Soft and Chewy Chocolate Cookies
These soft and chewy chocolate cookies have an intense chocolate flavor and almost brownie-like texture. They’re one of my all-time faves!
Our family has been making these cookies for as long as I can remember. We use them to make ice cream sandwiches, sometimes they’re topped with marshmallows and melted chocolate, but most often they’re enjoyed just as you see here— with a simple sprinkling of salt or sugar.
Not only are they soft and chewy, but they’re also dense and intensely chocolaty. These cookies will satisfy that chocolate craving, and then some! We love them so much, and I promise they’ll become one of your favorites too.
Ingredients you’ll need
You probably already have all of the ingredients in your kitchen!
- Unsalted butter
- Granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla
- All-purpose flour
- Unsweetened cocoa powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Flaky salt or coarse sugar, for sprinkling
So easy to make, no chilling required!
These soft and chewy chocolate cookies are just your basic drop cookies—
- Cream butter and sugar
- Add eggs and vanilla
- Add dry ingredients
- Portion and bake
And there’s no need to chill the dough before baking, so you can have fresh baked cookies in as little as 20 minutes!
My best cookie tips
- Butter should be soft enough that a pressed finger will leave an indent, but not soft enough that your finger can press all the way through. If it’s shiny or melty at all, the butter is too warm and your cookies may spread.
- Be sure to measure flour correctly! All of my recipes are tested using the spoon and level method (more info through that link).
- These pre-cut parchment sheets are perfect for cookie baking.
- I like to use a cookie scoop for portion out dough so that all cookies will be the same size.
- If cookies come out slightly misshapen, use a spatula to press them back into a circle right after they come out of the oven. See more of my tips for how to bake pretty cookies.
- Cookie dough freezes really well. I like to keep a stash in the freezer for fresh-baked cookies on demand.
- These cookies will keep at room temperature for about a week, but are best within a few days of baking.
More chocolate cookies to try
- Spicy Chili Chocolate Cookies
- Chocolate Hugs Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Chocolate Marshmallow Cookies
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Recipe was originally published in 2014.
Soft and Chewy Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter , at room temperature (170 grams)
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar (300 grams)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (240 grams)
- ⅔ cup unsweetened cocoa powder (60 grams)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- Coarse sugar or salt , for sprinkling (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium high speed until light and creamy, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each. Add the vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to the mixer and mix until just combined.
- Scoop by the rounded tablespoon onto the prepared sheet pan.
- Bake until edges are crisp, about 9 minutes. Immediately sprinkle with coarse sugar or salt. Let cool on the pan for a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Repeat with remaining cookie dough.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for several days.
120 Comments on “Soft and Chewy Chocolate Cookies”
Holy delicious!! These cookies are gorgeous!
Mmm all I want to do is start my Friday with these cookies!!
The chocolate goodness here is completely out of control!
I usually add some cocoa powder to my coffee, but I think I’ll just eat cookies instead.
It’s basically the same thing…right? 😉 Pinned!
Absolutely delicious!! I add chopped walnuts and chopped maraschino cherries for a little something extra. Definitely an excellent recipe!
My mom still has her plastic recipe box on her cabinet and I love to go through it when I am home.
These cookies look great.
Simple perfection. I love all the old timey recipes from my mom’s heavily stained recipe box. So yummy and versatile!
Oh my goodness! These look SO yummy!
These cookies look so rich and delicious. How perfect would they be to share on our family dinner dessert table!
I love how you recreated your mom’s tried and true cookies with just a few updated ingredients.
holy cow! these are so yummy! made them tonight and everyone loved them!!!
Try using Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa for more intense chocolate flavor!
These are awesome cookies for ice cream sandwiches. Thank you for the recipe. You do good work!
These cookies are absolutely perfection! A huge hit. I found that if you use an air bake cookie sheet, then parchment paper was not needed. I wouldn’t change a thing with this recipe =)
Hello from Japan, i found your lovely recipe when i’m looking for chewy chocolate cookies! it’s still rare in japan(can be found in starbucks though…) i want to bake it to my son! will let you know once i bake it:-)
I just baked these cookies – and they are really good! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe….so simple yet so good! Can’t wait to try your other recipes. Thank you!!!
Hey Annalise! I just baked these for a Valentine’s Day picnic with my sweeties. They are SO rich, soft and delicious! Great recipe, thanks so much. This is definitely a keeper, and I know they will enjoy.
Wow, Georgia, so flattered that you tried my recipe! And loved them! You just made my day. xoxo
Wow!!!! These cookies are so good! You gave excellent directions. Great website. I will be back to try more recipes.
Yum! Could I make these with a Dutch process cocoa like Valrohna? Thanks!!
Tried these today with just a little over a cup of sugar. They were still amazing <3
Thank you for mentioning the metric equivalent of the quantities. Shows respect and consideration for the people who use it. The recipe looks promising. Think I’m gonna try it today 😀
I’m glad you find that helpful! I try to bake by weight whenever I can, it’s just more accurate! 🙂
Has anyone ever tried addding walnuts and Kraft caramel bits to the soft and chewy chocolate cookies?
I haven’t tried mixins like these, but I bet they would be delicious!
I’m trying to cut down on fat, but don’t want to give up cookies of course, lol. So I just used one stick of margarine (the kind you can bake with) and a few tablespoons of milk and they still turned out amazing! Normally when I tweak recipes like that they aren’t as good, but this one was; it must be a really good one! I loved them!
Wonderful! Thanks so much for the comment. I’m happy to hear the cookies turned out so well for you. 🙂
I’ve made these cookies a few times and the cookies are so rich and delicious! Thx for the recipe
Annalise,
Thanks to you and your Mom for this recipe. I volunteer one day a week at a food pantry and one of my co-workers just turned 90! I asked him what kind of cookies I could bake him as a present and he said “anything chocolate.” I dug through recipes I had pinned and this one came up. Really easy to make and the best part is today when I gave them to him he said that they were great (as did our neighbors and my wife who I shared with as well).
Keep up the good work and have a wonderful holiday season!
How many cookies does this recipe make? It sounds wonderful, but I need to make cookies for an army, lol. Want to know how many batches I need to make. Thanks!
Makes 2 dozen!
These cookies are to die for. I’m a pretty die hard cookie eater, and these really captured what I want in a cookie. I did change it up a bit and added white chocolate to the top to make it like these cookies from one of my favourite coffee shops but I actually think these tastes better! Super simple and so rewarding! Will be making more asap.
Thanks so much for the feedback! White chocolate chips would be a fabulous addition to these!
Ok. Really really the best chocolate cookie recipe this 61 year old baker has ever baked (and eaten way too many ??)!!! Thanks for sharing. This one’s bookmarked forever!!!!!!!
My husband loves these cookies. We refrigerate the whole batch and bake 4 per day so they are very fresh.
I made these today, and they turned out all right. Taste was spot on, but the cookies were really flat. I made another batch and refrigerated the dough for an hour and they turned out spectacular! Thanks for the recipe!
I made this yesterday and they are delicious, I just had a problem because they didn’t rise as they were suppoused to, they cracked in the oven and expanded too much. Can you tell me how to fix this?
coconut sugar intense chocolate taste!!!!!
I tried these about 2 weeks ago and they are devine! I added a splash of strong coffee and a bit of orange zest to the mix just to give them a bit of a twist and they came out perfectly!
Thank you so much.
Love those additions! Thanks for the feedback!
Just made these cookies tonight with no chocolate chips, but I did add some peanut butter per my husbands request and they are amazing!?
Just made these cookies tonight, with no chocolate chips. I added some peanut butter per my husbands request and they were amazing! ?
I made these cookies this morning. I had been looking for a doubly good chocolate cookie recipe to add to my cookie list. These do not disappoint! They are just as described. They remind me of a brownie with it’s rich chocolate flavor and crisp chewy edges. Thank you for this recipe!
Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you!!
I made this for the first time for my family. They adored it !!!!!!!!!
thank you very much for this recipe : ) : ) : ) : )
Yay!! Thanks so much for the feedback. We all love these cookies too. 🙂
A wonderful recipe! I added an extra egg, as the mixture was like concrete. But then again, I live in deepest France, and maybe American eggs are bigger than ours. What I don’t thank you for is all those calories — I CANNOT stop eating these cookies…?
Hello Annalise. Thanks for sharing this recipe. I made it today.
My 4 yo and I made these yesterday and subbed in M&ms for chocolate chips. They look great and taste so good. I helped him measure but he did most of the work!
I made these last week and let them cool completely. I softened some vanilla ice cream slightly and put it between 2 cookies. I wrapped them individually and put them in large freezer bags. This is so much better then buying ice cream sandwiches! The only problem was they didn’t last long! Everyone loves them!
I’ve made these a few times, and they have become a family favorite.
Great with red wine!
Oh I’ve never had them with red wine, need to try that!
I made these last night – sooo delicious!! Thank you for sharing the recipe!
THese are DELICIOUSSSS!
wow these cookies are the best thing i have tasted in my life!!!!
these cookies taste like heaven with a touch of God 🙂
Great recipe. Thanks.
Double the cocoa powder. Yes, double it. It creates a stiff dough, which can be rolled into balls and baked. They are more chewy and way more chocolatey.
Great recipe! I used 1/4 cup less of the sugar amount as I wanted a slightly less sweet cookie to use for ice cream sandwiches and they turned out perfect. I also found chilling the dough for about 2 hours allowed for a softer cookie interior.
I will definitely bake these again. Thank you for sharing!
Just finished making these cookies and they are perfect! My family has always liked Archway Cocoa cookies, but they’ve become difficult to find. I’ve been experimenting with different recipes and this is the best and closest. I followed the recipe exactly, choosing to skip the chocolate chips. I used a small cookie scoop to make one inch balls and then rolled them in sugar. I baked the cookies for about 12 minutes in our warm and dry climate. They crackled beautifully and are rich and chewy. We love them! Wish I could post a picture!!
The best cookies I ever made crunchy on outside chewy on the inside! love them.
Okay….first of all I have seriously tried like 10 different recipes for double chocolate chip cookies including the famous Levain recipe!
NOTHING TOPS THIS RECIPE! My cookies were soft and fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside…. Even my husband who does not like chocolate (I know I know) said he “loved” them.
These are easy simple fast and by far the best of the best.
Thank you so much!
Yay! I’m so glad you love this recipe! Thanks so much for the feedback! 🙂
Could you use salted butter instead of unsalted butter
I did and they came out amazing.
Love the cookies, added Heath toffee pieces.
Perfect
Just perfect, thank you very much.
I actually used even less sugar (1/3 less) and it turned out just fine 🙂
I made these with my son. The mix got very thick and was very hard on my mixer, enough to burn out the motor, ha. At least I finished mixing them first. I ended up mixing the chocolate chips by hand. i baked them for 10 minutes, and then right out of the oven, I added Hershey’s candy cane kisses in the center! OOOOOhhhhh soooo goood!!!! Easy recipe.
My kids LOVE these cookies, we never have chocolate chips but this recipe has lots of cocoa and it satisfies my cravings, sooo good!
it’s really nice and meanful. it’s a really cool blog. Linking is a very useful thing. you have really helped lots of people who visit the blog and provide them useful information.
Delicious recipe.
Honestly, I was pretty skeptical about these as there isn’t any chocolate in the dough. But OMG these are incredible! They’re the perfect amount of chocolatey, they’re the perfect chew on the second and third day. I want to marry these cookies. I’ve already made them twice!
At the top of the recipe it says 27 mon baking time. In the Steps of the recipe it says bake 9 mins. Can you clarify? Thanks
Baking time is for all 3 sheet pans of cookies!
Love these soft and chewy chocolate cookies!
2048
So delicious cookies. But when I took them out of the oven the where alll liquid. I want to know if that’s normal?
Sounds like maybe they weren’t baked long enough?
Lovely, but needed longer in the oven. No indicator of centigrade temp in a fan oven, so baked them at 170c fan. They took about 15mins.
Delicious.
Proper cookies, crispy outside and a little chewy too.
amazing!
!!!!
Favorite chocolate cookies!!
These are such good cookies. They stay soft and have incredible chocolate flavor. I used Ghirardelli dutch cocoa powder and had to add a splash of milk – I think my butter was a little too cold. I have saved the recipe to use again and again, I’ve shared the recipe and my husband has I requested a batch to share at work. Definitely a win!
I was looking for something chocolatey that I could whip up without going out to the store. Stumbled across this recipe and decided to try it. Great cookies! They turned out beautifully just the way the recipe was written. Thanks!
These seem just what I am looking for. Would you please tell us what cocoa powder you used? Your results are so chocolately beautiful!
Thank you for sharing!
Well, the cookie dough is delicious thus far! I could not wait while my first batch is still in the oven lol! I added ghiradelli dark chocolate chips btw. Mmmm
Im in loveeeee!!! I think i have never ate cookies this good! Very chocolately, not too sweet. Amazing!
I made these cookies and followed the recipe as suggested. I was exceptionally happy with the outcome. The cookies were so well regarded and gobbled up so quickly that I nearly missed out on using them as they were originally intended-for ice cream sandwiches. Highly recommend.
So happy to hear you loved this recipe Lisa! 🙂
Tried this cause it looked simple for a beginner like me.
Cookies taste heavenly Even with my uneven scooping. Definitely pinned.
swapped out for a bunch of different flours and was srill perfect
This is my favorite chocolate cookie recipe. I added a cup of peanut butter chips… absolutely delicious.
Excellent recipe! Makes at least thirty plus delicious cookies. Thank you very much!
This recipe came out great even with dietary substitution. Perfect amount of sweetness and fudgy-ness! Very easy to make and you probably have all of the ingredients on hand already!
For anyone wondering, I made two substitutions.
1. I used vegan earth balance stick butter
2. I used chatfield’s brand carob powder one to one.
Since the vegan butter is salted, I omitted the salt.
I have been craving a fudgy chewy chocolate type of cookie, but I can’t eat dairy & chocolate is iffy with reflux & digestive issues so I avoid it. This worked perfectly with carob and I also liked that this recipe did not use a ridiculous amount of butter compared to some other recipes I’ve seen.
I lessened the sugar by about one tablespoon since the carob is sweeter.
I mixed my dry ingredients in four additions to make sure it was well combined.
I also found I needed to bake mine for 14-15 minutes. I checked mine with a probe thermometer, they do come out very soft but they harden while cooling but maintain their soft and fudgy centers!
The trick with flattening them with a spatula was a good tip!
Somehow even with a tablespoon scoop, I ended up with 34 and not 24 which is fine by me. Hehe.
I will definitely be making these again! Thank you for an easy and delicious recipe!
Thank you for all of the feedback! I’m so happy the cookies turned out so well with these changes. And I’m sure other readers will find this very helpful too! 🙂
Great cookirs
Omg these are delicious!!!!
I made bigger cookies with an ice scoop, so had them in the oven at around 13 minutes. For those who use Celsius, it is 175 degrees.
If I want vanilla cookies (and add chocolate chips), do I substitute the cocoa for more flour?
So happy you like this recipe! If you want vanilla cookies with chocolate chips, I’d recommend my chocolate chip cookies! I haven’t tested this recipe without cocoa and so I can’t make any suggestions on that.
WOW! Soft, and yummy. These are my new go to. Sprinkle with powdered sugar right out of the oven. Great recipe 👌
Wonder if you could substitute coconut oil for the butter…
Possibly! It will change texture and flavor, and perhaps how well it spreads. But worth a try if you want. Report back with results if you do, please! 🙂
Super chocolatey 🙂
cool
I love adding heath bits to the dough, however I highly recommend adding them in with the wet ingredients because the thickness of the final dough makes it a little difficult to fully incorporate. Wonderful recipe both by itself and with add-ins!
These cookies are sooo good! Recipe is easy and quick which I love! I was able to get 36 cookies from this recipe using a loaded tablespoon measuring spoon. I had turbinado sugar to use and it would not stick to the cookie after baking so with the 2nd batch, I dipped each cookie partially into the sugar before baking and it worked beautifully. A definite keeper recipe. Thank you!
Nice
These are exactly what they are described as. Perfect chewy chocolate cookies! Wonderful recipe thank you 🙏 ❤️
i loved even before baked amazing 100% recommend
Crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy, almost gooey on the inside. Topped with a few salt flakes, perfection.
Love it!
We eat these a LOT in my house – we decided that if we want sweets, we have to make them ourselves and this is the #1 recipe we go to (then traditional chocolate chip cookies). These always get eaten up immediately and they store well.
I live at high altitude and the only difference I have had to make is to add a smidge extra flour and carefully watch them, since they seem to bake up in my little convection oven in about 7-8 minutes.
Awesome. Everyone in our family of 13 loves them.
Wow! Great recipe! Cookies turned out wonderful! I measured using my small scale. I think that’s what I’ve been missing from making great cookies. Thank you for the tip. I’m planning on trying other recipes. My husband of 36 years says they’re the best cookies I’ve ever made.
I have made these several times and given them to friends and co workers. They all raved! I also brought some up the the Marine Corps recruiter’s office when I brought my sons for workouts. Those Marines gave the best compliments!!!! One of them actually rolled his eyes back!!!! Lol. Needless to say this recipe is a KEEPER!!!!
Wow, what incredible feedback, thank you! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed these cookies, Heather!
Very good cookies. As another reply, I also used 1 1/4 cups sugar rather than the cup and a half, and they came out delicious, even to the taste of my four year old grandson.
Totally wonderful. A big hit with my family! I added a cherry cordial Hershey kiss in the center to make chocolate cherry blossoms but everyone loved them even without the kiss! Going to try infusing with orange next time for a chocolate orange cookie. Love the texture and how easy they were to make. 10/10!
These are absolutely gorgeous! They’ll be my go-to chocolate cookie from now on. Thank you!
The best! Topped em off with mini mint chips. Great alone or crumbled on ice cream! My family requests another batch.
These cookies are amazing! I did a half cup less sugar because I don’t like normal sweetness ans I used dark chocolate cocoa powder. I also did peanut butter ganache filling! So tasty! These cookies taste like amazing brownies!
Oh. MY.Goodness these are perfect and amazing, I want to make dozens more and gain 500 lbs by eating them! Thank you – and so easy to make!
These are the best! I started adding Reese’s pieces and omg. Making them again right now almost have the recipe memorized.