The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ever
Updated Aug 192025
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This is the best chocolate chip cookies recipe ever! No funny ingredientsno chilling timeetc. Just a simplestraightforwardamazingly deliciousdoughy yet still fully cookedchocolate chip cookie that turns out perfectly every single time!
Everyone needs a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe in their repertoireand this is mine. It is seriously the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ever! I have been making these for manymany years and everyone who tries them agrees they’re out-of-this-world delicious!
Plusthere’s no funny ingredientsno chillingetc. Just a simplestraightforwardamazingly deliciousdoughy yet still fully cookedchocolate chip cookie that turns out perfectly every single time!
These are everything a chocolate chip cookie should be. Crispy and chewy. Doughy yet fully baked. Perfectly buttery and sweet.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies
Let’s walk through how to make chocolate chip cookies step-by-stepand don’t forget to watch the video.
Make the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
The first step in making these easy chocolate chip cookies to to combine the dry ingredients in a medium size bowl.
When doing thismake sure to Measure the flour correctly. Be sure to use a measuring cup made for dry ingredients (NOT a pyrex liquid measuring cup). Thenmeasure flour by scooping it into a measuring cup and leveling it with a knife.
Nextcream together butter and sugarsmake sure to soften the butter early by taking it out of the fridge at least two hours before baking so it’s ready to go when you need it. You can also warm it in the microwave for about 7 secondsbut be very careful not to melt it.
Once butter/sugar mixture is beaten welladd the eggs & vanilla and beat to combine.
Add dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Then add the chocolate chips and beat until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Use LOTS of chocolate chips. You want at least two gooey chocolate chips in every bite.
The chocolate chip cookie dough should be easy to roll and not sticky. It should not be dry or crumbly. See photo below for the optimal texture.
Portion & Roll Dough
Once the cookie dough is finishedit’s time to portion and roll the dough. I know many people eyeball it when making cookieshowever I highly recommend using a cookie scoop.
Using a cooking scoop ensures that all the cookies are uniform in size so that they bake evenly. I love this stainless steel cookie scoop and use it every time I make cookies.
At this point you can either bake your dough or freeze it.
How To Freeze Cookie Dough:
Since this chocolate chip cookie recipe makes so many cookiesI always make a full batch and freeze some. That way I have dough on hand for unexpected guests or whenever the cookie craving strikes.
I prefer to flash-freeze the cookie dough before putting it in an airtight container. To do thisroll the cookie dough into balls and space them out on a parchment lined baking sheet. Then put the baking sheet in the freezer for about 30 minutesor until the dough slightly freezes.
Once the dough is slightly frozentransfer the cookie dough balls to an airtight container or plastic bag and freeze for up to 2 months.
How to Bake Frozen Dough
There are two ways to bake frozen dough:
- Thaw it first: I love having dough ready to go in the freezer for impromptu guests. When you want to bake themremove the dough balls from the freezerset them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover with a light cloth towel or napkin to let them thaw. Thenonce they reach room temperature (after about 1-2 hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen) bake as directed in the recipe (at 375 degrees F). SO easy!
- Bake from frozen: Place the dough on a parchment lined baking sheet. Thenpreheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (ONLY if you are baking the frozen dough) and put the cookies in the oven in the beginning of the preheating time. (So put the cookies in the oven as you preheat it). Set the timer for 15 minutes and remove the cookies after 15 minutes. The top will look a little more brown than usualbut they will still taste amazing.
Bake Until they just barely look done
If you are baking the cookies immediately simply roll them into ballsplace them evenly apart on a baking sheet (about 1.5 to 2 inches apart) and bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
The most important piece of advice I can give you is – DO NOT over-bake these chocolate chip cookies! They will not look done when you pull them out of the ovenand that is GOOD.
At the end of the baking timethese chocolate chip cookies won’t look done but they are. They will look a little doughy when you remove them from the ovenand thats good. They may be lightly browned in a few placeswhich is exactly how you want them.
They will set up as they sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes. I never bake them for more than 9 minutes
Cool
Cool the chocolate chip cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely (or just eat them warm while the chocolate chips are melty)!
Store
Store these chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 daysor in the freezer for up to 2 months.
FAQs about Chocolate Chip Cookies
The trick to making this best chocolate chip cookie recipe gooey is to not over-bake them.
There are a few main reasons for this that I have found in my experience:
1) Expired leavening agents. If your baking soda or baking powder are past their primeyour chocolate chip cookies will likely flatten and spread. Even if the date on the container checks outit still might not be good. That would be the first place I would start.
How to test if your baking soda is active: Combine 1/2 cup of hot water1/4 teaspoon vinegar and 1/4 tsp of baking soda. When you add the baking soda a reaction should take place immediately. If notthen you need new baking soda.
How to test if your baking powder is active: Add 1/2 tsp of baking powder to 1/2 cup of hot water. It should bubble immediately. A reaction should take place immediately. If notthen you need new baking powder.
2) Over-mixing. If you over-mix the ingredients in this best chocolate chip cookie recipe you may end up with flat cookies.
3) Ingredients are too warm. Sometimes over-mixing can also lead to your ingredients becoming too warm. If you notice this happeningyou can chill the dough before baking to return the batter to room temperature.
4) Incorrect oven temperature. I recommend baking with an electric convection oven. If your cookies and other baked goods are not turning out properlyinvest in a cheap oven thermometer to check the temperature. If your oven is baking too hot or too coldthen the cookies will not turn out well.
If your cookies didn’t flattenhere are a few things that could’ve been the problem. I have never had this happen to me in 10 yearsso here are my educated guesses…
1) The ingredients/cookie dough was too cold. Cold dough doesn’t spread as well as room temperature dough.
2) You accidentally used too much flour. Be sure to use a measuring cup made for dry ingredients (not a pyrex liquid measuring cup)and measure the flour correctly by scooping and leveling.
3) The oven temperature is incorrect. I recommend using an oven thermometer to check the temperature of your oven (it’s only $7)because it can often be different than the reading it gives on the display or what the dial is set at.
4) The butter/sugar mixture wasn’t fully creamed. Try creaming the butter and sugar together for longer.
I have tested baking this recipe from frozen more times than I can even count. I have gotten the best results when I place the dough on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Thenpreheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (ONLY if you are baking the frozen dough) and put the cookies in the oven in the beginning of the preheating time. Set the timer for 15 minutes and remove the cookies after 15 minutes. The top will look a little more brown than usualbut they will still taste amazing.
Yesthis recipe halves easily. Simply decrease the ingredients by half and the recipe will make 18 cookies. Ortry this recipe for small batch chocolate chip cookies that makes 8 cookies.
Yesyou can add walnuts or pecans with great success. Simply decrease the amount of chocolate chips slightly to accommodate the extra nuts. See these recipes: Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies and Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies for the ratios!
This is one of the most-asked questions I receiveand it’s a complicated one to answer. While 120 grams is the “accepted” value for 1 cup of flour. If you measure flour like most people do (scoop and level)then 1 cup rarely (if ever) weighs that amount. It typically ranges from 130-140 g. For meit’s always 135 grams. Sothe metric measurements in this recipe are exact (based on 1 cup of flour really being around 135 g). I made 10 batches using 410 grams of flour and they all came out perfectly.
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe: Ingredients & Substitutions
The only ingredient I feel confident that can be changed up is the mix-ins. Chocolate chipssprinklespeanut butter chipsetc. Do not change anything else in this recipe. If you do I cannot guarantee they will turn out. Howeverhere are some tested substitutions.
- Butter. I use salted butterbut unsalted butter would also be great. I just recommend tasting the dough to ensure that it’s salted to your liking.
- Eggs. if you’d like to find great egg substitutions that still make perfect cookies – see my eggless chocolate chip cookies recipe.
- White Sugar. You can use granulated white sugar or organic cane sugar.
- Brown sugar. I use light brown sugar in this recipe for the best results.
- Flour. I recommend using an unbleachedall-purpose flour to make these chocolate chip cookies. Many readers have used gluten-free all-purpose flour with excellent results. Ortry these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.
- Sea Salt. I exclusively bake and cook with purefine sea salt. Sea salt is different than table salt (that is iodized)so if you use salt other than sea salt I recommend testing the recipe first with 1/2 tsp and then adjusting to your taste.
- Chocolate Chips. As you can see from the photossometimes I use chocolate chunkschopped chocolateor chocolate chips. It doesn’t matter what you useas long as you use 2 cups.
- Want to add oatmeal? Make these oatmeal cookies.
- Would you like to add nuts? Try pecan chocolate chip cookies, walnut chocolate chip cookies or pistachio cookies!
More of our favorite cookie recipes!
- The BEST Cut Out Sugar Cookies – Perfect for Christmas (or any holiday really)!
- Make this giant chocolate chip chocolate chip cookie cake – better than store-bought and perfect for any occasion!
- For an easy and irresistible desserttry this Skillet Cookie (Pizookie) recipe! It’s like eating warm cookie dough and it comes together in 20 minutes flat!
- Double Chocolate Chip Cookies have three different forms of chocolate!
- You have to try our Oatmeal Cookie Recipe – it’s seriously the BEST!
- Classic Soft Peanut Butter Cookies – My personal favorite kind of cookie!
- Classic snickerdoodles! This is my grandma’s recipeyou will love them!
- Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
- The BEST Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies (EVER)! My favorite Christmas cookie!
- Flourless peanut butter blossoms
- Candy Stuffed Cookie Bars
- No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bars
If you make and love my recipesit would mean so much to me if you would leave a comment and rating! And don’t forget to follow along on InstagramPinterestFacebookTikTok and Youtube – be sure to tag @joyfoodsunshine and use the hashtag #joyfoodsunshine so I can see your creations!
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ever
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups chocolate chips (12 oz)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius). Line three baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl mix flourbaking sodabaking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Cream together butter and sugars until combined.
- Beat in eggs and vanilla until light (about 1 minute).
- Mix in the dry ingredients until combined.
- Add chocolate chips and mix well.
- Roll 2-3 Tablespoons (depending on how large you like your cookies) of dough at a time into balls and place them evenly spaced on your prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake in preheated oven for approximately 8-10 minutes. Take them out when they are just barely starting to turn brown.
- Let them sit on the baking pan for 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack.
Notes
- Butter. unsalted buttercoconut oil and vegan butter are all good substitutes. Oruse browned butter. For a vegan versionmake this recipe: vegan chocolate chip cookies.
- Eggs. No eggsno problem – see my eggless chocolate chip cookies for many possible egg substitutions.
- Granulated Sugar. organic cane sugar works well too.
- Light Brown sugar. Dark brown sugar works wellbut imparts a stronger molasses taste.
- Flour. I recommend using an unbleachedall-purpose flour to make these chocolate chip cookies. All-purpose gluten free flour works very well too.
- Sea Salt. I exclusively bake and cook with purefine sea salt. Sea salt is different than table salt (that is iodized)so if you use salt other than sea salt I recommend testing the recipe first with ½ tsp and then adjusting to your taste.
- Chocolate Chips. As you can see from the photossometimes I use chocolate chunkschopped chocolateor chocolate chips. It doesn’t matter what you useas long as you use 2 cups. Choose your favorite variety: milksemisweetdarketc.
-
- Thaw it first: Remove the dough balls from the freezerset them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover with a light cloth towel or plastic wrap to thaw. Thenonce they reach room temperature (about 1 hour) bake as directed in the recipe (at 375 degrees F).
-
- Bake from frozen: Place the dough on a parchment lined baking sheet. Thenpreheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (ONLY if you are baking the frozen dough) and put the cookies in the oven in the beginning of the preheating time. (So put the cookies in the oven as you preheat it). Set the timer for 15 minutes and remove the cookies after 15 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculatedso should only be used as an approximation.
These cookies hold a special place in my heart. My friend brought me a meal after my first miscarriage (more on that below) and brought these cookies for dessert. They were so perfect I was convinced they were slice and bakeso I slyly said to her“the cookies you brought are SO delicioushow did you make them?” Lo and behold they were from scratch and she shared the recipe with me!
Her sweet gesture (literally) took a very dark season in my life and made it a little brighter. You seeafter our daughter Bethany turned one-year-old we were ready to have another baby! We found out I was pregnant with twinsbut things didn’t look great. There were no heartbeatsand although it was early (7 weeks) we were fairly certain that it wasn’t a viable pregnancy. We waited two weeks just to be sureand then I was scheduled to have a D&C and say goodbye to our babies.
This began one of the most difficulttrying times in my life. I was in a cloud of postpartum depression with no sweet baby to snuggle the blues away. My friends and family came alongside of me and I began to heal. I experienced another miscarriage and then got pregnant with my sonGabe.
Losing three babies in such a short time changed me forever. I haven’t taken one single day of my kids’ lives for granted. They were chosen to be mine. I have some babies I never got to holdso I cherish holding the ones I do. These cookies remind me of the sweetness and importance of friendship. I wouldn’t have made it through without a handful of close friends who I cherish. So make these cookies and share them with people you love.
Life is too uncertain to take a minute for granted. Spread lovemake cookies. That’s my motto!
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Is there any high altitude recipes of the same kind of cookies? I live more than a mile above sea level and I really want to try these cookies.
I live 5,000 feet above sea level and make this recipe as written.
These are delicious. My husband took 1 bite and said “these are amazing”. I was also so touched reading about how your friend made these for you.
My cookies spread a bit more than I wanted so I may have not enough flour but that’s not slowing down the eating process 😂 thanks for you for the recipe!!
Thank you Kim! <3
I loved these cookiesand so did my precious pooches! I had to try so hard to keep them away from the cookies and I succeeded. My son came back from business school this weekand I gave him these cookies to enjoy at his welcome home party! I used premium quality chocolate for these cookies- the good kind that you find at a prestigious supermarket that I have a membership for. And my dear huzzybunny Richard agrees that the chocolate is worth the three hundred dollar membership. These were so mouthwatering that I almost gave them to my little gnome that lives in my socks. His name is Gnarfallemewbut I call him Grandpa because he gave birth to me 🙂 Thank youLaura!
Wow – what an imaginative commentEstella! Howeverplease be sure not to feed chocolate to your dogs!
How many calories in 1 cookie ?
You can find that information in the recipe card. But with this recipe making 36 cookieseach cookie is 183 calories. If you make larger cookies that amount will change.
They tasted greatthe batter was very crumbly so I added a little milk to it. What did I do wrong to make it crumbly?
It sounds like you. may have used too much flour. Check the metric measurements in the recipe card and weigh your flour in grams.
My family loves this cookie recipe and they are such a big hit at family parties!
I have found that mine spread more than the picture though – any advice to get them as thick as yours? Thank you for sharing!
I’m so happy that your family loves these cookiesAshlee. The number 1 reason for spreading is likely that your baking soda or baking powder need to be replaced and are past their prime. Number 2 would be that you’re not using enough flour. Number 3 could be that the dough is too warm (think a warm humid kitchen environment) – in that case you could just chill the dough.
Your recipe calls for 3 cups (410 grams) of flour.
3 cups of flour is 360 grams . . . that’s a discrepency of 50 grams which is approximately one-half cup!
PLEASE verify your recipe for us.
Hey Nina! I explain this in the post and in many comments – but 120 g per cup of flour is the theoretical value. Most people don’t measure using grams in the US – and if you measuring using cups you often get a very different value (usually around 135 grams). See this video where I answer the question – does one cup of flour really weigh 120 grams? Sothe value in my recipe is the true value of the amount of flour needed to make these cookies.
Best cookies ever!
I made them and I’m only 9!
Thank you Laura for the recipe
Way to go Gidon! I hope you bake them for many years to come!