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    Home » Recipes » Cookies

    The Best American Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Published: May 14, 2019 · Modified: Jan 10, 2023 by Krista · 25 Comments

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    This is a really long post but please don’t let this scare you off! Chocolate Chip Cookies are the easiest thing in the world to bake and anyone can bake them! This post is about explaining which ingredients to use and giving you clear and concise instructions so that your cookies can be the best American bakery-style chocolate chip cookies too.

    When I started Living on Cookies in 2014, my recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies was one of the first posts to go on it.

    Chocolate Chip Cookies are the easiest thing in the world to bake and anyone can bake them! This post is about explaining which ingredients to use and giving you clear and concise instructions so that your cookies are the best American bakery-style chocolate chip cookies cookies too!

    We Americans have really strong emotional ties to Chocolate Chip Cookies. Every American family has their own favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. It’s often the one on the chocolate chip bag. My college friends and I made exactly those Chocolate Chip Cookies when we were feeling homesick.

    When I was a kid, kids were given a free cookie at the grocery store. It wasn’t a little cookie. It was a huge cookie! I can still taste those cookies today.

    Therefore, it’s no coincidence that my blog is called Living on Cookies! And you better believe that I don’t take posting another recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies lightly.

    I’m constantly trying new recipes and I’m especially picky about Chocolate Chip Cookies. For this reason, I can guarantee that this is the perfect recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies and I’ll explain to you why these are the best and how you can make them too.

    Chocolate Chip Cookies are the easiest thing in the world to bake and anyone can bake them! This post is about explaining which ingredients to use and giving you clear and concise instructions so that your cookies are the best American bakery-style chocolate chip cookies cookies too!

    What makes a good bakery-style cookie?

    • A good cookie is soft
    • Is big and thick
    • Is chewy
    • Has an intense caramel taste
    • Isn’t too sweet
    • Is chocolatey

    Let’s go through the characteristics of a bakery-style cookie.

    How do I bake cookies that are soft?

    In my old post, I wrote that you should use half margarine and half butter to achieve soft cookies. And yes, that is true, HOWEVER, I have experimented with a new method through which you can use all butter and the cookies will still be soft. As long as you don’t bake them too long, of course.

    The dough has to be chilled for at least 3 hours or overnight. Don’t ask me for the scientific explanation but when you chill the dough, it matures, the flavors develop and the cookies are incredibly soft and moist when baked.

    Which brings us to our next point. By chilling the dough, the cookies don’t spread and get too thin but rather stay nice and thick. These cookies are also twice as big as in my old recipe. Because big cookies > small cookies (We’re getting scientific again...) If you’re morally against chilling cookie dough, I have some tips for you at the bottom of this post.

    How do I bake cookies that are chewy?

    There are two key ingredients that make the cookies chewy and also give them their distinctive caramel taste: brown sugar and pure butter.

    In the US, brown sugar contains molasses, which makes it moist and gives it a stronger caramel flavor than the brown sugar in Europe. American brown sugar is simply the best for making Chocolate Chip Cookies. You can also make brown sugar yourself by combining granulated sugar and molasses. The instructions on how to do this are here.

    If you can’t get American brown sugar, I’ve baked with Demerara Rohrohrzucker many times and it is a good alternative.

    Using pure butter makes these cookies chewy while giving them a complex caramel flavor that you can’t get any other way. Butter browns faster than margarine or oil and we can use that to our advantage here. The cookies caramelize while baking, getting crispy on the edges and staying soft and gooey in the middle. Conclusion: brown sugar + butter = dream team!

    The next secret ingredient is salt.

    Salt is a flavor enhancer – it balances out the sweetness and brings out the caramel notes. Without salt, cookies taste dull and too sweet. A few flakes of sea salt sprinkled on the dough balls before baking would also be appropriate. 😉

    Chocolate Chip Cookies are the easiest thing in the world to bake and anyone can bake them! This post is about explaining which ingredients to use and giving you clear and concise instructions so that your cookies are the best American bakery-style chocolate chip cookies cookies too!

    We want our cookies to be chocolatey!

    You can go wild here: use chocolate chunks, chopped chocolate or American chocolate chips. You can go with milk or bittersweet or dark chocolate.

    In my old recipe, I only recommended using American chocolate chips because they contain additives that prevent the chocolate from melting too much, thereby preventing the cookies from spreading and getting too thin in the oven.

    Because this dough is chilled before baking, we no longer run the risk of the cookies spreading too much so you can use whatever chocolate you wish, even regular, chopped chocolate. Just be sure the pieces aren’t too small. They should be between 7 and 10 mm otherwise the chocolate gets lost in the cookie. (Science – you can’t live with it and you can’t live without it.) I still prefer the good ol‘ American chocolate chips.

    Chocolate Chip Cookies are the easiest thing in the world to bake and anyone can bake them! This post is about explaining which ingredients to use and giving you clear and concise instructions so that your cookies are the best American bakery-style chocolate chip cookies cookies too!

    If you want to bake the cookies right away and don’t have time to chill the dough:

    You have two options to still get nice, thick cookies: you can add a ¼ cup (35 grams) more flour to the dough or you can freeze the cookie dough balls for 20 minutes before baking them.

    About storing the cookies:

    Always store cookies tightly covered so they don’t dry out and lose their wonderful consistency. You can easily freeze them too. They get soft again after 5 minutes at room temperature. By the way, half-frozen cookies are pretty insanely delicious.

    Summary:

    This recipe is pretty similar to my old Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, with three main differences. 1. For the best cookies, we use pure butter. 2. The dough is chilled before baking. 3. These cookies are twice as big as the ones in my old recipe.

    If you bake these cookies, I’d love it if you left a comment or took a picture of them and posted it on Instagram, with @living_on_cookies or #living_on_cookies. 🙂

    Happy Baking!

    Print Pin
    4.14 from 36 votes

    Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

    Prep Time 45 minutes
    Cook Time 15 minutes
    Servings 12 cookies
    Calories 610kcal

    Ingredients

    Cookie Dough

    • 1 cup (225 g) butter at room temperature
    • 1 cup (210 g) brown sugar
    • ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
    • 2 eggs at room temperature
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 3 cups (420 g) all-purpose flour*
    • 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon salt
    • 1 cup (6 oz. or 170 g) chocolate chips or chunks plus more for topping

    Optional Fillings

    • Oreos, M&M’s, any kind of chocolate or candy bar, white chocolate, peanut butter cups, peanut butter, nuts, peanuts, soft caramels, caramel sauce, dulce de leche, milk chocolate, marshmallows, Nutella...

    Optional Toppings

    • Additional chocolate chips, colored sprinkles (roll the dough ball in sprinkles), M&M's, chopped chocolate, chopped nuts, sea salt flakes, peanuts, chopped Oreos, chopped pretzels, melted chocolate

    Instructions

    • In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and both types of sugar using the paddle attachment of your stand mixer if you have one. Add eggs and vanilla and mix to combine. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Add it to the butter-sugar mixture and beat on low speed until flour is incorporated. Scrape mixing bowl to ensure flour is evenly distributed in the dough. Stir in chocolate chips.
    • Tightly cover the bowl and chill the dough for 1-2 hours, until it's no longer soft and sticky. Prepare your fillings.
    • Shape the cookies: flatten about 2 tablespoons of dough between your palms. Place the filling (or fillings) in the middle of the dough and wrap the dough around them. Shape the dough into a round ball and place it on parchment paper. Press toppings or additional chocolate chips into the top of the cookie.
    • Chill the dough balls thoroughly, ideally overnight, until the dough is hard. Place dough balls on a parchment paper lined baking tray, leaving plenty of room for the cookies to spread.
    • Bake cookies in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 12-15 minutes. They're done when they've risen in the middle and are starting to lose their shine. Do not overbake! Take cookies out of the oven and allow them to cool completely on the baking tray.
    • Drizzle cooled cookies with melted chocolate and sprinkle with chopped nuts, Oreo crumbs or colored sprinkles, if desired.
    • Store stuffed cookies in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

    Notes

    The dough must be chilled twice: first, before shaping the dough around the fillings, and then the cookie dough balls must also be thoroughly chilled to prevent the cookies from spreading and breaking open during baking.

    Nutrition

    Calories: 610kcal
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Maria Meneses

      January 01, 2023 at 5:09 pm

      Hello from Portugal!
      Thank you for this recipe.
      I didn't follow it to the letter (I put half the sugar and half the butter, and put 70% cocoa chocolate plus milk cooking chocolate chips), but the cookies turned out amazing. I reckon less chewy than if I followed all the instructions but very good none the less.
      My family loved them.
      I also left the cookie dough resting overnight in the refrigerator and I thinks it makes a difference in the flavour for the better. No flower flavour and the chocolate aroma has time to blend and mix with the rest of the ingredients.
      Kind regards,
      Maria

      Reply
      • Krista

        January 01, 2023 at 5:12 pm

        Hi Maria!
        Thanks for the feedback - glad to hear everyone loved the cookies!
        All the best,
        Krista

        Reply
    2. Reggie

      June 27, 2022 at 3:45 am

      I am very fond of this recipe, it is the best I ever had! The cookies always turn out wonderful thick and soft. And my husband loves them 🙂 The idea of freezing the dough balls is great, thank you!

      Reply
      • Krista

        June 27, 2022 at 12:05 pm

        Awesome! Thanks for your feedback, Reggie!!! 😍

        Reply
    3. Catherine

      January 15, 2022 at 7:14 pm

      I cooked these and they are delicious! It was hard not to eat the dough before I cooked it.
      A very simple recipe and technique that gives excellent results.

      Reply
    4. Rahma

      April 28, 2021 at 2:11 pm

      Hi, I’m planning on freezing a batch of the dough but then before baking them, do I also need to let them rest for 45min like the first time or 5min (like mentioned beneath the storing tips)?
      Lots of love from Belgium!

      Reply
      • Krista

        April 29, 2021 at 9:21 am

        Hi Rahma, I would suggest you shape the dough into balls before freezing, then you can bake them straight out of the freezer, no extra resting time. They might need 2 minutes longer to bake through, you want to bake them just until the centers are no longer shiny.

        Reply
        • Rahma

          May 04, 2021 at 5:18 pm

          Hi, thank you for your answer. I do have another question for you.
          The batch that I didn’t freeze, so that chilled for 3h and rested at room temp for 45min, came out quit thin. The taste was amazing but I would like them to be thicker. Straight for the oven they are pretty thick but when resting they go flat?
          (I use upper and lower heat)
          Thank you!

        • Krista

          May 04, 2021 at 9:02 pm

          Hi Rahma, the only reason you would need to leave the dough out for 45 minutes is that it is too hard to shape into balls straight out of the fridge. Then try putting the dough balls in the fridge or freezer to chill before baking. That should help the cookies spread less. If they're still coming out thinner than you'd like, next time add the extra 1/4 cup flour to the dough as is listed in the notes, the cookies will definitely be thicker that way.

      • Coral

        January 10, 2022 at 3:29 am

        I used this recipe to freeze as a roll of dough, it cuts easily from frozen (because theres very little water in the dough) and also bakes nicely from frozen, I've had very little success with cookies in the past, this recipe seems pretty versatile and foolproof, I put wallnuts and caramelised white chocolate chips in mine, they were really good, and I can now make just a few cookies at a time, whenever I feel like it without having to do the mixing every time!

        Reply
        • Krista

          January 10, 2022 at 5:52 am

          Thanks for the great tips, Coral!

    5. Sarah

      March 16, 2021 at 7:14 pm

      Thank you for this great recipe! I love them. I put milk and dark chocolate chunks plus a variation of nuts in the dough. They turned out perfectly! Greets from Switzerland 🇨🇭

      Reply
      • Krista

        March 16, 2021 at 8:38 pm

        Yay! I’m so glad you loved them!

        Reply
    6. Ryan

      March 10, 2021 at 10:11 pm

      Made these tonight. Normally my wife does baking but doesn't do cookies. We only have simple whisk with beaters and mixing cookie dough was a good workout.
      First ever attempt at cookies. Turned out really well. Instructions were great. Had a 3yr old and 6yr old boy helping me. Thanks and I look forward to trying your other recipes. I might even start an Instagram account just to share my photos to help support and encourage you to keep going.

      Reply
      • Krista

        March 11, 2021 at 8:54 am

        Thanks for your comment, Ryan! I'm glad to hear the cookies turned out well, even without a mixer. I'm very touched by your supportive words - it's true that it's hard to keep going sometimes but comments like yours absolutely make my day!!!

        Reply
    7. Lisa

      January 17, 2021 at 10:54 pm

      I made these cookies and they were great. I got 6 dozen out of the batch. I used a 1 1/2" melon baller.

      The family loved them.

      Reply
    8. ALEX

      December 12, 2020 at 6:10 pm

      I am a male home baker.i must congratulate on your well worded introduction on your cookies. previous attemts at baking cookies a complete disastrous.there so good that I can't make enough for my family

      Reply
    9. Una

      November 12, 2020 at 9:58 am

      Hello, thanks for the recipe, i left the dough over night so almost 24 hours, the cookies were very good, i put 3 types of chocolate 🙂

      Reply
    10. Nicola

      October 02, 2020 at 3:54 pm

      I made these cookies last night, left them in the fridge for around 3h and then baked half of the dough.

      They turned out scrumptious, my son had 2 and he gave it big thumbs up! Tasted like American cookies he said (I'm in London!).

      I have shaped the rest of the dough into balls and put them in the freezer for another day!

      Reply
    11. Inga M.v.G

      September 29, 2020 at 6:24 pm

      Hi Krista,
      Today I made my first attempt at proper American cookies and the result is pretty close to perfect! 😎
      Thank you ever so much for the simple recipe & explanations, so I could bake after 20 min freezing. I even exchanged the normal white granulated sugar with Xilit. Also worked fine!
      Would love to post a picture, but that doesn’t seem to work.
      Looking forward to trying more of your recipes - all the best from Hamburg, Germany.
      Inga

      Reply
      • Krista

        September 29, 2020 at 8:17 pm

        Thank you for your comment, Inga! I'm so glad you love my recipe! 😊

        Reply
    12. Jenny Manning

      April 11, 2020 at 4:00 pm

      Love this recipe. Really pleased! Made in England . Jx

      Reply
      • Krista

        April 11, 2020 at 5:06 pm

        Thanks, Jenny! I'm so glad you like it!

        Reply
    13. Ghada

      December 23, 2019 at 10:29 am

      I love your cookies recipe

      Reply
      • Krista

        December 23, 2019 at 5:12 pm

        Thank you, Ghada!

        Reply

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