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 Jessica,
For the brown sugar did you use dark or light? Or does it matter?
Hi Gracen! I used light brown sugar. Enjoy!
Hi Jessica! I made these cookies today and while they tasted fantastic, they turned out kind of flat and were pretty cakey 🙁 I usually use store brand butter (I used Target’s this time) and I use an electric hand mixer. I chilled the dough for almost an hour and followed the instructions exactly. I use a dark nonstick pan with a silicone baking mat as well and I halved the recipe. Could any of these things cause the problem? Also, are their any specific brands of ingredients you feel make a big difference in how they turn out? Sorry for all the questions!
Hi Gracen,
So sorry that they didn’t turn out for you. I would try adding a little more flour. Depending on how you measure, the recipe could need a little more flour for them to puff up. If the dough seems too wet or sticky, add enough flour (maybe about 1/4-1/2 cup) to get a little thicker. As far as brand stuff, I have used several types of butter so I don’t believe that could be an issue. If you make them again, let me know how they turn out!
i NEVER leave comments, but honestly these are the BEST cookies I have ever had in my life ! I added half SKOR bites and half chocolate chips and they were deadly ! Great recipe ! Thank you !!
Thank you so much Alesha! I have to say, I think they’re pretty good, too! 😉 I freeze them and eat them cold…they’re so good! So glad you liked them!
I never leave reviews for anything, but these cookies were fantastic! I sent one some with my husband to work, and his coworkers were jealous. I am going send a batch with him this week for them! I put dough in the fridge and they came out great! Will be using this recipe forever!
Thank so much Jess! It’s my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe ever – so glad that your husband and his co-workers enjoyed them!
I want to add nuts to the recipe. Do i need to make any adjustments?
sure! Nope!
Love this recipe. I made them just before supper. My grandson was here for supper, in the room playing. He came out and wanted to know what was for supper, it smelled good. Knowing we were having salmon, as he was with me when we bought it, his favorite thing to eat, next to anything chocolate. He ate all of his supper, and so far has eaten five cookies. They turned out perfect, I did not chill the dough. I have a very small ice cream type scoop I use when making cookies. They flattened and spread, then puffed up slightly. Perfect chewy in the middle, with slightly crispy edges. This is now my go to recipe for chocolate chip cookies. Thank you so much for posting your recipe.
Yay Glenna! I bet it’s so much fun to bake for your grandson – glad he gobbled them up!!
I made these twice. The first time I used a mixer and they turned out beautiful. Today I did it by hand and the cookies spread out like crazy. So yes, don’t have your dough at room temp. I think using my hands caused the flatten because of the heat from my hands and the dough being sticky. Don’t be afraid to try these they are perfect.
Hi Shelley – glad that they turned out for you and that you liked them! They are my favorite chocolate chip cookies ever!
I am an American living in Norway now. They don’t have baking soda here, would this recipe still work with just the baking powder?
Hello! Truthfully, I have not tried the recipe with just baking powder. I would assume it would work though, but you might not get a crispy edge on it, but rather a fluffier soft cookie. I would suggest using 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder. It would not change the taste of the cookie at all. Let me know how they turn out!
These came out REALLY good. I followed the recipe, put them in the fridge for over an hour, then made about golf ball sized cookies and they were super thick! They barely flattened at all. In fact I smushed the next batch a little because they were slightly underdone in the middle. I like them a little less doughy. I’ve played with this batch a lot and each way I’ve baked them, cold, balls, warm, flattened, small balls, each way they have been equally yummy. I used a combo of 1 cup dark chocolate and 1 cup milk chocolate because that’s all I had. These were really good.
Hi Michaelle! Fantastic! So glad you enjoyed the cookies – it’s my favorite recipe that I make. 🙂
THIS REVIEW IS A BIT LONG, SO LONG STORY SHORT: BAKE ON 350 FOR 7-9 MINUTES AND DONT USE BAKING POWDER FREEZE DOUGH FOR 1 HOUR
I needed to bake cookies for my class and was searching for a good recipe that actually had comments/reviews from people who followed the recipe. I came across one that had the most pins but majority of the reviews were bad so I kept looking. Finally I came across this recipe and the commenters had good reviews so I tried it. When I baked them for 9 minutes the bottoms were burnt on one pan and not fully cooked on the other.(I think this was due to the fact that the pan was thin) But when I used my farberware pan(even though it was burnt it was thick) and baked the cookies on 7 minutes (give a minute or two when they start to brown take them out as they are cooling on the pan then rack that should get them how you want) they turned out PERFECTLY. i also suggest freezing thes pan for an 1 HOUR so it’s firm. I DIDNT USE BAKING POWDER I THINK THE USING THE SODA IS JUST FINE. I received some good reviews for the cookies
So glad you enjoyed the cookies and were able to find what worked best for you as far as baking. As you mentioned, pans and even your oven can make a huge difference in how the cookies come out. Thanks for writing a review!
Made this cookies today! They came out flat but still delicious! Everybody loved them, so I’m happy! Thanks for the great recipe! ????
You’re welcome Caroline! So sorry they turned out flat. I hope they turn out better the next time you make them! I wrote some helpful tips on the recipe to prevent flat cookies.
Dear Jessica, these cookies look absolutely perfect! Better than a bakery! Now I’m craving chocolate chip cookies this morning with my coffee. xo, Catherine
Thanks Catherine! I crave cookies every morning…hehe