These thick, chewy salted chocolate chip cookies are the ONLY chocolate chip cookie recipe you’ll need! Plus a tip to keep them super soft for days!
If you’ve never tried salted chocolate chip cookies before, you’re in for a TREAT!! The sprinkle of sea salt truly accentuates the rich chocolate flavor, and this recipe produces super thick and chewy cookies that will be impossible to resist!
While everyone loves a classic chocolate chip cookie, once you add salt to the top, the become the ultimate dessert!
Even though these cookies are made entirely from scratch, they really don’t take very long at all! Yes, there is some chilling time… but that’s not hands on, so you have some down time.
If the “salted” part of these salted chocolate chip cookies is throwing you off, just promise me you’ll try it before you make a decision. The sea salt doesn’t make these overly salty, it’s just a pinch that truly accentuates the rich chocolate flavor.
Kind of like the Guinness does in these cupcakes, or the baking chocolate does to this turkey chili! I do really recommend sea salt for these cookies though, not kosher or table salt.
And of course, you can’t have these salted chocolate chip cookies without a glass of cold milk!
As we all know, baking, while more of a science, isn’t exactly the same from one kitchen to the next. The way someone measures their flour, temperature of ingredients, ambient temperature, freshness of ingredients, and different ovens are just a few of the variables.
To help you guys get the PERFECT cookies every time, here’s a few of my helpful tips.
Tips for Perfect Cookies:
- Use room temperature ingredients (eggs, butter, etc).
- Make sure your ingredients are fresh (like baking soda for example, if it’s not fresh, it won’t act the same during the baking).
- Chill your dough for at least 30 minutes.
- Roll dough into balls and don’t flatten them.
- Bake cookies on parchment paper, and don’t put them too close together.
- Gently press a few extra chocolate chips into the top of the balls of dough before baking (makes them look really pretty and bakery-like).
- Take cookies out when they look like they’re ALMOST done. The center should still look slightly underdone. They’ll keep baking as you let them cool a few minutes on the baking sheet.
I also have a super awesome tip I just HAVE to share with you guys. You know that freshly baked texture of cookies that you love, but fades after just a couple of hours? I found a way you can have that soft texture for days. Yes, DAYS!
Grab an airtight storage container and line the bottom with wax paper. Place a flour tortilla on top of the wax paper, then top the tortilla with another sheet of wax paper. Then add your cookies as usual, with wax paper between the layers.
Seal the container. That’s it! The tortilla gives off a bit of moisture, and it keeps the air in the container moist enough to keep the cookies super soft.
For some extra ooey-gooey fresh baked feel, pop a cookie in the microwave for 5 seconds or so before serving!
Think of these salted chocolate chip cookies a base recipe.. there will be other versions of these cookies coming to the blog!
Some Helpful Tools To Make This Recipe:
- Cooling Rack – this cooling rack has crossbars to reinforce it… no more saggy, flimsy racks!
- Cookie Scoop – Get perfectly sized cookies, every time!
- Sea Salt Flakes – You’ll love the texture and flavor of this sea salt!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup salted butter at room temperature, 1 stick
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup + 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (more or less, to your tastes)
- sea salt flakes (for sprinkling)
Instructions
- Add flour and baking soda to a mixing bowl and whisk for 15 seconds to incorporate and make them fluffy.
- In a separate bowl that's compatible with a stand mixer (or you can use a regular mixing bowl and use a hand mixer), add softened butter and both sugars. Beat with paddle attachment for about 2 minutes, until mixture is smooth and fluffy.
- Add egg and vanilla, beat on LOW speed until combined.
- Add flour, half the mixture at a time, beating on LOW speed until JUST combined after each addition. Don't overmix, or your cookies won't be soft and tender.
- Add chocolate chips and stir together with a wooden spoon.
- Cover bowl and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- minutes before you want to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Use a large cookie scoop (or a 1/4 cup filled about 2/3 of the way), scoop round balls of dough onto parchment paper about 2 inches apart. I baked 6 cookies per sheet.
- Press a couple chocolate chips into the tops of the balls of dough, and bake about 10-12 minutes, or until edges are lightly golden brown and tops of cookies look a little underdone. (mine took 11 minutes).
- Sprinkle top of baked cookies with some sea salt flakes.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
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Chef Tips
2. If you use UNsalted butter, add 1/4 tsp salt to the dry ingredients
3. I measure my flour by whisking flour beforehand, scooping the flour with the measuring cup, leveling off with the back of a butter knife, then making sure to whisk the flour again before adding to the dough.
Video
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Marge Simmons says
I made exactly as your recipe directed
Mmmmmmmm!
Tarin says
Can you use brown butter for this?
Amanda says
I’ve only tested this recipe as written. So without testing and retesting it myself, I can’t say for certain if that would work without any alterations to the recipe (since this recipe was developed using room temperature butter that is creamed, not melted butter). If you try it, I’d love to know how it turns out!
Tarin says
I just finished making it with brown butter I set in the fridge before using, and it is AMAZING!!! It really adds another level of flavor!
Cathrin says
Super yummy and easy to make
Melissa says
First cookies I’ve ever made, and they turned out wonderfully! A little crisp around the edges, and really soft in the middle. Instructions and tips were really helpful for a cookie-novice like me, so I’m glad I found this recipe. I did make a couple of changes: I only used 1 cup chocolate and substituted the light brown sugar for golden caster sugar because that’s all I had in the house.
I also don’t own a stand mixer or cookie scoop, so I did everything manually. For anyone else not using a scoop, my dough balls were all 25g each and I got exactly 24 cookies that were about 2.5” diameter, though bear in mind I was using 1/3 less chocolate.
Never left a recipe review before, but I was just so pleased with my cookies that I had to write one!
Krystal says
Hi, I would like to ask if I would wanna convert the sizes of dough to grams, is it around 50g each ? I do not have a cookie scoop 🙂
Amanda says
I have only made this recipe as written, and have not converted it to grams, but my estimate would be yes, about 50g per dough ball 🙂
Sydnee says
Have you made these gluten free before? Is there a type of GF flour that you would recommend?
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve only tested this recipe as written. So without testing and retesting it myself, I can’t say for certain what would need to be adjusted. No one in my family suffers from celiac disease, so unfortunately I don’t have any experience with GF flours or baking. Hopefully another reader will chime in with some helpful tips 🙂
Annie says
I absolutely love this recipe and have made it over half a dozen times over the holidays. The only question I have is… I want to make a larger batch and potentially freeze the dough for future use. How long do you think can freeze to dough for?
The Chunky Chef says
I’m so happy you love this cookie recipe! I’ve successfully frozen batches of dough (usually I roll them into balls first, so it’s one less step I need to do when I want to bake the cookies) for up to 3 months 🙂
kurtiswow says
the chocolate chips in this recipe are op. i used half the amount listed and they still came out waaaaaay over the legal chocolate limit. i recommend mixing in the chips a little at a time so you can get the taste right.
Michelle says
I just made these and I agree.. it was way too many chocolate chips
Lorie says
Amazing! This recipe was perfect! I added 1/2 teaspoon of salt because my butter was unsalted, I added 1/4 cup of oatmeal and 1/4 unsweetened shredded coconut. I used cake flour since that’s all I had and they came out perfect, soft chewy on the inside and crispy on the edges! So delicious!
Christina Mounts says
I made these cookies with the addition of M and Ms along with the chocolate chip. My family went crazy over them. All the cookies were gone within two hours.
Newbie baker says
Hi, your cookies look so yummy! I want to try your recipe but there’s only one thing I want to ask: how long the cookie dough can last in chiller or freezer? Please, answer. Thank you so much!
The Chunky Chef says
The dough can be chilled for up to 3 days, or frozen for up to 3 months 🙂
Ger (BK) says
Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe. The cookies were awesome. Soft, tender, sweet and delicious, quick and easy to make also. We enjoyed them very much; they will be enjoyed often. BK
Lizzi says
Can you please suggest am alternative for egg*
The Chunky Chef says
Unfortunately I don’t have any experience using egg substitutes in baking, so I can’t say for certain what the best option would be. This looks like a good resource though https://www.thekitchn.com/best-egg-substitutes-baking-23003895
EVA says
Can any one tell me how much the ingredients in grams? Because when I made this recipe using cup measurement, I got my cookies tasted like butter cookies 🙁 It didn’t taste bad, however. But, I just wondering why my chocolate chip cookies tasted like butter cookies. My hypothesis is I made mistake in measuring the butter.
Chenoa Cheney says
My question is when recipe is doubled I noticed it still calls for 1 stick of butter for 1 cup but not doubled it is 1 stick for 1/2 cup. I’m confused. Eager to try !
The Chunky Chef says
The automatically changed ingredient amounts only change the numerical values, not the word in grey. Those I input manually so it doesn’t know to change them. Use 2 sticks for 1 cup 🙂
Paul J. B. says
Best Chocolate Chip cookies ever!!! Great tips and prep advice.
Amanda says
Loved this recipe!!
When I made it the first time, silly me dumped in a tablespoon of baking soda instead of a teaspoon because I misread the ingredient list HAHA. Only found out after the cookies were baked when it tasted really metallic and bitter.
So I threw the first batch into the bin (sigh, what a waste) and went straight into working on the second batch! Followed all the ingredients to a tee, and when the cookies were out, they were REALLY good. Only thing that I would tweak in the future is to cut the sugar by half, especially the granulated sugar because it was a tad sweet and I could still feel the grainy texture of the sugar.
But considering this is my first time baking, I am so happy with how they turned out! Thank you for this recipe ◡̈
Kerowine says
Great cookies. I wish it were more clearly mentioned ahead of time with the flour and baking powder that those were to be in a separate bowl. I used my mixing bowl to also be my stand mixer’s bowl to save on dishes. So I had the flour in the entire time until I read add flour. Ooof! It actually still worked out and I didn’t seem to over mix it. I also had the first batch on the cookie sheet before I read to chill for 30 minutes. I can’t wait to see how much different they will taste or look chilled or not chilled because so far these came out great!
Clare says
This is by far the best chocolate chip cookie recipe I have come across. I use unsalted butter instead of salted and they are still phenomenal. A couple of tips: don’t skip the salt after you take them out of the oven!! The salt on top takes these cookies to the next level. Might be different using salted butter but I will try that next time! Also, make sure you chill the dough. It makes these cookies nice and fluffy
Radhika Kshirsagar says
These were spot on, the best cookies I’ve made.
Crispy edges soft inside. I made with very few chocolate chips and also threw in walnuts and I was obsessed. The sea salt finish really does it too 🙂
Scha says
Hi can I substitute to dark choc chip? Or milk choc chip?
Matt says
Why are you asking… just make the cookies how you want…?