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Soft + Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ditch the Toll House bag recipe. Here is The One.

This chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe makes a big batch of classic, old-fashioned chocolate chip cookies with a secret ingredient for extra flavor and texture. 

soft chewy chocolate chip cookies recipe easy

Meet These Old-Fashioned Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

All you really need to know about this easy chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe is that you now have the recipe for the ultimate chocolate chip cookies — the only chocolate chip cookies you will ever need.

Most chocolate chip cookies are fairly standard. That is not a bad thing. Chocolate chip cookies are popular for a reason. Sure, some taste crispy, some soft, some a little salty, some sweet. But for the most part, they are the same. Not these cookies.

Sound dramatic? Allow me to elaborate. To be sure, these are definitely chocolate chip cookies. But they are elevated to the ultimate chocolate chip cookies by dark chocolate chips, a generous dose of vanilla, a little salt — and a secret ingredient. Oatmeal gets blitzed into a flour in the food processor. This oat flour creates a cookie dough with a satisfyingly hearty, chewy texture.

Soft and Chewy Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies - Unpeeled

How to Make Cookies Soft + Chewy

The first and most important step to getting soft and chewy thick chocolate chip cookies is to slightly under-bake your cookies by a minute or two.

  • The cookies should be golden-brown on the bottom and dry on top (not shiny and raw looking), but still slightly underbaked. This will keep the cookies chewy and soft in the middle, but crisp on the edges.
  • Brown sugar also makes a cookie soft, as does a generous fat content, like butter and eggs.

soft chewy chocolate chip cookies recipe easy

More Soft Chocolate Chip Cookie Baking Tips

As with all cookies, unless you have a convection oven that can circulate air throughout the oven during baking, bake make one tray of cookies at a time. If you want to make two trays, rotate them top to bottom and front to back halfway through.

Try to keep the baking cookies away from the very top of bottom of the oven. The center racks are best.

platter of chewy chocolate chip cookies recipe easy

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platter of chewy chocolate chip cookies recipe easy

Soft n' Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

An easy, soft, chewy dark chocolate chip cookie recipe made with a secret, homey ingredient.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Course: Baked Goods
Keywords:: baking, chocolate chip, chocolate chip cookies, cookies, recipe
Servings: 3 dozen medium-sized cookies
Print

Ingredients 

  • 1 2/3 cups rolled oats, ground into flour in food processor
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/4 teaspoon table salt)
  • 3/4 cup (or 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
  • 12 ounces dark chocolate chips I like Hershey's Special Dark
  • 3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease or parchment three baking sheets.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, ground oatmeal, and salt. Set aside.
  • In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar on medium to medium high until very fluffy and light. Scrape the bowl and make sure everything is uniformly combined.
  • Add the egg and vanilla. Mix on medium-high until fluffy and combined. Scrape the bowl and mix again to get all the batter mixed thoroughly.
  • Add the dry ingredients, chips, and walnuts (if using), and mix on low just until combined, scraping the bowl halfway.
  • Using a cookie scoop or spoon, scoop rounds of cookie dough onto the cookie sheets, leaving at least an inch and a half of space between each. They will spread a bit.
  • Chill cookies for 15 to 30 minutes. This is optional, but it will help the cookies spread less and stay chewy in the middle.
  • Bake one tray at a time (unless you have a convection oven), rotating halfway, for 10 to 12 minutes, until the bottoms are light brown and the tops look set and dry, but still light.

13 comments

  • 5 stars
    I made these and enjoyed them very much. I appreciate the healthy addition of oat flour and that the cookies were not too sweet. I will make them again. I used about 2/3 of the chocolate chips called for in the recipe and a mix of unsweetened chocolate (cut very fine) and regular chocolate chips. Thanks for the great treats!

    • Unpeeled

      So glad you liked them. I find that the oatmeal gives it a bit of a more interesting texture, too.

  • 5 stars
    SO GOOD.

  • Hi Lisa,
    How much pre-made oat flour would you use instead of oats? I can’t tell if measurement is for the whole oats or for flour. Thank you!

    • Unpeeled

      Hi, Steph. That is a great question. If you have pre-ground oat flour (how convenient!), the measurement will be 1 1/2 cups of oat flour plus 1 teaspoon. Enjoy!

  • Merry Christmas!?
    I I just found out about you from one of my favorite chefs… “onceuponachef”! I immediately signed myself up for your weekly email.
    I was wondering if I can use pre made oat flour for these chocolate chip cookies? Also,, if wanted them a little more crispy how much longer should I bake them?
    Thanks Bunches!

    • Unpeeled

      Merry Christmas and welcome to Unpeeled! I am so glad you found it. Jenn is the best, isn’t she? Anyway! My apologies for just answering this question now (holiday), but yes–you can definitely use pre-made oat flour–save yourself a step! And crispier cookies should probably go no more than an extra 2 minutes. They’ll get a little more color, too. Enjoy!

  • 5 stars
    Best chocolate chip cookies! This will be my go to recipe from now on.
    Love the oatmeal in them too.
    Thx

  • 5 stars
    I baked these cookies this evening for our Thanksgiving lunch tomorrow. They are the best chocolate chip cookies that I have ever made. So light, not too sweet, and the perfect balance of flavour. This recipe is definitely a keeper.

  • Marianne G.

    5 stars
    Agree with the other comments. An extra step to grind the oatmeal, but I love the final result. this is a very good cookie!!!!!

  • 5 stars
    Made these with my kids. IT is an extra step with grinding the oatmeal, but not hard and it definitely made a difference compared to normal chocolate chip cookies. These are DELICIOUS.

  • These cookies are so good! I was concerned as the dough is quite dry, but the cookies are perfectly gooey! I will definitely pin this to make again. Excited to have this dough in the fridge, so I can make fresh cookies every day this week. Thanks for sharing this recipe!

  • Susan A.

    5 stars
    These are sooooo good. I baked these with my kids and it was a lot of fun. They disappeared really quickly. The salt is more noticeable than in other cookies, but in a really good way. Liked the oatmeal.

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