If you like soft, chewy cookies, these thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies are for you. Brown sugar and higher oven temperature is the secret to thick, soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies every time.
This is my personal favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. With all the baking I do, I know that there are a lot of chocolate chip cookie recipes out there. This one, in particular, makes super soft, chewy, thick cookies that are exactly what I look for in a cookie.
Update: This became a very popular cookie recipe when I first posted it several years ago. I’ve updated the post to reflect helpful questions and comments from you, and to add a new how-to video that shows you exactly how to make chewy chocolate chip cookies.
I originally posted this recipe after The Salt Lake Tribune printed an article about baking chocolate chip cookies. Cuisine Quest: Cookie question: Soft and chewy? Or hard and crispy?. The Tribune article was inspired by a similar question posed in Sunset Magazine. Their staff baked more than 25 unique chocolate chip cookie recipes to find the formula for the perfect cookie.
I definitely belong to the soft and chewy crowd and if you do too, you’re going to love this recipe.
The Secret To Thick and Chewy Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies
According to research by Sunset, more moisture results in softer and chewier cookies. You can help your cookies retain moisture by adjusting the baking time and temperature.
While I usually use a 350°F oven for cookies, research suggests that a hotter oven for a shorter cooking time will keep cookies softer. I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical about baking cookies at such a high temp, but in the name of chewier chocolate chip cookies, I had to give it a try.
Even though the cookies looked far from finished after the prescribed 8 minute bake time, I followed directions and removed the cookies from the oven. While those cooled, I performed a bit of an experiment on my own and baked off another batch at 350°F.
The second, lower temperature batch came out just like my usual chocolate chip cookies. Once both batches had a chance to cool, it was time to taste test.
And guess what? All that research paid off. The first batch of cookies was thick, chewy and just what I’ve been looking for.
I’ve been making all of my chocolate chip cookies with this thick and chewy recipe ever since.
Ingredients for Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Most of the ingredients for this chocolate chip cookie recipe are the standard pantry staples you’d expect. The one key difference is that this recipe uses only brown sugar, no white.
Brown sugar has a higher moisture content than granulated sugar. This helps keep your homemade cookies thick and chewy, rather than thin and crispy.
Plus, the brown sugar helps these cookies brown up faster. That means that even with our shorter cooking time, the cookies gain their signature toasted brown color on top.
How to Make Perfect Thick and Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you’ve made chocolate chip cookies before, the steps in this recipe will look familiar. Before you get started, take out the butter and let it come up to room temperature.
Tip: To bring your butter to room temperature faster, slice it into tablespoons and put it in your bowl to warm up while you’re measuring your other ingredients.
As in most recipes, you’ll start by combining the dry ingredients. Then, I like to use my stand mixer with a paddle attachment to cream the butter and sugar together. This should take about 2 minutes. You’ll know the creaming is done when the butter is light and fluffy.
If you don’t have a paddle attachment or a stand mixer, you can get the job done with a hand mixer or by hand, it will just take a little longer and a little more elbow grease.
Combine everything together and fold in the chocolate chips. You can also add nuts here if you like. I like pecans, but walnuts would also be great.
At this point, you can chill the dough for 20 to 30 minutes. This helps keep the cookies from spreading out as much when you bake them, but it’s not required for perfectly chewy cookies.
When you’re ready to bake, scoop the dough onto a baking sheet. I love using this #40 disher to scoop perfectly sized cookies. Each cookie is about 1.5 tablespoons of dough.
Many food bloggers like to push a few extra chocolate chips on the top of the cookie dough to they look prettier for pictures. In the pictures above, the first tray of cookies on the right is right after taking the cookies out of the oven. The third picture on the bottom right shows what the cookies look like after resting on the tray for 5 minutes.
Storing Chocolate Chip Cookies
Store your chocolate chip cookies in a Ziploc bag at room temperature.
Like most cookies, thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies stay fresh longer if frozen. If you’re not planning to inhale all the cookies within a day or two, let the cookies cool fully before storing them in a sealed container in the freezer. They’ll keep for several months. I like to let them defrost on the counter for a few hours, or overnight, before serving.
This is a great make-ahead recipe if you’re entertaining. It’s always nice to have some cookies tucked away in the freezer for guests.
Thick, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup 2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups firmly packed brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 12-ounce bag semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup chopped pecans optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400º F.
- In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and brown sugar, on medium speed, until well blended. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add flour mixture; mix just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips and pecans, if using. (Optional: cover dough and chill 20 – 30 minutes.)
- Drop dough in 2-tablespoon portions, 2 inches apart, onto baking pans. Bake until the cookies are lightly browned and no longer wet in the center, 6 to 8 minutes; if baking more than one pan at a time, switch pan positions halfway through baking. (Take the cookies out of the oven 1 or 2 minutes before the cookies are cooked, as they will continue to cook on the baking pans.)
- Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet before transferring cookies to racks to cool completely before serving.
Video
Notes
My Other Favorite Chewy Cookie Recipes to Try
Chocolate chip aren’t the only recipe for thick and chewy cookies! Try these other popular cookie recipes:
- Fudgy Chocolate Sixlet Cookies are always a winner on Valentine’s Day, but I love them all year long.
- Keto Coconut Macaroons from Two Sleevers are a different take on the chewy cookie, made with crispy coconut and egg whites for a lighter dessert.
- Chocolate Marshmallow Surprise Cookies are fudgy and brownie-like with a gooey and soft marshmallow on top. And don’t forget the chocolate icing!
- Extra Soft Snickerdoodle Cookies from Bless this Mess Please check all the boxes: soft, spiced and glazed with cinnamon sugar
Pin It:
Christa
you really do have some of the best recipes! thick and chewy is EXACTLY how chocolate chip cookies should be!!!
xo,
Mini Baker
shawn @ chicks dig coupons
I like thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies! And milk with mine please!
Great recipe!
Juliana
This is my kind of cookie, soft and chewy, almost like a cake…yours look delicious, can I have one Barbara? Hope you having a wonderful week 🙂
Rocky Mountain Woman
chewy…all the time
and, warm..oh yeah and with a glass of milk…
need a cookie now!
teresa
oh yum, chocolate chip cookies are one of my favorite treats! these look so good.
Joy
I love love your recipe. It looks so good.
marla {family fresh cooking}
Thick and chewy grab me big time!! What I would do for some of these chocolatey cookies this morning.
Neal Morgan
soft a chewy for me too. Hard is o.k if that’s all their is but sort and chewy rule.
Faith
I’m definitely a soft and chewy person! Thanks for the recipe, I’ll definitely be trying it!
Anna Johnston
I’ve got to try these too…, oh boy…, so tempted by a good chewy cookie (I’ve just finished baking some chocolate & peanut cookies – now I’m wanting to make these) 🙂
Esther x3baking
These sound perfect! They remind me of the America’s Test Kitchen thick and chewy cc cookies.
Angie's Recipes
Love chewy cookies, thin or thick! Those look so great with chocolate chips.
Lynda
I’m all for the thick and chewy cookies, but I wouldn’t turn down a thin one either. 🙂
Very interesting about the temperatures differences.
Betty @ scrambled henfruit
I’m in the soft and chewy crowd as well- these look great! I’m always willing to try a new chocolate chip recipe. 🙂
Jamie
I prefer thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies. I will definitely try this recipe and method. I wish I could grab a cookie off your plate right now. They look sooooo good!
sweetlife
soft and chewy all the way..great recipe..I love trying out new cookies with my girls
sweetlife
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
Mum you are the cookie queen! I bet my “siblings” are the most popular kids on the street with the goodies that emerge from your oven! 😀 xxx
Paula
Thick, soft and chewy is my preference but if there were only crisp and thin ones around I wouldn’t say no. Both batches look great 🙂
Barbara
Thanks for letting me know there was a problem with the instructions. I did change it up just a little bit. I always like to mix the dry ingredients together before starting the creaming process. All fixed now. Can’t wait to see how you like them!
Kathy - Cooking On the Side
Oops – looks like the first instruction might be missing, where you make the butter mixture (yes, I fired up the oven and decided to make these *right now*!).