Extra Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Crispy edges with chewy centers; these are the best extra chewy chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made! I’ll explain everything you need to know to make the BEST chocolate chips cookies EVER!

This post has been 10+ years in the making, would you believe that?

It’s a chocolate chip cookie recipe that I started making back when I was in college. And over the years, I’ve been tweaking and editing it to perfect my idea of the best chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe. It needed to be sweet, but not overly sweet, like an adult chocolate chip cookie where it’s multidimensional with notes of butterscotch and a bit of flaked sea salt to tone down the sweetness.

Take it from someone who is evidently very picky and not easily satisfied with just any old chocolate chip cookie recipe. This one has it all. It has the perfect amount of sugar, so it’s sweet, but not cloyingly sweet, like so many CC cookies out there. It has a crispy, crunchy outer rim with an extra chewy center. 

I kid you not, I had to give most of the batch away because otherwise you better believe I. would. have. eaten. every. single. cookie.

Yes, I would.

@littlespicejar THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES YOU’LL EVER HAVE. Bold statement, but I stand by it! Full recipe linked in my profile and on littlespicejar.com. #chocolate #chocolatechipcookies #cookie #cookiesoftiktok #cookies #chocolatechip #chocolatechipcookies🍪 #chocolatechipcookierecipe #chocolatechipcookies🤍🍪 ♬ Wes Anderson-esque Cute Acoustic – Kenji Ueda

Ingredients for Extra Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies and the roles they play:

• Melted Butter: Melting the butter allows you to make the best chewy chocolate chip cookies. Once the butter is melted, we combine it with the sugars and whisk. Whisking and allow the sugar to sit in the butter for a couple of minutes allows the sugar to melt into the butter, creating an even chewier cookie. Also, all of this can be done with a whisk, so you don’t even need a stand mixer for this!
• Brown sugar: The higher ratio of brown sugar to granulated sugar produces a chewier cookie. It also aids in giving these cookies a deeper more intense butterscotchy flavor. And if you don’t think you’d like that, reserve judgment until you try these! You’ll also notice that I use a lot less sugar than most chocolate chip cookies. Since we’re melting the butter and allow the sugar to melt into it, we can use less sugar while still making these cookies perfectly sweet.
• Granulated sugar: White sugar gives cookies a chance to spread when they hit the hot oven. It also adds a bit of crispness to the outer edges of these cookies.
• An egg: eggs are used to add structure to baked goods.
• An egg yolk: Instead of using two full eggs, my trick is to use an extra egg yolk that will make these cookies dense and chewy. Egg whites add a lot of moisture to a recipe, cutting back on one makes these cookies chewy and fudgy. 
• Vanilla extract: Vanilla just adds to the butterscotch flavor of the chocolate chip cookies.
• Kosher Salt: I not only use salted butter but also add kosher salt to help flavor these cookies. If you don’t have salted butter, just increase the total amount of kosher salt to a total of ¾ teaspoon. It adds a nice balance to all the sweetness of cookies.
• Baking soda: aids in helping the cookies rise. You’ll notice that I use a bit more than most cookies that call for 2 cups of flour. That’s because I want these cookies to rise quite a bit and then, I’ll slam the cookie sheet on the counter to knock the air out, making these cookies extra chewy!
• All-Purpose flour: The all-purpose flour absorbs all the melted butter as we allow the cookie dough to chill and ‘marinate.’ I suggest using unbleached all-purpose flour for this recipe. The method I use when measuring flour for this recipe is the scoop and level method. I use a smaller scoop/measuring cup and add flour to a larger one until it’s heaping full. In this case, I’d use ¼ cup measure to add flour to a 1 cup scoop. Then, use a knife and run it across the top to level it out without adding pressure on the knife. This method works best when baking cookies/cakes
• Chocolate Chips: You can use just about any kind of chocolate chips you like for this recipe, but I like to use bittersweet chocolate chips as I find it makes these cookies the perfect amount of sweet for us. I’ve tried them with semi-sweet chocolate chips but for me, they were still cloyingly sweet.

Why do you let the butter and sugar mixture sit? 

Butter provides two essential ingredients to the cookie dough: water and fat. When you melt the butter and let the sugar hang out in a bowl together, the water from the butter allows the sugars to dissolve better into the cookie dough. As you continue to whisk, you are incorporating air into the butter mixture, which not only causes the mixture to become a lighter color but also adds air into the batter which aids in leavening the cookie.

What is the correct chocolate chip to cookie dough ratio in chewy chocolate chip cookies?

This is very subjective! The general rule of thumb for chocolate chip cookies is that you would use 1 cup of chocolate chips for every cup of flour the recipe calls for. Since our recipe uses 2 cups of flour, we would technically use 2 cups of chocolate chips. I find that to be A LOT of chocolate chips, so I like to use 1¼ cups of chocolate chips for every 2 cups of flour. That’s my sweet spot. However, this recipe is developed with everyone in mind, and you can use anywhere from 1 ¼ – 2 cups of chocolate chips in this recipe.

TIP: chocolate chips are usually added to cookies on a 1:1 ratio of chips to flour. I use a little less than that and find the cookies to have a better taste and texture this way.

How to make the Best Extra Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies:

1. Make the cookie dough: start by combining the brown and granulated sugar in a bowl with melted butter and whisk for a minute. Then, allow the mixture to rest for 2 minutes. Add the yolk, the egg, vanilla, and salt and continue to whisk the mixture for 30 seconds or until everything is combined. Allow for the mixture to rest for another two minutes, before whisking it one last time for 30 seconds. This process adds air to the mixture and will visibly make the sugar mixture lighter in color as you whisk. Then add half of the flour, the baking soda, and follow it up with the remaining flour (including the 1 additional tablespoon listed in ingredients.) Fold the mixture about halfway, before adding in the chocolate chips. I hang back on ¼ cup of chips and use them to top the cookies with right before baking. Cover the dough and allow it to chip in the refrigerator for 3-72 hours.
2. Make dough balls: Preheat the oven while you’re making dough balls. I recommend investing in an oven thermometer to make your oven reaches the temperature when it’s preheating. It’s a few dollars but it makes all the difference when you’re baking cookies and cakes! Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and scoop out 3 tablespoons of dough. I recommend using a cookie scooper to ensure all the dough balls are the same size. Place 6 cookie dough balls per sheet pan. Then, gently flatten out the dough ball so the top peak just sits flat and speckle with additional chocolate chips if you’d like. Place the cookie sheet in the refrigerator and allow for the dough to chill for at least 5-7 minutes before popping it in the oven. 
3. Bake and bang: Bake the cookies for 11-13 minutes or until they’re just a tad bit underdone. Remove the baking sheet promptly and bang the cookie sheet on the counter to knock out the extra air and make them extra chewy. Then, allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. Cookies are best once they’ve had a chance to set up (so about 5-7 minutes after you get them out of the oven.)

Why do you bake the cookies at 375ºF rather than 350ºF?

I’ve made these cookies more times than I can count and I tested them at 325ºF, 350ºF, and 375ºF. After all of that I found the most superior cookie was the one I baked at 375ºF because of a little thing called the Maillard reaction.

Maillard reaction: is a reaction that occurs between sugar and a protein resulting in browning. Because it occurs at 356ºF, baking a cookie at 350ºF would technically never take the cookie to its full potential because the sugars won’t caramelize. When sugar caramelizes you’re left with a nutty, toffee-like flavor that works beautifully in this recipe.

Why do you suggest letting the cookie dough refrigerate rather than baking the cookies right away?

Allowing the cookie dough batter to sit in the refrigerator produces cookies that are chewier, thick, and flavorful. I like to think of it as if you’re ‘marinating’ the batter or ‘aging’ the dough. The flour has a chance to absorb the melted butter and leaves you with almost a butterscotch flavor in the cookies.

Why do you bang the pan on the counter when you remove the chocolate chip cookies from the oven?

Banging the pan at the end helps knock the air out of the cookie and creates ridges that will become chewy as the cool. Keep in mind that this method only works when you under bake the cookie. If the cookie is cooked and set, it won’t create ripples. 

Just a fair warning, the recipe card may look like it’s a lot of directions, however, I wanted to make sure I was as detailed as possible to ensure you get the same (or better) results at home! I hope you love these extra chewy chocolate chip cookies as much as we did! 

This post was 10 years in the making so needless to say, I can’t wait for you to make them!

If you like this recipe you might also like:

• Easy Shortbread Twix Cookies
• One Bowl Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
• Brown Butter Pecan Chocolate Chip Blondies