If you’re looking for an award-winning chocolate chip cookie recipe that’s rich, buttery, and packed with more chocolate than most recipes call for, you’re in the right place. These cookies have a soft, chewy center with just the right amount of crisp edges, thanks to extra brown sugar in the mix. With a generous blend of semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips, every bite is layered with rich, melty goodness.
While you can bake them right away, letting the dough chill gives you thicker, bakery-style cookies that are worth the wait. Whether you go big with oversized scoops or keep them classic, these cookies deliver everything you love about chocolate chip cookies — plus a little extra.
I’ve been in search of the best chocolate chip cookies recipe and the search has come to an end. I don’t consider myself much of a baker but more of a cook. I’ve been craving choc. chip cookies for the past couple of weeks and finally hunkered down and tried a new recipe. I halved the recipe because I didn’t want to end up with too many cookies if I didn’t like them. Uh hmm. My regret. I wish I would have made the full recipe. They are the perfect choc. chip cookie: chewy and crisp, sweet and savory. I’ll definitely have this recipe as a keeper. Thanks so much for the best cookie recipe Lucy!
linda
Why this homemade chocolate chip cookies recipe is awesome
Remember clipping recipes from magazines years ago? I used to do that all the time, and that’s how I found the original version of this recipe. It was published in Bon Appetit magazine back around 1999.
Over the years, I’ve tested this recipe hundreds of times and made several changes, such as adding milk chocolate chips, more brown sugar, and optionally chilling the dough. These changes resulted in an amazing and even award-winning chocolate chip cookie recipe!
Yep, at least three people have emailed to let me know they won a baking contest with these cookies! One was a 10-year-old who entered the cookies in his local 4-H contest.
I hope you’ll try these cookies. I believe you’ll love them as much as my family, friends, and thousands of internet readers do.
P.S. If you want to try an equally delicious but slightly less work recipe, check out my Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie recipe. It has the same flavor base with extra brown sugar and chocolate chips, and it’s divine! And for something even easier than the skillet pie, try my Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Mug — it’s ready from start to finish in about 5 minutes!
I hope you make this recipe. I think you’ll love it!
This is the most wonderful chocolate chip cookie recipe ever. My ten-year-old son came home about six weeks ago and said he signed up to enter a baking contest through 4-H and had to make chocolate chip cookies. This was the first recipe that we tried, and we had no need to try anything else. Not only did he win his class competition, but he also won the county-wide competition, beating out 46 other entries. I have made this recipe a couple of other times for parties and for my co-workers… just made a double batch to send to my children’s classes tomorrow and to take to the kids in my classes at school. I’ll never need another recipe for chocolate chip cookies, and I will NEVER buy the break and bake refrigerated from the store EVER again. Simply AMAZING cookies and a recipe so easy that even my son can do most of the work himself. Thanks SO much for sharing!
sally
Ingredient notes
➡️➡️➡️ The full ingredient amounts and instructions are listed below on the printable recipe card. Scroll below the recipe card for frequently asked questions and tips for success.
The ingredients for these cookies are pretty standard for chocolate chip cookies from scratch. Here are a few things that make these cookies different:
- Milk chocolate chips: I use two kinds of chocolate in these cookies. Semi-sweet chocolate is the go-to flavor for chocolate chip cookies, but my testing found that adding milk chocolate chips upped the flavor so much. Having slightly contrasting flavors of chocolate gives these cookies extra depth that you won’t find in most chocolate chip cookie recipes.
- Extra brown sugar: I reduced the amount of white sugar and increased the amount of brown sugar because I love the flavor of brown sugar in cookies. My testing revealed that the brown sugar gives the cookies a richer taste and slightly chewier texture.
Options for This Recipe
- Chocolate: While we don’t do it, you could use different types of chocolate in this recipe, like white chocolate chips or even bittersweet chocolate or M&Ms. You can also use chunks or chopped chocolate instead of chips. Just keep the amount of chocolate the same. (This recipe has not been tested with these substitutions.)
- Chilling the Dough: You do not have to chill the dough for these homemade chocolate chip cookies. You can bake them as soon as you mix them up, and they will be delicious. But if you wait a day or so (I find the sweet spot to be about 36 hours), you’ll discover that your cookies are even better.
How to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Cream the butter, add sugars, and beat until well-blended.
- Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat until creamy and well-blended.
- Gradually stir in the flour mixture, either beating it on low with the mixer or stirring it gently by hand.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Then, cover the bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough and place it in the fridge for 24 to 36 hours.
Cook’s Tip: You can bake the cookies immediately if you prefer, and they will be fine and delicious, but they are better if you have time to allow them to rest.
Baking Instructions
Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.
Once the dough has rested, scoop out large, heaping tablespoons of dough and roll slightly in your hands to make an oblong tall ball, around the size of a golf ball.
Depending on how you like your cookies and how large you made them, there are a couple of options for baking. Most chocolate chip cookies made with this recipe will fall under the first option, which is how I bake mine.
Option 1: Bake at 350° for 10-11 minutes, depending on the size of your cookies. Mine take around 10.5 minutes, but if you’re making smaller cookies, then start checking in 9 minutes. Do not overbake!
Option 2: This is how the original recipe called for baking these cookies. Bake at 325° for 12-15 minutes for slightly thinner, chewy cookies. This will result in a paler top but a more gooey middle.
Cook’s Tip: Ovens are calibrated differently, so check the first batch early to determine the perfect cooking time. We always recommend using an oven thermometer to verify the temperature of your oven.
Let the cookies rest on the cookie sheet for 7 or 8 minutes and then transfer to cooling racks.
Recipe Tips
- Flour: The type of flour that you use may affect this recipe. I use White Lily, which has a low protein content. If you’re using King Arthur or Pillsbury, each has a high protein content. You may try substituting 2 cups of cake flour and 1 cup of whatever all-purpose you have on hand.
- Butter: You cannot substitute margarine or any butter substitute. And you shouldn’t use generic store-brand butter — quality counts when baking. I use Land O’ Lakes Unsalted Butter.
- Baking powder & baking soda: If your baking powder and/or baking soda is old, your cookies may flatten. Baking powder and baking soda should be replaced at least annually.
Questions from readers
Store your homemade chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container on the counter. They will keep for several days. Actually, they are gone in my house within just a day or so, but maybe in your house, they’ll keep for several days!
To freeze homemade chocolate chip cookies, scoop out the cookie dough just as you would when getting ready to bake. Place the scoops of dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Once the balls are frozen, transfer them to a freezer-safe container.
I like to thaw the cookies before baking by placing them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper for a couple of hours. Then, bake as directed in the recipe.
If you make this recipe, please leave a comment and ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below!
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Chocolate Chip Cookies from Scratch
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (Do not use margarine or any butter substitute. I only use Land O Lakes unsalted butter.)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 3 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 12- ounce package semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 12- ounce package milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- Whisk 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt in medium bowl to blend.
- Using electric or stand mixer, beat 1 cup unsalted butter in large bowl until light and fluffy. Add 1/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar and beat until well blended. (You should be creaming the butter 5-7 minutes until the texture and color are both light.)
- Add 2 large eggs, room temperature and 3 teaspoons vanilla and beat until mixture is creamy and well blended. Gradually add flour mixture, stirring just until blended.
- Pour half of chocolate chips into the bottom of a large bowl and then add half the dough on top of the chips. Stir dough and chips together, then add more chips and more dough until all is mixed together.
- For best results, cover and place dough in refrigerator for 24-36 hours. **You can bake these cookies immediately if you wish.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 and line cookie sheet with parchment paper or non-stick baking mat.
- Scoop heaping tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball and place on cookie sheet, giving each cookie plenty of room. Mine are usually big enough to get about 8 balls on a cookie sheet. Bake for 9-11 minutes until light brown on top and slightly brown around the edges.
- Note: alternatively, you can bake at 325 for 13-15 minutes for a paler, more gooey cookie.
- Cool slightly on cookie sheet. Transfer cookies to racks; cool completely.
Video
Notes
- Flour. The type of flour that you use may affect this recipe. I use White Lily, which has a low protein content. If you’re using King Arthur or Pillsbury, each has a high protein content. You may try substituting 2 cups cake flour and 1 cup of whatever all-purpose you have. I have not tried this but it makes sense to me that it would work because White Lily has a protein content almost as low as cake flour. Please let me know if you try this.
- Butter. You cannot substitute margarine or any type of butter substitute. And you shouldn’t use generic butter. Quality counts. I only use Land O’ Lakes Unsalted Butter.
- Your baking powder and/or baking soda is old. Baking powder and baking soda should be replaced before it’s a year or so old. If older than a year and not kept in an airtight container then the rising properties have diluted.
- Method. Steps 2, 3, and 4 are important. The butter needs to be creamed until it is light in color and texture, along with the sugar. The eggs should be well-mixed into the batter. This will all take several minutes.
- Use good quality chocolate chips for the best quality. I use Ghirardelli, which can be purchased at most grocery stores.
Nutrition
Update Notes: This post was originally published October 3, 2011, and on March 4, 2024, was updated with one or more of the following: step-by-step photos, video, updated recipe, new tips.
Baked these with the kids Christmas Eve and they came out perfect!! Everyone I’ve given them to loves them! Thank you so much for sharing!!
These cookies were great! Hubby and the kids loved them! Thanks for sharing =)
Thanks, Elizabeth! Merry Christmas!
These cookies are terrible. Literally terrible. Of all the million chocolate chip cookie recipes I could have decided to make… Why is there so much flour?!? I made these for a cookie exchange and am embarrassed to bring these tiny (they did not spread at all) tasteless cake cookies. I even chilled it for 24 hours.I had to triple the recipe and ended up with NINE CUPS OF FLOUR. It was absurd. And now my cookies suck. Who screws up chocolate chip cookies!?!?!?
Sounds like you’re the one that screwed up the chocolate chip cookies. The first time I made them and the first time everyone I shared the recipe with made them, our cookies turned out perfectly.
I disagree that they are the best chocolate chip cookies. Too much chocolate chips in the recipe and the batter is too thick. Therefore the cookies were too thick. I prefer chocolate chip cookies made from the recipe on the bag of chocolate chips.
Hi Kathy,
I still love the Toll House recipe as well, nothing wrong with that! Just happen to prefer this recipe but I really haven’t found a chocolate chip cookie that I’ll turn down! I guess that’s why they say different strokes for different folks. Thanks for visiting In a Southern Kitchen and I hope you have a Merry Christmas.
How many does this recipe make.
Hi Emeline,
It really depends on how large you make your cookies. I like to make them big so I usually get about 1 1/2 – 2 dozen cookies out of this recipe. But you can certainly make them smaller and get more.
I found something that I suck at making 🙁 My cookies look like little chunky balls, they didn’t expand at all. (I did refrigerate the batter)
I’m so sorry that happened. Not sure what caused the cookies to not expand. Possibly old baking powder? The refrigeration step is not necessary–I used to make these cookies all the time without refrigerating the dough and they were fine. I just like them BETTER after chilling the dough. Hope you will try again!
What does chilling the dough do?
Hi Wendy,
Chilling the dough allows the flour to absorb the moisture from the eggs, which results in a slightly crispier outside and chewier inside. You don’t have to do it and the cookies are still good if you make them right away, but I think they are better if you can make the dough ahead and wait 24-36 hours. That’s true of pretty much any cookie recipe that uses eggs, not just this one.
You put the whole bowl of mixture (not divided out into balls) into the refrigerator?
Then you pull out, let sit, and scoop into balls? How long should you let sit out to thaw ? I feel like this defeats the purpose.
I tried once scooping out to balls then refrigerating, and taking them out and right into the over, but they burn….
Hi Kelli,
Yes, I put the whole bowl into the refrigerator first. The purpose is not just to get it cold, but to allow the dough to rest for a couple of days. The dough absorbs the liquid from the eggs more than it does if you make the cookies immediately. I usually take it out just long enough to be able to scoop it because if the dough is cold that also helps the cookies not spread quite as much. Hope this helps!
I really wish you had included your resting/thawing/scooping instruction in the list of tasks of the recipe. This information between you and Kelli is pretty vital to understanding WHY you put them in the fridge and WHY you need to let them thaw a bit before scooping. Many people will assume it’s to chill the butter so it doesn’t cook too quickly, like with biscuits and scones. I followed your instructions to the letter and ended up with chocolate chip biscuits… But now after feeling confused and wondering if i missed something in the instructions i read the comments. Which had the vital information in it I needed to actually complete the recipe properly. Hopefully others will read the messages as well so they don’t feel like they’ve “NAILED IT!”. 😉
The information about chilling the dough is covered extensively in the third, fourth, and fifth paragraphs of the blog post and also later in the blog post.
In any case, I made these cookies for years without chilling the dough and they did not turn out like biscuits, they were just fine. They were slightly thinner because without chilling the dough spreads more. But they were still very good so I think maybe something else went wrong for you. Perhaps you used different ingredients or your oven is not calibrated.
These are now my favorite cookie BUT,after chilling dough that long I have to let it set out for a few hours before I can scoop the dough out of the bowl!
These are now my favorite cookie BUT,after chilling dough that long I have to let it set out for a few hours before I can scoop the dough out of the bowl!
These are in the oven right now…can’t wait! Giving them to my friend and my father for birthdays…Of course, I made a monster sized one for him. I’ll be back with some results:
UPDATE (10 MINS) – Weird shape, but thats my fault. Taste: AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGG! Definitely my go to recipe 🙂
These are in the oven right now…can’t wait! Giving them to my friend and my father for birthdays…Of course, I made a monster sized one for him. I’ll be back with some results:
UPDATE (10 MINS) – Weird shape, but thats my fault. Taste: AMAZINGGGGGGGGGGG! Definitely my go to recipe 🙂
Hi Patty,
I apologize for any confusion–I assumed everyone would know that you only preheat the oven if you are going to bake the cookies immediately. However, I have amended the recipe so that everyone will know not to leave the oven on for 24-36 hours. Thank you for kindly pointing out the error.
Can i make these on Parchment Paper, or do i have to spray and oil the sheet
Hi Michelle,
Use parchment paper or a nonstick mat like a Silpat if you have one. I used to grease the pan but I find that it makes the cookies spread more so I don’t do that anymore.
Hey! I tried this recipe, and I included it in a blog post, I would love it if you could check it out!
Thank you!
Hey! I tried this recipe, and I included it in a blog post, I would love it if you could check it out!
This is the most wonderful chocolate chip cookie recipe ever. My ten-year-old son came home about six weeks ago and said he signed up to enter a baking contest through 4-H and had to make chocolate chip cookies. This was the first recipe that we tried, and we had no need to try anything else. Not only did he win his class competition, but he also won the county-wide competition, beating out 46 other entries. I have made this recipe a couple of other times for parties and for my co-workers… just made a double batch to send to my children’s classes tomorrow and to take to the kids in my classes at school. I’ll never need another recipe for chocolate chip cookies, and I will NEVER buy the break and bake refrigerated from the store EVER again. Simply AMAZING cookies, and a recipe so easy that even my son can do most of the work himself. Thanks SO much for sharing!
Sally! You just made my day! Thank you so much–I love this story of your son because I was in 4-H growing up and it was a huge part of my life. Just FYI, you can freeze the dough if you want to always have some on hand. Just let it thaw and cook as normal. Congratulations to your son also. I’m so excited to know that young kids are baking and cooking and enjoying it as those are such important life skills.
Have a wonderful day and thank you so much for letting me know about the competition. 🙂
how many bags of chocolate chips does this recipe use?
Two full bags — 1 12-ounce bag of semi-sweet and 1 12-ounce bag of milk chocolate chips, just as listed in the ingredients of the recipe.
So amazing! I’ve memorized te recipe and can make a batch in 30min minus the preheat. I bring about 40 to school sometimes and they never make it pass my first class of the day. Everyone loves them! Next Im going to try and make a double chocolate, you know like a chocolate dough and chocolate chips.
Luna,
Thank you so much! Double chocolate sounds delicious!
These cookies were really good!
Thank you!
I some how skipped the baking soda but remembered the baking powder my mix is already mixed and has been in the fridge for 24 hours what should I do ??
Alex, I don’t think you can do anything at this point since your dough is well-mixed and has already been resting. But I suspect your cookies will be just fine even without the soda! They will taste great although maybe the texture will be off slightly…but they will probably be fine. Hope you enjoy!
Luuuucy your cookies are aaawesoommmmeyum! Tried this recipe today. The only thing I did differently was to add 2 Tbsp of Jamaican rum and I used three different kinds of dark organis chocolate. I tried to bake a cookie right away as a tester and it came out like cake. So I covered up the rest and let it rest for 24hrs. I followed your instructions to the letter (well excepting what I mentioned) Texture, flavor, consistency perfect. My Hats Off To You!
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed.