These Extra-Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies have crispy edges and perfectly chewy middles. My food scientist secret? A full 5 minutes of creaming butter creates enough air to prevent spreading, so you can bake right away (no chilling!).
Extra-Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Ingredients
Here’s what goes into these perfectly chewy cookies.
- Salted butter: Room temperature, not melted. This is key for proper creaming. You should be able to press it with your finger and leave an indent, but not a melty puddle.
- Brown sugar: I like dark brown sugar for more caramel taste, but golden brown works, too.
- Granulated sugar: White sugar balances the brown sugar for the perfect chew.
- Egg: Binds everything together.
- Vanilla extract: Pure vanilla for the best flavor.
- All-purpose flour: I use 11 oz by weight for accuracy.
- Baking soda: Helps with spread and browning.
- Kosher salt: Essential for balancing sweetness.
- Chocolate chips: Milk or semisweet, plus extra for topping.
Full recipe quantities listed in the recipe card at the bottom of the article.
If you love the perfect chew, you’ll also love my super-popular chewy brownies.
Variations and Substitutions
Make my best cookies your new favorite chocolate chip cookies with these easy swaps.
- Dark chocolate chips: Use instead of milk chocolate for a less sweet cookie.
- Unsalted butter: Add an extra ¼ tsp salt to the recipe.
- Chopped chocolate: Use a bar chopped up. Chocolate chunks make for more melty pools.
- Nuts: Add ½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans with the chocolate chips.
- Sea salt finish: Sprinkle flaky sea salt on top after baking.
Grab These Tools
Here’s what you’ll need for this recipe.
- Stand mixer: Essential for the 5-minute creaming process.
- Baking sheet (cookie sheet): Two or more for rotating batches.
- Parchment paper: Prevents sticking and makes cleanup easy.
- Cookie scoop: A 2-tablespoon scoop gives uniform cookies.
- Kitchen scale: Optional but recommended for weighing flour. It’s more accurate than a measuring cup.
- Wire cooling racks: For cooling cookies properly.
How to Make The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe: Easy Guide
This recipe has a few key techniques that make all the difference. Pay attention to the creaming time and shaping method for perfect results.
Cream the Butter for a Full 5 Minutes
Combine butter, sugars, salt and baking soda in the bowl of a stand mixer. Here’s my time-saving hack: I add the salt and baking soda now instead of in a separate bowl for dry ingredients. This saves dishes and ensures even distribution.
Start on low speed until it comes together. Then increase to medium-high and beat for a FULL 5 MINUTES. Pause a couple of times to scrape down the sides.
This 5-minute creaming is the secret to perfect chocolate chip cookie dough. When butter is properly creamed and at room temperature, it holds enough air to insulate the cookies from over-spreading. This means you can bake right away without chilling the dough.
Add Egg and Vanilla
Beat in egg and vanilla extract until fully incorporated. The mixture should be fluffy and pale.
Mix in the Flour
Pause the mixer and add the flour. Turn it on low and beat until flour is fully incorporated. Scrape down the mixer bowl once or twice. Don’t over-beat or the cookies get harder.
Stir in Chocolate Chips
Add chocolate chips and stir in with mixer speed on low. The dough should be thick and studded with chips.
Shape and Bake
Scoop into two-tablespoon-sized cookie dough balls. Pinch the balls upwards to make them tall like snowmen. This prevents too much spread and creates those nice, thick cookies.
Place dough balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet 3 inches apart. Bake about 8 minutes at 375°F. Edges will be golden while center still appears soft and slightly paler.
Bang and Top
Immediately after taking the cookies out of the oven, bang the pan on the countertop to deflate them. You can use an overturned glass or small bowl to gently reshape the cookies back into a perfect circle.
Top cookies with a few extra chocolate chips, gently pressing them in. Let cool 2 minutes before transferring to wire racks. Sprinkle with a few grains of flaky salt if desired.
5 Common Mistakes When Making Chocolate Chip Cookies
Here are the most frequent mix-ups to avoid when making chocolate chip cookies:
- Not creaming butter long enough: Most people stop after 1-2 minutes. You need the full 5 minutes to create enough air to insulate the fat and prevent excessive spreading.
- Using melted butter (or too-soft butter): Room temperature butter should hold its shape but dent when pressed. Too-soft butter makes flat, greasy cookies.
- Over-mixing the flour: Once you add flour, mix just until combined. Over-mixing develops gluten and makes cookies tougher.
- Using a warm baking sheet: Always use a fresh or cooled baking sheet between batches. A warm pan causes cookies to spread too much.
- Overbaking: Take cookies out when they still look slightly underdone in the center and the edges of the cookies are golden. Too much time in the oven and you’ll end up with crispy cookies. They continue cooking on the pan as they cool.
Make Ahead and Storage
These cookies keep beautifully and the dough freezes perfectly.
Storing Baked Cookies
- Room temperature: Store in an airtight container up to 5 days.
- Keep them soft: Add a slice of bread to the container to maintain moisture.
- Freeze baked cookies: Freeze in a single layer, then transfer to freezer bags. They last up to 3 months.
Freezing Cookie Dough
- Scoop as balls first: Shape the dough into balls before freezing. This way you don’t have to work hard scooping frozen dough later.
- Freeze on a tray: Place dough balls on a baking sheet and freeze until solid, about 2 hours.
- Transfer to bags: Once frozen solid, transfer to freezer bags. They last up to 3 months.
- Bake from frozen: Add 1-2 extra minutes to the baking time. No need to thaw.
What If Cookies Spread Too Much?
- Chill remaining dough: If your first batch spreads, chill the remaining dough balls in the fridge for 15-30 minutes before baking.
- Already shaped as balls: Since you’ve already scooped the dough into balls, just pop the whole tray in the fridge. Much easier than chilling a bowl of dough and breaking a cookie scoop trying to get it out.
- Check your butter: For future batches, make sure butter is room temperature, not melty, and cream for the full 5 minutes.
Other Cookie Recipes You’ll Love
How to Make the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies: Final Notes + Secrets
Here’s what I’ve learned from years of making chocolate chip cookies.
- The 5-minute cream is non-negotiable: This is the most important step for that chewy texture. Set a timer. The air you beat into the butter creates steam pockets during baking that insulate the fat and prevent spreading.
- Room temperature butter matters: It should be cool enough to hold its shape but soft enough to dent when pressed. Not melty or greasy.
- Add salt and soda early: My hack of adding salt and baking soda with the butter saves a bowl and ensures perfect distribution throughout the dough.
- Shape them tall: Pinching the dough balls upward creates a taller cookie that spreads less. This is key for thick, chewy cookies.
- Weigh your flour: If you have a scale, use it. 11 oz of flour gives consistent results every time (or tap the metric button on my recipe card to see all ingredients in grams). Too much flour can make for dry, thick or cakey cookies.
- The bang is crucial: Banging the pan deflates the cookies and creates that perfect crinkly top. An overturned glass can be used to “scoot” the cookies into a perfect circle shape.
- No chilling needed: If you cream the butter properly and it’s at the right temperature, you can bake immediately. The air pockets do the work.
Extra-Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter room temperature
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 2 ⅓ cups + 2 tsp all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk or semisweet chocolate chips plus extra for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Combine butter, sugars, salt and baking soda in the bowl of a stand mixer. Start on low speed until it comes together, then increase to medium-high and beat for a FULL 5 MINUTES, pausing a couple of times to scrape down sides of mixer bowl and beater. (This 5 minute beating is key to getting enough air in the cookie to insulate the fat and prevent too much spreading)Beat in egg and vanilla extract. Once the egg is in, you do not want to beat it much, just to mix in.
- Pause the mixer and add the flour. Turn it on low and beat until flour is fully incorporated, scraping down mixer bowl again once or twice. Don't over-beat or the cookies get harder.Add chocolate chips and stir in with mixer speed on low.
- Scoop dough into two-tablespoon-sized balls. Pinch the balls upwards to make them tall (like snowmen). This, again, prevents too much spread.Place dough balls on parchment-lined baking sheets 3" apart and bake 8-11 minutes. Edges should be golden while centre still appears soft and slightly paler.
- Immediately after taking the cookies out of the oven, bang the pan on the countertop to deflate them. You can use an overturned glass or small bowl to gently reshape the cookies back into a perfect circle.Top cookies with a few extra chocolate chips, gently pressing them in (this helps to flatten the cookie more). Let cool 2 minutes before transferring to wire racks. Sprinkle with a few grains of flaky salt if desired.
Notes
- If you have a kitchen scale, tap the metric button in the recipe card. I prefer to weigh it for accuracy and consistency.
- Use a fresh baking sheet between batches or run the used one under cold water (if you don’t mind that it may warp!) and dry it before making another batch (a still-warm pan will make the cookies spread too much).
- See notes in post for freezing instructions + option to bake dough from frozen.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Made these today and they are sooo good! I couldn’t get them to flatten as much but they were still fine.
This recipe doesn’t include the oven temp in the instructions.
It’s the same as the preheat temp – 350ºF ☺️