Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (2024)

A homemade chocolate chip cookie is a comforting, nostalgic treat—especially when it's as good as this one, our most popular cookie recipe. We use plenty of unsalted butter and a combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar for our very best soft cookies. The amount of butter and the ratio of more brown sugar than granulated creates the soft texture everyone loves. The molasses in the brown sugar adds to the chewiness of these irresistible chewy chocolate chip cookies. Be sure to use good quality chocolate chips, and don't over-mix the cookie dough to ensure the cookies are tender.

What Makes Cookies Chewy or Crispy?

It all comes down to the amount of butter and sugar in the cookie dough and the ratios of the types of sugar used. Our Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe uses less butter (2 sticks) than ourThin and Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies(2 1/2 sticks), but more butter than ourCakey Chocolate Chip Cookies(1 3/4 sticks).

For soft and chewy cookies, we use twice as much light brown sugar (1 cup) as granulated white sugar (1/2 cup), which gives them the chewy texture. Our crisp cookie recipe reverses the ratios, using more granulated sugar (1 3/4 cups) than light brown sugar (3/4 of a cup). The cakey cookie reduces the sugar, with just 3/4 cup of granulated sugar and only 1/4 cup of light brown sugar.

How to Freeze Cookie Dough

It’s easy to freeze chocolate chip cookie dough to bake and enjoy later.

1. Portion out the dough on parchment-lined baking sheets, as specified in the recipe.
2. Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze until cookies are firm.
3. Transfer the frozen cookies to freezer-safe bags.

This technique gives you the freedom to bake just a few—or a few dozen—cookies whenever you like, since they are already portioned out.

1. Preheat oven and prep baking sheets:

   Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in the upper and lower third positions. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. Combine flour with baking soda:

   In a small bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda; set aside.

   

3. Beat butter and sugars:

   In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

   

4. Add salt, vanilla, and eggs:

   Add salt, vanilla, and eggs; mix to combine. Reduce speed to low.

   See Also

   Cranberry Orange Shortbread Cookies

   

5. Add flour mixture gradually:

   Gradually add flour mixture, mixing until just combined.

   

6. Mix in chips:

   Mix in chocolate chips.

   

7. Portion cookies onto baking sheets:

   Using a tablespoon measure or a small ice-cream scoop, drop heaping portions of dough about 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets.

   For uniform cookies, we like to use a small ice-cream scoop to evenly portion the dough.

   

8. Bake cookies:

   Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes.
   

   

9. Cool and store:

   Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

   

Frequently Asked Questions

Should you use semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips?

When it comes to choosing the best chocolate chips to use in your cookie dough, most recipes call for semisweet chocolate chips. Semisweet chocolate has a higher cacao content than milk chocolate, but still tastes sweet. If you prefer darker chocolate or less-sweet treats, try using bittersweet chocolate chips—the dark chocolate will be offset by the sweet dough and you may find you prefer this combination.

Should you use chocolate chips or chopped chocolate?

While this recipes calls for chocolate chips in the ingredients list, you can swap in the same amount of chopped chocolate if you prefer. Some bakers like to do this so they can use better quality chocolate in their cookies. Chocolate chips are designed to hold their shape during baking, and contain less cocoa butter and more of the emulsifier lecithin than a bar of chocolate does. It all comes down to personal preference.

More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes:

• Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Thousand-Layer Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Alexis’s Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Five-Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Martha’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies