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This is the only recipe you’ll ever need for SOFT Chocolate Chip Cookies.
The kind of cookies that 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 them to be super soft chocolate chip cookies. Other times, I crave thin and crispy 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.
Which texture of cookies do you prefer? Does your family love soft-batch cookies? Chewy? Crispy? Some combination of it all?! Let me know in the comments below!
How to Make SOFT Chocolate Chip Cookies
There are a few key ingredients to ensure your cookies are ultra-tender and soft.
Brown Sugar
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. Learn how to DIY your own brown sugar and how to keep it soft in your pantry here.
Cornstarch
Cookies with cornstarch are ultra soft and often slightly gooey and paler in color. It 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 cream cheese, not cream cheese for spreading on bagels.
How to Bake SOFT Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Be sure your oven isn’t running too hot – learn more about that here. 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 that here.
How to Bake THICK Cookies
The key to making sure your cookies bake up nice and thick instead of flattening into those little sad puddles:
- Make sure your butter isn’t too warm. Make sure your butter is at a COOL room temperature, about 67°F, before creaming with the sugar. Learn more about that 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 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 that, and how to bake from frozen, here.
Science of Cookie Baking
Download my FREE Cookie Customization Guide for quick and easy ways to alter the texture of your favorite cookie recipes. Whether you like soft cookies like this recipe, or prefer cakey, crispy, or chewy, this handy visual guide will show you what tweaks to make to get the texture of your dreams!
More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes
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2 3/4
cups
(349 grams) all-purpose flour
-
1
teaspoon
baking soda
-
1
teaspoon
baking powder
-
2
teaspoons
cornstarch
-
1
teaspoon
fine sea salt
-
10
tablespoons (142 grams) unsalted butter,
at cool room temperature
-
1/4
cup
(50 grams) cream cheese,
at room temperature
-
1 1/4
cups
(250 grams) brown sugar
-
1/2
cup
(100 grams) granulated sugar
-
1 1/2
teaspoons
vanilla
-
2
large eggs,
at cool room temperature
-
2
cups
(340 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips
-
If baking right away, preheat oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
-
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, and salt.
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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 vanilla and the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Slowly beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips.
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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 for the final cookies to become softer, thicker, and more flavorful. Let dough sit at room temperature until it is just soft enough to scoop.
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Using a medium (1 1/2-tablespoon size) spring-loaded scoop, drop balls of dough onto prepared baking sheets.
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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.
This recipe was originally published in 2013 and recently updated with new photos, weight measurements, and more recipe tips. Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
Great recipe!
I LOVE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES and to be honest this recipe just increased that love. Thank you Tessa for sharing this amazing cookie recipe! Definitely a family favorite 🙂
Hands down the BEST chocolates chip cookies ever!!!! Every other recipe I’ve tried in the past has always come out just okay….never like the kind you get at a bakery!!! You’ve cracked the code for the perfect cookie! I’ve never had so many compliments on chocolate chip cookies and I can’t thank you enough for this amazing recipe!
Amazing cookies… loved this recipe … i froze the cookie dough for a day n then baked … had kept the dough in the fridge first! I used homemade cream cheese 🙂
My new favorite chocolate chip cookies recipe. Thank you!!!
I love the addition of cream cheese! These cookies are soft and delicious.
Soft gooey yummy. Best chocolate chip cookies. Thank you Tessa
Simple, quick, and so yummy!
These are so yummy! I have some leftover dough frozen and I can’t wait to have another cookie.
My favorite type of cookie is soft-baked, and these definitely hit the mark! Excellent blend of texture and taste. I think they are even better the next day!
This is my first time ever baked cookies like a professional baker. So worth fully to bake this best ever recipe. It’s a must try for everyone who love cookies
Okay these were delish!! Very surprised that this recipe called for cream cheese and cornstarch but omg I was all for these cookies!
This is hands-down my favorite chocolate chip cookie right now. I’m in love with the flavor and super soft texture. Cookies rule!
I loved how soft but crispy on the edges were. My family eat them all right up. Definitely a new regular for me. T
Soft cookies are my favourite so I knew I would like these. I like that they are lighter and less dense than the chocolate chip cookies I usually make. I would definitely make these again!
I’ve never made chocolate chip cookies with cream cheese before this recipe, and they were delicious! I love how Tessa puts in the science to baking in each one of her recipes. I’ve shared this website with coworkers because of how excited I was about my baking experiences with these cookies and her recent brownie recipe.
These are the best chocolate chip cookies i have ever made/eaten! So soft and delicious! I shared the recipe with my sisters and it’s become a favorite of theirs too!
These are the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever tasted! They are so soft and delicious! I shared the recipe with my sisters it’s become a favorite of theirs too!
I made these for the challenge and also an after school snack for my grandkids first day of school! They were a hit!
Tasty and made nice, thick cookies, although still not as good as the brown butter chocolate chip cookies on this site!
I am a beginner to baking, and these cookies came out great. Simple enough for me, and great flavor. Really appreciate the informative recipe, thank you!
SO good !!
Amazig ! Thick, soft, and so tasty !
Amazing !! Thick, soft , and so tasty ! Thanks !
These cookies are amazing!! Best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had! Definitely a keeper!
Simply scrumptious! I used 1 cup of mini chips and that was the perfect ratio for me.
Tender and tasty. Can’t stop eating them. Not cakey and not flat. I like the results.
I was having trouble with flat cookies and as well as being AMAZING, this recipe has given me the key to thick cookies, so…perfection !♀️
I was having trouble with flat cookies, and as well as being AMAZING in taste, they have unlocked for me the secret to thick cookies, so… perfect recipe !♀️
Wow! What a great chocolate chip cookie recipe! These were a HIT at a family gathering. I had just messed up a whole batch of chocolate chip cookies about 3 weeks ago, and so I was a little nervous, but these were perfect. And I love that you can make ahead and let then “marinate” before baking. New fav! Husband said “best cookie I’ve ever had!”
This was a perfect excuse to bake cookies, plus soft & chewy are the ONLY kind in my book! I’ve been using the cornstarch trick for years and can confirm, it really helps with keeping cookies thick! This was the first time I’ve used cream cheese in chocolate chip cookies though, and it added a nice undernote that was detectable when eating a completely cooled cookie. I baked half the batch, & froze the other half in ready-to-bake dough balls! Yum!
These cookies look pretty good. I’ve used cornstarch before in cookies and felt it helped a bit. I’m not sure on how I feel about the cream cheese as my cookies feel a bit sticky as I’m putting them in the container to store them. Usually I don’t have to worry about them sticking. I’m not sure what I did wrong as I followed the recipe, well, I did double it….maybe that’s what happened…
Seriously DEEEeelishious. Turned out exactly as Tessa described. They do not disappoint.
They were very soft as stated… but it was more of a cakey soft than a fudgy soft. How much you like them depends on personal preference.
My favorite cookies ever are chocolate chipless, so I left out the chocolate chips when making these. They were soft and brown sugary and delicious!
Delicious.
My new favorite, go-to recipe!
Hi. I just want to ask. Why your recipe on your own youtube video (soft chocolate chip cookies recipe) not same as this recipe ?
One of the best chocolate chip cookie recipes I’ve made. Delicious!!
Hi Tessa,
Lots of love from India.
Your recipe yields the perfect chocolate chip cookies. Mouthwatering and delicious. Thanks to you, my baking level has kicked up a notch and my family and friends are very happy.
Hi Tessa,
Lots of love from India.
Perfect recipe for homemaker like me. I am surprised by the results as I think I have a delicious and mouthwatering batch of cooked from your recipe.
Thank you and God bless u.
What a great chocolate chip cookie. Thank you for this recipe, it was a big hit
Great cookies, we loved them, it will probably be my go to recipe now.
baked these and couldn’t keep my hands off them 😀
I made these for my friends and they LOVED them, they taste really good and are so soft and chewy
I love how soft and chewy these chocolate chip cookies turned out! It’s pretty humid where I live, so I added an extra tablespoon of flour.
These were super soft! Even the next day, still soft. I will be making these again.
Loved these!!
The kids and I enjoyed these to the very last bite! We will be making these again very soon!! Thanks for the amazing recipe!
These cookies are so good, I think they’re gonna be my new go-to chocolate chip cookie! I added some salted caramel chips I had around to compliment the already amazing caramel/butterscotch flavor this recipe imparts. These really are amazing!
I don’t generally try new CCC recipes because my 30 year old recipe gets such rave reviews but I can’t resist a challenge. So glad I tried these – so yummy and a great texture. These are definitely going in the rotation.
These are so wonderful! I love a softer cookie and these fit the bill. They’re easy to make and I usually have all the ingredients on hand. These are cookies that will be included in my Christmas boxes.
Another fantastic recipe. Family loved these cookies and the stayed so soft!
These cookies are incredible! The whole family loved them and said they were the best.
Actually didn’t have enough choc chips so just chopped up some spare baking chocolate i had
Delicious! I have made I batch and will be making more ASAP.
These cookies never make it to the cookie container!
This recipe is PERFECT! I’ve made these wonderful cookies twice now and my friends adore them. I added chunked Godiva chocolate to added some deliciousness. 🙂
My kids and I really enjoyed making these cookies they almost didn’t (most didn’t) make it to the cooling rack! Perfect texture and so yummy we added some chocolate and Reeses chips to a second batch and they were a hit too! Thanks for the recipe and the challenge!
This is good, but I like your other recipe better.
Yum!
I wasn’t sure these would measure up to my usual recipe but they are definitely meeting my cookie expectations. Yum
THIS RECIPE IS OUT OF THIS WORLD. THE CREAM CHEESE REALLY MAKES A DIFFERENCE! LOVED THEM!