These are the world’s best chocolate cookies. They are chewy in the center with crisp edges and loaded with both milk and semi‑sweet chocolate chips for an extra chocolatey bite.
Craving more dessert recipes? Try chocolate chip walnut cookies, coffee cake bars, or rich chocolate brownies.
This recipe was first published on Feb 7, 2022.
You won’t be disappointed. I tested this recipe repeatedly to get the balance right: tender, gooey centers with crisp, golden edges. Small adjustments—like using instant espresso powder, two kinds of chocolate chips, and dutched cocoa powder—make a noticeable difference.
Dutched cocoa powder delivers a deeper, richer chocolate flavor and a darker color than natural cocoa. It’s widely available alongside regular cocoa in grocery stores and is the ingredient used in this recipe.
These are larger cookies—about 3 tablespoons of dough per cookie—so I strongly recommend sticking with that size. Smaller scoops will bake differently and tend to become dry rather than chewy.
This isn’t a sponsored post, but I prefer Ghirardelli chocolate chips here; their texture and flavor give extra gooey pockets of chocolate.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened (salted butter recommended)
- 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup white sugar (cane sugar preferred)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup dutched cocoa powder
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
- 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips
- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Dutched Cocoa vs. Natural Cocoa Powder
This recipe specifies dutched cocoa powder. Look for “dutched” on the label. Dutched cocoa is darker and richer in color; natural cocoa tends to be lighter, reddish-brown and slightly chalky.
Dutched cocoa is neutralized and behaves differently in recipes. Natural cocoa reacts with baking soda, so recipes that use natural cocoa usually rely on that leavening interaction. I still include a small amount of baking soda here because the combination of ingredients benefits from the texture and flavor lift it provides.
How To Make Chocolate Cookies
Cookie dough. Using a mixer, cream the softened butter with the brown and white sugars for 2–3 minutes until light and slightly fluffy. Add the vanilla, then the whole egg and egg yolk, mixing until fully incorporated.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, dutched cocoa, kosher salt, baking powder, baking soda, and instant espresso powder.
Combine & chill. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix on low until just combined with no dry streaks. Fold in both kinds of chocolate chips. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for 20–30 minutes before scooping.
Scooping the cookies. Use a 3-tablespoon cookie scoop (or a small ice-cream scoop) to portion the dough. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the scoops with enough space to spread—about seven cookies per sheet works well. Roll each scoop into a ball and gently press down with your palm to slightly flatten.
Baking. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Bake the cookies for 10–11 minutes. They will look slightly underbaked when you pull them from the oven—this is intentional to preserve a chewy center.
Allow them to cool on the baking sheet briefly before transferring to a wire rack; if you try to move them immediately they can break. Let the cookies set for 20–30 minutes before serving so they reach the ideal texture.
FAQ
I recommend dutched cocoa powder for this recipe. Using natural cocoa will change the flavor and color, and the texture may differ from what you expect.
These cookies are meant to be slightly underbaked so the centers stay chewy. Let them rest on the baking sheet until they’ve set enough to move without breaking—usually 10–20 minutes—then transfer to a wire rack and cool fully for the best results.
I’ve tried smaller scoops and the texture changes—the cookies don’t remain as chewy in the center. For this recipe, larger 3-tablespoon cookies produce the best outcome.
More Cookie Recipes
- Best Pecan Sandies
- Chocolate Dipped Butter Cookies
- Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
- Iced Oatmeal Cookies
- Pumpkin Snickerdoodles
- Frosted Sugar Cookies
- Oreo Funfetti Cookies
- S’mores Cookie Bars
Chocolate Chocolate Cookie Recipe
Chewy in the center, crisp around the edges, and packed with two kinds of chocolate for maximum indulgence.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 whole egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup dutched baking cocoa powder
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp instant espresso powder
- ¾ cup milk chocolate chips
- ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Cream together butter, brown sugar, and white sugar for 2–3 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Mix in the vanilla.
- Add the whole egg and egg yolk; combine completely on low speed for 1 minute.
- In a separate bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and espresso powder.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet all at once and mix on low until combined with no streaks.
- Fold in both kinds of chocolate chips with a spoon.
- Chill the dough in the fridge for 20–30 minutes.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Use a 3-tablespoon cookie scoop, drop dough onto the tray, roll into balls, and gently pat down.
- Bake for 10–11 minutes; remove when they still look slightly underbaked.
- Let them cool briefly on the cookie sheet; they’ll be too soft to move right away.
- Once firm enough, transfer to a wire rack.
- Allow cookies to cool another 15–20 minutes before eating so they set properly.
Notes
Ghirardelli chocolate chips work particularly well here; their milk chips are larger, creating extra gooey pockets of chocolate.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 20
Serving Size: 1 cookie
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 339
Total Fat: 18g
Saturated Fat: 11g
Cholesterol: 46mg
Sodium: 182mg
Carbohydrates: 41g
Fiber: 2g
Sugar: 29g
Protein: 3g
Nutritional figures are estimates from online calculators.