The Best Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
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Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies are crispy, chewy and soft. They have a ton of delicious flavor due to adding extra vanilla, salt and brown sugar. This is my go-to recipe for cookies!
I could eat all the cookies in the world.
If they’re chocolate chip. Well…I take that back. Cookies are my thang, one of my favorite sweet indulgences and one of my very favorite desserts to make. So yes. I could eat all the cookies in the world.
What’s your favorite sweet treat?
Chocolate chip cookies are easily my favorite, which is why I am so ecstatic about this bakery style chocolate chip cookie recipe!
These are one of my best cookie recipes ever and I have made quite a few!
The BEST! Why? Because they are the perfect size – on a scale from 1-10, 1 being the smallest cookie and 10 be the largest, they’re like a 6 or 7. Not too big but definitely not too small (who wants a small cookie anyway?) They’re crispy on the outside and incredibly chewy and delicious on the inside. The perfect combo for any cookie, right?
And they bake up beautifully – they don’t get flat or stay in a clump, they spread nicely and, and are perfectly chewy.
Ugh, I love these!!
See? I mean check.these.out. I did put the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or so. I typically chill all of my cookie dough recipes as I find they bake up much nicer that way.
Plus. Chilled cookie dough? Yes please!
Now, if you like a crispier cookie, you could bake these a little longer than I did. I am a sucker for gooey soft cookies so I kept mine just slightly browned on the edges.
Oh what a beautiful a thing. Look at all those chocolate chips! They create mounds of delicious gooey chocolate and give the cookies that bakery style look.
I have to mention – these are amazing warm, with ice cream and FROZEN. Yes, I put some in the freezer and munch on them at night.
Those are the best nights ever.
You HAVE to make these. Please!
SHOP THE RECIPE – HERE ARE SOME ITEMS I USED TO MAKE THIS RECIPE.
Cookie Dough Scoops (set of 3) – I use these all time when baking cookies. My cookies always turn out the same size and it saves a ton of time. They are also great for scooping muffin and cupcake batter as well as ice cream!
Non-stick baking mat – These help cookies not stick to the pan and help minimize trash!
KitchenAid Mixer Artisan Series Mixer – This one is a no brainer. I love my KitchenAid Mixer. It’s simple to use and does a wonderful job of mixing all kinds of doughs, batters, etc.
Nielsen-Masey Pure Vanilla Extract – This vanilla extract is just the best. It will take your flavor to the next level and a little goes a long way.
Silicone Spatulas – These are wonderful for all types of cooking, but I love a good spatula to scrape the bowl while mixing. It’s important to get all the dough incorporated and a strong spatula is the way to do it!
The Best Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies are crispy, chewy and soft. They have a ton of flavor due to adding extra vanilla, salt and brown sugar. This is my go-to recipe for cookies!
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled (may need an additional 1/4 cup if dough seems too wet).
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar (you can use light, but I prefer dark)
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a non-stick silicone baking mat; set aside. (The cookies do require chilling time, so when you are ready to bake, prepare the pan and preheat the oven.)
- In a medium bowl mix together dry ingredients - flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside. To measure flour, spoon it into your measuring cup until it's mounded over then use a straight edge to level it off.
- In a stand-alone mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (hand-held mixer works, too), cream together butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla extract, and eggs and mix well until dough looks smooth and pale in color, scraping down sides of the bowl as necessary.
- With the mixer on low-speed, slowly add the bowl of dry ingredients and mix just until the dough comes together. Overmixing can cause tough and flat cookies.
- Lastly, stir in the chocolate chips by hand to prevent overmixing.
- Measure 3 tablespoons of dough (a cookie dough scoop is helpful for this) and place on cookie sheet, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. You can refrigerate overnight or freeze them if you want to bake them later. Chilled dough bakes better. If the dough is too warm, the cookies can flatten out.
- Place 6 chilled cookie dough balls (I do 6 at a time so they don't spread into each other) on the baking sheet and bake for 9-12 minutes (baking time will depend on your oven. Mine bake for 11-12 minutes) until edges are golden and the center is still pale in color.
- If your cookies are flat use this tip! - Place a round cookie dough cutter or glass bowl that's a little larger than the cookie over each just baked cookie and gently swirl it in a circular motion. This allows the edges to be tucked in creating a round cookie that sets up neatly. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
It’s common for chocolate chip cookies to turn out flat. Here are a few helpful tips. Do not overmix the dough, just mix enough for it to come together and stir the chocolate chips in by hand. Chill cookie dough so that’s it’s very cold – you can even put it in the freezer to chill even further – if the dough is room temperature or warm, it will spread faster when baked.
You may have under measured the flour a bit – add more if needed – the dough should not be sticky or soft but not so crumbly that you can’t form it into a ball.
Lastly, do not put cookie dough on a warm cookie sheet – make sure that the cookie sheet has cooled or use a new one for the second batch. With all this said, the flavor of the cookies will not change even if the cookies spread! I make these all the time and they don’t flatten out on me, but I follow all the tips above to prevent flat cookies.
Cookies will last 3-4 days, covered, at room temperature. Cookies and cookie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. No need to thaw frozen cookie dough before baking. However, they may take an additional 1-2 minutes to bake.
This recipe makes about 22 cookies, give or take depending on how you measured the dough.
This recipe has been updated September of 2025.
Hi! Love this recipe- I found it last year and it is now my go to for chocolate chip cookies. However whenever I make them they never seem to spread out, I was wondering if you had any tips for this?!
Awesome! They could be too cold, so maybe try not chilling them? Or you can simple flatten them a little before baking and see if that helps them spread more.
Instead of whole butter what if I do half butter and half shortening?
you could do tha – it would change the texture of the cookie…probably make it a little thicker.
Can you use salted butter?
yes! just omit the salt then
can you use the small toll house chocolate chunks? the store didn’t have any more chocolate chips 🙁 if so would you still use 2 cups? thank you!
Yes of course. Maybe use a little less at first and see and add more to your preference!
These cookies are amazing. We use gluten free cup for cup flour and you can’t tell a difference. We started making them for friends and everyone loves them and asks for the recipe. Thanks so much !
wonderful! So glad you guys enjoy them!
I’ve been using this recipe for about 3 years now! I absolutely love it! I always add a little bit more flour and I turn them into triple chocolate chip cookies with white chocolate, milk chocolate, and semisweet chocolate! Also I’ve left chocolate out and rolled dough balls in sugar and made sugar cookies! My husband loves them that way!
yum!
Is there a way to make these cookies into a cookie cake?
Sure! Just press all the dough into a cake pan and bake. Not quite sure how long it would take but set for 15 minutes and go from there and check. You will want the center to be soft and chewy so don’t over bake!
Can you add nuts?
sure!
I have never left a comment before BUT these are THE BEST chocolate chip cookies ever!! Chewy in the middle and a little crisp on the edge. I followed the recipe and all tips. The only thing I changed about the recipe (because I am a chocoholic) is I did 1 cup semi-sweet chips and 1 cup 60% cacao bittersweet chocolate chips. AGAIN, I can’t stress how fantastic these cookies are.
SO glad you like them!!
How many grams of dough should each cookie be?
I have not measured them in grams but 2 tablespoons should be sufficient. Doesn’t have to be perfect.
I made this recipe and they came out perfect. I live at a high altitude, so I reduced my sugar by a few tbs. and reduced my baking powder by a pinch. I did mix it differently. I mixed all dry ingredients including sugar and chips. I beat my eggs in a bowl and warmed my butter( not melted in microwave) added both to dry and added my vanilla and then combined with my hands until all combined and chill til you can form firm balls. The best cookies I have made at high altitude. Thank you for this recipe. Definitely a keeper!
Sadly I tried making these and they came out as fluffy as pancakes. I don’t know what happened.
You may have over-mixed the batter or added too much flour.
I made these cookies and they were amazing! Love the recipe!!
glad you liked them!
You should edit your “cook/prep” time to include the 3 hours of refrigerator time…it’s a bit deceiving.
thank you
These looked so good that i wanted to try your recipe instead of my go-to recipe! I convert everything to grams because it’s especially easy to under/over-measure a cup of flour. After doing so, i realized that this was the same as my recipe except it has about 1/3 cup of flour less than mine. I think i prefer the extra bit of flour, so definitely add more if you think you need it! I like using cold butter because my mixer can handle it & I refrigerate the dough before baking anyways. I also like to add 1tbs cornstarch and 1tbs maple syrup. But in my experience, the best cookies actually rely on a perfect oven temperature and a perfectly chilled dough (not too soft and not too hard). Thanks for all your tips!
Thank you for sharing all of your insight!! I love learning more and more about how to make chocolate cookies taste even better. Glad you enjoy the recipe!
Do you pack the flour and level it ?
I fluff up the flour a little then scoop and level it.
I just tried your recipe. Cooling the dough before baking is genius! Thank you also for the tip of using parchment paper. I never learned to use it growing up. Clean up was a breeze.! Thanks!
you’re welcome!!