Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

By
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 12/13/21
Tested by Tara Omidvar
Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies stacked

The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 12 mins
Chill: 60 mins
Total: 82 mins
Servings: 24 servings
Yield: 24 cookies

If you love your chocolate chip cookies soft and chewy, this is the recipe for you! One extra egg yolk and a little cornstarch make these cookies perfectly soft, with the same wonderful flavor everyone loves. With melted butter and no extensive mixing, preparation is speedy and easy. The cookie dough is chilled to keep the cookies from spreading, but feel free to skip chilling if you're short on time—they'll spread, but they'll still be the best chocolate chip cookies you've ever tasted.

You'll find that these chocolate chip cookies are so easy to make from scratch, you may never purchase a mix or refrigerated cookie dough again. And they taste much better!

You can make the dough and store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before baking. Plus, the cookies—baked or unbaked—freeze beautifully, so feel free to make a double or triple batch. Or make extra cookies for a bake sale or special occasion.

"These cookies are not just delicious but they’re also perfectly soft! They're easy to prep and the melted butter makes the process go faster. If this is too big a batch, you can easily freeze the cookie dough balls and bake them right out of the freezer." —Tara Omidvar

Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

  • 2 3/4 cups (340 grams) all-purpose flour

  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch

  • 1 teaspoon baking soda

  • 3/4 teaspoon salt

  • 1 cup unsalted butter, melted

  • 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar, light or dark

  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar

  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

  • 1 large egg

  • 1 large egg yolk

  • 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies ingredients in bowls

    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

  2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt. Stir to blend and set aside.

    Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt in a bowl with a wooden spoon

    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

  3. In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, beat the melted butter with the brown and granulated sugars until smooth and well blended. Add the vanilla extract, whole egg, and egg yolk and beat until smooth.

    Butter, brown sugar, vanilla extract and egg mixture in a bowl, next to a hand mixer

    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

  4. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the wet mixture until blended.

    Cookie dough in a bowl with a wooden spoon

    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

  5. Fold in the chocolate chips. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

    Chocolate chip cookie dough in a bowl covered with plastic wrap

    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

  6. Preheat the oven to 350 F and line baking sheets with parchment paper.

    Parchment paper lined baking sheets

    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

  7. Scoop the cookie dough with a 1 1/2-tablespoon cookie scoop or rounded tablespoon and drop the mounds onto the prepared baking sheets, leaving about 2 inches between cookies.

    Cookie dough balls on a parchment paper lined baking sheet

    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

  8. Bake the chocolate chip cookies for about 10 to 12 minutes, or just until the edges look lightly browned. The tops will still be a bit pale.

    Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies on a parchment paper lined baking sheet

    The Spruce / Julia Hartbeck

Tips

Recipe Variations

  • Instead of semisweet chocolate chips, use chocolate chunks, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or a combination of flavors.
  • Add texture to the cookies with about 1/2 cup of finely chopped walnuts, pecans, or peanuts.


How to Store and Freeze Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • Store the cookies in a tightly covered container or zip-close bag at room temperature. For best texture and flavor, eat the cookies within 1 week or freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen baked cookies at room temperature.
  • To warm frozen baked cookies, place them on a baking sheet and bake at 300 F for about 5 to 10 minutes. Or microwave the cookies for about 20 to 30 seconds, or until warm.
  • To freeze unbaked cookies, scoop them onto a baking sheet and freeze. When the cookie dough mounds are frozen solid, transfer them to zip-close freezer bags or containers. Freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months.
  • To cook frozen unbaked cookies, place them on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Preheat oven to 350 F and bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Why are my chocolate chip cookies flat?

Two things can cause cookies to spread: butter that is too warm and soft, and not having enough flour in your dough. To avoid excessive spreading, measure or weigh the flour carefully and chill the dough for at least an hour before baking.

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
228 Calories
12g Fat
30g Carbs
3g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 24
Amount per serving
Calories 228
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 12g 15%
Saturated Fat 7g 35%
Cholesterol 44mg 15%
Sodium 88mg 4%
Total Carbohydrate 30g 11%
Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
Total Sugars 18g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 0mg 0%
Calcium 18mg 1%
Iron 1mg 6%
Potassium 75mg 2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)