How to Make Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: March 16, 2023 References Tested

Chocolate chip cookies are delicious and are considered by some to be one of the best types of cookies around. If you're looking for a chewy cookie rather than a crunchy one, you will love the cookies made following this recipe. The secret to their chewiness is the brown sugar, which miraculously increases the moisture content of the cookie. ^{[1]
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This recipe makes approximately 2 dozen medium sized cookies.

Ingredients

1 cup white sugar (201 grams / 7.1 ounces)
⅓ cup brown sugar (73 grams / 2.5 ounces)
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ eggs (decreasing egg yolk amounts creates optimized lightness and fluffy texture to the dough)
1 cup of butter (between refrigerator and room temperature) (227g/8oz)
2 ¼ cups of flour (adapt this for elevation and humidity as needed, make sure the cups are level) (288 grams / 10 ounces)
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
2 cups of chocolate chips (if small, less if large)

Steps

1
Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC.
2
Add the vanilla, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and butter to a bowl.
- Use coarser sugar for thicker, chewier cookies. When sugar dissolves, it acts as a tenderizer that interferes with dough structure. This increases spreading because finer sugar dissolves more easily than coarser sugar. So if you want your cookies to remain thick and chewy, use coarse sugar (or use fine sugar for the opposite effect). If you decide to use powdered sugar for extra crispiness, make sure it doesn't have corn starch in it, or you'll get unexpected results.^{[2]
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- Mix these ingredients together until creamy.
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3
Whisk flour, salt, and baking soda into another bowl.
4
Mix dry and wet ingredients until fully blended, without over-mixing. Add the milk to achieve a smoothly blended dough. There shouldn't be any clumps of flour or lumps of butter. Make sure all the ingredients are evenly distributed through your dough. After blending the mixture, add the chocolate chips. Mix them in.^{[3]
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5
Apply cooking spray to a pan so that the cookies won't stick to the baking pan. Alternatively, line the pan with wax paper.
6
Take a small quantity of your cookie dough and roll it in your hands into a ball shape. The ball will flatten when cooked so try to visualise the size of your finished cookie when you form the balls of dough. Make 24 balls of dough.
7
Place the cookie balls on the baking pan.
8
Flatten each cookie dough ball with a fork. This will leave distinct ridges and flatten the cookie neatly.
9
Put cookies in the oven for about 8-10 minutes. Don't overdo the cooking, as they'll continue to cook for a short while after you remove them from the oven.^{[4]
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10
Take the cookies out of the oven and let them sit on a wire cooling rack for about 15 minutes to cool. Be careful not to burn yourself on the melted chips when transferring the cookies to the rack - use a spatula. The cookies are ready to eat when the chocolate chips solidify again.^{[5]
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11
Store in an airtight container or eat the cookies once they're cooled.^{[6]
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Community Q&A

Question

Do I need to use cooking spray or can I use coconut oil spray for it to not stick?

Community Answer

I always use cooking spray. For me, it makes sure that nothing sticks, and it's easy to just spray on. But, coconut oil spray works just as well.
Question

Can these be made without chocolate chips?

Community Answer

It's possible even without the chocolate chips. They don't really mix into the dough, so the cookie shouldn't be affected.
Question

Can I add my own flavor to the cookies?

Community Answer

Yes, you can do that. You can also add food coloring if you would like.

Warnings

Be careful when using the oven, especially when you are around little kids. Always supervise children who are helping with cooking.

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