These chewy chocolate chip cookies are the perfect compliment to a chilly evening indoors. Enjoy them fresh out the oven or freeze them for a rainy day!

If your kids are anything like mine, they are constantly wanting something sweet to nibble on. Don’t fall into the trap that is the candy bar aisle at the grocery store! Double, triple or quadruple batch this no-fuss recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies and freeze the dough or baked cookies for later.
Watch The Video
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies from Scratch
You can make this easy chocolate chip cookie batter 100% by hand, but we like to use a stand mixer to speed the process up.
- Preheat the Oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cream the Butter & Sugar: Whisk the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar over medium speed in the bowl of a stand mixer until smooth.
- Add in the Eggs, Vanilla, Baking Soda, & Salt: Beat in the eggs one at a time. Stir in the vanilla extract. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water in a small bowl and add it into the batter alongside the salt.
- Add in the Dry Ingredients: Stir in the flour and fold in the chocolate chips or chocolate chunks with a spatula.
- Prepare the Pan: Drop the batter by large spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets, leaving some space between each dough mound.
- Bake the Cookies: Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven or until edges turn golden brown. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool.
Fun Add-Ins: If you’d like, top the cookies with a sprinkle of sea salt. You can also add in rainbow sprinkles to mix things up.




Soft Versus Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you favor softer, chewier cookies, we’ve got you covered. If you are a lover of crispy cookies, we also have your back. Here’s how to tweak the recipe to achieve either texture.
Soft Cookies
Want to make EXTRA chewy cookies? Use four egg yolks versus two regular eggs. Egg yolks have more fat than egg whites. More fat means more chewy-ness! Another trick is swapping the all-purpose flour for cake flour. Cake flour has less protein than all-purpose flour, which creates a fluffier texture.
Crispy Cookies
Cookies made without brown sugar are going to be harder and flatter. If you like a crispier cookie, use all white sugar. Also, bake your cookies at a lower temperature. This will allow the cookies to spread before rising.
Tips for Nailing this Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
These foolproof pointers will help you get bakery-worthy cookies each and every time.
- Add in some nuts. Add in peanuts or walnuts for some extra crunch and texture. Give them a quick rough chop in a food processor before tossing them in the batter.
- Use a cookie scoop. To ensure that your cookies bake evenly, use a cookie scoop to measure out the cookie dough balls.
- Chill the dough before baking it. Try chilling your cookie dough from anywhere between 10 minutes to 2 hours prior to baking. This allows the dough to fully absorb the flavor of all the ingredients. You can use the chilling time to straighten up the kitchen. Who doesn’t like killing two birds with one stone?
- Make a Deep Dish Cookie: Spread the cookie dough into a greased, 10-inch cast iron skillet. Bake at 350°F for about 10 minutes, or until the edges turn crispy brown. Cut the giant cookie into pie slices and top each piece with a scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream. YUM!

Ice Cream Sandwich Hack: Let the cookies completely cool. Scoop your favorite ice cream onto one cookie and top with another to make ice cream sandwiches. Put individual sandwiches in plastic storage bags to freeze for a quick treat.
Freezing Best Practices
You are going to love having chewy, chocolate chip cookies on the ready. Here are two ways to pull it off:
Freezing the Dough
Form cookie-size spoonfuls of dough using an ice-cream scoop, melon ball or the palm of your hand. Place the balls on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and pop them in the freezer.
Freeze them on the tray until the tops are hard. Transfer dough balls to a Ziplock bag. Keep for up to six months.


Freezing Baked Cookies
Place the completely cooled cookies on a baking sheet, covered in parchment paper. Allow each cookie to individually freeze. Transfer the frozen cookies to a flat-bottomed, airtight storage container. Make sure each layer of cookies is separated by parchment paper to prevent the cookies from freezing/sticking together. Keep for up to six months.
Refrigerating the Dough
Roll the cookie dough into a 1.5 inch thick log. Cover the cookie dough with plastic wrap. When you are ready to use the dough, remove the plastic wrapping and slice the log into discs. Bake as instructed below! Cookie dough can be kept up to three days in the refrigerator.

FAQ
How should you store fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies?
Fresh-baked, homemade chocolate chip cookies last for up to three days at room temperature. To keep that out-of-the-oven texture and taste and prevent the morsels from becoming stale, store your cooled cookies in an airtight container for up to a week.
Why did your chocolate chip cookies turn out flat?
The prime reason that chocolate chip cookies turn out flat is that the butter was too soft before it was mixed in. This results in the butter melting very quickly, causing the batter to spread as it bakes in the oven.
What kind of chocolate chips should you use for chocolate chip cookies?
The best kind of chocolate chips to use for chocolate chip cookies are semisweet chocolate chips. They are the perfect level of sweetness and don’t overpower the cookie dough. If you don’t mind a sweeter cookie, feel free to use milk chocolate chips or dark chocolate chips instead.
Can chocolate chip cookies go bad?
Yes, chocolate chip cookies can go bad. They tend to stay fresh for about a week when stored at room temperature in an airtight container. You’ll know they have reached their peak when they are brittle to the touch, dry, and without a chewy bite.
Other Cookie Recipes to Try
- Chocolate Mocha Cookies – Rich, chocolate brownie cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies – Chocolate & powdered sugar holiday cookies
- Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies – Just 5 ingredients
- M&M Cookies – Classic chocolate candy cookies
- Easy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies – Hearty spiced oatmeal cookies
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp hot water
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Cream together the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve the baking soda in the hot water. Add it to the batter along with the salt.
- Stir in the flour, followed by the chocolate chips.
- Drop the batter by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans. Make sure to leave enough space between each piece (about 2 inches) to account for spreading.
- Bake the cookies for about 10 minutes in the preheated oven or until edges are nicely browned.
This is the only recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies that we will need. It turned out perfect, I highly recommend this recipe.
Thank you so much for your feedback, Natasha! I am delighted to hear that you love this recipe! Happy Holidays!
Hi Natalya and Ethan!!!
Loved watching the video and all the tricks. Yes, you need to bring Ethan to Mom's dish kitchen. He did great!
Thank you for this recipe. I will definately try it. Most of the time it's Mom's dish most famous crepes at my house. I have to switch to something different now and then.
Happy Holidays!!
Hi Lena! You are so kind! Thank you for that! I am grateful for such a wonderful Momsdish community, thank you for being a part of it! Happy holidays!
Just made this today! Turned out amazing, although I had to bake for a lot longer than the recipe called for. Thank you!
Hey there, Emma. All ovens are different, so sometimes the bake time can vary. How much longer did it take you?
Hi Natalya,
Thank you for your response!
It took me about 15-17 minutes total, I made sure to watch them closely until the edges were slightly golden.
My family and I loved the cookies though!
Hi Emma, That makes sense. I am so glad they turned out great! Thank you for your helpful feedback. Happy holidays!
Yum! I made a batch of these and they turned out amazing! They were perfectly soft and chewy, thank you for sharing this recipe
Hi Olivia, I am so thrilled to hear that you loved this recipe! Thank you so much for letting me know! Enjoy!
I used salted butter, but other than that followed the recipe exactly. Delish!
Hi Kara, I am delighted to hear you love the recipe! Thank you so much for the feedback, Enjoy!
This recipe is the best recipe for chocolate chip cookies ive tried! I dont usually write reviews. But its so bad bc it makes like 30 of them and its hard to stop eating.
Hi Elena, haha love it, I have you hooked 😊 Thank you very much for taking the time to write a review, I love hearing back about the recipes! I am so glad you loved it!
I have tried sooo many chocolate chip cookie recipes and this is by far the best!
Hi Mila, I am so glad to hear that!! Thank you for taking the time to comment 🙂
I have made these 3 times. Going exactly by recipe and instructions and my cookies come out SO flat. They taste delicious but are not very pretty. Can someone please explain why they do this and help me??
Hey Anna, I think you may need to add a little more flour. I think some brands of flour may require more.
If I freeze the dough in balls as you described, do I need to let them thaw completely before baking? Or can I bake them frozen?
Also, what temp and how long to bake after freezing?
Hey Rachel, bake them frozen, we add 2-3 extra minutes to the baking time.
Good job Ethan!
Ethan was happy to see your comment. Thank you!
This is a great recipe! Made them extra chewy by taking your tip and adding 4 yolks instead of two eggs. They turned out exactly how I like my chocolate chip cookies:)) So much better than the store bought!!
Thank you so much for sharing your recipes.
Hey Dina, sounds amazing. thank you for sharing your feedback! I think it will help others as well.
2Tbsp vanilla or 2 tsp?
The cookies need 2 tsp of vanilla extract. Thanks for asking!
These look so soft and amazing. I can't wait to try them, thanks for sharing.
Val, thank you! I hope you all love them as much as we did. Make sure to double up the recipe 🙂 Comes in handy.
Thanks never thought of freezing them before
Yes, it has been so great to have them on hand for later.
what temperature do you bake them at?
Bake chocolate chip cookies at 350F.
YUM! Are these soft an chewy? I have been looking for a soft choc chip cookie recipe for a while now.
Yes, they are soft and chewy. You have to make sure not to overbake them, this is when they would come out dry.