These very special chocolate chip cookies are not your average back-of-the-bag recipe. These cookies are slightly crisp at the edges, undeniably chewy through the thick center, and gooey with melty chocolate chips galore.
It seems every baker, cookie maker, and sweet tooth owner is on an unending quest to discover the best ever chocolate chip cookie. Or maybe that’s just me. But based on Pinterest, I don’t think I’m alone.
I’ve made countless hundreds of these Soft Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies in my baking lifetime, as they are truly my go-to favorite. Those little bites have never failed me, so I almost always have a ball of that dough in my freezer in case I need quick treats for friends. I’ve also shared these Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies that I titled “Bring It Cookies” because those cookies totally bring it.
But I’m far from done…
Because though the aforementioned chocolate chip cookies are like my own teacher’s pets in the kitchen, I’m still ever curious whenever I see another recipe that touts itself as being the best chocolate chip cookie ever.
So when I saw these Thick an Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies for the umpteenth time, I finally went to town and floured up. These cookies didn’t even need to tout themselves as being the best anything, because they originate from my big ol’ hunk of a cookbook, America’s Test Kitchen. It’s naturally implied that they are the best ever. Everyone knows it.
In fact, I don’t know why I’ve never baked these guys up before, as I’m a die hard fan of America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Illustrated. I’ve enjoyed almost everything I’ve ever made from the massive collection of recipes in their magazines and cookbooks I’ve bought over the years.
Alas, there’s simply too many things to bake and too little time. Otherwise, I would have made these Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies eons ago.
These cookies immediately took home the Blue Ribbon around here for being the biggest and chewiest chocolate chip cookies to emerge from our oven yet.
For more of a soft batch vibe, I’ll still run to my Soft Chocolate Chip Pudding cookies. But these Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies are the clear answer for bakery style cookies. They are beautifully uneven and cracked on top, giving them that rustic bakery appearance. Pssst…there’s actually an art to that.
These cookies are chock full of melty chocolate chips, which means if you take a bite while they are fresh and warm… watch out.
Ooey gooey haven. It’s a full on eyes-closed, big smile, and melty-chocolate-on-lips kind of encounter.
There it is.
These cookies are the bomb while fresh and warm, but they are still irresistible later. As long as you don’t over bake them, they will reward you by staying chewy for a couple of days. They can easily be nuked for several seconds to regain their sensational gooeyness.
The dough for these Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies can be made ahead of time, wrapped, and chilled until ready for baking. That’s always a major plus in my hectic world. I typically have at least two kinds of frozen cookie dough in my freezer, ready to meet unexpected cookie needs. We have unexpected cookie needs often around here.
Here’s to the search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie, and the satisfaction that comes when you’ve found one.
Enjoy!
- 2 cups plus 2 TB unbleached, all purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp table salt
- 12 TB salted butter, melted and then cooled
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large whole egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 tsp pure vanila extract
- 2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt until combined. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter and both sugars at medium speed until smooth and light, about 1-2 minutes. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Beat on medium-low until combined, about 30 seconds, scraping down bowl and beaters intermittently.
- Add the dry ingredients into the bowl and mix on low speed just until combined, about 30 seconds.
- Gently fold in the chocolate chips just until fully incorporated; don't over mix. Wrap dough in cling wrap and chill for at least 1 hour (chill longer if needed for dough to be cold; I prefer to chill mine overnight.)
- Preheat oven to 325, with rack on lower middle position. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Divide dough into 1.5 inch balls. Using fingers, pull one dough ball apart into two equal halves. Rotate the halves so their jagged surfaces face up, and rejoin the halves together gently to form a single ball, leaving the top surface jagged and uneven. Repeat with all dough balls.
- Space dough balls about 2 inches apart on parchment lined sheets. Bake just until soft and puffy, about 10-11 minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheets, transferring cookies after they are mostly cooled.
Source: Chew Out Loud, adapted from America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook
…and here are those super soft Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies that are reminiscent of soft batch cookies.
These Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies are my fave for chewy oatmeal and chocolate goodness!
And if you like to sink into peanut butter, these Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are a total must-try.
Okay I have to give these a try. A person’s chocolate chip cookie recipe make or break a person’s cookie baking reputation. In days of yore—it was a woman’s biscuit making ability. Lol.
LOL, Carol! Hope you like these
i love a thick and chewy choc chip cookie. these look perfect!
Thanks and enjoy
Holy frack, these look like the most beautiful, perfect, chocolatey CCCs I’ve ever seen! I can’t stop staring at your gorgeous photos! I’m always hunting for the best CCC recipe. Now I have an insane urge to run into my kitchen to make both this recipe as well as your recipe using pudding.
Thanks! Make both cookies and do a throw down! Though seriously I don’t think I could pick a winner… I would keep taste testing til they’re all gone 😉
I don’t have unbleached flour at home at the moment but I really want to bake these. Like right now lol. Would the bleached all purpose flour be okay to use or will it mess up the entire recipe?
Selena, you can use it. I doubt it ruin the entire recipe, so enjoy!
Holy moly this cookie recipe is the bomb! I actually didnt have unbleached flour and they stiil turned out sooooo good!!!! A new favorite.
Yay, Krysten! So happy to hear it
Thanks for coming over to let us know!
Do I have to refrigerate? I don’t think I can wait that long…
At least for an hour…helps with the texture, though I agree… it’s hard to wait
I do not chill the dough or make balls, break and rotate them and I still think they turn out pretty and delicious!
Awesome, Jennifer! So glad you liked them
Thanks for coming over today!
I just made these and followed the instructions and they completely melted in the oven. Didn’t hold they’re shape at all and are now not edible. I don’t know what went wrong. It’s a bummer I had to waste all those ingredients
Hmm, that is really surprising, Danielle. So sorry it didn’t go as planned. I’m not quite sure how the cookies melted in the oven? I can only think of dough-chilling as a factor…the dough needs to be chilled before baking. But still, some bakers have told me they don’t chill this dough and it still turns out well. I prefer to chill the dough to get a thicker cookie. You may want to try the Chewy Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies here, which are really easy and fail-proof. Thanks for coming over, Danielle
Hi, my cookies also spread and did not look like your pictures. I believe it’s because of the butter that is melted. I have made other chip cookies with softened butter and the cookie holds its shape. Here it’s melted and the cookie spreads but were still tasty.
Hi, Annie! I’m glad you liked the flavor of the cookies
Was your melted butter warm/lukewarm? The melted butter has to be fully cooled before being mixed. Did you have a chance to fully chill the dough? Well-chilled dough is my best tip for thick, chewy cookies that don’t spread thin. Hope you’ll try these with fully chilled dough and see if they don’t turn out nice ‘n thick for ya 
Thanks for coming over today and happy holidays to you!