Soft chocolate chip cookies absolutely melt in your mouth. I love chocolate chip cookies, but this soft chocolate chip cookies recipe takes these humble drop cookies to a new level. The tender, light texture really sets these cookies apart. Of course, they’re perfectly sweet and stuff full of chocolate chips!
If you love chewy, soft batch cookies, this recipe is for you!
Fire up the oven, and let’s start baking!
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What I Love About Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
This soft chocolate chip cookies recipe has a lot of great things going for it. Here are the highlights!
- The soft tender texture
- Full of chocolate chips
- Makes a big batch
- Easy prep with common pantry ingredients
Recipe Notes
Here are a few notes to make this soft chocolate chip cookies recipe the best it can be!
Recipe Notes:
Overmixing: Overmixing when adding the dry ingredients develops the gluten in the dough, which is great in bread, but not in soft cookies.
Stop mixing when you have a couple of streaks of dry ingredients in the dough. As you add the chocolate chips, you’ll finish incorporating the flour mixture.
Chilling the dough: I call for a minimum of an hour to chill the dough. Overnight is even better. Chilling the dough hardens the butter and slows the spread of the cookies when baking. It’s crucial for soft cookies.
To that same end, be sure you drop the cookies onto a cool cookie sheet and keep the dough cool as you’re scooping out cookies.
Overbaking: Overbaking will dry the cookies out. Pull them from the oven when they still look slightly wet in the middle. They’ll finish setting up on the pan.
Ingredient Notes
Butter: No margarine substitutes! Real butter is best for chewy, moist cookies.
Dark brown sugar: The darker the sugar you use, the chewier your cookies will be. Use dark brown sugar if you can.
Cornstarch: This is one of the secrets to the softness of this soft chocolate chip cookies recipe. The starch supports the internal structure of the cookie, making it light, fluffy, and tender.
Storing Tips
To keep this soft chocolate chip cookies recipe tender and moist, be sure to store them in a tightly sealed container in a cool place. Also, allow the cookies to cool before storing them.
Can You Freeze This?
You can freeze either the dough or the baked cookies of this soft chocolate chip cookies recipe. To freeze the dough, drop by spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet and put it in the freezer for about 2 hours. Transfer the frozen dough balls to a freezer bag for storage.
For maximum freshness, freezer guidelines for cookies suggest individually wrapping the cookies in cling wrap before putting them in a freezer container. The soft nature of these cookies makes them a bit fragile, so a rigid container would be better than a freezer bag!
Make Ahead Tips
The cookie dough holds in the fridge for about 2 days.
How Long Can You Keep This?
According to food handling guidelines, the cookie dough will keep in the freezer for about 3 months and the baked cookies are good for about 6 months. Refrigerated cookie dough is good for no more than 3 days.
Recipe Variations
This soft chocolate chip cookies recipe is a great foundation for variations. Here are some ideas!
Can I Add M&M Candies In This Recipe?
I think chocolate chip m&m cookies are so much fun. I love the colors of M&M cookies, and the double chocolate punch from the chocolate chips and the candy can’t be beaten!
You could add M&Ms to this recipe or try my monster cookies. They’ve got loads of M&Ms and chocolate chips!
Can I Add Some Fruits?
You could try adding some dried fruit to this recipe. It would bring an interesting flavor twist. I love fruit and chocolate together. My strawberry chocolate chip cookies and banana chocolate chip cookies have great fruit flavor with a big chocolate kick.
You can also try my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for a uniquely fall take on the classic cookie.
Can I Make These Cookies Bigger?
The focus of this recipe is soft, tender cookies. I think it would be difficult to bake in a large traybake. The extended time in the oven required by a big cookie would likely ruin the moist, chewy texture.
If you want a big ol’ cookie, try a skillet chocolate chip cookie recipe. It’s easy and has such a fun presentation. Another option for a big chocolate chip treat would be a chocolate chip cookie cake. It’s got the best parts of cookies and cake!
Would These Make For Good Christmas Treats?
I can’t think of any occasion where chocolate chip cookies wouldn’t be welcome! These soft chocolate chip cookies would go great along with Crockpot candy and Christmas crack on a cookie tray. You could round out the ensemble with chocolate chip shortbread cookies!
Can I Turn These Into Cookie Bars?
This wouldn’t be the best cookie dough to turn into bars. Cookie bars take considerably longer to cook than individual cookies, and that extended time in the oven might work against the soft texture of this recipe.
You could try something like chocolate chip cheesecake bars or congo bars for a chocolaty traybake. My 7 layer bars are another great option with layer upon layer of flavor and yumminess!
Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, using a handheld mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy.
- Add the vanilla and eggs. Cream until well combined, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture just until combined.
- Add chocolate chips and mix until evenly distributed through the dough. Refrigerate dough for 1-hour minimum. (Don't skip)
- Scoop out the dough, using a medium cookie scoop, and place 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets. Do Not flatten. Using your fingers lightly tighten the bottom edge of the cookie where it sits on the baking sheet. (this helps them puff up more and not flatten as easily). If the dough looks
- Refrigerate the dough between scooping out the next batch to keep it cold.
- Bake in preheated oven for approximately 12-14 minutes or until the edges are beginning to brown. The center of the cookies will look slightly underdone in the center. Do Not overbake or they will dry out!
- Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet. Transfer to cool completely on a wire baking rack. They will slightly deflate as they cool. Enjoy!
Nutrition
More Drop Cookies Recipes…
Drop cookie recipes are so simple and fun to make. Here are a few of my favorites.
- Butterscotch Cookies – decadent butterscotch flavor in a chewy cookie
- Toffee Cookies – I love the toffee crunch in these yummy cookies
- Orange Creamsicle Cookies – they taste just like the ice cream treat
- Chewy Oatmeal Cookies – classically delicious
- Potato Chip Cookies – a sweet and salty delight
Conclusion
I love this soft chocolate chip cookies recipe with its soft batch texture. They’re a hit with anyone who loves a chewy cookie and pair perfectly with coffee or a cold glass of milk! I know they’re going to be a favorite with you too.
Be sure to leave a comment below!
Source: adapted from Martha Stewart
Jim says
January 22, 2020 at 10:06 pmI just made these and man they are soft and chewy. I love chocolate chip cookies. I have always just made them per the recipe on the back of the semi-sweet package. Sometimes they turned out okay sometimes not. But this was cool. I even took a picture of them when they came out of the oven. Thanks for the receipe. This will now be my go to for chocolate chip cookies. I don’t know how to upload the photo. Darn.
Kathleen says
January 23, 2020 at 12:24 amThat sounds awesome, Jim! I hope I can see the picture too but there’s no upload option yet at the moment! >.< But I'm so happy to hear you liked the cookies. We have lots of variations of chocolate chip cookies too if you love these cookies! You can check them out!