Cathy
I followed the recipe exactly. So easy and the cookies are big, chewy and delicious, like fancy bakery cookies. This recipe is a keeper.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad you like them, Cathy! Thanks for trying our recipe 🩷
Mariah
I loved this recipe! I followed the instructions but I did scoop and roll the cookies like a bigger sized golf ball. Maybe lime sized. The cookies baked well but they didn’t spread like cookies usually do. They baked a little outward and proofed up beautifully. Is that common when baking with cake flour?
Sam
I’m so sorry to hear this happened, Mariah! The most likely cause of cookies not spreading is too much flour. Did you weigh your flour by chance?
Kadejah
I made these today and it was so good I never made cookies with cake flour this a game changer !
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
It really does make a difference! We’re so glad you enjoyed them, Kadejah 🥰
Kadejah
Can make these normal size like other cookies? If so how long do I have to bake them for?
Sam
You can scoop the dough smaller, but I’m not sure on a bake time. I would probably start checking around 8 minutes if using a 1.5 tablespoon scoop. 🙂
Amy
This recipe was amazing! I had everything on hand except for the amount of chocolate chips the recipe called for. I used 115 grams of chocolate to be exact. Luckily for me, I prefer less chocolate. I find most chocolate chip cookies to have an overwhelming amount of chocolate in them. These turned out perfect and I will definitely be making them again.
Michelle
I made these for my family while I was on vacation and they absolutely loved them. Definitely a keeper! Thanks Sam!
Kim
Probably the best chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever made, thanks for the recipe it’s delicious
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks for giving it a try, Kim! So glad you enjoyed it 😊
Josh
I followed this exactly and the bottoms were extremely burnt for some reason. Used parchment paper.
Sam
I’m so sorry to hear this happened, Josh! Is it possible that your oven is running a bit hot? 🙁
Josh
I’m not sure! I had it set to 375 but maybe it does run a little hot. I’ll check it with the temperature gun next time. Other than that, they turned out great!
Elizabeth
Can I use all brown sugar instead of 1/2 cup white sugar?
Sam
Hi Elizabeth! They will likely spread a bit more but I think it could work. 🙂
Faenix
Do you need to use a semisweet cocoa baking bar or is there a product you know that contains chunks of semisweet chocolate?
Also, is there a brand of cake flour you like?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Faenix! Really any semisweet chocolate will work; chips, a chopped bar, or pre-chopped chunks. We like “Swans Down” or “SoftasSilk” cake flours 🙂
Maria
I definitely messed these up because I failed to read to reduce the amount of flour if using regular flour. I got scone-like cookies that barely spread at all. Still good, but not what I was wanting. I can see the potential however. I still have cookie dough left. I wonder if there is any way to reverse this until I try again.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so sorry this happened! Unfortunately it’s going to be a challenge to reverse at this point 🙁
McKenzie
AMAZING recipe! Seriously some of the best cookies I’ve ever made! I used a Hershey milk chocolate bar cut up instead of semi-sweet chocolate chips because it was all I had in my house and I swear these are incredibly comparable to Crumbl! Thank you so much!!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you enjoyed them McKenzie! Thanks for the review ❤️
Cyndi
Ok… I’ve been searching for the best choc chip cookie recipe forever. I have tried literally dozens through the years. These are by far, my favorite! I used a cookie scoop for mine. I combined 2 of the scoops together for a handful of big cookies. the rest I just used the scoop size baking for about 8.5 minutes. Also, can I just thank you SO much for including the ingredients under each step. Rockstar!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you found our recipe, Cyndi! This is one of our favorites too. Thanks for the sweet review 😊