Best Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe | Handle the Heat (2024)

Tessa’s Recipe Rundown

Taste: Full of sweet butterscotch & chocolate flavors, exactly how a chocolate chip cookie should taste!
Texture: Thick and chock full of gooey chocolate with slightly crisp edges.
Ease: No special ingredients, equipment, or skills needed!
Pros: Easy everyday delightful chocolate chip cookie recipe. I think you’ll love this one.
Cons: None.
Would I make this again? I’ve already made this recipe many times and have the dough in my freezer for when the craving strikes.

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My favorite type of recipe to bake is absolutely COOKIES. They’re so fun and simple and can teach us SO much about the science of baking.

The Ultimate Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies is still one of my most popular posts, visited by over two million people.

Best Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe | Handle the Heat (1)

That post inspired the creation of my second cookbook, The Ultimate Cookie Handbook. And since THOUSANDS of you have purchased that cookbook, I think it’s clear that we’re all obsessed with cookies here.

That’s why I’m SO thrilled to share this Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe with you today. In my opinion, it’s the perfect easy everyday chocolate chip cookie recipe. This homemade recipe is simple to make and yields thick, beautiful golden brown cookies, crisp at the edges and gooey at the center.

Watch the video below to step into my kitchen and see exactly how to bake these delicious cookies with me. I give tons of tips and tricks for getting perfectly thick cookies with chocolate chunks, and you can see what every step of this recipe should look like!

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There’s actually a time-lapse video shot of these cookies cooling right after I took them out of the oven. You can see that they hardly shrink or deflate as they cool. If you only beat the butter and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes max, your cookies shouldn’t deflate!

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Best Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe | Handle the Heat (3)

How to Make The Best Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

How to make soft chocolate chip cookies:

The key to the best soft cookies is to take the chocolate chip cookies out of the oven just before they look like they’re done baking. They should still appear slightly wet in the very center. The residual heat of the oven and pan will finish cooking the cookies through to soft perfection once you allow them to cool completely.

Also, measure your flour correctly to improve your baking forever. Too much flour will lead to dry, dense, or crumbly chocolate chip cookies that barely spread.

Why are my chocolate chip cookies flat?

When making cookies, be sure your butter is at a cool room temperature before beating with your sugar. It shouldn’t be greasy or overly soft otherwise it’ll melt and spread the cookies too much.

The warmer your chocolate chip cookie dough is when it enters the oven, the thinner and flatter your cookies will be. To prevent flat cookies, try freezing your balls of cookie dough while your oven preheats. Learn more about how to bake THICK cookies here.

Better yet, refrigerate your chocolate chip cookie dough for 24 to 48 hours. This ‘marination’ process will transform your chocolate chip cookies by making them thicker, chewier, and more flavorful! Plus, this is a perfect way to make your delicious cookies ahead of time. Read more about the magic of chilling your cookie dough here.NOTE: chilling is OPTIONAL for this recipe but using chilled dough will enhance your cookies!

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How to make chewy chocolate chip cookies:

One of the keys to CHEWY chocolate chip cookies is to use more brown sugar than granulated sugar. The molasses in the brown sugar draws in more moisture, making the cookies thicker, softer, and chewier.

For extra chewy cookies, try adding an extra egg yolk to this recipe. You can also replace half or all of the all-purpose flour in this recipe with bread flour for an ultra chewy bite.

How to bake chocolate chip cookies:

For the BEST chocolate chip cookies, make the recipe below keeping these top tips in mind:

  1. Use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients for the BEST most consistent results.
  2. Make the recipe exactly as written, without substitutions, at least the first time you bake it.

Use the correct baking pan and a spring-loaded cookie scoop for bakery-quality cookies at home. More on that below!

Why use a cookie scoop?

Using a stainless steel spring-loaded cookie scoop when portioning out cookie dough is one of the KEYS to beautiful, uniform, evenly-shaped and evenly-baked cookies. My cookie scoop is one of my most frequently used kitchen gadgets. A spring-loaded scoop saves you *so much time* in forming the balls of dough. When using a scoop, you ensure each ball is evenly sized so the cookies bake evenly, meaning you don’t have any small overbaked cookies or large underbaked cookies. Learn more about Cookie Scoops and how to use them here!

What’s the difference between baking soda and baking powder?

Baking powder and baking soda are both chemical leaveners that work to create light textures in baked goods.

Although baking powder actually contains baking soda, the two leaveners are very different. Baking powder and baking soda are not interchangeable – just take a look at the impact the type of leavener used had on each of the cookies below!

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Find out more in my Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder article here.

Which baking pan is best for cookies?

Take a look at the chocolate chip cookies below. These cookies are all the same batch of cookie dough, baked at the same temperature of 350°F, baked for the same amount of time of 12 minutes. The only difference? The type of baking pan used!

Check out my Best (and WORST) Baking Pans article here for more details on the science of baking pans.

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How to Keep Chocolate Chip Cookies Fresh

The best cookies are the freshest, there’s no magical way around that. However, here are a few tricks to keeping them fresh and soft for as long as possible!

Can you freeze chocolate chip cookies?

I love the taste of cookies straight from the oven the best. I always keep pre-scooped balls of chocolate chip cookie dough in a resealable bag in my freezer, so I can bake cookies off and have them warm from the oven in a matter of minutes whenever I want. Here are more tips for freezing cookie dough.

But for those times when you need to keep already-baked cookies soft, see below for my tips. First of all, most cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temp for up to 5 days. Be sure they are completely cooled before storing.

How to keep cookies soft:

To keep your baked chocolate chip cookies soft, you can add an apple wedge, piece of bread, or a tortilla on the top and bottom of the cookies to the container a day or two after baking them, or whenever you find the texture starting to harden. The moisture from the bread or apple will migrate to your cookies, making them soft and chewy again.

A tortilla is a favorite of mine because it takes up much less room than a slice of bread, and doesn’t transfer any flavors or aromas like an apple wedge. Not to mention, it fits into a round cookie tin pretty perfectly.

How to refresh stored cookies:

What I like to do is reheat and refresh the cookies in a 350°F oven for 3-5 minutes. Your toaster oven should work just fine. This improves the texture and there’s nothing like a warm chocolate chip cookie!

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Tessa’s Favorite Tools for This Recipe

More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes

  • Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies (these are CHEWIER than this recipe)
  • Coconut Oil Chocolate Chip Cookies (dairy free)
  • Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies (ultra flavorful!)
  • Giant Reese’s Pieces Chocolate Chip Cookies (thick and delicious!)
  • Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (for serious PB lovers only!)

See ALL of my !

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How to Make

Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

By: Tessa Arias

4.92 from 973 votes

Yield: 26 cookies

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Total Time: 30 minutes mins

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Ultra thick Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies feature golden brown edges with ooey and gooey centers. This easy recipe can be made in 30 minutes!

Ingredients

  • 3 cups (380 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature (67°F)
  • 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
  • 1 1/4 cups (247 grams) lightly packed light brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 2 cups (340 grams) semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

  • In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.

  • In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and eggs. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips.

  • If time permits, wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours but no more than 72 hours. This allows the dough to “marinate” and makes the cookies thicker, chewier, and more flavorful. Let dough sit at room temperature just until it is soft enough to scoop.

  • Divide the dough into 3-tablespoon sized balls using a large cookie scoop and drop onto prepared baking sheets.

  • Bake for 11-13 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

  • Although I prefer cookies fresh from the oven, these can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. See post for storage tips.

Show us!If you make this recipe, be sure to snap a picture and share it on Instagram with #handletheheat so we can all see!

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Photos by Jess Larson.

BAKERY STYLE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES MADE BY OUR COMMUNITY

Tag @handletheheat and use the hashtag #handletheheat for a chance to be featured!

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Best Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe | Handle the Heat (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret ingredient to keep cookies soft? ›

If you enjoy your cookies soft and chewy, chances are likely the recipe contains a common ingredient that serves a very specific purpose. No, it's not granulated sugar, nor the butter. It's not the egg, all-purpose flour, or even the vanilla extract. The simple, yet oh-so-necessary component is cornstarch.

Do you bake chocolate chip cookies at 350 or 375? ›

Bake at 375 degrees F until golden and crunchy on the outside, and chewy on the inside, 10 to 12 minutes. For super-chewy cookies: Substitute cake flour for all-purpose flour. Bake at 375 degrees F until golden with caramelized edges, 12 to 15 minutes.

What makes bakery cookies so soft? ›

It's all about moisture. To keep it simple, cookie recipes that contain a lot of butter, brown sugar or egg yolks are going to yield soft and chewy cookies, because those ingredients add moisture and retain it for a longer amount of time.

How do you make cookies thick and not flat? ›

Chilling cookie dough helps prevent spreading. The colder the dough, the less the cookies will over-spread into greasy puddles. You'll have thicker, sturdier, and more solid cookies. Whenever I make cookies, I plan ahead and chill the cookie dough overnight.

What is the secret to making cookies soft and chewy? ›

Cornstarch gives the cookies that ultra soft consistency we all love. Plus, it helps keep the cookies beautifully thick. We use the same trick when making shortbread cookies. Egg yolk: Another way to promise a super chewy chocolate chip cookie is to use an extra egg yolk.

Should I use baking soda or baking powder in cookies? ›

Baking soda is typically used for chewy cookies, while baking powder is generally used for light and airy cookies. Since baking powder is comprised of a number of ingredients (baking soda, cream of tartar, cornstarch, etc.), using it instead of pure baking soda will affect the taste of your cookies.

What temperature is best for baking chocolate chip cookies? ›

For those ooey, gooey chocolate chip cookies, 375 degrees Fahrenheit is your sweet spot. It's the perfect temperature to ensure super crispy exterior edges, while leaving the center slightly underdone and, thus, doughy and fudgey. If you're feeling particularly bold, give 400 degrees Fahrenheit a go.

Why are my chocolate chip cookies hard after baking? ›

This isn't a revolutionary tip and is probably quite obvious, but if you leave your cookies in the oven for even a few minutes longer than necessary, the mix will dry too quickly and lead to more rigid, dry cookies.

What is the best temperature to bake cookies? ›

350° is the standard temp for a cookie, and it's a great one. Your cookies will bake evenly and the outside will be done at the same time as the inside. Baking at 325° also results in an evenly baked cookie, but the slower cooking will help yield a chewier cookie. The outsides will be a little softer, too.

Why do my chocolate chip cookies get hard so fast? ›

Overbaking: If you bake your cookies for too long, they can become dry and hard. Make sure to check your cookies frequently as they bake and remove them from the oven when they are just starting to turn golden brown around the edges.

How do you make cookies chewy instead of crunchy? ›

Egg yolks add moisture to the dough, while egg whites can make cookies drier and crunchier. Add a bit of cornstarch to the dough. Cornstarch helps to absorb moisture and keep cookies soft and tender. Make sure you're using the right type of flour.

What does adding cornstarch to cookies do? ›

As Levy Beranbaum writes in The Baking Bible, replacing a little bit of the flour in the dough with cornstarch results in “a more delicate cookie that is also easier to pipe or push through a cookie press.” Adding cornstarch helps tenderize tough gluten, contributing to a softer cookie dough with a finer crumb after ...

What is the secret to thick cookies? ›

A low proportion of sugar relative to flour reduces spread, keeping the cookies thick. A high proportion of mix-ins helps thicken the dough. Blending chocolate chip styles creates a more dynamic flavor. Overnight refrigeration hydrates the flour, again helping the cookies stay thick.

What does refrigerating cookie dough do? ›

Popping your dough in the fridge allows the fats to cool. As a result, the cookies will expand more slowly, holding onto their texture. If you skip the chilling step, you're more likely to wind up with flat, sad disks instead of lovely, chewy cookies. Cookies made from chilled dough are also much more flavorful.

How do you keep cookies soft for a long time? ›

Keep Them Sealed

The key to keeping cookies fresh and soft is to seal them in an airtight container, like a resealable freezer bag. And here's a nifty little trick: add a piece of bread to the bag.

Why do my cookies get hard after they cool? ›

Cookies begin losing moisture through evaporation from the moment that they come out of the oven. So it's totally normal for them to harden up a bit. Yet, this is why you need to store them in an airtight container once they completely cool or they will continue to lose moisture.

What makes cookies turn out hard? ›

the more you mix cookie dough. the more the gluten develops and they become hard and dry and an unfavorable texture. reason no 3 you're over baking them. make sure you take them out when they're just slightly golden brown.

What makes cookies soft and flat? ›

WHY ARE MY COOKIES FLAT? HOW TO FIX FLAT COOKIES
  1. OVEN IS TOO HOT. Oven temperatures are a crucial factor in baking. ...
  2. INGREDIENTS MEASURED INCORRECTLY. ...
  3. BAKING SHEET IS TOO HOT. ...
  4. BUTTER IS TOO SOFT. ...
  5. BAKING SHEET IS OVER-GREASED. ...
  6. DOUGH WASN'T CHILLED BEFORE BAKING. ...
  7. DOUGH IS OVERMIXED. ...
  8. BAKING SHEET WAS OVERCROWDED.

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