I'll take pretty much any kind of chocolate chip cookies -- thin, flat, chewy, cakey or crunchy. Chewy is my favorite, but some cookies categorized as chewy aren't chewy enough. What I consider chewy are the ones that you buy at grocery store bakeries. They have a little give to them with every bite. This recipe was my attempt to get the chewiest cookies. The key to this recipe is a lot of sugar, a little cornstarch, an extra-large egg (more on that later), and a combination of melted butter and oil (or tahini - a new addition).
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Recipe Origin
This recipe is a spin-off of one I've used for many years, originally from Gourmet. That one was (still is) a favorite, but it didn't always work for people. Sometimes the cookies would come out really flat, and sometimes they'd be perfect. I think with the extra notes (and changes) on this recipe it should work for everyone. I hope!
Extra-Large Egg
I almost always buy large eggs and only buy "extra-large" if I'm on an Ina Garten kick. So many of her recipes call for them. Since these cookies call for just slightly more egg, it makes sense to just use an extra-large. That said, if you don't have any extra-large eggs, you can always crack 2 eggs, whisk and weigh out the appropriate amount. Or just buy extra-large and make Ina Garten recipes all week.
Cookie Size
These work best as large cookies that start with a quarter cup or packed large cookie scoop of dough. Because they have so much flour and sugar, they're not quite as buttery and can hold a good deal of really rich, melt-y chocolate without being greasy. They're also good when made as medium size cookies using a medium size scoop and adding plenty of good quality chocolate chips.
Gooey or Set
If you like gooey chocolate chip cookies, you can serve them warm. I think the texture improves after a few hours when they've completely cooled and the insides plus the chocolate chips have set. To speed things up, I sometimes freeze them and thaw them again. I've accidentally overbaked these and found that they get hard, then soften up again later.
Tahini and Toffee Chocolate Chunk
This is my newest variation! Instead of using the 2 tablespoons of oil, use 3 tablespoons of rich tahini (like Soom) and along with the chocolate, add some toffee bits. You can make them from scratch or use something like Heath Bars.
Chewiest Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredient Notes
- The butter should be cool so that it will whip better. If you're in a hurry, melt 4 tablespoons, the chop up the remaining 2 and stir the colder butter into the hot butter to cool it down. But the best way is just to melt using a low setting on the microwave.
- Oil or Tahini-- Grapeseed oil makes particularly chewy cookies, but I also like using a really buttery tasting olive oil which adds extra flavor. We buy the "natural butter" flavor from the local gourmet olive oil store. It's great for baking. I listed oil next to the butter in the ingredient list, but I hold off on adding it until after I've whipped the sugar/butter and eggs. For a slightly different flavor, you can use 3 tablespoons of oily, runny tahini such as Sook.
- Beat the butter/sugar/egg mixture with an electric mixer. Even though you are using melted butter and could just stir, the beating dissolves the sugar quicker so you get more caramelization without having to wait.
- Add 1 teaspoon cornstarch to the flour mixture. This helps make the cookies chewy. If you forget it, the cookies will still be good.
- If you can, use at least two different kinds of chips. I use a mixture of Kirkland, Ghirardelli and stick milk chocolate pieces on top.
- Scoop the dough balls and chill pre-formed scoops until ready to bake. The cookies are always better when baked on Day 2. However, you can still bake them (or at least a few) right after scooping. But waiting 24 hours or even longer gives you browner, chewier, more flavorful cookies.
Chewiest Chocolate Chip Small Batch Measurements
Do you want to make a very small batch? Here are the measurements.
¾ cup all-purpose flour or bread flour (103 grams), ½ teaspoon cornstarch, ⅜ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt plus a pinch, 3 tablespoons melted and cooled unsalted butter (42 grams), 1 T. grapeseed oil or any other oil OR 1 ½ tablespoons tahini, ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar (75 grams) ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams), 32 grams beaten egg (mix it in a little cup and weigh it), ½ teaspoon vanilla or vanilla bean paste, ½ cup assorted chocolate chips.
Chilling Dough Balls
Chilling the balls of dough overnight gives you browner, chewier and more flavorful cookies. However, the cookies are still good when baked right away. I usually bake a couple immediately and then chill the balls of dough for at least 24 hours. The cookies just get better and better! I've chilled the dough for up to 4 days.
The cookies usually have more cracks and crevices if I bring them to room temperature before baking.
Recipe
Chewiest Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter (84 grams)
- 1 ⅓ cups bread flour or all-purpose (190 grams)
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt plus a pinch
- 2 tablespoons oil, buttery Orville Redenbacher, olive oil, any other (22 grams)
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar (150 grams)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 1 extra-large egg or 60 grams beaten egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla or vanilla paste
- 1 ½ to 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips plus some bittersweet or other flavored chips
Instructions
- Melt the butter gently over low heat, then remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Do not brown the butter for this recipe. Also, if you have a microwave-safe mixing bowl you can melt the butter directly in the bowl.
- Meanwhile, mix together flour, cornstarch, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- Beat together cool melted butter and sugars in a large bowl using a handheld mixer.
- Add egg and beat with mixer until mixture lightens in color. By hand, stir in the oil (or tahini) and vanilla until blended. Stir in the flour mixture just until blended, then stir in chips.
- Scoop dough with a large or medium size cookie scoop onto a plate or small tray lined with plastic wrap. You should get 10 or 11 large cookies or 21 medium size cookies. Bake immediately if you have to, or chill. Cookies will hold their shape better when baked with chilled dough.
- Cover dough with plastic wrap and chill overnight.
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment or wax paper or skip this step until after you have chilled the dough.
- Bake, 1 sheet at a time, until golden, 12 to 15 minutes (less time if making them small). Transfer cookies to a rack to cool and continue making cookies in same manner using cooled baking sheets.
Sam says
I have been looking for a chocolate chip cookie recipe like this for a long time! Finally I have found it! This is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever!
I added toasted walnuts and dark chocolate chunks, mikl chocolate chunks instead of the chips. I baked them @380 degrees and put the trays on the bottom rack so the edges would bake first and the middles would stay more underdone. They are great!
Joy says
Hi Anna,
I love all your cookie information. I wanted to just make a comment for people searching for great chips in their cookies. Guittard chocolate chips are my absolute favorite brand. I think their semi sweet are actually sweeter than Ghiradelli's and for those of you who like more bittersweet taste they have those type(s) too.
Vienna for Beginners says
Hi Anna,
I discovered your blog some time ago while searching for Sachertorte, only now did I find the time to read through some of your blog entries and recipte. I wanted to drop you a note (a virtual cookie), to let you know I admire the work you put into this blog, generously sharing your hard-won insights. Thank you!
I shall be back,
Merisi
P.S.: I miss both Ghiradelli and Tollhouse morsels here in Vienna. There are some chocolate chips, but besides costing a small fortune, they do not come close the original American brands.
Abi Jones says
Ok, I made these following the pointers above. I made more of a 'monster' cookie with semi-sweet chips, butterscotch chips, coconut, and chopped roasted pecans. These are fantastically enormous, chewy, and thankfully going straight to the office tomorrow, otherwise George and I would eat them all.
Abi Jones says
Oh, those look fantastic. Too bad I made brownies before checking out the site. By the way, I did try to the Amy's Sheperd's Pie, so I'll be reviewing that sometime in the next month. Early word on the street is that it isn't worth the hype. What is worth the hype (and dairy free)? The roasted vegetable pocket. It is fantastic.
Anna says
Hi Monica,
That's a good question. I had a bag of Ghirardelli Bittersweet chips lying around, so I used some of them in half of the dough. They have a distinctly different taste and are bigger than other morsels, which works well in a big cookie.
Late yesterday, I went to Target and bought (along with $80 worth of stuff I can't remember) a dark chocolate Hershey bar. I cut that up and used it in some of the same dough today. I love Ghirardelli, but I actually preferred the Hershey bar chunks this time.
Another thing to note is that the cookies baked up thicker and more beautifully the second day. This is a real make-ahead dough.
Monica says
They sound yummy!!! Just curious, do you have a specific brand of semi-sweet chip to use for this recipe?
Debbi says
I actually had these in the shape of your chewy but sturdy oatmeal cookies, like the picture showed. They cooked wonderfully and everyone said they loved the texture and wanted the recipe. They were a total hit last night. Thanks!
Anna says
Hola Debbi!
Thanks for the report. I was just sitting here thinking how good those cookies were. I packed up most of them, but there's this one in the refrigerator that keeps calling to me. I really like mine after they've set for a while.
These are really good bake-sale material. In fact, I think I'm going to make a "Bake Sale" category.
Debbi says
I just made these and they turned out very thick, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. They looked great, a very pretty cookie. I don't think that I squished them as much as yours which is why they were thick. Mine cooked for 17 minutes at 375 and I got 20 cookies. Chilling the dough was a super suggestion. I made a chocolate bread pudding for a meeting tonight but needed something for the few kids that would be there so these were perfect! I used 2 extra-large eggs instead of 2 large and the extra 1 3/4 tbsp. So mine were short about the 3/4 tbsp. but they seemed fine. 🙂