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Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies!  These cookies are nice and golden on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside. Loaded up with tons of melted chocolate. The best part is the size. These cookies are thick and hearty!

Super thick chocolate chip cookie being picked up by a hand off a cooling wire rack.


 

My favorite thing about cookies, is possibly the dough. Which means these Texas sized cookies that remain soft and gooey in the center even when baked are my favorite thing ever! These cookies check all the boxes! 

  • Thick! 
  • Chewy
  • Buttery
  • Soft and gooey
  • Loaded with chocolate

How do you make thick cookies?

There’s several tricks and tips involved in this recipe that help to create the ultimate thick chocolate chip cookie.

  1. Use more Brown Sugar: We’re using mostly brown sugar instead of white. The light brown sugar creates a thicker, softer, and chewier cookie than using mostly white sugar.
  2. Baking Powder: We’re also using baking powder in these cookies instead of baking soda. Baking soda can help create crisper cookies, but we’re going for thick and soft.
  3. How you handle the dough: After we make the chocolate chip cookie dough, we’re also going to be careful about how we handle it. Don’t squish the dough! 
Step by step how to make thick cookies.

Handle the dough gently

To make the cookies, gently separate the dough into 6 pieces, but don’t form the dough into a ball shape. Most cookie recipes have you compress the dough and form a ball, or form it higher to help with the shape while baking.

But with this dough, we want to loosely form it into a shape, but don’t compress it. We want to keep the dough light and airy.

Chocolate chip cookie dough in a glass bowl.

Important Tips

  • The best dough will form if you use a hand mixer or stand mixer. This will allow you to throughly cream the butter and sugars.
  • If using a mixer, the dough might seem a bit crumbly. Moist, but not completely sticking together in a solid mound. This is ok. It’s due to the amount of flour in the recipe. This is another thing that makes the cookies so thick. Use your hands to mix the chocolate chips in all the way and you will see the dough come together.
  • Again, don’t squish the dough together. Keep it nice and airy. Form it just enough to make the cookie shape.
Balls of cookie dough on a baking sheet.

Can I make these cookies smaller?

This recipe is designed to create LARGE Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies. The best I can describe would be close to Levain Bakery. The recipe is designed to make 6 cookies.

However! This same dough can be used to make smaller size cookies, and they will still puff up thick when baking as long as you follow the instructions. Keep in mind that does change the serving size and nutrition information provided.

Other cookie recipes:

Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies

4.80 from 125 votes
Prep: 10 minutes
Cook: 16 minutes
Chill Time: 30 minutes
Total: 56 minutes
Servings: 6
Author: Serene
Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies!  These cookies are nice and golden on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside. Loaded up with tons of melted chocolate. The best part is the size. These cookies are thick and hearty!
Super thick chocolate chip cookie being picked up by a hand off a cooling wire rack.

Ingredients  

  • ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
  • ¾ cup light brown sugar
  • ¼ cup white sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp baking powder
  • ¾ cup semi sweet chocolate chips
  • ¼ cup chopped pecans can be omitted

Instructions 

  • Line a large baking sheet with a silicone baking mat, set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl add the butter and sugars. Using a hand or stand mixer cream the butter and sugars together until fluffy.
  • Add in the large egg, vanilla and mix until combined.
  • Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix until combined. The dough might seem to be in crumbles as mentioned above.
  • Pour in the chocolate chips and pecans (if using) and use your hands to mix them in. This will bring the dough together. Be gentle though. We don’t want to compact the dough too much. We want to keep it as airy as possible.
  • Divide the dough into 6 pieces. Gently form into cookie form. Place on the baking sheet.
  • Chill the cookie dough for at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 during this time.
  • Bake the cookies for about 16-18 minutes. The outside will be golden brown.
  • Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to continue cooling. The cookies need to cool prior to serving. They are best at room temperature.

Video

Notes

Make ahead tip: You can make the cookie dough and keep it chilled in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Baked cookies freeze well for up to 3 months sealed in a freezer bag.
Unbaked cookie dough balls freeze well for up to 3 months, freeze them on a baking sheet first for a few hours, then add to a freezer bag to store. Bake frozen cookie dough balls for an extra minute, no need to thaw

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 598kcal | Carbohydrates: 80g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 69mg | Sodium: 253mg | Potassium: 237mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 44g | Vitamin A: 524IU | Calcium: 74mg | Iron: 4mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Like this? Leave a comment below!

Recipe initially posted on May 23, 2018. Updated on March 6, 2020 with new images and new video. Only recipe change was a reduction in the amount of vanilla extract. Original photo of recipe below! My chocolate chips melted so much better in that batch!

A hand holding a split open thick chocolate chip cookie with melted chocolate chips.

Welcome to my kitchen!

Welcome to the House of Yumm!! My name is Serene. I’m the food photographer, recipe developer, and official taste tester around these parts.

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4.80 from 125 votes

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299 Comments

  1. I was looking around for a big fluffy cookie recipe but they were all so complicated and required TOO MANY ingredients. But this one was simple and perfect, I made these cookies a few days ago and they were THE BEST COOKIE EVER! So fluffy and delicious I made 9 instead of 6 because I didn’t want them to be too big but they were still  a nice decent size.  I am going to keep this recipe forever. Thanks for sharing!

  2. Thank you for your recipe, these are the best cookies!  I have been searching  for a soft chocolate chip cookie for years,  I will definitely make these again.

  3. hello, my cookies are very good but they fall back into the oven and become flat. I mix the flour and the yeast before incorporating it and I sift them. should i not do this or should i add flour?

  4. I like to use brown butter in my cookies. Would I need to add an extra yolk or a bit of milk in order to compensate for the lower moisture content in the butter?

  5. I accidentally left out the step where I was supposed to freeze the dough for 30 minutes. Will that significantly change the outcome?

    1. The main difference that chilling the dough makes is that it hardens the butter back up and the cookies bake up thicker, they don’t flatten as much with extra cold butter.

      1. So good! Uber thick and chunkie!!
        I used white chocolate, dark and milk.
        My new go to recipe 🙂

  6. My cookies completely flatten. And although the flavour is fantastic, I was hoping for big fat gooey cookies! I leave the dough in the fridge for at least half an hour, and make sure the oven is hot enough. What could it be??? I really want this recipe to succeed.

    1. Hi Kelsey. Some ideas would be to check that your baking powder is fresh and not old or expired. Also make sure you aren’t over-mixing the dough. Only stir enough to bring the dough together. We need as much air in the dough as possible. Even when creaming the butter and sugar, if it’s over-mixed it won’t be light and fluffy and this can effect how thick the cookies will bake. Then make sure that the dough is tall and thick when forming the cookies, don’t press the dough together, just form it into a tall ball, this helps it not spread as much when baking. Hope these tips help!!

  7. Hi,

    I made these cookie tonight and they were fantastic! I Would like to make some double chocolate just like these…any recommendations?