Food & Cooking Recipes Dessert & Treats Recipes Cookie Recipes Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies 4.0 (8,152) 318 Reviews It's no wonder this is our most popular cookie recipe. By Martha Stewart Martha Stewart Martha Stewart is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and lifestyle expert who has taught millions of people through generations the joy of entertaining, cooking, gardening, collecting, crafting, and home renovating via her eponymous magazine, Martha Stewart Living, Emmy-winning television shows, and 99 books (and counting). Based in Katonah, N.Y., where she helms her 156-acre Bedford Farm, Martha is America's first self-made female billionaire. Editorial Guidelines Updated on November 19, 2024 Rate PRINT Share Prep Time: 20 mins Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Yield: 3 dozen Jump to recipe A soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie is a comforting and nostalgic treat—especially when it's as good as this one. In our most popular cookie recipe, we use plenty of unsalted butter and a combination of brown sugar and granulated sugar to make our very best soft cookies. The butter-to-brown sugar and granulate sugar ratio creates the perfect soft texture that everyone knows and loves. The molasses in the brown sugar contributes to the chewiness of these irresistible chocolate chip cookies. Using good quality chocolate chips for this recipe can make all the difference, and don’t over-mix the cookie dough to ensure the cookies come out tender. Bryan Gardner 22 Types of Cookies You'll Want to Bake What Makes Cookies Chewy or Crispy? It all comes down to the amount of butter and sugar in the cookie dough and the ratios of the types of sugar used. Our Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe uses less butter (2 sticks) than our Thin and Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies (2 1/2 sticks), but more butter than our Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies (1 3/4 sticks). For soft and chewy cookies, we use twice as much light brown sugar (1 cup) as granulated white sugar (1/2 cup), which gives them a chewy texture. Our crisp cookie recipe reverses the ratios, using more granulated sugar (1 3/4 cups) than light brown sugar (3/4 of a cup). The cakey cookie reduces the sugar, with just 3/4 cup of granulated sugar and only 1/4 cup of light brown sugar. How to Freeze Cookie Dough It’s easy to freeze chocolate chip cookie dough to bake and enjoy later. Portion out the dough on parchment-lined baking sheets, as specified in the recipe.Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze until the cookies are firm.Transfer the frozen cookies to freezer-safe bags. This technique gives you the freedom to bake just a few—or a few dozen—cookies whenever you like because they are already portioned out. Cook Mode (Keep screen awake) Ingredients 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon baking soda 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature ½ cup granulated sugar 1 cup packed light brown sugar 1 teaspoon kosher salt 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 2 large eggs 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups) Directions Grant Webster Preheat oven and prep baking sheets: Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in the upper and lower third positions. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Combine flour with baking soda: In a small bowl, whisk together flour and baking soda; set aside. Grant Webster Beat butter and sugars: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and both sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Grant Webster Add salt, vanilla, and eggs: Add salt, vanilla, and eggs; mix to combine. Reduce speed to low. Grant Webster Add flour mixture gradually: Gradually add flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Grant Webster Mix in chips: Mix in chocolate chips. Grant Webster Portion cookies onto baking sheets: Using a tablespoon measure or a small ice-cream scoop, drop heaping portions of dough about 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheets. For uniform cookies, we like to use a small ice-cream scoop to evenly portion the dough. Grant Webster Bake cookies: Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Grant Webster Cool and store: Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool completely. Grant Webster Storing Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies Once completely cooled, the cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. When choosing which container to store them in, ensure it seals properly. How you store cookies makes all the difference in taste—a loose seal can make your cookies go stale fast. Frequently Asked Questions Should you use semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips? You should use semisweet chocolate chips for this recipe. Semisweet chocolate has a higher cacao content than milk chocolate but still tastes sweet. If you prefer darker chocolate or less sweet treats, try using bittersweet chocolate chips—the dark chocolate will be offset by the sweet dough and you may find you prefer this combination. Should you use chocolate chips or chopped baking chocolate? You can use chocolate chips or chopped baking chocolate for this recipe. While this recipe calls for chocolate chips, you can swap in the same amount of chopped chocolate if you prefer. Chocolate chips are designed to hold their shape during baking and contain less cocoa butter and more of the emulsifier lecithin than a bar of chocolate does. How do I prevent cookies from burning? The best way to prevent cookies from burning is to make sure the oven is preheated to the temperature the method states and use an oven thermometer to ensure it stays at that temperature. Then monitor the cookies as they bake; If they look like they are browning too quickly, move the baking sheet to a lower rack or reduce the oven temperature slightly. Other Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes to Try Alexis’s Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies Five-Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookies Martha’s Chocolate Chip Cookies Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Buckwheat Chocolate-Chip Cookies With Sea Salt Caramel-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies Thousand-Layer Chocolate Chip Cookies Rate It PRINT Updated by Victoria Spencer Victoria Spencer Victoria Spencer is an experienced food editor, writer, and recipe developer. She manages the Martha Stewart recipe archive and is always curious about new ingredients and the best techniques. She has been working in food media for over 20 years.