Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Tons of sweet vanilla and butterscotch flavor with the right amount of chocolate chips.
Texture: Thick and chewy, with slightly crisp edges, and plenty of gooey chocolate chips.
Ease: Simple 30-minute recipe.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: These are my go-to Chocolate Chip Cookies — I’ve made this recipe hundreds of times! I always have this dough in my freezer, ready to bake off whenever the craving strikes.
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My Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies are thick, chewy, and gooey. If there’s one thing I’m passionate about, it’s chocolate chip cookies.
You might think me a little unhinged, but I’ve tested this particular recipe over 20 times, with nearly every variation you could think of, to deliver you the superlative chocolate chip cookie!
All that hard work paid off because this is now one of the MOST popular recipes on my site, with over seven million visitors and 1,000 5-star reviews.
Reader Love
I’ve been baking for 50 years and this is the best chocolate chip cookie ever. I love it so much I always have dough balls in freezer ready to bake. Thank you so much for sharing!
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Reader Love
Everyone’s favorite cookie recipe! Everytime I make this recipe it’s guaranteed everyone will ask for it. Easy and great to keep in the freezer!
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Why is this the BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe?
My recipe is simple enough to make on a weeknight, with no fancy ingredients. It’s been meticulously tested and the result is beautiful golden brown cookies, crisp at the edges and a little gooey at the center.
I’ve even made these cookies on The Today Show!
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make The Best Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
Important Ingredient Notes
Understanding how and why basic baking ingredients work can make you feel like a pro in the kitchen. I chose each ingredient only after careful testing so each one truly does matter.
All-Purpose Flour, Measured Correctly
I highly recommend using a digital kitchen scale to weigh your flour, or using the spoon-and-level method. It’s shockingly easy to accidentally add too much flour when measuring with cups, which can result in cookies that won’t spread, turn cakey, or go dry.
Baking Soda is the Key to Golden Brown Cookies
After intensive testing, I chose to use only baking soda for leavening in this recipe, which resulted in perfectly golden brown cookies with just enough spread to bake evenly.
Baking powder and baking soda are not interchangeable – as you can see in the experiment image above. Find out more in my Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder article here.
Don’t Skip the Salt!
One time, my husband, Joe, forgot the salt in this recipe. It took me .5 seconds after my first bite to realize something was very wrong! Cookies without salt are flat and bland.
I like to use fine sea salt because I prefer the taste to iodized table salt, and because its fine granule size distributes into the dough more evenly than kosher salt.
I’ll even sprinkle these cookies with flaky sea salt when they come out of the oven for a salty-sweet bite.
Butter at the Right Temperature (This is KEY!)
If there’s one mistake most cookie bakers make, it’s letting their butter get too warm at any point before the cookie dough hits the oven. When this happens, your cookies are much more likely to spread into sad flat puddles.
The ideal temperature is around 67°F, which means the butter will give slightly when gently pressed, but isn’t so warm it turns visibly greasy and totally soft.
I prefer to use unsalted butter in my baking because it’s typically fresher than salted butter (salt is a preservative) and it gives me full control of the salt content.
If all you have is salted, no worries. Simply cut the salt in half (½ teaspoon) in this recipe.
White Sugar
Also called granulated sugar, this encourages more spread so I only use a small amount.
Brown Sugar
Brown sugar contains molasses, which helps contribute that beloved butterscotch flavor associated with chocolate chip cookies. That molasses draws in more moisture, making for thicker, softer, and chewier cookies that stay good for longer.
Important: Don’t reduce the sugar in this recipe! Doing so will create dry, crumbly, hockey puck cookies that don’t spread. You can learn more about how sugar functions in baking here (hint: it does much more than sweeten).
The Eggs
Essential for binding together the cookie dough, eggs also add extra protein and fat for added richness and structure.
You may replace the eggs with 50 grams of plain, unflavored, unsweetened yogurt if needed.
Vanilla Extract
Again, don’t skip this ingredient! It imparts a sweet aroma that tells our brain something amazing is about to happen. Cookies without vanilla can fall flat.
Chocolate Chips
I prefer semisweet chocolate chips (Ghirardelli or Guittard are my favorite) because they have the perfect sweetness to balance out the other flavors of the cookies. If you prefer milk or bittersweet chocolate instead, feel free to use either.
If you prefer fewer chocolate chips, decrease the amount to 1 ½ cups, just note your cookies may turn out slightly thinner. If you prefer chocolate chunks, swap in the same amount!
Recommended Equipment
The Best Baking Pan for Cookies
Each of the cookies below is from the same batch of cookie dough, baked at the same temperature of 350°F, and baked for 12 minutes. The only difference? The type of baking pan used!
- T-Fal Air Pan: pale cookies that spread more
- Wilton Non-Stick: browned heavily with less spread
- Walmart Mainstays: pale cookies, pan warped and rusted
- Viking Ceramic Lined: cookies burnt on the bottom
- Nordicware Unlined Aluminum: my favorite Goldilocks pan, I own 10 of these!
- OXO Gold Nonstick: browned heavily with less spread
Key takeaway: If you’re using a nonstick pan, you’ll likely need to decrease the baking time, possibly even the baking temperature. Check out my Best (and WORST) Baking Pans article here for more details on the science of baking pans.
My Favorite Cookie Tool: A Scoop
Using a stainless steel spring-loaded cookie scoop when portioning cookie dough is one of the secrets to beautifully uniform, evenly shaped, evenly baked cookies, and quickly. My cookie scoop is one of my most frequently used kitchen gadgets. Learn more about cookie scoops and how to use them here!
The Key to Soft Cookies
If you want perfect cookies, here is an important note about technique.
Carry-Over Cooking: After ensuring you’ve measured your flour correctly, the trick to soft cookies is to take them out of the oven just before they look like they’re done baking. They should still appear slightly wet in the very center. The residual heat of the oven and pan will finish baking the cookies through to soft perfection once you allow them to cool completely.
Why You Should Chill Your Cookie Dough
Although not required for this recipe, I do highly recommend chilling the cookie dough for 24-72 hours before baking. Don’t worry, you can always bake off a few cookies immediately and chill the rest.
Chilling cookie dough improves your cookies in every way! It allows the moisture in the dough to be better absorbed by the flour, creating a thicker, chewier texture. It enhances the flavor and creates a richer, deeply butterscotch-y cookie. And it improves the golden brown exterior as the cookies bake, for crisp edges.
You can either scoop first and chill (make sure to wrap tightly in plastic), or chill the entire mass of dough, let it come to room temperature, then scoop.
Learn more about why chilling cookie dough matters here.
Cookie Storage Notes
How to Freeze Cookie Dough
I love the taste of cookies straight from the oven the best. I always keep cookie dough in my freezer so I can bake a few cookies off at a time in just minutes. If chilling your cookie dough to enhance the flavor and texture, do this FIRST. This magic only happens in the fridge, not the freezer.
- Portion your cookie dough into scoops. Place on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Place the sheet in your freezer for 1 hour, or until the dough balls are hardened.
- Remove to an airtight container and freezer for up to 2 months.
- Bake directly from the freezer at 325°F for 13 to 15 minutes.
Here are more tips for freezing cookie dough.
How to Keep Cookies Soft in Storage
Add a piece of bread or a flour tortilla to your container of cookies about a day or two after baking them, or whenever you find the texture starting to harden. The moisture from the bread or tortilla will migrate to your cookies, making them soft and chewy again.
Troubleshooting & FAQs
Why Are My Chocolate Chip Cookies Flat?
If your cookies spread into sad, flat cookie puddles, it probably means that your butter was too warm when creaming. Your butter should be at a COOL room temperature; about 67°F is perfect. Butter that’s too warm can’t cream properly and will cause your cookies to overspread.
Why Are My Cookies Puffy? Why Didn’t They Spread?
If your cookies didn’t spread and look like domes, taste bland, and feel dry and tough, it’s most likely that you accidentally added too much flour. I highly recommend using a digital kitchen scale to measure your ingredients, especially flour. It truly will improve your baking forever!
If you don’t have a scale, use the spoon and level method to measure your flour. Do NOT compact the flour into the measuring cup.
Also, check that your baking soda is fresh and still active. Baking soda helps promote spread and browning, for perfectly spread cookies with a golden brown edge.
Can I Double This Recipe?
Sure! Simply double all ingredients to make approximately 52 large cookies – no other modifications needed. Note: be sure to double-check every ingredient as you double it, so you don’t accidentally mis-measure something!
Can I Use a Hand Mixer for Cookies?
Yes, a hand mixer will work just as well as a stand mixer here.
Can I Add Nuts to This Recipe?
Sure! I recommend 1 cup of chocolate chips and 1 cup of nuts.
Can I Use Salted Butter?
Yes. Simply cut the salt in half (½ teaspoon) in the recipe.
How to Make Perfectly Round, Pretty Cookies?
As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, swirl a round cookie cutter (a little larger than the size of the cookies) around the edges. This pulls the edges of the cookies in for a perfectly round cookie – and, bonus, it also makes them even thicker!
You can also dot the tops of the cookie dough balls with a few extra chocolate chips before placing them in the oven, for extra pretty cookies.
Can I Make This Recipe Gluten-Free?
I’ve had good results using Bob’s Red Mill oat flour in place of the all-purpose flour at a 1:1 ratio. The resulting cookies will taste a little nuttier, and will soften more and become chewier as they sit. See my full oat flour experiment on Instagram here!
Can I Make These Egg-Free?
Yes, replace the eggs with 50 grams of plain, unflavored, unsweetened yogurt. See my full egg substitute experiment on Instagram here.
Can I Add Oatmeal to This Recipe?
No. Oatmeal zaps moisture, so recipes must be specifically engineered to include it. Luckily, I already have an Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe here!
Can I Make Smaller Sized Cookies?
Yes, just note that they won’t be as soft and chewy in the center. Use a medium 1.5-tablespoon-size cookie scoop and bake only for about 10-12 minutes instead. You will get about 50 cookies.
Can I Halve This Recipe?
Yes, simply halve all ingredients and use a hand mixer instead of a stand mixer to achieve a uniform dough.
Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Ingredients
- 3 cups (380 grams) all-purpose flour**
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature (67°F)
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cups (247 grams) lightly packed light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 cups (340 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat until combined, scraping the bowl down as needed. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Divide the dough into 3-tablespoon sized balls using a large cookie scoop and drop onto prepared baking sheets.
- If time permits, place the dough scoops into an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 24 hours but no more than 72 hours. This allows the dough to “marinate” and makes the cookies thicker, chewier, and more flavorful. Bake from the fridge.
- Bake for 11-13 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.
- Although I prefer cookies fresh from the oven, these can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. See post for storage tips.
Recipe Notes
More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes:
- Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies (ultra flavorful!)
- Marbled Chocolate Chip Cookies (classic and double chocolate chip cookie dough in one cookie!)
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (for serious PB lovers only!)
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Hot Cocoa Cookies
See ALL of my types of cookie recipes & cookie baking tips here!
I’ve tried dozens of recipes… this is by far the best.
Awesome! So happy to hear this!
This didn’t turn out correct at all. I’m normally really good at making chocolate chip cookies and I followed this recipe to a tee. The dough turned out like thick sand and when I tried baking a batch they just look like round rocks I was so confused as to why they were coming out like this, and I looks like I’m missing my friends 25th birthday party. This whole thing took way longer than expected. I normally crank out amazing cookies no problem but this recipe gave me so many issues
Oh no, Audrey, something definitely doesn’t sound right! Did you make any substitutions? Do you measure your ingredients with a digital scale to ensure the best results? These cookies shouldn’t turn out like round rocks! The dough itself is pretty thick, especially if you chill them as recommended, but that’s why you let the the dough sit at room temperature until it’s soft enough to scoop. What type of cookie sheet did you bake them on, light or dark colored? Do you have an oven thermometer to see if your oven temperature is accurate (most home ovens aren’t!)? I really want to help you figure out what happened as these are one of my absolute favorite cookies as well as one of the most popular and highly rated on my site!
I’ve made this recipe a few times now, but I brought them into work today and my coworkers can’t stop singing praises! These are THE BEST chocolate chip cookies ever. Don’t hesitate to make these. I’ll be coming back to this recipe every time I need a cookie fix!
Oh YAY!! I’m so happy not only that these were a huge hit but also that this is now your go-to recipe! Thanks for the wonderful feedback, Miranda!
This recipe is different from the standard. I liked it a lot. It makes a thicker more substantial cookie. I baked a 20 cookies without refrigeration and the rest the next day. I do think the refrigerated cookies were better. I added 1 cup chopped nuts, 1/2 cup homemade toffee chips and 1/2 cup dried tart cherries and left out the vanilla (mostly on purpose because I don’t like it).
I saw your picture of these chocolate chip cookies and thought…I have got to try these! My favorite type of cookie is a little crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. People, that is EXACTLY what these cookies are! My husband couldn’t stop eating them and neither could I (we had to give the rest away to stop from eating them all! haha). My loving mother who has searched long and far to find the perfect chocolate chip recipe gave me a recipe she thought was finally a good one….now I might have to give her this recipe to try instead! LOVED IT! Thanks a million!
Hooray!!! So happy to hear you both loved this recipe! I highly recommend freezing the rest (giving away is wonderful too!) for easy baking throughout the week whenever those cookie cravings hit!
Hi tessa! I’m so excited to try this recipe. The cookies look so good and yummy! One question, can I shift to folding with a spatula to mix the dry ingredients to the wet ones? I find my hand mixer is having a hard time to mix the thick dough. Also, how long should I bake if I use 2 scoops of a small cookie scoop (2 scoops stacked one on top of the other for one cookie). Thank you so much!
I haven’t tried mixing with a spatula –it’ll be harder and take a lot more time to get to the creaminess of the ingredients like an electric mixer does in 2 minutes. As for the baking time, are you looking to have very tall cookies or you just mean you’re adding two small scoops together rolled into one? I’d still bake at 12-15 minutes as recommended but then just watch it after that until they reach golden brown. Good luck!
This is why I love you, your site, and all your recipes! I feel like the way you do things (by weighing ingredients) makes every recipe a “no-fail”! I wanted to try a new chocolate chip cookie recipe and I knew I wanted to try one of yours. These are AMAZING!!!! Great thickness, chewy but soft, a little crisp around the edges. I added some m&ms to the last half of the batch for the kids and now I’m thinking I should hide all those for myself thank you for being a solid, go-to person for recipes! Love what you do! Happy Baking
I love to hear that! Thank you so much for the kind feedback, Haley! I’m absolutely thrilled you love these cookies 🙂
I’ve made these twice and they are amazing. Both times I added a 1/2 cup of peanut butter because my family likes the addition.
Just out of curiosity. Why doesn’t this recipe have baking powder when your ultimate chocolate hop cookie and the peanut butter chocolate chip recipes do add it.
I’m so glad you love this recipe 🙂 As for the baking powder, I just test out different ingredients with each recipe until I land on what I think works best!
I think it yummy
I made these in the afternoon and then put in refrigerator until that evening. I didn’t let them get to room temp and placed cookies back in refrigerator between batches. They turned out perfect. the best thick and chewy cookies ever. I only made 12, I let the rest stay in the refrigerator over night. Making the rest today for Easter. This will be my go to cookies. Thank you! Delicious
So glad you found your go-to cookie recipe!!
These cookies looked sooooo good. When I first made them though (followed the recipe to the T) they came out SUUUUUUUPER flat. I retried them again today though, with baking powder instead of baking soda and they came out perfectly fine! Wondering what happened there? But either way, super delicious! Obviously not as brown but they definitely didn’t flatten and they puffed up quite nice! I’m chilling the dough now and will make the rest tomorrow to see if that makes a difference. Thank you!
Hi Victoria, I’m sorry your cookies didn’t turn out correctly! I actually discuss why cookies might turn out flat in the pink box above the recipe, hope you give that a read! As for the baking soda, I wonder if yours wasn’t fresh? You can see how to check that in this article. Hope this helps!
Awesome!!!