This post may contain affiliate links. See my privacy policy for details.
This recipe actually IS The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe – it’s been the most popular chocolate chip cookie recipe on my entire website for almost a decade now! It made it into my first cookbook and has remained a reader favourite for years now thanks to it having ingredients that you have in your pantry, Just read all the hundreds of rave reviews that have been left over the years, this is the only chocolate chip cookie recipe you’ll ever need! If you don’t believe me – believe the tens of thousands of people that have baked these cookies over the years – they know their stuff!
How to Make Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies From Scratch
These are fast and easy chocolate chip cookies that turn out thick and chewy! Remember to under bake them slightly and they will turn out chewy. These thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies are the base for my Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies with Raisins, my Chocolate Mint Ritz Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies and my personal favourite Walnut Loaded Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies. This chocolate chip cookie dough is perfect for making stuffed cookies of all types! If you are looking for crispy chocolate chip cookies, try my Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, that one is MY all time favourite!
How to Freeze Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate chip cookies freeze exceptionally well and it’s easy to do! Bake them up and then store them in the freezer for snacks and school lunches.
- You are going to freeze the already baked cookies on a cookie sheet in one layer until they are frozen solid.
- Remove the frozen cookies from the cookie sheets and place into an airtight, freezer safe container.
- Place the cookies layer by layer (putting parchment paper or wax paper between the layers to make sure that they don’t stick together) and then seal with the lid.
- Freeze for up to 3-6 months.
- Defrost on the counter-top and enjoy!
How to Keep Your Cookies Fresh
I learned this trick from a professional bakers daughter! To keep your chocolate chip cookies fresh, seal them in a container with a piece of fresh bread (or at least not stale bread) The chocolate chip cookies will wick the moisture from the bread while they are sealed up in the container and you will have chocolate chip cookies that will last for 4-5 days on your counter top- and still be soft and chewy! I do NOT recommend anything else – I have seen apple slices and wet paper towels recommended – as flavors from the apple WILL wick into your cookies and paper towels are messier.
What type of flour do I use in chocolate chip cookies?
The best type of flour to use in chocolate chip cookies is unbleached, all purpose flour. The brand doesn’t really matter as long as it’s a brand that YOU like to use.
What type of butter do I use in chocolate chip cookies? Can I use salted butter?
The best butter to use in your baking is one that tastes good off the spoon – or you can taste test it on plain toast. You want to use a butter that is good quality and tastes delicious! This is what your cookies are going to taste like, so make sure it’s good! As for salted butter, I use salted butter all the time in my baking, just use a portion of the salt in the recipe if you are doing so. The rule of thumb is that you leave out 1/4 tsp of salt for every 1/2 cup of salted butter you use, so you would only use 3/4 tsp of salt in my recipe.
Do you need brown sugar for chocolate chip cookies? What kind?
You absolutely need brown sugar for chocolate chip cookies, or they will be too sweet and lack a depth of flavour. I use golden or light brown sugar in all of my cookie recipes, but I have a friend who uses dark in almost everything she bakes – and everything she makes turns out great as well! It will be a deeper, more molasses-ey flavor when you use a dark brown sugar. If you don’t have brown sugar, mix in 2 tbsp of molasses to every cup of white sugar that you are substituting.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Troubleshooting
Here is a list of the common problems you might encounter when making chocolate chip cookies – or most cookies, for that matter.
Problem: My cookies spread out and are flat.
- If it’s humid or hot, like with any other cookie recipe, you are going to have to adjust your methods. Chill the dough in the fridge before baking to combat heat, and with humidity add in a couple tbsp of flour until the dough firms up.
- If you have neither heat nor humidity and you have a wet dough – I hate to break it to you but your butter is cheap and has a high water content. It happens, a LOT and is massively important AND always overlooked when it comes to baking. There are 2 1/4 CUPS of flour and only 1/2 cup of butter – this is one of the driest cookie doughs out there.
- You also could have measured wrong, because there is no way 1/2 cup of butter mixed into that large amount of flour can be wet.
- You aren’t measuring the flour correctly OR you are using sifted flour. A lot of people don’t realize that your flour can come pre-sifted, which means that when you are measuring out your flour it will NEVER match recipes on the internet! Never buy pre-sifted flour unless it’s for a recipe that specifies it. Most households buy unsifted and use un-sifted.
- Your oven could be running at a different temperature, check it’s accuracy.
Problem: My cookies are tough and not chewy
Make sure to under bake the cookies. You only have to heat them up to 165 °F, to properly and safely cook the raw eggs in them. You can have ooey gooey chocolate chip cookies without adding honey or corn syrup, just simply under bake and enjoy!
You might have over-beaten the cookies. Don’t beat the dough as much next time
More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes
- Nothing beats the Original Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe!
- This recipe from Allrecipes has great ratings as well.
- Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies from Martha Stewart
These chocolate chip cookies are very kid friendly, thick and delicious, strong enough to hold together in children’s lunches and small enough that you don’t feel too guilty sending them to school for a treat. This is a super delicious recipe and my go to for late night “Oh my god, I need a cookie” moments.
Happy baking!
Love,
Karlynn
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 12 minutes
- Total Time
- 17 minutes
- Course
- Dessert
- Cuisine
- American
- Servings
- 24
- Calories
- 220
- Author
- Karlynn Johnston
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon salt ( use 1/2 tsp if you are using salted butter)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 °F. Get out your baking sheets and line with parchment paper.
- Cream together your butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla, mixing thoroughly. .
- Whisk together the dry ingredients ,then beat them into the butter mixture until combined completely.
- When that is done, fold in the two cups of chocolate chips by hand, and prepare to put them on the parchment paper lined cookie sheets.
- Drop by rounded tablespoonful onto the baking sheets.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown and slightly underdone. Cool on the sheets completely. Store in closed containers
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information
All calories and info are based on a third party calculator and are only an estimate. Actual nutritional info will vary with brands used, your measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
Made this recipe?
Share a photo of what you made on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thekitchenmagpie or hashtag it #thekitchenmagpie.
Please rate this recipe in the comments below to help out your fellow cooks!
Learn to cook like the Kitchen Magpie
A Very Prairie Christmas Bakebook
Cookies, Candies, Cakes & More: Vintage Baking to Celebrate the Festive Season!
Flapper Pie and a Blue Prairie Sky
A Modern Baker’s Guide to Old-Fashioned Desserts
The Prairie Table
Suppers, Potlucks & Socials: Crowd-Pleasing Recipes to Bring People Together
Pin this to your Desserts Board and remember to FOLLOW ME ON PINTEREST for more great recipe ideas!
Millette_family says
Room temp worked great for me
Mom on the go says
I just made some just letting them cool on the pan right now they look and smell delish!! Thanks
NewBaker156 says
Should the butter be melted or just brought to room temp before creaming with the sugar?
Millette_family says
Room temp worked great for me. 🙂
tia_lalande says
I wouldn’t melt the butter ever, make sure it’s room temperature forsure.
Don F says
this is the third time im making these cookies . I make a double batch each time which is 5 dozen can’t keep them in the house lol. thanks for the recipe .
Millette_family says
I cooked those few week ago for the family and husband loved them! Not the texture we’re used to but was surprisingly good 🙂 I made a mistake of using olive oil cause I was out of butter. Don’t. Seriously not good. To avoid in baking in general I’d say. Anyway, I highly recomend these.
Thanks for sharing the reciepe 🙂
Bon appétit!
mmm94 says
BEST COOKIES EVER!1
Thank you soooo muccchhh for the reciepeee
Irishgirl58 says
I have baked these twice in two days… Yep, they are awesome!
giugiubee says
oohhh… these look so good.. can’t wait to try!
Georgie says
Ok, so am I to use 1/4 cup of butter for the thick and chewy version instead of the 1/2 cup in the ingredient list?
Liz says
I will be baking these this morning, looks like the perfect CC cookie. 🙂
LorrainePriestman says
This taste bland… gross. Like flour and No, I did not mess up the measurements. Followed step by step. Yuck!
hannah says
I have been on the search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe, and I have finally found it! I receive compliments from everyone I make them for, and then always tell me that it’s impossible to eat just one!
katthegymnast10 says
yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Best cookie dough ever !!!!!!!!!!!!burp
Peggy Richard Fraser says
I just made 4 pans of these cookies…..I added mini chocolate chips and peanut butter chips. What I love about these cookies is that they are soft & chewy. My granddaughter is coming for the week-end, she is going to love these….THANKS so much for this receipe…..Peggy
countrymomma says
YYYYYYUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYY I just made these cookies with my 2 yr old she loved it and they are sooo delish they turned out just like ur pic 🙂 Thanks so much
KarenRuml says
I made these cookies for my grandsons. The first day they were great. Stored them in a container. The next day they were so hard you could play hockey with them. What did I do wrong?
CharlotteB says
These were delicious. Made them with my boys after googling “best chocolate chip cookies.” We loved the soft texture. New favourite cookie recipe. Thanks!
thekitchenmagpie says
CharlotteB You are so welcome! Thanks for stopping in!
are_u_serious says
Amazing cookies! Best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made! Thanks for sharing the recipe 🙂
Denyse says
Just made these again for the 6th time, and two batches, too! Turned out awesome as always. I have teenage boys drop by to hang out with my son. This is an all time favourite! Thanks!
Karlynn Johnston says
Thank you so much for the kind words! I am so glad you liked them!
Reese822 says
I had to write a review for this recipe. It was absolutely outstanding. I’ve never made cookies at home before, I usually just buy them, but this recipe seemed simple enough to try. And I’m proud to say the cookies were the best I’ve ever had, crispy edges and chewy centers, and I made them myself! I recommend this recipe to anyone looking for a quick dessert. Thanks so much!
Karlynn Johnston says
Fabulous to hear Charlotte! I love that a vegan version worked out!
Charlotte says
I made these cookies today, (a vegan version – nutellex instead of butter, egg replacer instead of egg). And they turned out amazingly delish and looked exactly like the picture!! Thank you!
OnOurPorch says
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I have tried for years to bake the “perfect” chocolate chip cookies. Even my kids joke about my FAMOUS chocolate chip cookies because they’re always a flop when I try to bake them. I have baked and decorated many wedding cakes and my Welsh cookies are my family’s favorite cookie. I LOVE to bake. The only recipe I cannot get right is the chocolate chip cookie…America’s favorite. My husband told me “Just give up already, every thing else you bake is great. Why do you need to make the best chocolate chip cookies?” I feel the need to make a perfect chocolate chip cookie or die trying. I hope this recipe is what I’ve been searching for.
Haf says
Just made these. They’re really good but please change the order that the ingredients are in. 99.9% of recipes put the ingredients in the order that they’re used. This one is not….it’s really frustrating having to jump all over the place to see what comes next. Other than that I have no issues and will make these again!
Rebecca says
Though these were good, they weren’t great. They turned out soft, but reminded me more of a cookie that had gone soft from sitting on the countertop for too long, rather than as a gooey cookie straight from the oven. The problem may have been that I used only brown sugar since I didn’t have granulated, so if I ever try these again, I’ll be sure to use both types.
Stephanie says
I love that there was the brown sugar. It makes the cookie taste great! Thank you.
Happy homemaker says
Wow…… Love at first bite! I have tried many a chocolate chip cookie recipe, and honestly, this is where my search ends. I cooked mine for only 9 1/2 minutes and they were perfectly tender, slightly crisp on the edges and melt-on- your mouth delish!!!!! Thanks for the recipe.
Joylene says
I made these and flavor was good.. but they did not get PUFFY. and that was what I was looking for.
donna780 says
Just the cookie I was looking for as an after school treat for my boys. They turned out perfectly chewy! Love that chocolate chip cookies are their own category; I will be back to try them all.