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.
Gina
This is definitely my new go-to! I’ve been looking for a thick chocolate chip cookie recipe that doesn’t spread, and this is it. I’ve probably tried ten other recipes that did not yield the results I was looking for exactly. I do think the key is here not to over-bake these which can be easy to do with any baked good. With my second batch, I took these out right at 13 minutes which for my oven was perfect. These are fantastic, thank you!!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Gina! 🙂
Jon
How would you modify this recipe if wanting brown butter? Maybe completely chilling the butter after browning to resolidify so it can be creamed? I know creaming the butter and sugar probably adds a lot to the fluffiness of these cookies, but I just love brown butter.
Sam
Hi Jon! It’s tricky to say exactly how to do it. You would definitely want your butter to cool before continuing. You may need to reduce the flour in the recipe due to the loss of moisture.
Joey
If you leave it out in room temperature, when you bake it the next day, do you chill the dough for 30mins before baking?
Sam
Hi Joey! If you are not baking the dough right away I would recommend refrigerating it until you are ready to use it. 🙂
Shruti
Hi.. Just a query. I made these cookies and they were incredible in taste but my cookies did not spread all that much like yours in the video. I did halve your recipe so is it because of that. Also I did use a measuring scale for the ingredients so used half of everything exactly. Any suggestions on why this would happen? But that said got a lot of compliments on the cookies. Thank you.
Sam
I’m so sorry to hear that happened! Is it possible that maybe something wasn’t cut in half quite evenly?
simone
I would just like to say , thank you for putting the ingredients and measurements in the steps. THIS IS SO HELPFUL!
Darcy Celeste
I agree! So simple, yet very helpful!
Rory
Odd question for you. Your reciepe calls foe =r for 2 eggs while oher with the same ingrediants other than your using cake flour go with 1 egg and one egg yoke.
Was wondering how the difference affects the final outcome.
Even the cornstarch is included in the others, just the egg variation.
I’m new to baking and what I’ve seen and read these look and sound like what I’m looking for.
Any thoughts?
Greatly appreciate your time.
Rory B
Sam
Hi Rory! Honestly the answer here is I did lots of testing and these are the amounts of ingredients that make this cookie special. I do cover most of the ingredients and the why we use them in the post if that helps. 🙂
Regina Lough-Ryan
I made the cookies today and they were awesome. I measured the flour on a scale and used 1/4 c scoops got a total 24 cookies. Will definitely make again.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Regina! 🙂
Teresa T.
Not sure where all these negative nancies are coming from. This is exactly the type of cooking I’ve been looking to bake for a long time. This is my second time baking the recipe in a week– my boyfriend and I can’t get enough of them!
Sam
I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed them so much, Teresa! 🙂
Sophie
Oh my goodness are these good! Mine came out perfectly, and I had to try one before it was totally cooled. Great texture. I might have underbaked mine by about 1 minute, as the very center was almost too gooey, but I ate the whole cookie anyway. They can get awfully sweet, so I’ll probably up the salt inside and outside. I used half Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips and half their 60% bittersweet chips. There’s plenty of chocolate flavor, but the two keep the chocolate from being too sweet or too dark. I was addicted to Bravetart’s browned butter chocolate chip cookies, but these are definitely my new favorites! If you’ve looked at this recipe, but haven’t tried it yet, get that cake flour and even just make a half batch. You’ll be glad you did!
Shruti
Can we freeze the cookie dough and bake when needed?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yes! Check out our how to freeze cookie dough post for details 😊
Shruti Shetty
Thank you so much! I made these cookies and they have turned out absolutely amazing!
The Disappointed Baker.
Dear Sam, I was not impressed by your recipe. I googled “chewy cookie” and sadly, this is not a chewy cookie. If anything, this is a scone in cookie form. From the beginning I was skeptical; the four cups of flour was really throwing me off, but nevertheless, I carried on and finished off the recipe. By the time I got to where I was mixing all of the dry ingredients with the wet ones, it was so dry. I’m talking Sahara desert kind of dry. The dough was so dry it was separating. I began to question myself but my baking partner assured me we followed the recipe to a T. However, I trusted the process and popped them in the oven. In the end , your cookie was not chewy and was dry, and although a meh cookie, you might want to go over your recipe again and check it’s faults. We can’t just eyeball everything you know. A recipe is science, not just a fun experiment. Please try again. Thanks.
Sam
I’m so sorry to hear this happened! There are precise measurements for all of the ingredients listed here so if you eyeballed something there was likely too much added. If your dough was dry you may have accidentally added too much flour. Did you weigh your flour or did you use measuring cups? These should not be a dry cookie so it’s disappointing to hear this happened. Hopefully you’ll give it another shot.
Savanah
Howdy, Disappointed Baker;
You are the only one to have posted a comment like this (everyone else loves the cookies and they have turned out AMAZING!). This recipe is exactly as it states. Big, thick chocolate chip cookies. So maybe instead of being absolutely awful and rude to the baker who crafted this delicious recipe, YOU try again and measure carefully. Hopefully your skill set improves and you can finally bake a delicious cookie ☺️ Prayers 🙏🏼
Katelynn K
These turned out like all of your recipes do, perfectly. I don’t typically have cake flour but I bought it in case I found a cake recipe I’d like to try and turns out I needed it for cookies. I’ll share my pictures on FB.
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Wonderful! Thanks for giving them a try, Katelynn 🥰
Tara
I followed recipe exactly, weighing the ingredients. They came out perfectly and even took the exact time to cook as stated. Wonderful recipe! The cookies came out thick and delicious!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Tara! 🙂
Lyn
can I add oatmeal and pecans to this recipe?
Sam
Oatmeal and pecans could be a bit much to add to the dough without alterations. I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure what changes would need to be made.
Judy Wurm
I followed the recipe to a T but didn’t like the outcome. They were dry and turned too brown on the top, even though I baked them on the middle rack. I turned the temp down to 350 for the second batch which helped a little, but still not happy with them.
Sam
I’m so sorry to hear this happened Judy! Is it possible that your oven runs too hot? Did you weigh your flour? I have an article on how to measure flour to help prevent over-measuring and dry baked goods. I think they are a fabulous cookie and should not be dry and crumbly. 🙁 I hope you’ll give them another shot! 🙂
susan
I couldnt wait to make these with the Cake Flour. However they came out thick but dry and tasteless ….also too many chocolate chips…..
Sam
I’m so sorry to hear this happened, Susan! Did you weigh your flour by chance? Did you make any alterations to the recipe? They are a pretty chocolatey cookie, but that’s an easy adjustment to make. 🙂
Lori B
I followed the recipe exactly except – I used Gluten Free flour (1to1) and I used 2 cups of chips 1 chocolate chips and 1 caramel chips. I weighed the dough balls on my scale to 2 oz each and baked for 13 minutes. THEY ARE PERFECT AND AMAZING! I have been looking for a long time for a big and thick cookie recipe. I finally found one. Thank you :))
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Yum! We are so happy our recipe was a winner for you, Lori 🥰