Chocolate Chunk Cookies — These chocolate chunk cookies are made with both chocolate chunks AND chips. These are hands down the BEST chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made!
Table of Contents
Best Ever Cookies … with Chocolate Chunks!
I’ve been on the quest to find the perfect end-all be-all chocolate chip cookie recipe. And this recipe is as close as I’ve come.
These chunky chocolate chip cookies are so soft, similar to Keebler Soft-Batch Cookies, minus the store-bought taste. And they bake up with the perfect height; not too thick or overly domed and not too thin like flat pancakes.
I stuffed these cookies to the max with both chocolate chips and chocolate chunks. As the cookies bake, the chips retain their shape more than the chunks, which turn into oozing luxurious puddles.
What Makes These Chocolate Chunk Cookies “The Best?”
If you’re looking for an easy, straightforward, chocolate chunk cookie recipe that yields fantastic results, I encourage you to give this one a try. These cookies are as close to my definition of The Perfect Cookie as I’ve come and here are the highlights why I love the recipe:
- No two-day waiting period between making the dough and baking the cookies — and dough chilling is optional.
- No egg plus yolk situation to contend with so nothing is wasted.
- The overall batch size is manageable, about two dozen.
- Each cookie is decent-sized, but not ginormous.
- The cookies get softer, not harder or drier, the next day and continue to stay soft for up to a week.
- The holy grail of cookie qualities are present — thick, puffy, soft, and chewy.
And let’s not forget, there are two kinds of chocolate in every bite! The more the merrier.
Ingredients in Chocolate Chunk Cookies
To make this chocolate chunk cookie recipe, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- Brown sugar
- Granulated sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla extract
- All-purpose flour
- Bread flour
- Cornstarch
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Bittersweet chocolate
How to Make Chocolate Chunk Cookies
The double chocolate chunk cookies come together quickly, although you do have to chill the dough before baking it (no way around it, sorry!). Let’s review how the cookies loaded with chocolate chunks are prepared:
- Cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add in the egg and vanilla, then stir in the dry ingredients.
- Add the chocolate chunks and chips last, then scoop the dough into balls.
- Refrigerate the cookie dough balls for about 2 hours before baking them.
- Bake until barely golden brown around the edges, even if slightly undercooked in the center.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
How Long Should You Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies?
I recommend baking 8 to 9 minutes, and not more than 10 minutes, period. I found given the size of my dough mounds, my oven, and my taste preferences, 9 minutes is the magic number for me. Even though the centers will seem underdone at 8 or 9 minutes, as the cookies cool out of the oven, they firm up.
If you wait to pull the cookies until they look done, as they cool they will set up far too firm and crumbly and won’t stay soft and chewy. Don’t overbake.
Cookie Baking FAQs
I used two types of flour in these chocolate chunk cookies, both bread and all-purpose flour. The original recipe just calls for all-purpose but because bread flour adds extra chewiness and since my dream cookie is one with a high degree of chewiness, I utilized a combination of bread flour and all-purpose.
If you don’t have bread flour, solely using all-purpose is fine. Your cookies may not be quite as chewy nor as thick, since bread flour also lends increased structure to baked goods, but they’ll still be plenty good.
Unbaked cookie dough may be refrigerated for up to 5 days prior to baking it, or frozen for up to 3 months
The chewiness comes from the bread flour in this particular recipe (see above for my answer to that FAQ).
To create a soft cookie, you need to use larger amounts of dough. I used about 2.25 ounces dough per cookie. I weighed each mound of dough, but if you don’t have a scale or don’t want to be bothered, that translates to two heaping tablespoons of dough, and with the chocolate pieces dangling off, possibly 3 tablespoons.
I learned when I made those cookies that a larger mass of dough allows the cookie center to remain soft and tender since it never gets the chance to dry out or overbake while the edges crisp up.
I chilled the cookie dough before baking it and always advocate doing so because as dough chills, the flavors marry and cold dough spreads less during baking, resulting in puffier and thicker cookies.
Brown sugar helps cookies stay softer and gives them a richer flavor profile since brown sugar has more depth of flavor than granulated sugar does. Ironically, cookies made with more brown than granulated sugar become softer over time as they absorb atmospheric moisture, rather than drying out.
Where this chocolate chunk cookie recipe veers way off the path compared to any other cookie recipe I’ve ever tried is that it uses cornstarch, and just two mere teaspoons, but enough to work its softening magic. Cornstarch is not only a softening agent, but it’s also a thickening agent. Just as it thickens gravy or soup, it helps to create thick and puffy cookies.
Nope! You may use one or the other, if desired. I was going to make the cookies exclusively using semi-sweet chocolate chips, but I enjoy having a variety of textures and flavors in my cookies, especially when those textures and flavors are of the chocolate variety. I opted to use both semi-sweet chocolate chips and bittersweet chocolate chunks, courtesy of a Trader Joe’s 72% Pound Plus bar.
Recipe Variations to Try
It’s easy to customize this recipe for chocolate chip chunk cookies! You may add up to 12 ounces (roughly 2 cups, but no more) of mix-ins, such as:
- Chopped nuts
- White chocolate chips
- Butterscotch chips
- Diced candy bar pieces
- Dried fruit
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Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup brown sugar, packed (I use light)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup bread flour or all-purpose flour*, See Notes
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
- 6 ounces 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 6 ounces bittersweet or dark baking chocolate, chopped into bite-sized chunks (I use Trader Joe’s 72% Pound Plus bar)
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on low speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the sugars and beat on medium-high speed until creamed and well combined, about 3 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the flours, corn starch, baking soda, salt, and mix until just combined, about 1 minute.
- Add the chocolate chips and chunks, and either fold in by hand or beat for a few seconds on low speed.
- Using a 2-ounce cookie scoop, form heaping mounds weighing 2 1/4-ounces each (weighed on a scale, which is approximately a scant 1/4-cup measure. Dough mounds will look large for their weight because there’s lots of chocolate pieces adding bulk).
- Place mounds on a large plate or tray, cover with plasticwrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 5 days.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat, parchment, or spray with cooking spray. Place dough mounds on the baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart; I bake 8 cookies per sheet.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until barely golden brown around the edges, even if slightly undercooked in the center, noting the tops will not be browned and will be pale. Do not cook longer than ten minutes as cookies will darken and firm up as they cool (The cookies shown in the photos were baked for 8 minutes, rotated once midway through baking, and have chewy edges with soft pillowy centers).
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling.
Notes
- *Edited to add May 2013 – I prefer these cookies using exclusively all-purpose flour and have stopped baking them with a combination of all-purpose and bread flour. I am leaving the recipe up as I wrote it back in 2012, but note that I prefer all-purpose because the cookies are softer, more tender, and more moist.
- Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes:
You can check out all of my chocolate chip cookie recipes HERE.
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Mrs. Field’s Chocolate Chip Cookies (Copycat) — If you’ve always wanted to recreate Mrs. Fields cookies at home, this recipe works beautifully and will save you a trip to the mall.
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I’m not sure I see much difference from the longstanding basic choc chip recipes I have except for the cornstarch, which I have used for years in various other recipes. (try it as the coating on chicken wings sans flour).
Not much is really new these days, if one researches some of the older recipes which are available online. Even some of the choc chip cookie bar recipes I see are reruns of Borden’s recipes from way back when. I still have the books
Maybe coating and deep frying the cookies like a fair food would reinvent this cookie significantly…lol.
My Aunt Mary made the best Cholate Chip Cookies ever. They were NOT SOFT they were chrispie.
Hi Averie! I have a question have you heard of using mayonnaise in the recipe? I had a dear friend that used it and the cookies were really great. Unfortunately she passed away before she gave me her recipe. They were so soft & chewy, really incredible. Just wondering if you have heard of this.
Your recipes are really great, everybody who is lucky to enough to eat one (my husband LOVES your double chocolate chip cookies & would eat all the of them!) just rave on them! Keep up the great work! You have a fan for life!!
Thanks for all the praise and compliments! Yes, I have heard of people putting mayo in cookies. Sour cream (or mayo) is great in cakes and muffins but I have never put mayo in cookies. However, I have put cream cheese in cookies and it’s wonderful! Maybe try these and see how they compared to your friend’s cookies. https://www.averiecooks.com/softbatch-cream-cheese-chocolate-chip-cookies/
I made these Best Choco chip cookies and the cornstarch made the cookie look so beautiful. I thought they tasted good and I started bragging to everyone how I had found this recipe online, this girl was a genius. But the next day the cookie had no flavor. I used good products, not house brands or generic. I thought maybe it was just me, so I made them again, again the next day the family was unhappy with the taste. I might try my regular recipe but add a little cornstarch. I will admit I did not over load them with chocolate chips as my family doesn’t like them oozing with chocolate. Maybe that is the problem. But that cornstarch, wow, makes a professional looking cookie. Thank you for all the recipes you share.
Maybe add an extra pinch of salt if you think the cookies are lacking in flavor and also make sure to use the recommended amount of chocolate like I wrote in the recipe. I think that is key here! Try the recipe at least once as I wrote it, and with a bit more salt as I think that you may like that given what you wrote.
These are absolutely the best cookies you will ever eat.
Thanks for saying that! :)
Not even close to these.
http://www.cookiesbyjennifer.com
I have found that the easiest way to shape these cookies is to make a 2.5-3 inch log with the dough and wrap it tightly in saran wrap before freezing. Then simply cut the log into evenly sized cookies right before baking. I made and frozen tons of these logs (in various flavors) and pull one out and bake when I crave chocolate or have company over. Thanks for the recipe!
I was wondering if you think these could be made in a jar, to give as a gift? If you put the sugar on top and had the person cream the butter and scoop out the sugar to add, do you think they would work? These cookies are so good!
Probably not the best because they’d have to cream together the egg/butter with the sugars, then still add vanilla. Then still add the dry ingredients, chips, etc. Just make them a batch of dough and tell them to put it in their freezer and bake off a few balls as necessary – frozen dough will last easily 4 mos in the freezer!
I made these for the first time tonight. Everything was going great until I added the flour, baking soda, cornstarch, and salt. I barely mixed for 30 seconds in my stand mixer before the dough got a bit stiff and kinda dry. Folding in the chocolate chips was extremely difficult. I assume it shouldn’t have been like that.
I measured the mounds to 2 1/4 oz but when I baked them they hardly spread. I’m pretty sure this is cause of the texture of the dough. They still tasted great, but after baking for 10 1/2 mins and letting cool for 5 mins they still seemed slightly underbaked.
I want to try this again…do you have any suggestions or thoughts where I went wrong?
I think you over-floured the dough which would cause it to 1. be dry and 2. be stiff and not spread much while baking. When measuring flour, use a very light hand and don’t pack down the flour, at all. Scoop it into the measuring cup using a spoon. And if anything, use a tablespoon or two less since you’ve had this happen. I think next time with less flour you’ll be in great shape.
And with baking, you have to go by YOUR OVEN and your climate and your dough; baking times are guidelines for what worked for me (same with any cookbook, it’s not set in stone) so just bake until they seem done enough to your liking!
I’ve just made these cookies. So buttery delicious I’m using an enormous amount of willpower to not eat a whole tray of them. Although I made each cookie a “scant 1/4 cup” as the recipe directed, I ended up with only 16 cookies, instead of the 22-24 the recipe states. And I had to bake them for nearly 14 minutes, but they came out ooey gooey, just like the recipe said they should, not hard or dry. I’m assuming the extra bake time was due to the larger size. I’m planning to make another batch to give away. I thought about making them smaller, but I really like the larger size, just like you suggest for this recipe but with the pudding mix. Thank you so much! This is the first time I’ve made chocolate chip cookies that didn’t flatten out.
Glad they came out perfectly for you and that this is the first time you’ve made chocolate chip cookies that didn’t flatten out! I think you may have made yours slightly larger than I made mine, hence the smaller yield and reduced baking tine (and in the years since I wrote this post, I would say my batch size would be more like 16 than 20+ because bigger is just faster and easier!) :)
Hi Averie! Just wanna thank you for answering my qns WRT the soft batch cream cheese choco chip cookies. Will definitely try again so that I can get the perfect cookie!
I would like to share with you that I baked the chocolate chip and chunk cookie today (minus the chunk, but added extra choco chip instead), followed the recipe and directions diligently and it turned out amazing! I love love it!! I received good feedbacks from my family and friends! However some of em preferred it if it was just a tiny bit harder. What would you recommend me to do? :)
Glad they turned out amazing and you loved them. For harder cookies (ick!! not what I like!) but if that’s the result you’re going for, just bake 1-2 minutes longer.
thank you..this is a very good recipe, but the dough seems little crumbly with one large egg. i dont want to waste an egg with just adding egg yolk. when making a large batch. i would waste a lot of eggs to use only the egg yolk,,is it okay to add 1.5 whole egg?
This dough was never crumbly for me…did you possibly over-measure your flour, or pack it into the cup, rather than lightly laying it in? If so, you may have over-floured the dough which is why it seems crumbly. At this point adding eggs or slightly more butter, after you’ve already added the flour, may or may not work, but you can try whatever you think is best.
Thank you Averie. for kindly answering my question. i used high protein flour. The dough turns out good but, the cookies look like they dont have enough structure ( easy to break) , thats why i thought adding yolk. some recipes like atk test kitchen use extra egg yolk. but this is just wasting the extra egg too:) yours is is the optimal recipe.
High protein flour is much ‘drier’ than all-purpose flour or bread flour, which is why your dough was likely crumbly. If you make the recipe as I wrote it using the ingredients I called for, you won’t have to worry about the extra egg situation.
Thank you. Ok now i got it.//
I have to agree – very crumbly! I’ve never seen cookie dough like this. Did everything right, with ingredients & mixing time as directed. I didn’t add any more moisture, but with some work I was able to smush it together into balls. Hopefully they hold together in baking. The dough is also less sweet than I’m used to (and I usually cut the sugar by 1/3 but didn’t here). Interesting recipe. I’m eager for them to finish chilling so I can bake them. From the reviews I am expecting greatness! I will also be making your sugar doodle vanilla cookies today. Just couldn’t decide between them!
I like the comment saying they’re like Subway cookies. Those are good, but I’d be even more interested in a Potbelly copycat…
Hope they came out to your liking and that you enjoyed the cookies. Funny, I don’t ever find this dough to be ‘very crumbly’ and I’ve made the recipe in other kitchens, with other mixers, etc. But glad it came together for you and it’s not an overly sweet dough, you’re right. Hope you like them as well as the Sugar Doodles! That dough is softer, moister, and more sweet.
Hi Averie,
I just made your NY Times Chocolate Chip Cookies and my husband and I loved them. Only problem I had was making them flat since the top of the cookies were a bit round. But over-all, they tasted fantastic. I followed your tip in baking them on 16.5 minutes and I love the texture.
Now I want to try your Chocolate Chip and Chunk Cookies and I have a question on the flour. Since you mentioned you’ve stopped baking them with a combination of 1 cup of all-purpose flour and 1 cup bread flour, should I use 2 cups of all-purpose flour instead of just 1 cup since 1 cup of the supposedly bread flour will be replaced with the 1 cup all-purpose flour?
Love your recipes,
Sheila
Glad you loved the Times Cookies and that my tips worked well for you with baking times and such.
And yes, just do 2 cups AP flour rather than 1 cup of each AP and bread. Also make sure to take a look at this recipe, my current favorite https://www.averiecooks.com/the-best-soft-and-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/
This is by far my favorite chocolate chip cookies ever. I baked a batch last night and it gave me 13 pieces of wonderful cookies. And they’re still soft :) I used mini semi sweet chocolate chips (1 cup of those) and I think they’re perfect.
Thank you again! I have your site bookmarked!
So glad that you love these cookies and that they’re your favorite recipe ever! Wonderful to hear that!!
So I made these today, and I’m very pregnant. Which was probably a very bad idea, seeing how I totally had a “pregnancy brain”- brain fart, whatever you’d like to call it- and missed the line for the 1c of all purpose flour. I only saw the one for the bread flour, and saw your comment about substituting all purpose for bread flour, and did so.. using only a single cup for the recipe. I discovered that I did this halfway through the cooking of the first couple of trays (half my dough). So I’ve fixed it for the second half, and they look okay now. I feel so dumb. Such a stupid mistake! Luckily, the batch I made for my husband was the messed up batch (white chocolate chip butterscotch chip) still tastes great, and he’s being sweet about it.
I will definitely be using this recipe (correctly!) in the future.
Well I commend you for even being on your feet and baking! Glad that your hubby is enjoying them and hey, you get an A for effort :)