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
- 3/4 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.
- Add brown sugar, and mix in.
- Let stand 5 minutes.
- Add egg and egg yolk; stir to combine.
- Stir in vanilla extract.
- Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir until just combined. Please see the comments about flour in the recipe notes.
- Stir in 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.
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
Erika gaw says
Would like to try this recipe… ? What kind of sugar and chocolate brand did you used? Did you sprinkle salt on top of the cookie?
Kate says
I did! I sprinkled a little coarse sea salt on the top. For the chocolate chunks, I chop up bars of either Ghirardelli baking chocolate or Baker’s baking chocolate (semisweet or bittersweet). I used the Bakers & Chefs lights brown sugar from Sam’s to make these cookies. Hope that helps! =)
Alexandra says
This is my favourite choc chip cookie recipe, they are perfect! I chill for 30 mins so they don’t spread too much. Thank you for this recipe! ?
Kate says
Yay!! I’m so glad to hear that! =) Thank you for commenting!
Katie says
Love this recipe!!!! My kids went crazy for the cookies. Said they were the best chocolate chip cookies they have ever had. Yay! I followed it exactly and weighed the flour. That was a good tip. And I love that you don’t have to soften the butter. Thank you for the recipe.
Kate says
Yay!! I’m so glad! And I’m glad to hear that weighing the flour worked well for you. Thank you for taking the time to comment! =)
frania says
This is *the* chocolate chip cookie recipe. My life was changed when I discovered browned butter for baking. Cheers!
Kate says
Thank you! I’m so glad that you liked the cookies! Thanks for commenting! =)
Ameerah A. says
I made these cookies and as far as the taste they are amazing. However; I followed the recipe exact measurements and the dough was very crumbly. I used the recommended cookie scoop of 1 1/2 tbsp and when the cookies cooked they stayed as the shape of the scoop, never flattened out. Wondering what I did wrong but they were still yummy none the less.
Kate says
Hi! If the dough is crumbly and the cookies hold their shape while they bake, it’s because there’s too much flour in the dough. It’s really easy to get extra flour packed in the measuring cup because flour compacts so easily. =) Try stirring or sifting the flour before measuring, and then lightly spoon it into your measuring cup and then level it off. Hope that helps!
Erika says
Do you use salted or unsalted butter?
Kate says
I use salted butter. You can use either, though, depending on your preference.
Trina says
The cookies are soft and chewy just like we like them.
Kate says
Great! I’m so glad that you liked them! Thanks for commenting! =)
Madison says
Hello! I followed your recipe to a T.
I weighed my flower and everything, yet my cookies did not turn out like your picture. They were still great, I am just unsure why they did not spread! They were more of a cakey consistency!
Kate says
Hi! I’m glad they still tasted good! =) If you weighed the flour, the next thing I would check is your oven temperature. If you don’t have an oven thermometer, I would try reducing the temperature by 25F next time to see if that helps. Also, I’ve found that they spread a little more when I used chopped baking chocolate than when I used chocolate chips.
Silvia says
Simple and delicious! I’ve never really been able to make cookies but following this recipe I just made cookies I’m obsessed with!! Thanks :)
Silvia says
I used muscovado sugar to make the cookies :)
Kate says
Thank you! It’s helpful to hear what subs have worked for people. =)
Kate says
Thank you! I’m so glad that you like the cookies! =) Thank you for commenting!
Lauren says
Did you use dark or light brown sugar for these! Making them today and I am SO excited!
Kate says
You can use either in these cookies. I used light brown sugar for the cookies pictured on the page. I’ve also used dark brown sugar in the cookies. It gives them more of a toffee flavor. Hope you enjoy the cookies! =)
Michelle says
Great recipe! I followed it to a T and turned out great. Thanks!
Kate says
Thanks! I’m so glad that you liked the cookies! Thanks for commenting! =)
Rachel says
Have you tried these browning the butter? I pretty much think everything with melted butter should be browned (it’s an addiction), but would it hurt the texture?
Kate says
I have. I love browned butter, too. However, the cookies were drier than when just made with melted butter. I think it would take more butter than they currently call for for these to work as a brown butter cookie. Hope that helps! =)
Lupe Gomez says
Followed the recipe to a T. Just doesn’t taste right never got gold in around the edges I’m making it on a countertop oven would that have something to do with it?
Kate says
I think so! It sounds like you’ll need to play around with the temperature that you bake the cookies at in your toaster (counter) oven. Good luck!
Jaime says
I’m kind of famous for my baking at work – I have a “go to” cookie recipe and rarely stray from that, but the pictures of these cookies caused me to give them a shot on a whim. Everyone RAVED about them telling me I had “outdone” myself and several people asked what my secret ingredient was. Great recipe – I love that I can make with melted butter too!
Kate says
Yay!! I’m so glad that they were a hit! I love to hear things like this! Thanks for taking the time to comment. =)
Ethan says
This is my first time baking all by myself, and they turned out amazing. I loved them, and they were easy to make. I added cinnamon to half of them and that was delicious too
Kate says
Yay!! I’m so happy to hear that!! Cinnamon sounds like a delicious addition. =) Thank you for coming back to comment!
Ashley says
Hi! The images when you pin this recipe look very different from the images in the video.
Are these the same cookies? One looks like a flat, crispy meaty delicious cookie. The one in the video looks a little more chewy.
Thank for your help!! Both look delicious :)
Kate says
Hi! They are. The difference is that the cookies in the pin use chopped baking chocolate versus the chocolate chips. The baking chocolate does cause the cookies to spread slightly more than when chocolate chips are used. Both ways will give you a chewy cookie though. There is also one picture on the page that shows what the cookies look like after chilling the dough, and that one has a note underneath it. Hope that helps!
Jill says
Yummy!! Easy to follow, really quick, and delicious!! I chopped up a symphony bar and salted Caramel dove bar to make it extra special!!
Kate says
Well that sounds delicous! Glad that you liked the cookies! Thanks for coming back to comment. =)
Paula Ashley says
These are a great quick cookie to throw together. My grandson loved them so that’s the only approval I need!!!
Kate says
Thank you so much! I’m so glad! That’s the best kind of approval. =) Thank you for coming back to comment!
Isela says
These were sooo good ! I used dark chocolate chips and was the only change I made. Everything else I followed to the exact and they turned out delicious ! Thank you so much for sharing your recipe, it made my daughter’s and I a perfect Sunday and memory to share.
Kate says
Thank you! I’m so glad! Thank you for coming back to comment! =)
Anna says
Does the dough freeze well?
Kate says
It does! I just freeze scoops of the dough, and it’s worked well.
Courtney says
I only have salted butter on hand, could I just omit the added salt listed in the ingredients??
Kate says
You can!
Lisa hill says
Can this recipe work as a cookie bar in a jelly roll pan?
Kate says
I’m sorry, but I haven’t tried to make it as a bar cookie to say for certain.