The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies You’ll Ever Have

This is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever! It’s simple, with no funny ingredients, no chilling time, etc. The result is an amazingly delicious cookie. It’s doughy yet fully cooked and turns out perfectly every time! 

Everyone needs a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe in their repertoire. Mine is seriously the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ever! I have been making these for many years, and everyone who tries them agrees they’re out-of-this-world delicious!

Plus, there are no funny ingredients, no chilling, etc. It’s a simple, straightforward, and amazingly delicious chocolate chip cookie. It is doughy yet still fully cooked. It turns out perfectly every single time!

These are everything a chocolate chip cookie should be: crisp 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-step, and don’t forget to watch the video.

Make the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

The first step in making these easy chocolate chip cookies is to combine the dry ingredients. Gather them in a medium size bowl.

5 Secrets to Making the Best Cookies!

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When doing this, Measure the flour correctly. Be sure to use a measuring cup made for dry ingredients (NOT a Pyrex liquid measuring cup). Then, measure flour by scooping it into a cup and leveling it with a knife.

Next, cream together butter and sugars. Soften the butter early by removing it from the fridge at least two hours before baking. This ensures it’s ready to go when you need it. Warm it in the microwave for about 7 seconds, but be careful not to melt it.

Once the butter/sugar mixture is beaten well, add the eggs & vanilla and beat to combine.

Add dry ingredients and stir until just mixed. 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 also not be dry or crumbly. The photo below shows the optimal texture.

Part & Roll Dough

Once the cookie dough is finished, it’s time to divide and roll it. Many people eyeball the dough when making cookies, but I highly recommend using a cookie scoop.

Using a cooking scoop ensures that all the cookies are uniform in size and bake evenly. I love this stainless steel cookie scoop and use it when making 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 cookies, I always make a whole batch and freeze some. That way, I have dough 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 this, roll 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 minutes or until the dough slightly freezes.

Once the dough is slightly frozen, transfer the cookie dough balls to an airtight container or plastic bag. You can freeze them for up to 2 months.

How to Bake Frozen Dough

There are two ways to bake frozen dough:

1. Thaw it first: I love having dough ready for impromptu guests in the freezer. Remove the dough balls from the freezer when you want to bake them. Set them on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with a light cloth towel or napkin to let them thaw. After about 1-2 hours, they will reach room temperature, depending on the temperature of your kitchen. Then, bake as directed in the recipe at 375 degrees F. So easy!
2. Bake from frozen: Place the dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (ONLY if you are baking the frozen dough). Place the cookies in the oven at the start of the preheating period. Do this 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 usual but still taste amazing.

Bake Until they barely look done

If you are baking the cookies right away, simply roll them into balls, place them evenly 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 to DO NOT overbake these chocolate chip cookies! They will not look done when you pull them out of the oven, and that is good.

These chocolate chip cookies won’t look done at the end of baking, but they are. They will look a little doughy when you remove them from the oven, and that’s good. They are lightly browned in a few places precisely 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. Then, remove them to a wire rack to cool completely. You can also eat them warm while the chocolate chips are melty!

Store

You can store these chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days at room temperature. Alternatively, you can freeze them for up to 2 months.

FAQs about Chocolate Chip Cookies

How do you make gooey chocolate chip cookies? 

The trick to making this best chocolate chip cookie recipe gooey is to not over-bake them.

Why do cookies spread & flatten?

There are a few main reasons for this that I have found in my experience:
1) Expired leavening agents. Chocolate chip cookies will flatten and spread if your baking soda or powder is past its prime. Even if the date on the container checks out, it still is not good. That would be the first place I would start.
Combine 1/2 cup of hot water with 1/4 teaspoon vinegar to test your baking soda. Then, add 1/4 tsp baking soda.
When you add the baking soda, a reaction should take place instantly. If not, you need new baking soda.
Baking powder activity test: Add 1/2 tsp to 1/2 cup of hot water. It should bubble instantly. If a reaction doesn’t occur immediately, you need new baking powder.
2) Over-mixing. If you over-mix the ingredients in this best chocolate chip cookie recipe, you end up with flat cookies.
3) Ingredients are too warm. Sometimes, over-mixing can also cause your ingredients to become too warm. If you notice this happening, you 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. Your cookies and other baked goods are not turning out properly. Use a cheap oven thermometer to check the temperature.

Why didn’t my cookies flatten? 

If your cookies didn’t flatten, here are a few things that could’ve been the problem. I have never had this happen to me in 10 years, so here are my educated guesses…
1) The ingredients/cookie dough were too cold. Cold dough doesn’t spread as well as room-temperature dough.
2) You accidentally used too much flour. Make sure to use a measuring cup designed for dry ingredients. Do not use a Pyrex liquid measuring cup. Measure the flour correctly by scooping and leveling.
3) The oven temperature is incorrect. I suggest you use an oven thermometer to check it. It’s only $7. The actual temperature can often be different than what the screen reads 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.

Can you bake chocolate chip cookie dough in a frozen form? 

I have tested baking this recipe from frozen more times than I can count. I get the best results when I place the dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

First, set the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Only do this step if you are baking the frozen dough. Put the cookies in the oven at 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 usual but still taste amazing.

Can I halve this recipe? Yes, this recipe can be halved easily. Simply decrease the ingredients by half, and the recipe will make 18 cookies. Or, try this recipe for small-batch chocolate chip cookies, which makes eight cookies.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe: Ingredients & Substitutions

The only ingredient I feel confident can be changed up is the mix-ins: chocolate chips, sprinkles, peanut butter chips, etc. Do not change anything else in this recipe. If you do, I can’t guarantee they will turn out. Nonetheless, here are some tested substitutions.

• Butter. I use salted butter, but unsalted butter would also be great. I recommend tasting the dough to make sure that it’s salted to your liking.
• 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 unbleached, all-purpose flour to make these chocolate chip cookies. Many readers have used gluten-free all-purpose flour with excellent results. You can also try these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.
• Sea Salt. I exclusively bake and cook with pure, acceptable sea salt. Sea salt is different from table salt, which is iodized. If you use salt other than sea salt, I recommend testing the recipe first with 1/2 tsp. Then, adjust to your taste.
• Chocolate Chips. As you can see from the photos, sometimes I use chocolate chunks, chopped chocolate, or chocolate chips. It doesn’t matter what you use, as long as you use 2 cups.

More of our favorite cookie recipes!

• The BEST Cut-Out Sugar Cookies – Perfect for Christmas (or any holiday)!
• Make this giant chocolate chip cookie cake – better than store-bought and perfect for any occasion!
• Try this Skillet Cookie (Pizookie) recipe for an easy and irresistible dessert! 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 must try our Oatmeal Cookie Recipe – it’s the BEST!
• Classic Soft Peanut Butter Cookies – My Favorite Cookie!
• Classic snickerdoodles! This is my grandma’s recipe. You 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

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