My Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
These Chocolate Chip Cookies are a chewy cookie studded with lots of chocolate chips. These tried and true cookies are one of my absolute favorites.
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Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
It was Sunday night and I had to make cookies.
I have been on a cookie kick lately much to my husband’s detriment who is trying to lean up.
He has amazing self control but he even succumbed to these.
They kind of remind me of Paradise Bakery cookies except for they are BIG with a buttery taste.
These are regulars at our house.
WHAT MAKES A COOKIE CHEWY?
The secret is the melted butter which gives them that chewy texture.
WHAT MAKES COOKIES SOFT?
If you want soft cookies, you’ll want to try my other recipe Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies. They aren’t that much different than this recipe but definitely have more softness then chewiness because of the added ingredient of cornstarch.
HOW TO PROPERLY MEASURE FLOUR
In order to properly measure flour, fluff the flour so it’s not packed down and spoon the flour into the measuring cup. Level off the flour with a knife. If you scoop the flour with the measuring cup it packs down the flour and causes you to add too much to the dough.
HOW DO I MAKE COOKIES THICK?
You want to roll the balls of dough taller rather than wide. That makes for one thick cookie! Look how tall those balls of cookie dough are on the baking sheet above.
HIGH ALTITUDE BAKING
There is a great resource for high altitude baking here. There are various things you can do like increasing oven temperature, decreasing sugar, and increasing liquid.
For this recipe, I tried some of the variations. This recipe dough is fairly liquid already so I didn’t want to increase that and they aren’t incredibly sweet so I didn’t decrease the sugar. I tried baking at 25 degrees higher but liked my control group at 325 degrees better. The one change I did find helpful was to increase the flour. King Arthur Flour says this: “At 3,500 feet, add 1 more tablespoon per recipe. For each additional 1,500 feet, add one more tablespoon.” Since I’m at 5,000 ft I added 2 tablespoons of flour.
Look at the difference in the two cookies! Just by making that adjustment.
OTHER COOKIE RECIPES
- Salted Peanut Butter Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake
- Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
- Salty Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Monster Cookies
- Chewy Coconut Lime Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- S’mores Cookies
- Sugar Cookies
- No-Bake Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
My Big, Fat, Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. If baking at high altitude, add 2 tablespoons of flour to the flour mixture.
- In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. If your butter was still hot when you added it your dough may be really wet at this point. Let it rest at room temperature for a couple of minutes if this is the case (or chill in the fridge until a little more solid) and then it will be cool enough to scoop into cookies.
- For big cookies, roll 1/4 cup balls of cookie dough and for small cookies roll 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough. Roll dough taller than wider. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, approximately 11-14 minutes for big cookie and 8-10 minutes for smaller cookies. Do not overbake. The cookies will continue to cook as they cool.
- Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
I have the worst luck with cookies. Mine always come out flat, no matter what I do!!! These are good, but mine are flat.
The recipe looks great but mine were gooey and very pale. I turned up the heat to 350.
They are pale. But really good.
Omg!!!! The very best! My family went Crazy over these cookies! My go to chocolate chip cookie from now on!!
Thank you!
My roommates and I did this tonight and they almost killed me when I dropped one to the floor!! haha they are so delicious we really loved them (:
This is the best recipe ever I have gotten nothing but good response thank you
Thank you Amy!
These were awesome! š I added in two tablespoons of oat flour to make them extra chewy! While mine did come out thin, that is perfectly okay cause a cookie is a cookie in my eyes xD Thank you so much for sharing this recipe ^-^
Gross!! Do not make these!! Waste of money and time!!š·
What??? These are fabulous! You must have made a mistake or just don’t like chocolate chip cookies. I love the recipe.
Thank you Sandi!!
Addye, you must not be following the recipe! When I make these cookies they are gone in a flash. I threw all my other recipes away and only make these now. They are wonderful!!!
Thanks!
I have to say I agree you must have made a mistake with the measurements I’ve been using this cookie recipe for years and it is by far the absolute best cookie recipe for chocolate chip cookies I have ever used
Wow thank you so much for supplying this recipe to the world!! I am from New Zealand and am always on the look out for new chocolate chip cookie recipe’s and have definitely found my favourite!!!!!
So glad you love it!
omg, this is the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve ever used. they came out PERFECT. I found this recipe on pinterest, and I’m always a little afraid pinterest recipes won’t exactly turn out, but this one is amazing. Thank you! I will be following your blog now for more recipes š
Yay! Love hearing success stories!
How many cookies can you get out of this recipe?
I get about 18 cookies.
The recipe calls to melt the butter. I never do this especially where eggs are concerned. I let the butter get to room temperature and then added it to the recipe. The batter isn’t so gooey sticky. I baked each ‘side’ for 4.5 minutes before turning the pan (turning the pan is crucial). 9 minutes tops was plenty long enough in my oven.
I use this recipe religiously, well that goes for all your wonderful recipes!
This is exactly the recipe froM Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook . Especially the direction to rotate the dough !!
Hmm. I got it off of ALLrecipes as credited below.
I Tried this recipe, and It was great! Best cookies ever.
These remind me of the chocolate chip cookies that my grandma used to always make. They were the best.
Oh. My. Lord. I just made these cookies and they are the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever baked. Used a 1.5 inch cookie scoop and baked for 10 minutes. Perfection!! Thank you for sharing š
You’re welcome!
How many many cookies does this make?
Around 18-24 cookies.
Allrecipes has all sorts of of excellent finds as far as baking goes! I’ve been hunting for a chunky, thick chocolate chip cookie and it’s been SO HARD to track a reliable recipe down! So I’m looking forward to baking up these little guys! Thanks so much for sharing!
these cookies were also a big disappointment for me. They came out completely flat… what was I thinking following the instructions to use half a cup of dough for 2 cookies?!?
There was enough dough for 3 cookie sheets, so I chilled the third batch of cookies and they STILL came out flat. They taste good, they’re not mind-blowing, just good.
I wish I had read the comments before using all my chocolate chips for a batch I can’t even take to the BBQ we’re going to š
I *may* try this recipe again; using more flour, room temperature butter, ice cream scoop sized balls of chilled dough, and possibly a lower temperature and longer bake time. PHEW… That’s a helluva lot of adjustments.
THESE COOKIES ARE DELICIOUS!! I found the link to them on Pinterest and though I’d try it out. My family and friends LOVE them!! I’ve made about four batches within the month!
Very Very Very runny!! Pretty disappointed that I used up the last of my ingredients on this. I managed to add about 1/4 cup more of flour and 1/4 more of sugar to thicken it up to allow to form a ball and bake them. They tasted great after that adjustment.
The dough is supposed to be on the thinner side! That’s why you need to chill the dough.
The recipe does not mention chilling the dough?
I made these but I changed a couple things, I mixed milk chocolate chips with white chocolate chips then added pecans. They turned out beautifully!! I will be making these for our Mother’s Day Bake Sale!! Excellent cookie!!
Thanks Susan!
I made these, they were a good, classic CC cookie recipe. They did spread a bit, but not the the point of turning the cookies crispy. I even made a second batch the next day with the refrigerated dough, but that surprisingly didn’t ameliorate the spread.
All in all, they had a really yummy caramel-y smell and taste (used organic butter, don’t know if that made a difference) and great chewiness. Very deliciously chewy, for sure. These cookies held up just as well 3-4 days later.
I will look for a thicker, less spread recipe, but like I said, these are a fantastic classic recipe.
I followed this recipe exactly but mine turned out thin and flat. Taste good, but nothing like the picture
I’m sorry. This could be due to a lot of things. Measuring flour properly, not chilling, baking soda?
How many does this recipe usually make? ??
It usually makes around 18 cookies.
I make these regularly, they’re that good. They taste amazing with chocolate chips, cranberries, nuts, and they turn out PERFECT each time! Most of the time I halve the recipe but even when I make a full batch these are gone within days (and it’s only my girlfriend and I here). Thank you for this AMAZING recipe, Christy!
You’re welcome!
I am so bummed out! I followed the recipe exactly…or so I thought. :/ My first batch came out with flattened cookies, so I refrigerated the rest of the dough for about 3 hours prior to baking, and also baked at a lower temp/longer time as some suggested. Same result. I cannot figure out what I did wrong. I’d like to try these again sometime, as I see so many positive feedback posts here and on AllRecipes, but I’m a little hesitant, because every chocolate chip cookie recipe I’ve ever tried has resulted in flat cookies. Boo.
I’m sorry they came out flat for you. More flour will give you a thicker cookie. Is your baking soda fresh?
I’m going to try these again! I’ll go buy some fresh baking soda, first, then add a little extra flour! Thanks! š
Can I double the recipe? anything I should pay attention if I double it?
So i tried these tonight!:) awesome recipe! Except, i read that if your cookies come out super flat, it’s because there is not enough flour. I added about 1/2 cup extra of flour. I also did let my butter cool, Once everything was mixed together, i stuck the dough (in the bowl it was all mixed in) into the freezer for 15 minutes. when i rolled my cookie dough balls, i made them sorta tall. And BOOM yummy cookies!:) OOH i also would like to say i baked my cookies at 250 degrees verus the orginal temp and it worked perfect (did take alittle longer) but so worth it! YUM
A very fine cookie! I can put them together in 5 minutes…I tried using 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup coconut oil and my fussy 17 yr olds still gave them a thumbs up. I have been thinking about those bakers who want a puffy cookie. Is your baking soda fresh? Are you preheating your oven? I have a Jennair convection and it gets really hot so I usually take the temp down or shorten the baking time. I also use the pans with an air space in them with parchment paper. The only change I have made is reversing the sugar to 1/2 cup white and 3/4 c packed brown sugar because I prefer the flavour. Excellent recipe I have made many times always with great success. Thank you.
Thanks for the feedback!
Ha! While looking for a good cookie recipe, I realized I already have this one and love it!!! Why am I trying to improve perfect???
Hi
This is the recipe that I use for normal cookies. Would I be able to use this recipe to make one giant cookie? Use most/all of the batter?
Thanks in advance!
I think you could do that. I haven’t tried it but I don’t see why not.
Ok thanks. Just wanted to make sure the cookie would hold being that big as I’d still like for it to be soft and chewy like the small ones! š
Not only did these cookies turn out delicious, they are the most beautiful chocolate chip cookies I have evet made. Thanks!
Oh Lisa, I love hearing that.
I just made these with gluten free all purpose flour mix and they came out perfect. Crisp at the edges, soft and chewy inside. The way my fiance and I like them. I’m trying to distract myself while they cool! Even though I already devoured one. Just sharing that this recipe works fine with gluten free flour ^-^
Thank you for awesome cookies with even more awesome directions!!! Usually I stop mid way through a recipe and go straight for the back of the chip bag with all the cookie backflips that are suggested from online cookie pros. I understand just make a dang ball and 1/2 of 1/2 cup for amount. Totally got it~thanks
Nothing is better than a chocolate chip cookie! Will have to give these a try soon!
I just made these and these are the best cookies I have ever had!!! they were perfectly baked and soft and veryyy chocolately! absolutely GREAT recipe!
Baking these now! Added pecans too…can’t wait to share them!
As found here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-big-fat-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookie/detail.aspx?scale=18&ismetric=0
BTW: If you manage to make 18 cookies out of these (by using 1/4 cup of dough per cookie) That’s roughly 300 kcals per cookie. Love ’em.
You are my chocolate chip cookie hero!!! The recipe is spot on perfect.
My whole family thanks you.
I put these together for my little one (12 years old) LOL. I went into the kitchen and did not have all what was called for sooo… I had mini chips and peanut butter chips. I went with it. The dough is delicious, like others have said. They came out wonderful! The true test, the little one gave it 2 thumbs up. Thanks for sharing . This will be a go to, want some dessert recipe!!!
This was the first time one of your recipes failed me :(. Like, EVER! I like most of the other commenters had flat cookies.. I don’t understand what happened? I did everything right according to the recipe. Did anyone have a method that fool proof fixed this? I even tried putting the dough in the fridge. Pancake flat š
Did you make really tall dough stacks? Was your butter cooled after melting? I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened?!
How the heck do you get your cookies so puffy?! mine go so flat. I’ve heard if you use shortening instead of butter or is it baking powder instead of soda? or is it altitude issues? I live in Utah. HELP!
ok I just saw Heather’s tip. wish I had read that before I baked them.
For those with flat cookies, try adjusting your oven temp.
I’ve made these at home following the directions exactly, no chilling of the batter and following recommended temp and time. However, when I tried making them at my mom’s house the cookies spread out too much and were very flat. After several trials, I discovered the oven was too hot and had to turn it down. I also decided to freeze the batter since it seemed to be stickier and more goowey than i remember it being. I ended up having to bake the frozen dough at 250 for 20 mins (baking 2 sheets at a time).
Thanks for the tip Heather!
These cookies tasted amazing but mine turned out really flat and didn’t look at all like the ones in the photo. I was wondering if anyone knows what I did wrong I thought next time I might try using shortening instead of butter.
Best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made! Your recipes never let me down! 3 batches in 2 weeks b/c they went so quickly!
I found this recipe through Pinterest. After trying a whole bunch of other recipes, this one is by far THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE EVER!! It’s super easy and every time I make it people loooooove them. It’s actually a recipe that people want me to make often!! Thanks for posting this amazing recipe =}
Ps: my cookies tend to look like the picture which is pretty flippen amazing!! Lol
Just made these but used 1 stick butter and 1/4 c butter flavor crisco and they are sooooo good! The pictures are wonderful!
Lacy
I added in Jello white chocolate instant pudding and they were AMAZING! Thank you for my new favorite cookie recipe!
Oh my goodness… I just made these and they are so yummy! I apparently did not let the butter cool enough (should have read the comments first!) so they are a little flat, but by far the best cookies I have ever made! Thank you for this recipe š
Made these today and they were absolutely perfect! Came out exactly like the picture and super delicious! My new go to chocolate chip cookie recipe š thank you!
Just saw your recipe today at noon had to run to the store they came out absolutely delicious!!! Look as good as your pictures too and mine never come out looking that good!!! Thanks!!!
These were AWESOME!!! They turned out perfect!
@SixSeven,
Shoot! The only time mine are flat is if my butter is too hot after melting. Did you maybe add too much butter? It’s one and a half sticks…
I tried these and they fell totally flat! I even tried chilling them overnight. Wonder what I did wrong???
@stephanie Vogel,
I haven’t ever tried to freeze these. Sorry. I guess I need to try that out…
I love this recipe but I need a recipe that freezes well. Do you know if this does??
@bestfoodies, absolutely fee free. Would love it!
Found you on Pinterest. Made the cookies and my daughter loves that there are so many chocolate chips! Thanks for sharing. I write a section called Pinteresting reviews on my site Bestfoodies….can I write a nice review for you?
I just made these and they’re awesome! I only used about 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips and it’s just enough for me. They turned out just as thick as in your pictures. Thanks for the recipe!
My cookies didn’t look anything like in the picture either, but this is still a great chocolate chip cookie recipe. I refrigerated the batter to keep it from spreading too much while baking because I know melted butter can cause that. The cookies were still much flatter than in the picture, but so delicious. Thanks!
@reena, it makes around a dozen.
Can’t wait to try this recipe and impress my friends and family! How many cookies does this recipe make?
I just made these. They taste great, but look nothing like the photo. Mine are quite flat and don’t look very appealing. I’m not sure what I did wrong. Next time I’ll try not melting the butter, but whipping it. Thank you for the recipe.
Goodness what can you say about these big fat chocolate chip cookies that happen to be chewy too? This a great recipe I have used many times – it is my all-time fav as far as choc. chip cookies go. They are addicting as you probably can gather from the photos alone!
Hello Christy! We tried this chocolate chip cookie recipe today and it was an absolute winner in school today! Thanks for sharing this great recipe with all of us! š š
MMMMM Christy! I wanted to make some cookies with Jonnie this morning and these were perfect! I think they win the ‘my favorite chocolate chip cookie’ award for me. HA!
I made these this morning and they turned out good! I had to refrigerate the dough a bit, which made them better than when I didn’t. I think I didn’t let the butter cool enough! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
http://makinghealthahabit.wordpress.com/2011/09/04/chocolate-chip-cookies/
oh. my. gosh. I’ll admit that I did a little dance in my kitchen after tasting one. These are definitely the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve made! Thank you so much š
Such pretty looking cookies. My cookies never look nice .. they never look that nice š
http://www.sunshineandsmile.com
omg those look absolutely scrumptious!! The perfect big chunky cookie. will be making these for sure!
These look and sound AMAZING! I’m always looking for a good chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe! Going to give these a try this weekend! š
http://www.sugarandspiceandallthingsiced.com/
Wow these look nice! and big:) im printing the recipe:)
Love Chocolate cookies, these won’t last in my cookie jar, I can have them for breakfast, lunch and supper. Love the photos
THESE LOOK AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love this chocolate chip cookie recipe! Usually, for me anyways, I either love the dough or love the cookie, not both. But, the dough and cookie is AMAZING! Thank you for posting it!
Hi Skyler and Kaitlin Ferguson,
Thanks to your comment I tried the recipe and I could not agree more with you: both the dough and the cookie taste great! I had never enjoyed cookie dough but this one is good indeed!
Really nice recipe!
FYI, the batter in this recipe IS gooey as the comment above states. BUT, it is amazing and works every time. I got this recipe on another blog and it is THE BEST. I do lots of variations on it too…add coconut or espresso powder or drizzle salted caramel on top. It’s just a fantastic basic chocolate chip cookie that you can have fun with! Just watch the cooking time…I rotate mine half way through and watch them like a hawk to ensure they don’t over bake.
Yum! http://www.preparingforpeanut.com
Do you actually have to sift together all the dry ingredients or does it work if you don’t do that?
I always give it a little whisk. WHo has time for sifting?
Love the recipe. Can I substitute whole-wheat flour? Will the remaining ingredients measurements need to be adjusted?
My batter was VERY gooey..oh no..
mine too
Put it in the fridge for an hour…. This recipe is the best one… Everyone always LOVES these cookies!!!
Yay! I love hearing that.
Me too! No clue where I went wrong. Put it in fridge for an our. Still gooey. Scooped onto pan and once they were in the oven, they turned into the consistency of water. I had kids helping me bake, so we had to have gone wrong somewhere. I have it in the oven attempting a cookie cake now haha
I baked these cookies off of this recipe (obviously) and I followed the EXACT instructions and they turned out perfect! Exactly like the pictures and SUPER gooey inside and TONS of flavor!šš¼š P.S. the cookie dough was AMAZING
Thank you!!!
Was your butter liquidy? I found that keeping the butter out for a while and letting it get to room temp is the best way as opposed to microwaving/heating it.
This is my favorite cookie recipe! They come out so good and chilling the dough in the fridge def is essential to getting that fluffy result!
Try mixing it for less time when you add the egg and dry ingredients. This only happened to me once and I’ve made this recipe at least 4 times.
I reduced the amount of vanilla from a tablespoon to a teaspoon because that seemed like a lot of vanilla and my batter turned out great. Maybe give that a try.
Thank you so much for this extreamly good cookie recipe!! I’m from Germany and was searching for a good recipe for a long time, finally found it and can’t get enough!
Margaux
You are on a cookie kick! I wish I was still there to enjoy them:) I can’t wait to try these–if they are anything like Paradise Cookies, or even better, I am sold!