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.
I made these tonight and they were a big hit. My only problem is that the cookies turned out like round balls. How do I achieve the flatter, spread out and perfectly round cookies like the ones shown in your picture? I chilled the dough for an hour, placed them on a cookie sheet with parchment sheet, and dropped 1 tsp sized clumps instead of 3-4 tsps as I prefer smaller bite-sized cookies. Could that be the problem?
Hi Jennifer! Glad you liked the taste. Yes that could be the reason they didn’t flatten out but what you can do is gently flatten the dough a little to make a disc like shape. That will help the cookies spread a little.
I was wondering if i could substitute the butter for vegetable shortening?
Hi Tabitha – I have not tried this but I think it could work. The cookies will not have a buttery flavor and they may be more fluffy. If you try it, let me know if it worked out!
Just finished baking these and they are amazing! My fiance absolutely loves them!!
Yeah! So glad you guys liked them! If you have leftovers put them in the freezer – they are just as good really really cold! 🙂
I followed the recipe exactly but used margarine instead of butter and just sprayed the pans with nonstick spray. They turned out perfectly! They were so good, never flattened or spread out at all! Thanks for the recipe. I will make these again!
Yeah Angy! So glad those changed worked fine for you! Thanks for trying to recipe out! xoxo
These look delish! Thank you! I will be making some tonight!! Can i freeze the dough and bake at a later date? How should I modify the baking temp or time?
Thank you!
Hi Janice! So glad you are trying them! Yes, I believe you can freeze the dough – I have never done it but I don’t see why you couldn’t. Bake them for about 10 minutes then check on them to see if they’re done but they will most likely need a few minutes more. Enjoy!
Thank you for a fast response. I made the cookies today and they are delicious! So soft and chewy, the perfect chocolate chip cookie! I also made a batch of the dough to freeze!
You’re welcome! Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed them. 🙂
I made these cookies and while they tasted delicious, they came out very cakey. I followed the recipe to the “T”. Any suggestions on what could have caused this? They also ran together while baking, I separated them with enough room between each cookie.
Hi Shelby – by cakey, do you mean soft or chewy? These cookies are soft in the center and slightly crunchy on the outside. They most likely ran together because the dough wasn’t chilled enough or the flour was measured wrong – try adding a little more flour to see if that helps.
Mine came out cakey too. I would think maybe to much flour? But I’m not a baker just a guess. By cakey I mean they are thick I got mine golden brown underneath and around the edges but soft in the middle. The fam liked them but didn’t turn out the way I was hoping. Any suggestions?
Hi Gwen – yes could be too much flour. Reduce the amount by 1/4 cup or so and see if that helps. Otherwise you could also bake a little longer.
BEST COOKIES IN THE HISTORY OF EVER! Not even joking lol I following the recipe exactly except I only put them in the oven to 10 mins instead in 12, and in my opinion they came out better than when I cooked them for 12 mins. But I do like cookies a little gooier. Anyway! Great cookies! Definitely recommend! 🙂
Hi Susannah! Wahoo! So glad you enjoyed them – they are my favorite!
Best cookies I’ve ever made! Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed them Amy! Thanks for trying to recipe!
I do not have parchment paper or a baking mat:( will this make a huge difference? I have tin foil but am afraid that may be too much and leave my cookies gooey.
Hi Stephanie – yes it could make a difference. You can purchase parchment paper at the grocery store or Target. If you don’t have time to get it, make sure you spray the pan with non-stick spray otherwise the cookies will stick. It could cause them to flatten out or burn on the bottom. Just make sure the dough is very cold.
This is my first time using this recipe and they are delicious.. so delicious I keep eating the batter (yes I know bad me). At this rate I wont have anything left to bake 🙂
Yay! So glad that you like them. I know…the cookie dough is deathly!