Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies

These thick chocolate chip cookies are tender and chewy and will become your new go-to. The step-by-step instructions will give you perfectly thick cookies every time.

Have you ever wanted to make the perfect chewy chocolate chip cookie but noticed that all the recipes out there just have under baked cookies masquerading as chewy? Do not get me wrong. I LOVE an under baked cookie. Most of my adolescence and adulthood have been spent savoring a gooey cookie situation. But I have made it my mission to create a soft, chewy, and thick chocolate chip cookie when fully baked!

These cookies are packed with chocolate chips and perfectly flavored with dark brown sugar! If you’re thinking of adding a little extra zing to your cookies, try making my peanut butter chocolate chip cookies or these cream cheese chocolate chip cookies and become the go-to cookie master for all occasions!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• All-Purpose Flour: Provides the structural backbone that keeps these cookies tall through baking. I suggest scaling your flour to make the thickest cookies. For a gluten free chocolate chip cookie, check out these almond flour chocolate chip cookies!
• Baking Soda and Baking Powder:
• Kosher Salt:
• Sugar and Dark Brown Sugar: The combination of granulated and dark brown sugar controls both texture and flavor. Granulated sugar encourages a slightly crisp edge, and dark brown sugar adds moisture and a deeper molasses note that pairs well with the chocolate.
• Unsalted Butter:
• Whole Eggs: Provide structure, fat, and moisture. Using whole eggs rather than yolks alone keeps the cookies from being too dense while still giving them a rich, tender crumb.
• Vanilla Extract: Rounds out the chocolate flavor and adds depth. Pure vanilla extract is worth using here since it is one of only a handful of flavoring ingredients.
• Chocolate Chips: These hold their shape through baking and distribute evenly throughout the dough. You can use semisweet, bittersweet, or a mix depending on how sweet you want the finished cookie, and double chocolate chip cookies are a good reference if you want to play with chocolate variety.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations on This Thick Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Make it a Pizookie! Press the room-temperature cookie dough into a skillet and bake until the edges are golden brown and the center is completely matte. To make your skillet cookie dreams come true, add some vanilla ice cream and chocolate fudge sauce, and maybe some sea salt on top!
• Add Candies. Swap out a portion of the chocolate chips for M&Ms, peanut butter cups, or chopped caramel candies, which I love for a holiday cookie tray or when I want something a little more playful.
• Add your favorite candy. Reese’s Pieces, M&Ms, or even some Snickers; the options are endless. Add some extra chocolate on top before baking, just for good measure. Then be sure to head over to these brown butter Snickers chocolate chip cookies.
• Add some nuts. You could also use toasted nuts. Some chopped walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts would be just delightful in these cookies. You could also make this Nutella cookie!

Professional Tips

• Don’t overcream your butter and sugar. The biggest secret to thick, chewy cookies is cold yet pliable butter! It should be softened enough that you can press your finger into it, but it is still cold. Then, once you add your sugars, mix until they are just combined into a paste.
• Add the dry ingredients gradually. For the thickest, chewiest chocolate chip cookies, gradually add the dry ingredients to prevent overdevelopment of gluten and to fully incorporate them. I wait until my flour is just incorporated before adding a little more.
• Roll your dough at room temperature. Once you have finished mixing your dough, I recommend dividing and rolling it immediately. You can wrap the dough in plastic wrap and leave it at room temperature for up to 2 hours before rolling. If you leave the dough unwrapped or refrigerate it before dividing and rolling, it will become dry and stiff, making rolling it much harder.

How to Make Thick Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Use these instructions to make a perfectly thick and chewy chocolate chip cookie every time! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Make cookie dough

Step 1: Whisk the dry ingredients. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and whisk until evenly distributed. This takes about 30 seconds, but do not skip it — uneven leavening leads to cookies that rise unpredictably.

Step 2: Cream the butter, then add the sugars. Start creaming the butter in a bowl or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or with an electric hand mixer). Beat the butter on medium-high until it is still cold but pliable. Add the sugars and mix on medium-high until combined and a paste forms. This is especially important if your butter is actually room temperature.

Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Butter likes to hang out there and not get incorporated into the sugar.

Step 3: Add the eggs and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating the mixture in between each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl when needed. Add the vanilla extract with the second egg.

Step 4: Add the dry ingredients. Reduce the mixer to low and gradually add the mixed dry ingredients. I usually add the flour mixture in about 4-5 additions. To prevent overdevelopment of the gluten, I add the next bit of flour when the last one is almost fully incorporated.

Step 5: Stir in the chocolate chips. Add the chocolate chips once the flour is fully incorporated. Mix until combined and fully distributed.

Step 6: Roll and chill. Roll the cookie dough 1 ½ inch balls, about 70g each. You can also use a 2 oz cookie scoop. Once rolled, refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.

If you want to bake them in batches over several days, this is the point to freeze the portioned balls solid, then transfer them to a zip-top bag. Bake straight from frozen; just add 2 to 3 minutes to the bake time.

Step 7: Preheat the oven and prepare the pans. Set the oven to 325°F convection or 350°F conventional and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Bake the cookies

Step 8: Place the chilled or frozen dough balls on the prepared pans, spacing them about 2 inches apart, and bake for 10 to 12 minutes. You are looking for edges that are set and lightly golden while the centers still look slightly underdone and matte rather than wet or glossy. That matte look is the cue to pull them, which I know feels too soon, but the residual heat from the pan will finish the job.

If you are baking straight from frozen, start checking at 10 minutes and give them up to 14 to 15 minutes total. The centers should look matte and set at the edges before you pull them.

Step 9: Cool and serve. Leave the cookies on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. Those first few minutes are when the structure firms up, and moving them too early may cause them to fall apart or lose their thick, slightly domed shape. After 5 minutes, they will hold together cleanly. They are best eaten within an hour of baking when the chips are still soft, but they hold well at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Recipe FAQs

Before You Go

These thick, fudgy cookies with their crisp edges and gooey centers are worth every minute of chill time. If you want to keep exploring, browse all my cookie recipes or make these brown butter chocolate chip cookies next!