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!
Denise says
These cookies were AMAZING – just absolutely perfect. Thanks for the recipe :D!
thekitchenmagpie says
@Denise Woot! I’m so glad that you loved them!
Adj says
Fanastic cookies, I added ground flax seed for a little fiber boost and it it doesn’t change them at all!!
thekitchenmagpie says
Adj Oh. smart addition!!
JBM says
Cookies turned out delicious. Just have to follow the recipe as it says and they will be fluffy, thick and chewy! (i.e. soft butter not melted)
sabrina says
BEST COOKIES EVER! I have a dairy allergy, so I used coconut oil instead of butter, and dark chocolate chips. I was afraid that this butter alternative might affect the end result, but I just took these other fine folks’ advice and beat it really really well, and cooled the batter in the fridge for a bit. Turned out amazing! Thanks so much =)
thekitchenmagpie says
@sabrina You are welcome!
Elissa says
Delicious! I followed the recipe exact and they turned out fantastic, thank you!
thekitchenmagpie says
@Elissa Those look seriously amazing and yup, just like they should!
KristaTerry says
I just made these! And they are lovely. I’m in Edmonton too! (Hi neighbor!)
thekitchenmagpie says
KristaTerry Yay ! A fellow Edmontonian! Welcome to the site and I’m SO glad that you loved the cookies!
Sherry says
Absolutely the BEST cc cookie recipe EVER! Crunchy on the outside, ooey gooey on the inside! I have been baking a great part of 40+ years and have tried many and this one is my go to recipe! EXCELLENT!! Thank you!
Heather says
Could this recipe be modified to have oats? Thanks 🙂
Doug McTaggart says
Very easy recipe, my family loved them. Next time I’ll use less chocolate chips, too many left in bowl after I finished.
MrsTrapp says
How would I modify this recipe for high altitude? Thanks 🙂
eyen says
prepared the dough last night and tossed it in the fridge; baked them the next morning. i avoid baking cookies because every time i try, they always come out flat. with this recipe, these are honestly the best cookies i’ve ever baked; my Dad and lil’ Bro keep coming back for seconds, thirds, even more!
~for the chocolate chips, i used 1 cup instead of 2. i didn’t want my cookies to be filled with chocolate, hehe.
~for the unsalted butter, i left it out at room temperature to soften up. :>
thekitchenmagpie says
eyen Those look GREAT!!! I am so glad that you love them!
eyen says
prepared the dough last night and tossed them in the fridge.
baked them the next morning and they turned out better than i expected. thick and chewy! my dad and lil’ bro keep coming back for more. <.<
~for the chocolate chips, i put in 1 cup instead of two to balance it. i didn’t want the cookies to be all chocolate, hehe.
meandjackforever says
This chocolate chip cookie recipe is SERIOUSLY my favourite. I will try to make others, but none ever compare to these ones. I’ve made tons of cookies and I cannot stress enough how amazing and delicious these are. They really are thick and chewy and perfectly delicious! Thank you so much for the delicious recipe that has never ever failed me!
thekitchenmagpie says
meandjackforever AW that’s so awesome! I’m so glad that you like them so much!
Stacer says
Looking at previous posts I cannot understand why anyone would melt the butter. Where does the recipe say that! I’ve made dozens of CC cookies before and this is a super recipe. The choc chips could be reduced a bit, next time I’ll do 1 cup. Otherwise, yum yum yum! Thanks.
thekitchenmagpie says
@Stacer You’re welcome! I am so glad that you like them!
Christina83 says
I make a batch each Sunday now. They are loved in my household. Thank you for sharing such an amazing recipe 🙂 By far the best chocolate chip recipe out there
thekitchenmagpie says
Christina83 AW that’s so amazing to hear!! I am so glad that you love them so much!
Heather says
By far the BEST cookies I’ve ever made! Loved by my family and friends – if you follow the recipe, they come out exactly like the picture, and are deliciously chewy.
A+++++ recipe!! So simple and yummy!
thekitchenmagpie says
@Heather So glad that you loved them!
tia_lalande says
Hey, I just made your cookies and they turned out fabulous! I made a couple changes tho. I didn’t add in a teaspoon of salt, everything has salt in it already, especially the margarine. I used 1/2 white and 1/2 brown and it turned out great! Also a little trick, I saved some chocolate chips for the end, to add to some cookies that didn’t have enough chocolate in them. I’m a bit of a chocoholic lol
thekitchenmagpie says
tia_lalande Ah smart girl! That’s a great tip!
BarbieRoberts says
After reading some of the reviews here, I need to share the best baking advice I ever got, and that is, measure your butter. Do not go by the markings on a butter wrapper. Do not eyeball any other ingredient, either.
I followed this recipe as written and my chocolate chip cookie connoisseurs here in my house, rave about this cookie! Only complaint: not enough of ’em!
BarbieRoberts says
I have chocolate chip connoisseurs in my house who know a great ccc when they eat one. This recipe gets 5 stars from them. Follow it exactly, and you will have a fan club in no time!
Karen E says
Flat greasy overly sweet cookies. Very disappointed.
thekitchenmagpie says
@Karen E You might have messed up the sugars, it’s actually less sugar that almost all chocolate chip cookie recipes out there, with the white sugar only being 1/2 cup! These are actually the least sweet cookies I bake. They also have only half the normal amount of butter as well, so greasy is almost impossible..I’d double check your amounts!
Lucy says
@Karen E I don’t think they are greesy, I think they are dry compare to other recipes I tried.
But I agree with you with sweetness. I put a half sugar and it’s enough,canot imagine whole amount.
Moses Shoahstein says
Really good recipe. I like that it only uses 1/2c of butter. Cookies have a honey-like sweetness to them.
bakerbabe says
First I used these ingredients the only thing I changed was I used about 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips instead of 2 cups and also I baked at 325° for 15 minutes and they were sooo good that I had to make another batch the only thing was I ran out of brown sugar making the first batch!! So I doubled up on the white sugar and added a little molasses and tada! They were perfect . I think the molasses actually added a little extra zing lol yum thanks for the great recipe
Jodie OBrien says
I have made these many many times and they are amazing. I just made them and totally forgot to add the white sugar and they turned out pretty good. I knew when I was mixing them something was wrong. I read the recipe a couple times and thought I had everything lol. Still delish!
ester23 says
Here are the tricks to bakeing cookies u don’t want to melt the butter cream the sugars and vanilla then add the flour and so on. once its all mixed u have to make sure that the dough is not runny it has to almost have a dry feel to it not to dry if the dough is nice and fluffy and dry that’s when u will have nice big thick soft cookies if u melt the butter the cookies will turn flat and grasy I added a dash of milk and mine always turn out amazing.
ritalin49 says
hello all you flat cookie bakers. I put my dough in the fridge for an hour before baking and they dont flatten.
good baking to you sll.
Laurie says
Anyone who criticise this recipe did it wrong…these are the easiest and best chocolate chip cookies I ever made…they came out exactly like the picture….follow the recipe and you won’t be disappointed…they even stay chewy after a few days…thank you for the great recipe karlynn!
MadisonScott says
These cookies were the worst. Flat and greasy, not at all the dense, chunky cookie as described or pictured. I tossed the first two sheets of cookies right in the trash… Along with the rest of the unbaked dough. What a waste of time!
Skim2000 says
MadisonScott if you melt the butter it comes out like that. you want to keep the butter fluffy and slightly soft. Try it again, it may work well next time!
denise says
Mine were delicious but flat, not thick. I melted the butter, could that be why?
saintuana says
@denise Yes. Just stick to the recipe, you have to be really bad at baking to mess these up lol
tina888 says
Best cookies I have ever had 😉
GabrielleReneeBarkman says
These cookies were so crazy GOOD and so crazy EASY!