Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Purportedly invented back in the 1930s at the Toll House Restaurant (thus the cookie’s alternate name, Toll House Cookies), in Whitman, Massachusetts, the chocolate chip cookie has become an American icon. Everyone has a favorite recipe, from back-of-the-Nestlé’s-bag to their mom’s classic. If you're looking for chewy chocolate chip cookies, this is the recipe for you. It yields a cookie with crispy edges and a soft, chewy center (thanks in part to the brown sugar and corn syrup) — perfect for pairing with a glass of cold milk.

Prep
25 mins
Bake
10 to 12 mins
Total
37 mins
Yield
about 3 dozen 2 1/2" cookies
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies - select to zoom
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies - select to zoom
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies - select to zoom

Instructions

Prevent your screen from going dark as you follow along.
  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets.

  2. In a medium bowl (or the bowl of your stand mixer), beat the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup until fluffy.

  3. Beat in the vanilla, baking powder, salt, and baking soda, then the egg.

  4. Stir in the flour, then the chocolate chips and nuts.

  5. Drop the cookie dough by rounded tablespoonfuls (a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here) onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies about 2" apart.

  6. For a salty-sweet flavor, sprinkle a touch of sea salt atop the cookies before putting them in the oven, if desired.

  7. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until lightly browned around the edges. The cookies will look slightly underdone in the center but will set up as they cool.

  8. Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to cool completely. Or cool right on the pan, if that’s more convenient, though they will become more crispy with this approach.

  9. Repeat with any remaining cookie dough.

  10. Store the Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies, well wrapped, at room temperature for up to five days; freeze for longer storage.

Tips from our Bakers

  • For flatter, chewier chocolate chip cookies, use chocolate wafers instead of chocolate chips. Flatten the scooped dough with the flat bottom of a drinking glass before baking. (Lightly grease the bottom of the glass as needed to prevent the dough from sticking.) Cookies that are baked without flattening the dough will have crispier edges, a chewy center, and be slightly taller.