Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Thank you! High praise coming from you, the poster child for Food Photography!

I am so glad you found me! Thanks for your kind words. You could bake these longer and they would be crispy to your taste!

Do you use it in all your cookies or does it work better in some more than others?

Hi Laura! It’s fahrenheit! Thanks for visiting and asking!

Oh no! I can think of several things…
1) How do you measure your flour? Do you dip the measuring cup straight into the bag and scoop? This will compact the flour and can make your cookies too dense and your results will be inconsistant. I place my measuring cup on a plate and lightly scoop flour into it using a spoon. Mound it up, run the flat edge of a knife along to top to level it. You can also weigh it.

2) Beating your sugar and butter by hand is feasible, cookies predate electric mixers afterall, but you need to make sure to beat it until it is light and fluffy. This is going to take some serious arm work. I would suggest using a hand mixer or stand mixer if you have one. It usually takes 3-6 minutes with an electric mixer.

3) Was your butter softened enough? Your stick of butter, when properly softened, should bend slightly without cracking or breaking. You should be able to press a finger in the stick and the butter will hold it’s shape but it shouldn’t be melted. This will also make beating to the proper consistancy by hand a lot easier.

I hope that helps and that you try again! Let me know!

It really depends on how large you make them. Mine were a little smaller than 2 tablespoons each and they made approximately 48.

I’m so glad you liked them! I never have a problem with spreading as long as I refrigerate my dough for at least 2 hours prior to baking. We are a touch salt-conscious here, but I bet salted butter or just an extra 1/2 teaspoon would be delicious!

I’m so glad they lived up to your expectations! They would be sensational with nuts. I was going to try them with a little extra salt next time, but now I will scratch that idea! Thanks for the update!

I’m so glad you found me, Allison!! I’ll have to try them with maple syrup because the flavor combo just sounds divine! You absolutely must try the classic pecan pie! It was sensational and it was gone 2 days before the pumpkin!

Thanks Alexandra! Your addition of craisins sounds wonderful! A nice Fall / Winter twist!

Hi Mary! I have just added 1.5 teaspoons of cornstarch to my cookie recipes without adjusting any other element, and it has worked beautifully! I have only tried this with chocolate chip cookie recipes, so let me know if you try something new!

I know you’ll love them!!! I wish I had some tonight!

Thank you Britte! I’m so glad you liked them! I’ll have to try different types of chips too! Thanks for the tip because I know there are people out there who like a little crispier cookie!

The ability to roll them into balls depends on how soft your butter was when you started and how long you refrigerated them. I am all for the good old-fashioned, time-saving drop them from a spoon onto a cookie sheet method though!

It makes about 24! Enjoy!

Hi Susan! I’m so sorry that yours didn’t turn out. I also roll mine into balls before placing them on the baking sheet because they make more uniformly shaped cookies. There are several factors that could contribute to your cookies not spreading.
1) Is your butter softened? You can try the bend test. When you bend the stick of properly softened butter, it should bend easily but your fingers should not melt into it and it should not crack. If you butter is too hard then your cookies will not spread as much.
2) Is your oven true to temperature? If it isn’t hot enough then they won’t spread.
3) Did you refrigerate your dough prior to rolling and baking? In this particular recipe I did not refrigerate my dough to make the cookies that I photographed. I did refrigerate the remaining dough and those cookies spread less than the ones pictured but they still spread a bit. You can try either baking the dough immediately after mixing, or letting your dough come to room temperature prior to baking.
4) I’ve read that old baking soda will cause cookies not to spread. Baking soda loses it’s effectiveness over time and they recommend a new box every several months. I usually keep mine 6 months, which is probably too long.

I hope that helps!

I wasn’t aware that you could change other people’s comments on Pinterest. That certainly is odd. You are welcome for the answer – I enjoy helping!

Thank you, Jess! I’m so glad that you and your husband loved them! I think Chocolate Chip Cookies are acceptable all year round!

Thank you! I’m so glad you loved them as much as we did!

I’m sorry that you have the same problem as a few others, Dianca. I would suggest the same fixes as I did for them with two additions:

1) Make sure to not over bake them. To achieved the texture you see in the pictures, I take them out of the oven when the edges look crispy and set but the centers still look under-baked.
2) I never pack my flour. The safest bet is to weigh it but I started doing that only very recently. For all the recipes on this site and any others I bake, I spoon flour into a measuring cup and then level it off with a sharp knife. I never scoop directly from the bag into the cup or tap the cup to compress the flour. If you do this, the cookies will be too dense, hard and certainly not chewy.

I hope that helps! Happy baking and Happy New Year!

Large! Thanks for asking!

Thanks for stopping by!! I’m so glad you loved it!

I’m so glad you loved them as much as we did! It is definitely better to let the butter warm up gradually on the counter. No matter how careful I am about microwaving it, I always end up with parts that are hard a rock and spots that are melting. I’ve never cooked with light butter so I am not sure how that would affect the cookies! I also roll mine in a ball to get them to look uniformly smooth and round.

I’m sorry yours were disappointing, Tarver. All of your complaints can happen if the butter isn’t properly softened or properly creamed with the sugar, both of which are more art than science!

Thanks, Ashley! They don’t last very long around here either. I don’t usually cook or bake with margarine, so I have no first-hand answers for you other than margarine will not add any flavor to the cookie, but I did find, after a quick Google search, that margarines with a lower fat content will produce tougher cookies. More here and quite a different result here

Hope that helps!

You are so welcome! I’m overjoyed that you loved them!!

Hi Nadia! I’m so glad that you and your Husband liked them! The more the merrier when it comes to chocolate chips! Glad you threw in some extra! I have been known to do the same when the mood is right!

Good luck saving enough for your friend…you might just have to make more! 😉

Hi Claudia – I’m not sure I really understand the problem?

Hi Lauren, I’m sorry that you had the same problem as some of the others. As you know, baking can be more an art than a science sometimes, and I don’t really have any more ideas beyond what I’ve already shared. But from experience, butter is usually the culprit whether from not being the right temperature at the start or from not creaming it enough with the sugar. Or too much flour- also a common problem. Hope that helps!

I’m sorry yours didn’t turn out like mine, Brianne. Please see some of my responses to other comments with possible reasons for the difference in texture. Thanks for stopping back!

I’m so glad you loved them!! And that you stopped by to comment! If you love Peanut Butter, you should try these cookies next! They are some of the easiest and the tastiest, I have every made!

I’m sorry you had difficulty Elisa. If you want to troubleshoot, please see my in-depth responses to other comments. The spread is all about the softness of your butter, how you measured your flour (too much and you won’t get enough spread), and how well you creamed the butter and sugar. Any one of those factors could create the problems you describe.

I’m so glad you found me! I had to lol about the comments – everyone is entitled to their opinion 🙂

You can find all the links to my social pages at the top of the sidebar (right side column). There is also a “subscribe by email” section further down the side bar where you can enter your email and received email updates of new posts! I hope you follow us!!!

I’m so glad, Tracy! Thanks for stopping back by to tell me! It’s time I make it again too 🙂

Hi Holly! I don’t know why your comment got stuck in my spam. I am so sorry not to get back to you sooner! I mentioned all my best ideas for the same problem as yours in the comments above. My top two reasons are your butter wasn’t soft enough or you didn’t cream the butter enough. Soft butter helps these cookies spread. The second culprit could be how you measure your flour. I scoop mine from the bag into a measuring cup and then level without compacting. If you do the traditional dip the cup into the bag and level then you could have up to 1/2 cup more flour than me and that could make a huge difference! Best of luck and happy baking!

I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Debbie!! I do exactly the same thing – or I will eat them ALL!!!! I have also been known to eat the cookie dough straight from the freezer – not that I can suggest that!

Hahah! I often have that very same concern, Heather! Especially since I always freeze some of the dough in balls for later cravings! It’s dangerous

Hi Victoria! I measure my flour by spooning flour from the bag into a measuring cup being careful not to compact it. Then I level off the measuring cup using a knife. It is so difficult to know when the butter is properly creamed! I completely understand. The amount of time varies by the power and speed of your mixer and the temperature of your butter. I cream my butter until it is visibly lightened and no longer as dense as when I first started. It will look fluffier and less thick. If your butter is actually room temperature this will only take about 1 minute on medium high speed, but if your butter was still a little cold from the fridge, this will take a bit longer (more like 3 minutes). You can over-cream your butter, it will begin to look the color of shortening and will begin to break. I hope that helps!

Thank you so much Karen for taking the time to stop back and comment! I am impressed to know that they didn’t need any adjustments even at 5500 feet!!! To keep cookies soft you can steal a trick from my grandmother – put them in a ziplock with a piece of bread. The bread gets dry and the cookies stay soft! It’s crazy!

Hoooray!!!! Thanks Karolina! They are my favorite too and I have tried A LOT of chocolate chip cookies!