Chocolate Chunk Cookies
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
Tender, puffy, and fudgy with perfectly crisp edges — these chocolate chunk cookies taste better than Toll House and are more reliable.
I’ve been baking chocolate chip cookies since the fifth grade, and I still haven’t found a recipe that’s markedly better than the classic back-of-the-bag Nestlé Toll House version that everyone knows and loves. It’s not for lack of trying—I’ve rested the dough overnight to develop flavor, browned the butter, experimented with different flours, and more. But honestly, the difference in taste never justifies the extra time or effort.
That said, the Toll House recipe isn’t perfect (sorry, Toll House!). When followed as-is, the cookies often come out disappointingly flat. Over the years, I’ve tweaked their chocolate chip cookie recipe to make it more reliable and just a touch tastier. I use less sugar, more flour, two types of high-quality chocolate instead of ordinary chocolate chips, and I always chill the dough before baking. The result? A chocolate chunk cookie recipe that yields tender, puffy, and fudgy cookies with perfectly crisp edges.
“I just made these and they came out AMAZING— so chocolatey, so full of flavor!”
What You’ll Need To Make Chocolate Chunk Cookies
- Butter: Softened butter creates a tender, chewy texture and slightly puffy cookies. Its richness enhances the flavors of the sugars and chocolate.
- Granulated Sugar & Dark Brown Sugar: Together, they add sweetness, moisture, and a hint of molasses, helping the cookies spread just enough for a crisp edge and chewy center.
- Vanilla Extract: Rounds out the sweetness and adds depth to the cookie’s flavor profile.
- Large Eggs: Give the cookies structure and moisture, creating that perfect balance between chewy and cakey.
- Salt: Balances the sweetness and enhances the rich chocolate flavor.
- Baking Soda: Helps the cookies rise slightly and gives them a soft texture, which contrasts perfectly with the crisp edges.
- All-Purpose Flour: Forms the cookie’s base and structure. I highly recommend King Arthur All-Purpose Flour for this recipe — it’s high in protein and gluten and helps the cookies hold their shape.
- Bittersweet Chocolate: Adds intense chocolate flavor, with chopped pieces melting into rich chocolate pockets throughout the cookies.
- Milk Chocolate: Balances the bittersweet chocolate with a creamy sweetness and smooth texture.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
To begin, combine the butter and both sugars in the bowl of a hand-held or stand mixer.
Beat until light, fluffy, and cafe au lait-colored. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.
Add the vanilla and eggs and beat for 2 minutes more. Scrape down the bowl.
Add the salt and baking soda and beat briefly until evenly combined.
Add the flour and both chocolates.
Mix on low speed until the flour is completely blended and the chocolate is evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or scrape the dough into an airtight container and let rest in the refrigerator until firm, a few hours. When you’re ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop the dough in 1.5-tablespoon balls onto prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. (I use a #40/1.5-T cookie scoop with a wire trigger.)
Bake for 11-13 minutes, until golden around the edges but still soft and pale in the center. Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Make-Ahead, Freezing & Storage Instructions
The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. The cookie dough also freezes nicely for up to 3 months. Roll the dough into balls, let set on a baking sheet in the freezer, then place in a sealable bag and press out as much air as possible. Bake as needed directly from the freezer. (Allow 1 to 2 minutes longer in the oven.) The baked cookies can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Let the cookies cool completely and store in an airtight container separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Before serving, remove the cookies from the container and let them come to room temperature.
Enjoy! For more classic cookie recipes, check out my Oatmeal Brown Sugar Cookies with Raisins & Pecans and my Crave-Worthy Sugar Cookies.
You May Also Like
Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Tender, puffy, and fudgy with perfectly crisp edges — these chocolate chunk cookies taste better than Toll House and are more reliable.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (packed) dark brown sugar (fine to substitute light)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2½ cups all purpose flour, spooned and leveled (preferably King Arthur flour - see note)
- 6 oz bittersweet chocolate, best quality such as Ghriardelli, roughly chopped
- 2 oz milk chocolate, best quality such as Ghirardelli, finely chopped
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and both sugars for 3 minutes, or until light, fluffy, and cafe au lait-colored (use high speed on a hand mixer and medium speed on a stand mixer). Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat for 2 minutes more. Scrape down the bowl. Add the salt and baking soda and beat briefly until evenly combined. Add the flour and both chocolates, and mix on low speed until the flour is completely blended and the chocolate is evenly distributed throughout the dough.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or scrape the dough into an airtight container and let rest in the refrigerator until firm, a few hours. (Alternatively, if you don't want to wait, form the dough into balls on the baking sheet as instructed below and chill in the fridge until firm, about 30 minutes.)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and set a rack in the middle position. Line a 13 x 18-inch baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Drop the dough in firmly packed 1.5-tablespoon balls onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. (I use a #40/1.5-T cookie scoop with a wire trigger.) Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until golden around the edges but still soft and pale in the center. Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookie dough. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Note: Some readers have had issues with the cookies being flat. This can happen as a result of using a "softer" flour. I highly recommend King Arthur All Purpose Flour for this recipe -- it's high in protein and gluten, and helps cookies hold their shape.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cookie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. Roll the dough into balls, let set on a baking sheet in the freezer, then place in a sealable bag and press out as much air as possible. Bake as needed directly from the freezer. (Allow 1 to 2 minutes longer in the oven.) The baked cookies can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Let the cookies cool completely and store in an airtight container separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Before serving, remove the cookies from the container and let them come to room temperature.
Nutrition Information
Powered by 
- Serving size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 143
- Fat: 7g
- Saturated fat: 4g
- Carbohydrates: 19g
- Sugar: 12g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 2g
- Sodium: 76mg
- Cholesterol: 24mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
I love baking,…I’ve been looking for the ultimate chocolate chip cookie….This is it!…The cookie has a crisp outside soft and chewy center,..Five star for sure,
This was a winner! I used the suggested flour and refrigerated the dough for 6 hours. I don’t have a scoop so I just made the dough into little balls by hand (like meatballs). We have always used the oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe but I was looking for something different and this did the trick. This will definitely be my go to recipe from now on.
These came out extremely well! Soo tasty!!!
Thank you for the wonderful recipe Jenn! ❤
I”m looking forward to making these cookies in a few days. I noticed in many of the comments that some reviewers had problems with spreading/flat cookies. I know you suggest adding a bit more flour to remedy the problem. Do you know how many ounces of flour should be in the recipe? I usually weigh my flour when baking.
Love your recipes…keep ’em coming!
Hi Jen, Glad you like the recipes! You’ll need 310 grams/10.9 ounces grams of flour for these cookies. And I highly recommend King Arthur All-Purpose Flour for these cookies — it’s high in protein and gluten, and helps the cookies to hold their shape. Hope that helps!
These are delicious! I got lots of compliments on them! I made them exactly as written except for the chocolate. I used a bag of semi sweet chocolate chunks from Trader Joe’s. I thought they worked very well. I chilled the dough for about three hours before I baked them. I used regular flour, did not have King Arthur, and used what was written in the recipe, not the extra 2-3 tablespoons as Jenn suggests in some of the reviews. A few of the cookies turned out very flat but most of them held their shape and puffed up nicely. I did pack the dough into a small scoop and I think maybe the ones that turned out flat weren’t packed tightly enough??? Next time I will scoop the dough onto cookie sheets first and then chill them because the chilled dough was kind of hard to scoop. Will definitely make again!
Jenn, the trick about adding an extra 3 TBL of flour and really packing the dough into the scooper worked like a charm. These turned out magnificently — perfect crunch on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. Just lovely. Thanks for another winner.
Hi Jenn,
First, these chocolate chip cookies are delicious! Thank you for sharing the recipe with us. Secondly, I just moved in a house with a convection oven which is a first for me. Any tips you can offer for baking in one.
Glad you liked the cookies! Regarding using the convection setting in an oven, the rule of thumb is to reduce the temp by 25°F. Also, I don’t recommend using convection ¬ for roasting meats and such – the fan tends to dry them out. Hope that helps!
Great recipe! I follow it exactly, but I use Ghirardelli chocolate chips because we don’t have the chocolate bars where I live. I found that my cookies turn out a bit flatter when I use regular butter, but they always keep the puffy dome shape when I use high fat butter (84%) and refrigerate the dough overnight for at least 8 hours. Yummy either way!
I haven’t made your recipe for chocolate chunk cookies yet. I’ve printed recipes before but have never had to print so many pages (9). I almost quit printing. Thanks for listening.
Hi Joan, There is a print icon in the top right corner of the recipe; that will take you to a single printable page. So sorry for any confusion!
I’ve used this recipe as a base for so many cookie combos, and it’s absolutely amazing… so much that I’ve run out of parchment paper.
What would be the recommended cooking time/steps if this would be cooked in aluminium foil?
Hi Alyssa, Baking time and temp would be the same with foil (I’d suggest non-stick foil for the best results). (And glad you like these!) 🙂
I followed the recipe exactly as well as refrigerated the dough overnight. I baked them and they came out very flat. I almost never have recipes fail and this one was a big disappointment.
Hi Ahleah, I’m sorry that these turned out flat for you! To make the cookies a little puffier, you might want to try adding 2 – 3 more tablespoons of flour to the batter. Also, make sure you use a cookie scoop to really pack the dough into balls — that can help a lot.
These cookies were delicious, garnering many compliments from a demanding crowd of in-laws. I used Ghriardelli chips instead of chunks, and they worked well. Be sure to bake on a light-colored cookie sheet.