Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Sweet without being cloying, slight butterscotch flavor, and plenty of chocolate chips.
Texture: Perfection. Crisp and chewy on the edges, ooey and gooey inside. These cookies warm out of the oven with a cold glass of milk may be one of my favorite things in life.
Ease: The actual dough isn’t very different from most chocolate chip cookie recipes, except this one uses cold butter. Then you roll gigantic balls of dough to bake, like seriously 4 times the size of most cookies!
Appearance: Mouthwatering.
Pros: These are the perfect warm-from-the-oven cookies and they are just sinful.
Cons: None.
Would I make this again? I’ve already made these cookies many times!
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Some desserts I have to be in the mood to eat. When it comes to chocolate chip cookies, however, I could always have one (or two).
The kind of chocolate chip cookie I’m in the mood for can vary, though. Crispy, chewy, gooey, nutty – there are so many different kinds. One of my favorites will always be the crisp and chewy yet melty and gooey kind that are best still warm with a glass of milk.
Cookie dough is great, but my greatest weakness has to be cookies just out of the oven. I mean, is there any aroma more intoxicating? My last meal on earth would have to include these giant chocolate chip cookies (maybe also some brownies) because they are that over-the-top good.
This recipe was partially inspired by Levain Bakery. I had the opportunity to visit recently and while the cookies were absolutely gorgeous, I found them to be too much.
Which is something I never thought I’d say. But you could only have a few bites before you felt such a heaviness sitting in your stomach. I think it’s because the center of those cookies is so underdone and gooey. I actually enjoyed their cookies much more the next day, strangely enough.
So this is my dream version of a huge, big, giant chocolate chip cookie that’s over the top but still edible and enjoyable to the last bite, both while they’re still warm and gooey, and for days later!
Check out the pink box below for my recipe tips and answers to common questions!
How to Make PERFECT Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
Use COLD Butter for These Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies!
- I know, this seems to go against everything you’ve learned about the temperature butter should be when creaming.
- If you’ve read Tip #1 in my 3 Reasons Your Cookies Flop article, then you’ll know the calamity warm butter can cause your cookies.
- Overly warm butter all but ensures your cookies will spread out too thin and sad.
- This recipe was developed to use cold butter to ensure that the cookies stay ultra thick and tall and don’t flatten. Because of this, it’s best to use a stand mixer and not a hand mixer for this recipe.
Chocolate Chips + Chocolate Chunks = Maximum Gooeyness!
- I use both chocolate chips and chocolate chunks in this recipe to get the most gooey delicousness possible.
- If using chocolate chunks, be sure to chop up the chocolate yourself. Pre-made chocolate chunks won’t get as gooey.
- You can also use baking wafers, discs, or feves such as these in place of the chunks.
Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder in Cookies
This recipe for Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies uses both baking powder and baking soda for the best of both worlds.
- Baking powder and baking soda are both chemical leaveners that work to create light textures in baked goods.
- Although baking powder actually contains baking soda, the two leaveners are very different.
- Baking powder and baking soda are not interchangeable – just take a look at the impact the type of leavener used had on each of the cookies below!
- Find out more about the shocking differences between these two leaveners in my Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder article.
How to Shape Giant Cookie Dough Balls
- I used my biggest cookie scoop with a kitchen scale to get accurate portions of this dough.
- Each ball of dough is a whopping quarter pound!
- Top each cookie dough ball with a few extra chocolate chunks for picture-perfect cookies.
Sea Salt: The Secret to Extra Tasty Cookies!
This is optional, but you can add a sprinkling of flaky finishing sea salt to the cookies right after pulling them out of the oven really brings out that butterscotch flavor. I love fleur de sel for this. Not to mention it makes the cookies that much more mouthwatering visually!
How to Make These Cookies Ahead of Time
- These cookies are particularly best the day they’re baked, in my opinion.
- For this reason, I prefer to freeze the balls of cookie dough.
- If baking from frozen, reduce the heat to 340°F and add a few minutes to the baking time.
- Get my full instructions on how to freeze cookie dough here.
More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes You’ll Love:
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Soft & Chewy M&M Cookies
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- S’mores Cookies
Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups (380 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 sticks (227 grams) cold unsalted butter, cubed
- 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cups (250 grams) packed light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups (255 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks or wafers
- Flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed until well combined and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, then add in the vanilla and beat until combined. Gradually beat in the flour mixture on low speed until combined. Beat in the chocolate chips and half the chunks.
- Weigh out 1/4 cup (4 ounces or 113 gram) portions of dough and roll into an even ball. Place the dough balls on the prepared baking sheets, spacing far apart. Bake 6 cookies per pan. Press chocolate chunks into the top of each ball of dough.
- Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until the cookies are slightly browned at the edges and puffy. Bake longer for crispier, chewier cookies, bake less for ooey gooey cookies. Sprinkle with flaky sea salt, if desired.
- Cookies will deflate slightly as they cool. They are best the day they are baked but may be stored in an airtight container for 2 days.
This post was originally published in 2012 and updated recently with recipe improvements, baking tips, and new photos. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
May 2020 Baking Challenge
This recipe was the selection for the May 2020 baking challenge! See the entries below and check out the current monthly challenge here!
I’ve tried so many cookie recipes and none of them have ever worked, until I found this one!! Just amazing, but very naughty.
Hi Tessa, can these “marinate” overnight like your other cookies? Thanks!
Hi Tessa,
Can these “marinate” overnight like your other cookies? Thanks!
Absolutely! Enjoy!
Made these this morning and they are delicious! I have about 50 recipes for chocolate chip cookies on my counter at the moment. Yes, I have a problem. These baked up perfect and they are husband approved.
These are my absolute favorite cookies, everyone loves them! They’re so delicious, especially with the sprinkle of sea salt at the end. I like how they’re a little thicker than usual cookies, and a bit more melty/doughy in the middle. Not overly sweet and a great treat!
I’m so glad you love these cookies!
Does 1/4cup of dough equal to 113g? Cause I tried to mearsure 3tablespoons scoop of dough eta to be ard 60 to 65g. I tried 1/4cup somehow to mine is equal to 3 tablespoon scoop as some other recipe they mention..
THE BEST COKKIE I EVER TASTED
WOW LITERALLY PERFECT! my dads exact words “man these are really good”. my moms words “you really need to add this to your list”. literally the perfect cookie! it’s really cool how big they turned out to be:) i wish it was a little thicker, but honestly love the consistency as is. i calculated it, about 600 calories per cookie! may have to have half next time lol;) thank you once again!
I have been looking for the perfect cookie recipe for YEARS and this is it. I’ll never use another recipe again. Well maybe I will if I’m bored and wanted to experiment, but I know for a fact that no other recipe can top this one
We froze the dough to take with us on a vacation. Baked the cookies after thawing and they were perfection. Had them again with icecream two days later and still tasted fresh and delicious. This is a keeper recipe we will be making again!
I love the amount of chocolate that you add to your cookie recipes. It’s perfect for that melty chocolatey goodness yet it doesn’t take over the flavor of the cookies. These are perfect for pretending to cut down on sweets lol. I can have two and still feel satisfied! Smaller cookies I usually eat about 5! So good.
These cookies are so delicious!!! i would definitely recommend using a scale as that is what helped me not have flat cookies. I actually made these 3 separate times and the first two times I didn’t chill my dough and they still came out somewhat thick but not as thick as shown on the photos but the third time I actually refrigerated my cookie dough balls for about 1 to half an hour and it made a HUGE difference. They were soft and thick in the center and a slight crisp on the outside. I live in AZ also and my kitchen is almost always hot so chilling is a must as the batter tends to melt quick in my cases.