Or, the perfect homemade chocolate chip cookies. This is another recipe that has been making the rounds of many, many blogs but again, for good reason – they are AWESOME! The first time I made this recipe was several months ago for parents’ night in Ben’s classroom. They looked great and smelled incredible, but they were completely gobbled up before I was able to try one! Since then I have made them many times and they never last long in our house either. After finding this recipe I have no desire to ever try another for chocolate chip cookies. If you’re looking for a classic, this is it.
Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
2 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
1 cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
Adjust oven racks to upper and lower-middle positions. Preheat oven 325°. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl; set aside. With electric mixer, or by hand, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly combined. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat at low-speed just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
Roll a scant half-cup of dough into a ball. Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull apart into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, place formed dough onto cookie sheet, leaving ample room between each ball. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy (approximately 11-14 minutes). Do not overbake.
Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Source: adapted from Blonde Ambition in the Kitchen, originally from Baking Illustrated
Annie's Eats 
Mmmm…I love big fat chewy cookies. Looks wonderful!
Hi Annie!
I just started following your blog a couple months ago. I love everyhing on here! I’m going to try this recipe b/c I LOVE cc cookies! And, I do have another version you might really like. It’s the Tollhouse recipe slightly modified. You add 1 pack (3.5-4 oz) of vanilla instant pudding to the sugar/butter mixture and cut the white and brown sugar down to 1/2 c. each. My friend makes them all the time, and they never fail! Thought you might enjoy comparing them!
This is a BI recipe I’ve got on my list to try. They look perfect and I’m sure taste perfect as well!
Ahh these really are the best chocolate chip cookies. I don’t think I’ll try any other recipes either. Now I want some!
Wow those just look uncommmonly delicious, to borrow from the Keebler elves!! My husband’s favorite are chocolate chip cookies so I’ll have to give these a shot.
Wow- these look gorgeous. I’m a longtime fan of the Best Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie on allrecipes, but your photo looks yummy enough to persuade me to try these!
I have yet to branch out from my typical chocolate chip cookie recipe and try these, but I really need to – they look SO GOOD!
Thanks for the recipe! These were great, made them last night and they were a huge hit!
Dear Annie’s Eats,
My fiance and I would really appreciate it if you could stop posting dessert recipes. We are trying to stay in shape for our wedding.
Love,
WF & Amy of http://www.thefrenchkitchen.wordpress.com
OMG your last two posts have looked extremely delicious. I want to try them right away!! We are practicing some serious restraint until after the wedding, but I guarantee as soon as it’s over, I’ll be cranking out some of your tasty desserts! Yummy!!
these look fabulous! i’ll be trying these soon! its been awhile since i’ve made plain choc chip cookies!
I made the peanut butter cookies from a few blog posts ago and I loved them. These cc cookies are next on my list.
Thanks, Annie!
judy
I love how the chocolate chips sit on top of the cookies after being baked. Very cool.
Thanks for the great recipe. I’m not much of a baker (understatement!), but these turned out so good, I actually wrote about them on my blog. I included links to your site. I hope that’s okay!
Hi Annie! Lurker here just to tell you that we made these last night and they were fantastic! My 3 year old had to sprinkle halloween sprinkles all over the top but they were still really tasty! 🙂
I agree, this is one heck of an amazing chocolate chip cookie recipe. I made it recently with dark chocolate chips and my husband could not stop eating them.
Just made these… yes, they are great!
[…] make food that you don’t normally allow yourself to eat. This time, that food happens to be Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, Peanut Butter Criscrosses, and Apple […]
[…] were ok, none of them were ever even blog worthy. I found this recipe on one of my favorite blogs, Annie’s Eats. The recipe is originally from Baking Illustrated. This is by far the best homemade cookie I have […]
Great recipe. I’ve been searching for a while for a great soft and chewy chocolate chip recipe, and I think I found it!
These look really good,i made cookies earlier dont get me wrong they werent bad they were good I just wanted something a little thicker and able to melt in my mouth.I’ll be sure to try out this recipe hope its good!
I made these yesterday and they were great! So good, I ate eight….yeah they are that good.
I did cut down on the chocolate chips, I used about 3/4 cup of mini chips. I used a small cookie scoop and froze them – thinking this would slow me down – it didn’t work – I cooked three today. And they cooked up fine from frozen.
A word of caution – watch them carefully in the oven and don’t over bake or they will be very crisp when they cool down. Still good, but crispy, crunchy.
ohh gourgeous!! xx
Hi Annie, these look amazing…
I want to try these cookies but I just ran out of flour, I have tons of bread flour, would it work to substitute that in place of all-purpose? Any adjustments?
I made another cookie recepie last week and they came out blah, like white/sugar cookie dough, which puffed up a little, with chocolate chips…nothing like the color or shape you have on these cookies.
I used light brown sugar, maybe that was the problem with the color, and maybe too much baking powder?
Hi Allie,
If you want the cookies to turn out with the best results, I would just buy more all-purpose flour. You’ll need it eventually anyway. I use light brown sugar when making these cookies, so I don’t think that was your problem last time. Chocolate chip cookie recipes can vary greatly for many reasons so I don’t know what made the last attempt unsuccessful, but I can tell you that I LOVE these cookies!
🙂 Annie
You were right, I got AP flour and made these on thanksgiving as an after dinner treat. I wanted everyone to enjoy them straight out the oven and waited to bake them until I wanted to serve them and I could not get them out of the oven fast enough! I am sure some of them were eaten partially raw, but no one complained!
Thanks so much!
I made half of these cookies yesterday, and aged the rest of the dough overnight. For some reason, my cookies didn’t turn out the nice golden brown colour in the picture at all? I even overbaked them slightly, which I’m hoping will not happen today. I followed the recipe exactly. Any idea as to why this might have happened? My cookies were also a lot thicker, and I was really hoping for the wide, almost flat looking cookies in your picture. Should I flatten the dough on the sheet before baking?
I really liked this recipe though! They were very yummy :]
Hi Sofia,
I’m sorry to hear that you had trouble with the cookies! I honestly don’t have much helpful advice, I don’t know exactly what might have gone wrong. I’ve never had the problems you are describing, and I’ve made these cookies more than probably any other recipe ever! Mine always spread just right so I would be hesitant to recommend flattening them before placing them on the sheet, but I suppose you could try it. Good luck!
My cookies had trouble spreading too. 😦
They don’t taste bad, but they don’t look as pretty.
Wow! My husband and I just made your chocolate chip cookies and they are AMAZING! They are so soft and irresistable. Thank you for posting this recipe. I look forward to trying many more of your delicious recipies! Merry Christmas!!!
Amazing! Loved the cookies thanks for a great recepie Annie 🙂
Definitely the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve made! Soft & chewy on the inside with a little crunch to the edge. My kids said they were the best ever. Thanks for the recipe!
These cookies are by far the best cookies I have ever made! Thanks for sharing such a wonderful recipe!
Careful with the TIME!!! I put them in only 10 minutes and they completely burned…
Jess,
Have you checked your oven temperature with an outside thermometer? Maybe it runs hot. Usually when I make them, I have to bake them about 14-15 minutes.
I made these to share at a lunch today and they were great! Thanks for giving me recipes that get awesome compliments! …and I think I’m getting all my friends hooked on your blog as well 🙂
Made these yesterday (only thing different was I used a cookie scoop for putting dough on the cookie sheet) and they were DELICIOUS!! This recipe is definitely a keeper! Another great recipe that I got from your blog!
These are heavenly! Thanks for the recipe
I’m making these at the moment… but I keep eating the dough 😦
i can’t wait for them to be done… 7 minutes left.
aaaahhhhhh hurry up!!
Hi Annie,
I am hoping to try these cookies over the weekend – can you please tell me approximately how many cookies does this batch yield?
Thanks.
Mavish,
I usually get about 18-20 out of one batch.
I have a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe that produces a thin chewy cookie that is absolutely wonderful. However, my husband prefers a thicker version. Yours look so delicious I can’t wait to try them. I’ll be sure to post my results on your website.
I baked a batch of these yesterday and unfortunately, wasn’t impressed with the results. I followed the instructions/measurements exactly and watched my cooking time and took the cookies out of the oven as soon as the edges began to harden (the inside still appeared a bit raw and while the taste was fine, the texture was the disappointing part. They had the thickness I expected but in an hour, they were not chewy at all. Not sure if I did something wrong but I think I will stick to Alton Brown’s The Chewy recipe. Thank you though for sharing this recipe with us, Annie. I had fun baking them. I actually love recipe comparisons (like the one you did with PW’s Mac & Cheese). 🙂
Nicole, that’s too bad. Sounds like something didn’t go quite right during baking. I make them all the time and they are always chewy. And as for Alton Brown’s The Chewy, I was super, super disappointed by it. I thought it had no flavor at all, and I didn’t like the texture either. I think everyone just has different taste in chocolate chip cookies!
Absolutely! Either way, the trial and error is process is fun and all good practice 🙂
I’m so glad I found your blog, it’s wonderful. I’m not that good of a cook, but I can’t wait to try out some of the recipes…especially the cupcakes. YUM!!
Hi Annie,
I can’t wait to try these cookies soon. I’m a novice baker, and though I’ve found good chocolate chip cookie recipes, I’ve yet to find that one great chocolate chip cookie. I have high hopes for this one, but I do have a question.
Where do you place your oven racks when baking two sheets of cookies? I always hold back on the second baking sheet (baking it after the first) because I’m not sure which oven rack to place it on without resulting in burned or off-textured cookies.
What a great chocolate chip cookie recipe. I do think the extra egg yolk makes a difference. I often do that to my chocolate chip cookies to make them chewier.
I have made chocolate chip cookies for years, mostly sticking to the traditional recipes, but I was doing some searches and came upon this one. I baked them on Sunday and these are by far the BEST cookies I have ever eaten in my life. My husband loved them and could not stop eating them. Will be making more tomorrow for the children at church, thank u so much for the recipe and having this wonderful blog.
Hi Annie,
These cookies look absolutely delicious! I’ve been searching high and low for a good chocolate chip cookie recipe and I think I’ve finally found it. I’ll definitely be giving these a try. Thanks a bunch! Your blog is very cute by the way! You have yourself a new follower 🙂
Cookie perfection, just what I was looking for!
Quite tasty. I have a tummy ache now.
Hadn’t made choc chip cookies forever. These were wonderful! Mine looked nothing like yours though. Mine were not golden brown (just the slightest bit on the edges) and definitely way thicker than pictured above… Maybe I used a full 1/2 cup!:) I used 1 c. mini morsels and 1/2 c. choc chunk morsels combined. These tasted VERY gourmet. YUM! I got about 22 fat cookies & baked them for 12 min! Thanks!
Added in some coconut to some as well but this didn’t seem to make a big difference.
Storage? — airtight container? do they stay thick & chewy???
Yep, airtight container is the way to go.
I just made these, and oh my goodness they are SO good. They even look way better than any chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever seen.. I think that pull-apart method with the jagged edges really makes them look more delicious. I am going to put these, along with the peanut butter oatmeal sandwich cookies I just made, in cute little boxes to deliver to my grandparents tomorrow 🙂 Now whenever I bake something my mom says, “Is this from Annie??” Usually the answer is yes!
My friend just forwarded your site and I love it! So much to try. 🙂
The cookies are cooling and I can’t wait to taste.
Def the best cookies I’ve made. Last week I followed the back of the choc chip bag and they were flat and crunchy. I followed this recipe but didn’t melt the butter. Still fluffy like promised!
Just made these this morning and am enjoying warm right out of the oven chocolate chip cookie goodness! Only had organic dark brown sugar so used that and also used a mix of bittersweet and semi-sweet chips to equal the amount needed. Great texture and rich flavor: love the hunt for new chocolate chip cookie recipes, what a journey. Thanks Annie!
Well, it’s one week later and although I have tried hard to make one batch of cookies last, I am now craving these cookies so much that I am going to bake right now instead of going to water aerobics! My husband eats all my new cookie experiments but does not always have a comment on them, he loved these, enough said!
Hi, Annie! this is my first visit to your site, and I am thrilled to find you. Thank you so much for the time you take to share your delicious creations with the world and help us duplicate them. I can’t wait to explore further for more gems.
As to these cookies, tho’, I’m on a friend’s computer, so don’t have access to my recipe collection, but I’m pretty sure these are Cook’s Illustrated’s Thick & Chewies, their former “best” before the recent browned butter version, aren’t they? I recognized them by the method of twisting the dough balls into two halves and pushing them back together. Just want to add my 2 cents that if I am right, then these are indeed “perfect” cookies and my family’s favorites as well (at least until we try CI’s newest browned butter version. Can’t wait!).
Thanks again, and so nice to finally find you!
I finally received my edition of “Baking Illustrated” and gave these a bake. Wow, amazing. I always used the Jacques Torres recipe, but having to wait 36-48 hours for the dough was never as much fun. 😉 These were divine! I did 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chunks, 1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, and then 1/2 cup of 60% cacao chips. The variety in chocolate size gave them the fancy-pants evil bakery cookie look, too.
Instead of rolling 1/2 cup dough balls as your recipe included, I went with the 1/4 cup dough balls suggested in “Baking Illustrated.” The cookies really do get that perfect shape and texture with the shaping method.
These are the absolute best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had!
Annie, I seriously am amazed at how none of your recipes have ever failed me! They are always to die for.
I just made these and I am so happy to see I have finally found my go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Thank you so much for another delicious recipe!
Annie,
Is it possible to add peanut butter to this recipe? This is exactly what I have been looking for except I would love a nice thick peanut butter chocolate chip cookie! How much should I add/ will it change the consistancy?
I don’t know, the only way to find out is to try and see. Personally, I wouldn’t mess with a good thing. I would just look for an actual peanut butter chocolate chip recipe – they are definitely out there.
Hey Annie,
Just made these, came out great and tasted lovely I was just wondering how you got yours so lovely and round because mine came out all oval. Any tips?
=]
No special tips, I just shaped them as indicated in the recipe.
These were really yummy! I was looking for a really chewy soft cookie – that looked nice also;-) and got it. After reading the comments – there was one where she didn´t know what went wrong and they were so puffy – I noticed she said she used baking powder! Oops, I think she missed that it was soda and not powder. That would explain it.
I made these tonight and they are absolute heaven! My only changes were splitting the chips in half and adding some walnuts. Wow.. I could eat the entire batch! There’s a few pictures, along with praise for you and this site in a post this morning. Thanks so much for such a great and comprehensive foodie blog!