5 from 14 votes

Thin & Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Name: Truly Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter (softened ); 1 cup sweetened condensed milk; 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour¹; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips; ⅔ cup mini chocolate chips

By Sam MerrittPublished Jan 07, 2021

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Servings: 70 cookies

30 mins

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Today I’m sharing a recipe for truly crispy chocolate chip cookies. Crunchy, snappy, and soo good, these are easy to make and use a surprising (but easy to find!) ingredient. No chilling needed, they can be ready in under 30 minutes! Recipe includes a how-to video!

crispy chocolate chip cookie broken in half

The Real-Deal Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This one is for you real crispy cookie lovers. I’m not messing around today, sharing some cookie with slightly crisped edges but disappointingly soft and chewy centers, oh no.

These are the real thing. I’m talking so crisp you can snap them clean in half, crunch all the way through, potato-chip-level-addictive, can’t-eat-just-one cookies.

If you’re looking for something soft and chewy, you’re in the wrong place for once (psst… soft & chewy fans please check out my worst chocolate chip cookies!). If you’ve enjoyed my lace cookies, my brownie brittle, or my crispy gingersnaps, you’re going to love what I’ve created for you today.

stack of thin chocolate chip cookies, black background

Weeks of careful testing and tweaking went into meticulously designing a dough that yielded a cookie with a crisp bite. It wasn’t easy (I have nearly two dozen versions that didn’t make the cut!) and I learned quickly that classic chocolate chip cookie ingredients just weren’t going to cut it.

We needed to bring in something special, something a little different. Which… is kind of my specialty, anyway, so I wasn’t afraid to break outside of the box.

Read on for the ingredients that come together to make these truly thin and crispy cookies.

What You Need to Make Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies

The ingredients to make these cookies thin and crispy were carefully chosen and I don’t recommend making any substitutions. It took me many attempts to get the recipe just right, and any alterations may result in cookies that aren’t quite right.

Butter. You’ll need one cup (this is two standard-sized sticks) of unsalted butter. It should be softened, but not so soft that the exterior is oily or greasy or the butter is beginning to melt on its own, or the cookies may spread too much in the oven. Cream this by itself first to ensure the butter is nice and smooth before adding any other ingredients, otherwise it may not mix smoothly with your condensed milk.
Sugar. There is a high ratio of sugar in this recipe between the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and condensed milk. This is not by accident, it’s important in perfecting a cookie with an almost candy-like crunch to it, and therefore I do not recommend reducing the sugar.
Sweetened condensed milk. My secret weapon! While it might seem like an odd ingredient to use, this one is perhaps most critical to making perfectly textured, truly crispy chocolate chip cookies (it’s also the key to making my perfectly smooth cookie dough frosting, different recipes, different uses!). It helps the cookies to spread so they’re thin, and it also helps to nearly crystalize the cookie dough as it bakes. It’s responsible for the snappy crispness of each cookie (along with the baking soda… more on that below). Make sure that you do not substitute any other kind of milk, especially not evaporated milk (which is often sold right beside it in a nearly identical can!).
Baking soda. While the cookies will already be fairly thin without this ingredient, adding it helps to make the cookies more porous (and a bit more crackly on top, as a bonus). Baking soda makes them brittle and breakable which results in a crisp, crunchy texture (rather than obnoxiously stick-to-your-teeth, peanut brittle-esque one!).
Flour. I only recommend using all-purpose (plain) flour. It’s absolutely critical that you measure this properly. For best results use a scale, but I talk a bit more about measuring flour below.
Salt & vanilla add flavor.
Chocolate chips. I like to use semisweet or dark chocolate chips, the very slight bitterness helps to counter the sweetness from the cookie. A blend of miniature and standard-sized chips is my preference, but feel free to use your favorite flavor and your favorite size.

Remember, this is just an overview of some of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why did my cookies not spread/stay in balls in the oven?

The most common cause of this is accidentally over-measuring the flour (though if your baking soda is expired this could also be a contributing factor!).
Make sure you stir your flour, spoon it into your measuring cup, and then level it off if using a straight-edge (like the back of a knife). Better yet, use a scale!

Why did my cookies spread too much?

First, check your ingredients! Most often, cookies that spread too much are caused by accidentally mis-measuring an ingredient or using the wrong ingredient.
Make sure you used sweetened condensed milk and not evaporated milk. Make sure your butter was not so soft that it was melty. Oh, and don’t ever place cookie dough on a baking sheet that’s still warm.

Why are my cookies chewy in the middle!?

First, make sure they are cooled completely. These otherwise crispy chocolate chip cookies will still be a bit soft at their centers while they are warm.
However, if they’ve cooled completely and are still soft, it’s most likely that the cookies weren’t baked long enough. Cookies should be baked on the center rack of a 325F (165C) oven until golden brown all over.
Many ovens run hot or cold, so if you’re not certain your oven temperature is accurate you may need to bake the cookies a bit longer than indicated.
If you make your cookies too large they may also end up chewy in the centers.

Why do the cookies need to bake so long?

To ensure even baking and crispness all the way through, it’s necessary to bake the cookies on a low temperature for a longer period of time. A little patience ensures that your cookie centers are just as crisp as your edges.

How long can I store these cookies?

They’ll keep at room temperature for up to two weeks. I prefer to keep mine in an airtight container.