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.
I made this recipe on Monday, and baked my cookies yesterday. They were delicious! But they ended up coming out really flat. I chilled the cookie dough for just over 24 hours, and thought I had followed the recipe to a tee. I baked them for about 11 minutes at 350. I was wondering if a possibility for why they were very flat was because the butter was a bit below room temperature? I live in Wisconsin and when it’s cold, leaving butter out doesn’t always bring it down to room temperature. However, I didn’t want to microwave it in case that caused it to become too soft.
An impressive share! I have just forwarded this onto a co-worker who
was conducting a little homework on this. And he in fact bought me lunch due to the fact that I found it for him…
lol. So let me reword this…. Thanks for the meal!!
But yeah, thanx for spending some time to talk about this matter here on your blog.
Got this recipe via one of your YouTube videos… do I really need to preheat the oven, then wait 24 hours for the dough to sit in the fridge? Or can I just preheat after the dough has rested?
Just made these Awesome and I’m not a big chocolate chip cookie person
I was very hesitant using the bread flour
I’m a senior and have been baking for years but have now found my go to chocolate chip cookie recipe
I got 80 cookies using a smaller cookie scoop
The best recipe ever.
Without a doubt, the best chocolate chip cookie I’ve ever made. My tip is to NOT underbake these – make sure they’ve got a nice golden color throughout. It really helps bring out the “butterscotchiness” of this cookie.
The recipe makes a good amount of cookies. Since we wanted cookies that night, I actually doubled the recipe, and made some immediately and saved some to get the full benefit of the suggested rest. The “immediate” cookies tasted great, too, so if you don’t have a day to wait, don’t worry!
Can i reduce the sugar? I like my cookies to be less sweet, so i can enjoy it a lot more. Anyway those cookies look soo good, can’t wait to try it!
I’ve seen many bakers brown their butter for an ultra rich flavor in their cookies. Do you think that browning the butter in this recipe could work to enhance it? Or would you say the recipe is perfect as is?
Hi Hannah – I already have a brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe! https://handletheheat.com/brown-butter-chocolate-chip-cookies/
Thanks for sharing your recipe!
I am wondering if I can make it less sweet but still soft and chewy, any tips? Our family doesn’t like cookies that are too sweet.
Thanks!
Hi Tessa! One quick question about this recipe! Would it have the same effect if I rolled the dough into balls and THEN chilled instead of the other way around? I just love how much easier it is to scoop room temperature dough compared to cold dough. I’d love to hear your thoughts!
The Best Recipe –
I have recently tried about a half dozen choc chip cookie recipes and can stop my search with this one. The bread flour added a wonderful texture to the cookies. The only things I changed were to substitute a half cup butter with a half cup butter flavored shortening; added walnuts and adjusted the baking time down as we like smaller cookies.
Now my challenge is working off the extra calories!
Hello! I just like my cookies to be sweetless. How much can i reduce the sugar?