Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: This cookie has big butterscotch flavor! The small amount of cream cheese in the dough adds an almost indiscernible tang that takes these cookies over the top.
Texture: Ultra SOFT and perfectly tender.
Ease: Super easy!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: Soft, ooey-gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies with TONS of flavor – and, bonus, they’re super quick and easy to make!
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This is the only recipe you’ll ever need for Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies! These cookies are ultra tender but still hold their shape and are loaded with tons of ooey-gooey chocolate chips.
If you haven’t noticed, I’m obsessed with Chocolate Chip Cookies. But sometimes I crave different textures. Sometimes I want super soft cookies. Other times, I crave Thin and Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies, or perfectly Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Don’t get me wrong, practically any homemade Chocolate Chip Cookie is good with me. It’s just every once in a while, you have a texture craving that must be satisfied.
What Makes Cookies Chewy, Crisp, or Cakey?
My free guide reveals the ingredients and tweaks that matter.
After creating dozens of Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes for my cookie cookbook and my website, I can safely call myself a Cookie Expert. And these Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies will not only meet all your soft cookie needs, but all the flavors you crave in the perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie.
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make The Perfect Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
Brown Sugar in Chocolate Chip Cookies
Brown sugar is hygroscopic, which means it takes in and retains moisture better than granulated sugar. Adding moisture to your cookie dough can help make it softer and chewier, and stay soft for longer. That’s why I use much more brown sugar than granulated sugar in this recipe.
I prefer to use light brown sugar here, but dark brown sugar will work too (just note this will make your cookies a little darker in color and slightly more molasses-y in flavor). Learn how to make your own brown sugar here.
Cornstarch?
Cookies with cornstarch are ultra soft, often slightly gooey, and paler in color. Cornstarch can also aid in lift and height, as it is a thickening agent. Just be sure not to add too much extra cornstarch, otherwise, your cookies will develop an almost glue-like pudding consistency. I find in this recipe, 2 teaspoons is the Goldilocks measurement.
Cream Cheese
Not only does cream cheese add richness and flavor, but it also tenderizes the cookies so they’re super soft, even slightly chewy, without being cakey due to the fat content. I know it’s a bit of a hassle to add in cream cheese here, but believe me, it’s these small details that take your cookies from good to great.
Be sure to use full-fat brick-style cream cheese. Don’t use cream cheese meant for spreading on bagels.
Measure Your Flour Correctly
It’s super important to measure your flour correctly in any recipe, but it’s particularly important here, where we are trying to achieve a soft texture.
I highly recommend using a digital kitchen scale to weigh your flour, but if you don’t have a scale, use the spoon and level method. Too much flour can yield dry, hard, or cakey cookies, or cookies that don’t spread.
How to Bake Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Be sure your oven isn’t running too hot. If your oven does run hot, you may want to reduce the temperature slightly to avoid overly browning these cookies.
- Remove these from the oven just before they actually look done baking. The residual heat will continue to cook them and they will solidify as they begin to cool.
- Avoid using a dark-colored baking pan. Learn more about the best (and worst!) baking pans here.
How to Bake Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies
The key to making sure your Chocolate Chip Cookies bake up nice and thick instead of flattening into those little sad puddles:
- Make sure your butter isn’t too warm. Your butter should be at a cool room temperature, about 67°F, before creaming with the sugar. Learn more about why butter temperature matters in baking here.
- Next, make sure your balls of cookie dough aren’t warm when they enter the oven – otherwise, the dough will melt too much.
- If you experience issues with your Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies spreading too much, try popping the tray of shaped dough into the freezer while the oven preheats.
- If you live in a very humid climate, try adding a couple extra tablespoons of flour to the dough to combat that added moisture.
How to Store Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for up to 4 days. You can also freeze your cookie dough balls. Learn more about freezing cookie dough, and baking from frozen, here.
More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes:
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies – my most popular recipe!
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Soft Batch Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
- S’mores Cookies
- Marbled Chocolate Chip Cookies
- See ALL of my cookie recipes here!
Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Ingredients
- 2 3/4 cups (349 grams) all-purpose flour,
measured correctly - 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 10 tablespoons (141 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 1/4 cup (57 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups (250 grams) light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at cool room temperature
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups (340 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- If baking right away, preheat oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, cream cheese, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Slowly beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- If time permits: Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours but no more than 72 hours. This allows the dough to “marinate” and the final cookies to become thicker and more flavorful. Let dough sit at room temperature until it is just soft enough to scoop.
- Using a medium (1 1/2-tablespoon size) spring-loaded scoop, drop balls of dough onto prepared baking sheets.
- Bake for 10 to 11 minutes, or until barely golden brown. Don’t overbake – the cookies will continue to cook from residual heat. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Recipe Notes
The Ultimate Cookie Handbook
Learn the sweet SCIENCE of cookie baking in a fun, visual way to customize your own recipes frustration-free. Plus, my best 50+ homemade cookies!
This recipe was originally published in 2013 and was recently updated with new photos, weight measurements, and more recipe tips. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
The recipe calls for 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter. Is that 1/4 cup sticks or 1/2 sticks??
Not sure what you mean but 1 1/2 sticks = 6 ounces or 12 tablespoons.
I made these last month and submitted a review, but I ended up here again today because I was notified of another comment submitted. I was reading through some of the comments. In January of 2015 there was a comment about the butter and it says “the recipe calls for 1 1/2 sticks of unsalted butter….” and your reply didn’t correct her. The recipe I see calls for 10 Tablespoons of unsalted butter — not 12. Was that changed since 2015 or something? Or should it be 12 Tablespoons? Thanks!
Hi Pam! Please see the note in italics at the bottom of the post. This was originally published in 2013 and has been updated and improved since then. I’d recommend referring to what’s inside the recipe box for the latest and most accurate info 🙂
Can toffee chips (heath/ skor chips) be added or would it change the texture of the cookie from soft batch to crispy?
Is both baking powder & soda necessary or can I just use the 1 tsp of required soda & another as a powder substitute? Thanks!
I love all your posts..your experiments aree brilliant..learning alot…thanks for sharing..
I wanted to ask if I can substitute the cream cheese with another ingredient? thankss 😀
After many years of tinkering with the recipe on my own, I finally found the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe – thank you!!
How many cookies (approx) does this recipe yield? I bake once a month for a homeless soup kitchen and was wondering how many batches I would need.
Thank you, I can’t wait to try this recipe!
Kim
So pleased with this recipe! We’ve been a strictly Tollhouse or “break-n-bake” house for so long, that I was itching to try something new. We LOVE them!! Thanks so much. I’ll definitely be making these again 😀
Wow! I’ve been searching for a better chocolate chip cookie recipe and I think I’ve found it! Thank you!! One tip – instead of chilling the dough and then scooping it (when it’s firm and harder to scoop), I lined a tray with parchment and used a #24 disher to scoop the just-made (and soft) dough into balls, placing them on the tray. I then popped that into the fridge to chill. Later, when it was time to bake, I simply transferred the chilled dough balls onto a baking sheet and popped them into the oven. The #24 disher is 2.67 Tbsp, so my cookies required a slightly longer baking time (12-13 minutes), and are a nice ample size (3.25″ in diameter). I am thrilled with this recipe!
I made these today and served them to my bridge group, No one could eat just one. They are everything you say they are. They are staying soft and are rich and wonderful. This is a keeper!!!!
That’s wonderful to hear!
HI, In Venezuela I can not found brown sugar , what can I do?, to make Soft Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies? my mail [email protected]
you just add molasses to white sugar. there are lots of recipes online. depends on if you want dark or light brown sugar. But try 1 cup white sugar and 1 TB molasses and you can adjust from there.
OMG!!!! After scouring the web for a good choc chip cookie recipe, and many failed attempts this is the best recipe ever! Simply amazing; however I did not have cream cheese but oh well. Definetly my go to recipe now. Thanks so much
I made a half recipe of these and chilled the dough for about 12 hours before baking. I also used salted butter and organic unwashed sugar subbed in for the granulated sugar.
My batch came out very slightly on the cakey side and the cookie part had a very mild flavor. The cookies remained nice and soft, even 12 hours after baking.
I might try these again, but with baking soda as the only chemical leavener.
Cannot wait to try these!! Can this recipe be cut in half?? I tried that recently with the Toll House and it did NOT work! My cookies were flat as a board.
I don’t see why not! Esp since there are two eggs, that makes it a little easier.
FANTASTIC reipe! Definitely a keeper. I didn’t chill the dough as per recipe, and only did half to test my first batch. What I love about these cookies is how they continue to stay soft even after cooling which is not the case with other cookie recipes I have tried. I also like how there isn’t a butter after taste in my mouth. Wonderful. Thank you for sharing.