Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Big butterscotch flavor without being too sweet. These cookies taste how you imagine a Chocolate Chip Cookie should taste!
Texture: The best part! Big, thick, super chewy yet soft on the inside, and crisp at the edges. Perfection.
Ease: Very easy, though I do use two different flours, and there is a chilling period, so some patience is needed – but I promise, they’re worth the wait!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: My all-time favorite cookie recipe. I have extra dough stashed in the freezer at all times.
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I’m super excited to share with you my Ultimate Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies. They’re my version of the perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie!
If you’re anything like the hundreds of people who have taste-tested and tried this recipe, you’re going to love it! (Just read some of the comments below!)
You may be asking yourself what makes this recipe “ultimate?” Well, these cookies have HUGE butterscotch flavor, which is exactly what I adore in a Chocolate Chip Cookie. Beyond the flavor is the texture, which is nothing short of incredible.
What Makes Cookies Chewy, Crisp, or Cakey?
My free guide reveals the ingredients and tweaks that matter.
These cookies have my version of the ultimate texture combination: thick, super chewy, soft, and a little gooey in the middle, crisp and slightly crunchy at the edges, with gooey chocolate chips throughout. Does anything get better than that? I don’t think so.
I would want these cookies to be a part of my last meal on earth, that’s how much I love them!
This is a perfect recipe to learn some of the basics of the science of baking, because with cookies, it’s so easy to see how different tweaks impact the final result! Learn more about that just below.
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Why This is the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
- This recipe utilizes half bread flour, which lends chewiness to the cookies.
- It also uses a good amount of brown sugar, which lends that butterscotch flavor and a thick, soft texture.
- The extra egg yolk in this recipe also helps keep these cookies soft yet chewy and adds richness in flavor.
- You can think of the 24 – 72 hour chilling period as a “marinating” period. The flavors intensify and the texture will become thicker and chewier. It’s pretty amazing and I promise it’s worth the wait.
Do I Really Need to Use Bread Flour?
You don’t absolutely HAVE to use bread flour, but it adds a ton of chewy texture to these cookies that’s worth the extra trip to the store. If you can’t get bread flour, then use all AP flour in its place.
Do I Really Need to Chill the Dough?
The last key element is the 24 to 72 hour chilling period which is a huge pain in the butt, I know, but it is so completely worth it.
Why? The flavor and texture improve SO much as the dough chills!
If you’re absolutely strapped for time, you can bake off some cookies right away – but I’d definitely encourage you to try chilling and see all the wonders it works on your dough.
How to Chill the Dough
Make the dough and scoop into balls using a cookie scoop. Place in an airtight container and place in the fridge for 24-72 hours. Bake straight from the fridge when ready. Learn more about chilling cookie dough here. The colder the dough, the thicker the cookies!
Can You Freeze Chocolate Chip Cookies?
I love cookies straight from the oven, so I always keep pre-scooped balls of Chocolate Chip Cookie dough in a resealable bag in my freezer so I can bake cookies off and have them warm from the oven in a matter of minutes whenever I want. Here are more tips for freezing cookie dough.
How to Store Cookies & Keep Them Soft
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temp for up to 3 days. Be sure they are completely cooled before storing.
To keep your baked Chocolate Chip Cookies soft, you can add a tortilla on the top and bottom of the cookies to the container a day or two after baking them, or whenever you find the texture starting to harden. The moisture will migrate to your cookies, making them soft and chewy again.
How to Refresh Stored Cookies
If desired, reheat and refresh the cookies in a 350°F oven for 3-5 minutes. Your toaster oven should work just fine. This improves the texture, and there’s nothing like a warm Chocolate Chip Cookie!
Step-by-Step Video
If you want to watch me demonstrate how to make this recipe LIVE, with all of my scientific explanations, tips, and tricks, check out this live Facebook video I did a while back!
More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes:
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies – my most popular recipe!
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
- Soft Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Giant Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Cookies
- See ALL of my cookie recipes + tips on the SCIENCE of cookie baking here!
Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (191 grams) all-purpose flour*
- 1 1/4 cups (159 grams) bread flour*
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cups (250 grams) lightly packed brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, at cool room temperature
- 2 cups (340 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- If baking right away, preheat oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs and yolk, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla. Slowly beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Using a large spring-loaded cookie scoop, divide the dough into 3-tablespoon sized balls.
- If time permits, wrap dough balls in plastic wrap 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.
- When ready to bake, place dough balls on prepared baking sheets, at least 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 12-15 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 pink tip box above the recipe for storage tips.
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 October 2013 and has been updated with more baking tips and new photos. Photos by Constance Higley.
Hi. When can i freeze the dough? Right after i make the batter? Or i need to refrigerate first for 24 hours before putting them in the freezer? How long can i freeze them? Thank you
Hello Tessa,
Im a French food lover who are seeking the best and authentic american receipest!
I had the occasion to try your ultimate cookie receipe. They were good at their full effects!
By any chance, is there a way to decrease sugar levels of your receipe? Some of peps find it a bit too sweet. My family having diabetic history Im looking for keeping the same receipe by decreasing sugar levels at its minimum and preserving the “chewy heart and crispy edge” effect.
I hope you will have an answer for my issue.
Thank you!
Regards,
You may be able to reduce the sugar slightly, but it provides more than just sweetness so the texture will likely be affected. I haven’t tried so I can’t say for sure!
Hi Tessa,
The taste is perfect! I love how the cookies turned out not overly sweet like other recipe, unfortunatey the texture of my cookies I baked was not like yours 🙁 and I dont know what I did wrong I read the whole article and tried to follow all your directions but still my cookies were hard, puffy, crumbled, and not spread as wide. I want to cry it is so frustating that I tried so many batches and still failed.
Sorry for my bad grammatical English, I hope you understand.
Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Oui
It definitely sounds like too much flour was used. Did you measure the flour by volume with measuring cups or by weight?
I have a great chocolate chip cookie I have been making for years, always to great reviews. I didnt think another cookie could come close. I was wrong!, I made the cookie dough Sunday morning and baked about 1/4 of the dough last night, they were so good! crispy on the outside and gooey/chewy on the inside. It wont replace my other recipe, however this recipe is on my rotation now, Thank You!
Hi Tessa,
Can’t wait to make these cookies. I got everything from the store but forgot fine sea salt. I have regular sea salt, could I figure out a way to use that instead? Use less? Thank you! Leisa
Hi I can’t wait to bake these cookies, it sounds like the perfect cookie and after all these years of me trying to find one you’ve done it! Also is an electric mixer crucial to this recipe and getting them how you want? I believe it would be, but I thought I’d ask anyway to see if you have just tried just hand mixing?
Thanks!
An electric mixer definitely adds in more air and makes easy work of beating the butter and sugar. With a strong arm and some persistence you may be able to get away with doing it by hand 😉
I have a grown 54 y.o. son who won’t drink milk unless he has his chocolate chip cookies to dunk. So I make these cookies at least once a week. Follow her recipe to the letter. Take no shortcuts. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed. Even my 54 y.o. son agrees with me. Ignore the recipe on the back of the package of chips.
One time I made these and all I had on hand was dark brown sugar. I will never go back to regular brown sugar. Due to the extra molasses in the dark brown, it gives the cookies more depth to the flavor. I have three sizes of dashers (ice cream scoops) and make two sizes of these cookies. My son likes his small so they fit in his glass of milk for dunking, The rest of the cookies go to my daughter and her sweet tooth husband.
So glad to hear you’ve enjoyed the recipe!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Hi Tess I’m a Brit living in Italy and I’m going to make these this morning just in time for the weekend breakfast’s and if they come out right and I don’t mess up your recipie I’d like to enter your competition for these cookies and post them on Istagram !!!
(i mean messing up ingredients wise … trying to find and interpret what the equivelant could be and what I can find over here) Could you please please put the oven temperature in celsius as well. My oven is an Italian oven and only shows me celsius. I’ve been surfing the net for a special site for baking and helping me solve some problems that I sometimes have and I finally found you !!!!! Thanks
The first thing that caught my attention was that it said in the green banner that the Prep Time is 10 mins and the Cooking Time was 24 hours and 25 mins. Them cookies well be burn the house down burnt. lol
Ha! Looks like it was factoring in the 24 hour chill period. I’ve edited that number so it’s not as alarming 😉
I am so excited to try this for the baking challenge! Quick question though. For someone who uses a digital scale when baking and not a cookie scoop/spoon, how many ounces of dough is equivalent to a tbs of dough? I find that recipes are always in tablespoons and not ounces! I’m OCD about my precision 🙂
I’m not sure offhand since I’m obsessed with my OXO cookie scoop, but you could always weigh out the entire mass of dough, then divide it by 24 to get the ounce per ball 🙂 Can’t wait to see your photo!
Oh my goodness this looks amazing!
Izzy |http://www.pinchofdelight.com
I am excited about trying these. Was wondering, though, if I use all all-purpose flour, do I substitute the same amount for the cake flour? I noticed that the flour amount in this Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe is increased by 1/4 cup of the basic cookie (recipe base) you have on your website (when doubled).
No cake flour here!! I’m not sure what you’re referring to?