Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
To make chocolate chip cookies, cream softened butter with brown and white sugar, beat in egg and vanilla, then mix in flour, baking soda, and salt to a soft dough and fold in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough, then bake at 190 °C for 10–12 minutes until the edges are golden but the centres look barely underdone. Chilling the dough and pulling them slightly early are the two tricks for thick, chewy cookies instead of thin, greasy ones.
Everyone should have one reliable chocolate chip cookie recipe, and this is it: crisp golden edges, soft chewy centres, and molten pools of chocolate. It’s the cookie kids beg to make, the one that disappears fastest off the holiday tray, and a batch you’ll come back to for years.
Brown sugar for chew
The ratio matters. Leaning on brown sugar over white keeps the cookies moist and chewy, because its molasses holds moisture and gives a soft, caramel-edged crumb. All white sugar makes them crisper and flatter. Two eggs and real vanilla round it out — no need to overthink it.
Chill the dough
The easiest upgrade to any chocolate chip cookie: chill the dough before baking. Cold dough spreads less, so the cookies bake up thick and chewy instead of thin and greasy, and the rest lets the flour hydrate for deeper flavour. Even half an hour helps; overnight is better.
Pull them early
Take them out when the edges are golden but the centres still look barely underdone — they finish setting on the hot tray. Bake them until the middles look “done” and they’ll be dry and hard once cooled.
Make it yours
- Chocolate: chopped chocolate gives melty pools; add a mix of chips.
- Salted: a flake of sea salt on top before baking.
- Nutty: fold in toasted walnuts or pecans.
- Freezer trick: freeze dough balls and bake fresh cookies on demand.
Cool them just enough to hold together, then eat at least one warm, chocolate still melting. Simple, dependable, and the recipe you’ll know by heart.
At a glance
Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
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Instructions
- Cream the butter with both sugars until light. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
- Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt; mix in just until combined.
- Fold in the chocolate. Chill the dough at least 30 minutes (or overnight).
- Scoop onto lined trays, spacing well. Bake at 190 °C for 10–12 minutes until the edges are golden and centres look barely set.
- Cool on the tray 5 minutes to finish setting, then move to a rack.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get chewy cookies instead of flat, crispy ones?
A few things: use more brown sugar than white (brown sugar keeps them moist and chewy), don't over-cream the butter, chill the dough before baking so it spreads less, and pull the cookies while the centres still look slightly underbaked. They firm up on the hot tray. Flat, greasy cookies usually mean the butter was too warm or melted, or the dough went into a cool oven.
Why chill the cookie dough?
Chilling firms the butter so the cookies spread less and bake up thicker, and it lets the flour hydrate, which deepens the flavour and improves the texture. Even 30–60 minutes helps; overnight is better. If you're in a hurry you can skip it, but chilled dough is the single easiest upgrade to a chocolate chip cookie. You can also freeze scooped dough and bake from frozen.
Can I freeze the dough?
Yes — scoop the dough into balls, freeze them solid on a tray, then bag them. Bake straight from frozen, adding a minute or two. This is the secret to fresh, warm cookies any time: you bake only as many as you want. Baked cookies also freeze well, but frozen dough gives you that just-baked result on demand, which is hard to beat.