Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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This chocolate chunk cookie recipe delivers the ultimate cookie—chewy with perfectly crisp edges and gooey chunks of chocolate in every bite!

chocolate chunk cookies stacked on plate

I’ve been baking chocolate chip cookies since the fifth grade, and the classic Nestlé Toll House recipe still holds up. I’ve tried making improvements—resting the dough overnight, browning the butter, and swapping flours—but the extra effort rarely makes a noticeable difference. That said, the Toll House recipe has its flaws (sorry, Toll House!). As written, the cookies often turn out too flat.

To make the cookies more foolproof, I use a bit less sugar, more flour, and always chill the dough. This chocolate chunk cookie recipe is a slightly upgraded version, featuring two types of chocolate chunks instead of basic chocolate chips. Tender, puffy, and fudgy with perfectly crisp edges, they truly are the ultimate cookies!

What You’ll Need To Make Chocolate Chunk Cookies

ingredients for chocolate chunk cookies
  • Butter: Softened butter creates a tender, chewy texture and slightly puffy cookies; it also adds richness.
  • Granulated Sugar & Dark Brown Sugar: Together, they add sweetness, moisture, and a hint of molasses flavor, helping the cookies develop a crisp edge and chewy center.
  • Vanilla Extract: Rounds out the sweetness and adds depth to the cookie’s flavor.
  • Large Eggs: Give the cookies structure and moisture.
  • Salt: Balances the sweetness and enhances the rich chocolate flavor.
  • Baking Soda: Helps the cookies rise and develop a lovely golden color.
  • All-Purpose Flour: Forms the cookie’s base and structure. I highly recommend King Arthur All-Purpose Flour for this recipe—it’s high in protein and gluten and helps the cookies hold their shape.
  • Bittersweet Chocolate: Adds gooey pockets of intense chocolate flavor.
  • Milk Chocolate: Balances the bittersweet chocolate with a creamy sweetness and smooth texture.
  • Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements

Step-By-Step Instructions

To begin, combine the butter and both sugars in the bowl of a hand-held or stand mixer.

butter and sugars in mixing bowl

Beat until light, fluffy, and cafe au lait-colored. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.

creaming butter and sugar

Add the vanilla and eggs and beat for 2 minutes more. Scrape down the bowl.

adding eggs to butter and sugar mixture

Add the salt and baking soda and beat briefly until evenly combined.

beaten mixture with baking soda and salt

Add the flour and both chocolates.

adding flour and chocolate chunks to the mixing bowl

Mix on low speed until the flour is completely blended and the chocolate is evenly distributed throughout the dough.

mixed cookie dough ready to scoop

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or scrape the dough into an airtight container and let rest in the refrigerator until firm, a few hours. When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop the dough in 1.5-tablespoon balls onto prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart.

scooped chocolate chunk cookie dough ready to bake

Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until golden around the edges but still soft and pale in the center. Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days; freeze for longer storage.

baked chocolate chunk cookies on cooling rack

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Chocolate Chunk Cookies

This chocolate chunk cookie recipe delivers the ultimate cookie—chewy with perfectly crisp edges and gooey chunks of chocolate in every bite!

Servings: About 3 dozen cookies
Prep Time: 30 Minutes
Cook Time: 12 Minutes
Total Time: 45 Minutes, plus a few hours for the dough to chill (see note)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • ⅔ cup granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup (packed) dark brown sugar (fine to substitute light)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2½ cups all purpose flour, spooned and leveled (preferably King Arthur flour - see note)
  • 6 oz bittersweet chocolate, best quality such as Ghriardelli, roughly chopped
  • 2 oz milk chocolate, best quality such as Ghirardelli, finely chopped

Instructions

  1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and both sugars for 3 minutes, or until light, fluffy, and cafe au lait-colored (use high speed on a hand mixer and medium speed on a stand mixer). Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat for 2 minutes more. Scrape down the bowl. Add the salt and baking soda and beat briefly until evenly combined. Add the flour and both chocolates, and mix on low speed until the flour is completely blended and the chocolate is evenly distributed throughout the dough.
  2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or scrape the dough into an airtight container and let rest in the refrigerator until firm, a few hours. (Alternatively, if you don't want to wait, form the dough into balls on the baking sheet as instructed below and chill in the fridge until firm, about 30 minutes.)
  3. Preheat the oven to 350°F and set a rack in the middle position. Line a 13 x 18-inch baking sheet with parchment paper.
  4. Drop the dough in firmly packed 1.5-tablespoon balls onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. (I use a #40/1.5-T cookie scoop with a wire trigger.) Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until golden around the edges but still soft and pale in the center. Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookie dough. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
  5. Note: Some readers have had issues with the cookies being flat. This can happen as a result of using a "softer" flour. I highly recommend King Arthur All Purpose Flour for this recipe -- it's high in protein and gluten, and helps cookies hold their shape.
  6. Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cookie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Roll the dough into balls, let set on a baking sheet in the freezer, then place in a sealable bag and press out as much air as possible. Bake as needed directly from the freezer. (Allow 1 to 2 minutes longer in the oven.) The baked cookies can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Let the cookies cool completely and store in an airtight container separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Before serving, remove the cookies from the container and let them come to room temperature.

Nutrition Information

Powered by Edamam

  • Serving size: 1 cookie
  • Calories: 143
  • Fat: 7g
  • Saturated fat: 4g
  • Carbohydrates: 19g
  • Sugar: 12g
  • Fiber: 1g
  • Protein: 2g
  • Sodium: 76mg
  • Cholesterol: 24mg

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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Comments

  • Absolutely delicious!
    I recommend for anyone with spare time. It was quick and easy and the cookies turned out delicious! I only chilled them in the fridge for a couple minutes (5-8 min) but they still were great. A must try for every baker, and very beginner friendly!

    • — Kara on June 16, 2023
    • Reply
  • Made these and they were super good. I used a different kind of flour (GF something) they were perfect. Gooey in the middle and firm on the outside and crispy on the bottom. I altered the recipe to use 12 tablespoons of olive oil because I didn’t have two sticks of butter and I used 2 quarters of a cup of applesauce instead of egg and vegan till house chocolate chips to make it vegan. Best cookies I’ve ever made. Next time I’ll try to use chocolate chunks for an even gooier inside. I added it to my journal with all my favorite recipes.

  • Love chocolate chip cookies.These sound great. Will try. An improvement perhaps but still a mere derivative of the original. You need to give credit where credit is due. Ruth Wakefield INVENTED the Toll House aka chocoate chip cookie in 1938. She served them at her Toll House Inn in Whitman, Mass. Subsequently the Nestle company made a deal with her — they created chocolate chips (she had used bars that she chopped up) and supplied her with a lifetime supply in return for the use of her recipe. She refrigerated the dough over night — something the recipe doesn’t include.

  • Mine ended up flat too. And I only use King Arthur flour… my baking soda wasn’t old. My butter was at room temperature…

  • These came out so well I will never, ever use another cookie recipe again!

    I am gluten free to subbed King Arthur’s GF 1:1 flour which was totally fine. I was a bit worried since I saw you mention the gluten being part of what prevented these from falling flat, but only a couple did. The rest were well risen, tender, and beautiful.

    I also had to sub almond extract for vanilla extract as I didn’t realize I had run out, but that also wasn’t a big deal as you can hardly tell. I will definitely try the vanilla next time, though.

    I brought them into work for my coworkers who devoured them all and couldn’t tell they were GF:) thank you so much, Jenn!

  • I have no idea why these cookies are so special, but they are. Since finding this recipe, I’ll never go back to plain old chocolate chips…although your variation of the toll house cookies are yummy, as well! Thanks Jenn!

  • I just made these and they came out great! Thank you!

  • Excellent recipe. I like that thè cookies dont spread. Also i baked for 8 minutws because 11 minutes made the cookies more cakelike.

  • This has been my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe ever since I stumbled upon it. My sons love it! They are asking if can I make it into a cookie cake. Any instructions on how?

    • Hi Renee, So glad you and your sons like these! If you want a cookie cake, I’d recommend my skillet cookie on page 179 of my second cookbook (but bake it for a few minutes extra if you want it firmer). If you don’t own the cookbook, email me at jennifer@onceuponachef and I’ll send you the recipe.

    • Oh I got that cookbook the day it was available! I did see a skillet recipe. Will try that. Thanks!

  • I just made these (for like the 100th time) with Reese pieces. They came out fantastic. These are the best cookies, I usually use chocolate chunks. I absolutely love the one bowl simplicity of this recipe. Thanks so much.

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