I had a little hankering for an exceptionally GOOD chocolate chip cookie. So, I decided to do a little research, gather up all the best tips and secrets for making a fabulous chocolate chip cookie from all the corners of the food blog world, and then implement ALL of them into one ULTIMATE Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.
I waited patiently with my forehead pressed against the oven window (like the mad scientist I am) while the first batch was baking to see what would happen. I loved how big, thick, and soft they turned out! Seriously folks, these are as big as the palm of my hand and half an inch thick. Lots of chocolate chips, a barely crisp edge, a slightly gooey (not cakey) center, and a rich buttery flavor. Heaven!
These are the tips and tricks I’ve learned for making the very best chocolate chips cookies:
Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Secrets
- Browned butter – this gives the cookies a richer, nuttier, almost caramelized base flavor.
- Dark brown sugar – dark brown sugar has more molasses than light, and therefore a stronger flavor.
- Softened cream cheese – you won’t taste it, but it does give the cookies a softer texture.
- An extra egg yolk – helps keep the cookies moist and adds richness.
- Cornstarch – this makes the cookies more tender and keeps them softer even a couple days later.
- Chocolate chips – don’t skimp!
- Wet to Dry Ratio – the dough should have enough flour mixed into it so that it is fairly stiff, but not crumbly.
If you’ve never browned butter before, it only takes a few minutes, but you do have to watch closely so that you don’t burn it. Add a stick of butter to a heavy bottomed saucepan and melt it over medium heat. Swirl the pan around occasionally, and watch the butter melt, then foam, and finally turn brown. As soon as you see the color change and smell the nutty aroma, remove the pan from the heat and pour the brown butter into your mixing bowl, leaving as much of the brown flecks behind as you can. Chill the butter until it returns to a soft solid state, and then cream the butter and sugars as the recipe below instructs.
Because of the higher ratio of dry to wet ingredients, this dough will not spread very much in the oven. Instead of shaping the dough into balls, they are shaped into disks like the picture above. I used about 1/4 cup of dough for each cookie (I know!!!) and they are definitely LARGE bakery style cookies. I’ve also included the baking time for smaller cookies in the recipe instructions if you are not feeling quite so adventurous.
There truly is nothing like a really good chocolate chip cookie!
PrintUltimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
How to make thick, soft, bakery style chocolate chip cookies!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 18 large cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 ounces softened cream cheese
- 1 egg, plus one egg yolk, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour (fluff before measuring)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- To brown the butter, heat 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick) in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Swirl the pan to help the butter melt evenly. After a few minutes, it will foam up, then turn light brown. When you smell a nutty aroma, immediately remove the butter from the heat and pour it into the mixing bowl, leaving as many of the brown flecks in the pan as possible. Place the mixing bowl in the fridge to cool down the butter.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. When the brown butter is chilled to a soft solid, cream it together with the brown sugar and granulated sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add the cream cheese and continue mixing until well incorporated.
- Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla and mix again.
- In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, salt, and cornstarch together.
- With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour and stop mixing when the dough forms and the flour is completely incorporated. The dough will be stiff, but should not be crumbly.
- Add the chocolate chips and mix.
- For extra large, bakery style chocolate chip cookies, scoop 1/4 cup of dough onto a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet, six per sheet. Pat the dough into a disk shape, about 1/2 inch thick. Bake for 11-13 minutes. For smaller cookies, roll 2 tablespoons of dough into a ball, flatten the top slightly, and bake 12 cookies per sheet for 8-10 minutes.
- Let the cookies set on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. Store in an airtight container when mostly cooled.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Large Cookie
- Calories: 256
- Sugar: 21g
- Sodium: 158mg
- Fat: 13g
- Saturated Fat: 7.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4.4g
- Trans Fat: 0.2g
- Carbohydrates: 35g
- Fiber: 1.6g
- Protein: 3.2g
- Cholesterol: 37mg
These cookies look wonderful! What altitude do you live at? I’m at 8,600 ft …
Thank you Christine! I’m at 1200 ft. I’m sure that makes baking a little challenging for you.
Hi Julie and Christine! I live al 7,500 ft and I made this recipe is amazing I just love it. But mine are not that thick do you know what I can change to have the perfect thickness like yours? Christine did you changed something ? Thank you : )
I like my chocolate chip cookies thick and soft too. So I definitely would love these, they do look amazing. X
Thank you Thalia. I’m way too excited about them!
Made these today and they are yummy. I didn’t have cream cheese, so I substituted 2 oz of sour cream. Still soft and lovely. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Lori, so glad they turned out well for you and good to know sour cream works too. Thanks so much for you comment!
These look amazing. I’m making them later today. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
I wonder if plain greek yogurt could be substituted for the cream cheese? If so, do you think it would be 1:1 ratio?
Hi TJ! I know there’s only a small amount called for in the recipe, but I’m a little worried that subbing greek yogurt might make the texture of the cookies slightly more cake-like. It definitely won’t ruin them, but I do think they will turn out differently. Let me know what you think if you try them!
Hello,
Any tips for the beginners on how to turn the butter brown ?
This is really helpful article. Hope you enjoy! http://www.thekitchn.com/basic-techniques-how-to-brown-77018
Any video to show how to brown the butter which would be helpful?
Just look on you tube, I’m sure there are tons
What butter did you use? Salted or unsalted?
Good question- I used salted.
Wowza! These are very, very good, Julie! I made them exactly as stated in the recipe and had wonderful results. Thick, soft and flavorful. These will be my go-to Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe from now on.
Thank you so much for sharing!
How long does it take for the butter to soften after its browned? I didn’t brown in enough
Is there a substitute for cream cheese? Snow day with kids but want to try these
Irina, sorry, but I haven’t really tested this recipe without the cream cheese so I’m not sure how that would go, or what would be a good substitute. Hope you enjoy your snow day!
Do the cookies freeze well?
Karen, I’ve never tried freezing them but I think you could.
I just made these cookies and they are so soft and chocolaty. Delicious! This will definitely be my go to chocolate chip cookie recipe.
So glad to hear that Lou! Thanks for letting me know how they turned out!
Can I reduce the flour and substitute cocoa to make them chocolate? How about adding peanut butter to them?
Can I substitute the butter with margarine?
I have not tried margarine, but I think butter is better.
Thank you! I made these a few minutes ago and they were a hit! Definitely sticking to this recipe ❤️ I’m glad I found it ☺️
Just made these and they are amazing! I had to use Organic Coconut Palm Sugar since we live in Chile and it is very hard to find brown sugar here. That said, they turned out perfect.
I made these cookies per the recipe and they turned out perfectl! These cookies are awesome! This will be my new go-to recipe! Thanks for sharing the recipe. 🙂
Oh my heavens!!! We just made these for a new neighbor and they are ridiculously delicious!!! This is going to be our new go to chocolate chip cookie! 😋🍪
And what is the result if we do not use cream cheese at all?
I just made these and they are absolutely aaaamazing!!! I wish I could have given this recipe more stars. I followed the batter as is and substituted 1/2 c of chocolate chips with 1/2 c toffee bits. Thank you so much for the recipe. I’ve all ready saved it to my Paprika app and gave it 5 stars.
I simply love this recipe! This is the only chocolate chip cookie recipe that I use. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe!
I’ve tried A LOT of chocolate chip cookie recipes and these were great! I love that they didn’t spread out to being too thin. I did refrigerate the dough for 30 min before making the cookies and baking.
I’ve tried these cookies twice (both the adventurous BIG ones and the smaller ones) and these are literally the BEST chocolate chip recipe I have ever found! I’ve searched for years, but always my cookies turned out flat and crispy NEVER heavy and soft like I always wanted. Thank you so much for sharing! I’ve gotten so many compliments on them, and many have even asked me to pass the recipe on. Lots of claps for you! 👏👏
Thank you, Hannah! It’s so nice to hear that this recipe as worked so well for you. Hope they bring you joy for many years to come!
Wonderful tasting cookie? Do you think it would make a good cookie cake if I spread it in a larger pan?
These were by far the best soft chocolate chip cookies ever! I doubled the batch, added a little cinnamon. Delicious and days later they are still great and soft! This is my new go to chocolate chip cookie recipe!!
These chocolate chip cookies are delicious 😋 I followed your recipe exactly, although I opted to make the smaller cookie. My husband, who loved anything chocolate, before realizing that chocolate will sometimes trigger a headache ate 2 of these cookies. After he ate the first one I said to him, “You know those have chocolate in them.” He replied, “They’re really good! Can I have another?” 😆 They’re a hit with me and my family! I will definitely make these again. I plan on making the next batch of cookies for my brother-in-law who loves soft chocolate chip cookies. My go to chocolate chip recipe. Thank you!