Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe! This chocolate chip cookie recipe is made with only brown sugar and makes cookies that are the perfect blend of soft and chewy!
These Chewy Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies are easy to make!
They’re great spur-of-the-moment cookies because there is no need to soften the butter ahead of time. The dough comes together in a matter of minutes, and no chilling is required.
If you like a thicker cookie, you can refrigerate it for 30 minutes or so before baking, but no need to chill it if you don’t want to.
And the use of all brown sugar gives these cookies a deeper, richer flavor and makes for chewy cookies. So, the next time a cookie craving strikes, bake up a batch of these cookies!
What makes these cookies chewy?
- Melted butter: Using melted butter helps the cookies to come together quickly, and it also increases the chewiness.
- Brown sugar: Using only brown sugar helps to make them chewier.
- Extra egg yolk: The fat in the yolk helps to increase chewiness.
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Butter: I use salted butter in this recipe. If you’re using unsalted butter, increase the salt by 1/4 teaspoon.
- If you want to brown the butter, you will need to use more butter because browning butter causes it to cook down. Otherwise, you will be left with a drier dough. You could also try my brown butter chocolate chip cookie recipe.
- Brown sugar: Light brown sugar or dark brown sugar will work. Dark brown sugar will give you richer, more toffee-like flavor.
- This recipe uses only brown sugar, no white sugar, in order to make the cookies chewier.
- Flour: Correctly measuring the ingredients is key! I suggest weighing the ingredients. If you aren’t going to weigh the flour, then you need to aerate it (sifting or fluffing) and then lightly spoon into the measuring cup and leveling. If you don’t want to sift or weigh the flour, please use less flour. Packing in too much flour will cause the cookies not to spread.
- Chocolate: You can substitute 4 ounces finely chopped semisweet baking chocolate for chocolate chips. This will give you a flatter cookie that spreads more.
- Feel free to use a different type of chocolate chip – semisweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, or even white chocolate chips will work. Chocolate chunks can also be used.
How to make chewy chocolate chip cookies
Here you’ll find step-by-step photos showing how to make this recipe. The full recipe is given below.
Step 1: Melt butter in a heavy saucepan. or in a microwave-safe bowl. The butter should be just melted. If you want to brown the butter, please see the note above in “Ingredient notes and substitutions”.
Step 2: Add brown sugar to a large bowl.
Step 3: Stir to combine butter and sugar. Let stand 5 minutes.
Step 4: Add egg and egg yolk; stir to combine. Stir in vanilla extract.
Step 5: Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir in dry ingredients until just combined. Please see the comments about flour in the “Ingredient notes and substitutions” section.
Step 6: Stir in chocolate chips or chunks.
Step 7: Using a medium cookie scoop (1.5 tablespoon), drop scoops of dough 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet.
Step 8: Bake for about 7-10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. The centers should still look soft and slightly underbaked. That will help to keep the cookies soft.
Step 9: Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Remove to wire rack to finish cooling.
Recipe Tips!
- Mixing: I suggest stirring this recipe together by hand rather than using a hand or stand mixer.
- Baking: It’s important to slightly underbake the cookies. This will give you a softer, chewier cookie.
- Oven temperature: If you’d like the cookies to spread more or brown less, decrease the oven temperature by 25F to 350F.
- Flat cookies: If your cookies are coming out too flat, cover and chill the dough for 30-60 minutes. Also, some people have had better luck using 3 cups of flour (360g).
- Topping: The cookies are great as-is, but if you like more salty/sweet flavor, sprinkle the cookies with a bit of sea salt or finishing salt.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! I recommend flash freezing the dough in scoops by placing scoops of the dough onto a baking sheet. Once the dough is frozen through, transfer the frozen balls of cookie dough to a freezer-safe container, and store in the freezer.
You can! Bake the cookies as-directed. Let the cookies cool to room temperature on a wire cooling rack. Place the cookies in a freezer-safe container, and freeze.
Storage
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. They will keep for up to 4 days when properly stored.
More easy cookie recipes!
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Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar packed
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour Please see the note below about measuring the flour.
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt or scant 1/2 teaspoon table salt
- 10 ounce package chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mat.
- Melt the butter in a large microwave-safe bowl. The butter should be just melted. If you want to brown the butter, please see the note below.1 cup butter
- Add brown sugar, and mix in.1 ½ cups brown sugar
- Let stand 5 minutes.
- Add egg and egg yolk; stir to combine.1 large egg , 1 egg yolk
- Stir in vanilla extract.1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir until just combined. Please see the comments about flour in the recipe notes.2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- Stir in chocolate chips.10 ounce package chocolate chips
- Using a medium cookie scoop (1.5 tablespoon), drop scoops of dough 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake for about 7-10 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are golden brown. The centers should still look soft and slightly underbaked. That will help to keep the cookies soft.
- Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes. Remove to wire rack to finish cooling.
Video
Notes
- Recipe change note: I recently decreased the amount of flour called for in the recipe due to product changes. The previous amount of flour called for was 3 cups or 360 grams.
- Butter: If you want to brown the butter, you will need to use more butter because browning butter causes it to cook down. Otherwise, you will be left with a drier dough.
- Flour: Correctly measuring the ingredients is key! I highly suggest weighing the ingredients. If you don’t weigh the flour, you’ll need to aerate the flour (sifting or fluffing) and then lightly spoon it into the measuring cup and level. If you don’t want to sift or weigh the flour, please use less flour. Packing in too much flour will cause the cookies not to spread.
- Can substitute 4 ounces finely chopped semisweet baking chocolate for chocolate chips.
- I suggest stirring this recipe together by hand rather than using a hand or stand mixer.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
- Love chocolate? Try the chocolate chocolate chip version of this cookie!
Nutrition
Did You Make This Recipe?
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Originally published 1/26/16.
Reader Interactions
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Comments & Reviews
Jenny says
It’s a day before payday. I was craving cookies but had no white sugar and only half a bag of mini choco chips. This was the easiest and highest rated recipe so I gave it a go. SO amazing! Mine turned out thick and floofy even without refrigeration but I did have to cook them 10 minutes to get them golden! Thank you for this awesome recipe!!
Kate says
Yay! I’m glad you found the recipe and liked them! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Val says
Excellent cookie recipe! My granddaughters and I had er made it 3 times this month and it is alreadya family favorite!!!!
Kate says
Thank you so much! I can’t tell you how much I enjoy comments like yours! They really make my day. =D
Sylvia harrington says
Did you use dark or light brown sugar
Kate says
I usually use light brown sugar, and that’s what I used for the batches that are pictured. I have used dark brown, and the dark brown sugar gives the cookies more of a toffee flavor. So, really, you can use either one.
Maria says
I made these! Excellent! I used large Hershey mini kisses instead.
Kate says
So glad you liked them! Hershey kisses sound like a fun addition. =)
Emily says
Does the c mean cups?
Kate says
Yes, I use “c” for cup(s), “T” for tablespoon(s), and “tsp” for teaspoon(s). Let me know if you have any other questions!
Krystal says
Just made these cookies ? and they were so amazing! Definitely will be making these again for my family!
Kate says
So glad that you liked them! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment! =)
Steph says
I’ve been trying recipes left and right looking for a chewy recipe. When I saw that you only used brown sugar, I knew this would work. I made them last night (with a stand mixer) and they turned out wonderfully. The dough was delicious, they were delicious warm out of the oven, and they’re delicious once they’ve cooled. Next time I’ll mix by hand to remove the last bit of cakey-ness. I’ve also read that increasing the sugar content helps with chewyness, so I might try that too. But this will for sure be our “family” recipe from now on! Thank you!
Kate says
I’m so glad that you liked them! Yes, brown sugar definitely helps to make a chewier cookie. Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment! =)
Christine says
I went in search of a recipe that used melted butter so that I could salvage some brown sugar that had gotten irreversibly rock solid. I had a mish-mosh of chips left in my cupboards, so I ended up using some mini- chocolate chips, reg PB chips and some large size of the Ghirardelli Chocolate chips top.
Turned out great!
I highly suggest following the directions and use the Kosher Salt if you have it.
What a terrific snap to every bite!
Thank you for the recipe (and Google for finding you)!!!
You now have one more faithful FB friend.
Kate says
I’m so glad that you liked them! Trying to rescue hard brown sugar can be a pain, but I’m glad that it all worked out for you. Kosher salt has become my secret cookie weapon (it’s also great on baked potatoes). Thank you so much for taking the time to come back and leave such a nice comment!
Robin says
Will these be good with dark brown sugar? Thanks!
Kate says
I’ve made them with both light and brown sugar depending on what I had more of at the time. I’ve found that there were just slight differences. The dark brown sugar gave the colors a slightly deeper color and a little richer flavor (IMO), so I think you’re fine to use either.
Kristina says
Loved loved this recipe! My only issue with hand mixing it was that the chocolate chips weren’t evenly distributed in the dough. They sank to the bottom of the bowl so the last batch of cookies had a LOT of chips, which was ok. Also, my bag of chocolate chips was 12 oz so maybe I used too many? Is that a thing? ?
Kate says
Thank you! I don’t know that you can have too many chocolate chips. =) This dough firms up a little as it sits, so you could wait for it to firm up a bit and then give it another stir. The other thing that you can do (and it makes the cookies look pretty, too) is to set aside about 1/4-1/3 cup of chocolate chip cookies. Then, gently press them into the dough balls right before baking.
Tracy says
I didn’t see the hand stir note until I’d already used my mixer. They turned out perfectly. Chewy, rich, and delicious! Thanks!
Kate says
Great! I’m glad to hear that! And thank you for letting me know that they worked well with the mixer! That info is much appreciated.
EZ says
this is so good and amazing!!!!!! I highly recommend these cookies! =) =) They were so fun to make on a weekend with family! Please make them and you will find joy!! It is a great way to get together with family and friends!!!!
Kate says
Thank you!! =D
April says
I just made these and the didn’t spread out, they stayed in the same shape of the cookie scoop…
Kate says
I’m sorry to hear that! Did you, perhaps, use a mixer? Someone commented that they ended up with a heavy cookie when they mixed it with an electric mixer. Also, I’ve had that happen when I’ve been testing recipes and have gotten too much flour in my dough. How do you measure your flour?
April says
No I don’t have a mixer. I measure the flour with a measuring cup, making sure to have it even, not heaping so I don’t use too much by accident.
Kate says
Hmmmm…I fluff my flour before I measure it. I’ve found that it really helps.
I did some Googling, and I found out a few reasons why cookies may not spread. It looks like possible causes include old baking soda, a cooler oven, dough that’s very cold, using a dark nonstick baking sheet, and too much flour in the dough.
Brett says
Mine too! And they were really dry. I didn’t see the hand mix comment until it was too late. It does seem like there is too much flour also. Glad to see I’m not the only one who screwed these up ?
Kate says
The amount of flour can vary tremendously depending on how it is measured. I find that fluffing or sifting my flour prior to measuring it helps to keep the flour from getting packed down and prevents excess flour from sneaking in.
Suzanne stekic says
Oh my gosh!
These cookies are amazing… seriously best recipe I’ve tasted in a long time!
Kate says
Thank you so much! It really makes my day to hear that people are enjoying my recipes. =)
Grace D says
I used a hand mixer. I guess I missed the part where you don’t. The “stir” should have been my clue…HA! Anyway, they came out like a cross between a little biscuit and a scone. Still tastey but it doesn’t look like a cookie. We will still enjoy them! Next time no mixer! ;)
Kate says
I’m sorry to hear that, but I appreciate you coming back to note that! I’ll make that more clear in the directions to help out the next person.
CK says
When reading a recipe usually it will state to
mix together (which is to use a mixer) or
to stir (which means by hand).
Your entire recipe was well written.
Along with your note at end stating to hand stir.
Not sure how much clearer you could write recipe!
Guess my only suggestion would be to put in recipe by the word stir “(by hand)”
Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe!
Kate says
Thank you! I appreciate your kind words.
Alice says
I was looking for a cookie recipe that didn’t need a mixer, since mine has pieces I need to replace. So glad I found this. Hope to make it tonight!
Kate says
Yay! I’m glad you found it, too! Hope you enjoy the cookies as much as we do. =)
Sirena says
These were so good, nice and soft, chewy..will share recipe:)
Kate says
Thanks! Glad you liked them! =)
Becca says
Best cookies I have ever made! Thanks for the recipe!!!
Kate says
I’m so glad that you like them! Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave a comment! =)
Alex says
I’m curious… why doesn’t the butter and sugar get creamed in a mixer?
Kate says
There’s no need to use a mixer for this recipe. The cookie is a denser, chewier cookie, and so there isn’t really a need to aerate the butter/sugar mixture. Also, the melted butter and sugar combine well as written, so, really, no need for additional incorporation beyond just hand mixing.
Alex says
I’ve never made cookies without a mixer! I’m so excited to not have to lug that thing out! I’m gonna try them tonight :) Thanks for sharing and explaining the cookie science to me! haha
Kate says
Really? I’m excited for you then! =) Here is another (even easier) chocolate chip cookie recipe that doesn’t require a mixer if you’re interested. Hope you enjoy the cookies as much as we do!
Sirena says
I agree, no mixer! Yes!
Doug says
My wife just made these last night and they turned out great!
She improvised a bit, too. Yummy!
Thanks for the great idea!
Doug
Kate says
I’m so glad that you two liked them! I’m all for improvising, and it sounds like it worked out well. Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment! =)
Marsha | Marsha's Baking Addiction says
These cookies look perfection! Absolutely delicious!
Kate says
Thanks so much!!
Julia says
These sound like cookies my kids would love! And easy enough for them to make too!
Kate says
Thanks so much! They are! My kids love to help make these. =)