Hi, Friends!

If a cookie could win a popularity contest, the classic chocolate chip cookie would be running unopposed.

No rivals, no drama, just pure buttery goodness that gets devoured faster than you can say "I'll just have one." This recipe is your ticket to cookies that are the chewiest of chewy, the softest of soft, extra thick, and absolutely exploding with chocolate. The best part? You don't even need a mixer!

Melted butter, more brown sugar than white sugar, cornstarch, and an extra egg yolk guarantee the absolute chewiest chocolate chip cookie texture. Think of melted butter as the secret agent of this recipe. Melted butter produces the chewiest cookies, though it can make your baked cookies greasy, so there is enough flour included to counteract that. And that extra egg yolk? Don't you dare skip it. The extra egg yolk adds richness, soft tenderness, and binds the dough. It is basically the glue holding all your cookie dreams together.

The cookie dough is made from your standard cookie ingredients: flour, leavener, salt, sugar, butter, egg, and vanilla. Here is exactly what you need:

- 2 and 1/4 cups (280g) all-purpose flour

- 1 teaspoon baking soda

- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

- 1/2 teaspoon salt

- 3/4 cup (170g) unsalted butter, melted

- 3/4 cup (150g) packed brown sugar

- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated white sugar

- 1 large egg + 1 extra egg yolk, at room temperature

- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

- 2 cups (360g) chocolate chips or chunks

Step-by-Step Instructions

Melt the butter first and let it cool completely. Combine brown sugar and granulated sugar in a mixing bowl, then stir in the melted butter. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla, then stir. This part smells so good you will want to bathe in it. Resist. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt, then stir into the cookie dough. Finally, fold in the chocolate chips, being careful not to overmix.

Now, the step that separates the cookie legends from the cookie rookies: chilling the cookie dough is so important in this recipe. Unless you want the cookies to spread into a massive cookie puddle, chilling the dough is mandatory here. Cover and chill the dough for at least 30 minutes. Scoop the cookie dough with a cookie scoop and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350°F, or at 375°F if you chilled the dough, for 8 to 14 minutes, or until they are just set.

These homemade chocolate chip cookies will cook more while they cool on the baking sheet, so be careful not to overcook them! They might look a little underdone when you pull them out. That is not a mistake. That is a strategy.

Tips, Tricks, and Things Not to Mess Up

One of the keys to achieving the perfect cookie is to ensure the correct amount of flour is used. Ideally, the flour should be weighed using a simple digital kitchen scale. In testing, 6.75 ounces of flour was found to be the correct amount. Without a food scale, do not pack the flour into measuring cups and always level the flour off.

Use more brown sugar than granulated because it has molasses in it, making it more moist. This gives a cookie that is extra soft and chewy. And if you want a fun flavor upgrade, dark chocolate instead of semi-sweet makes this recipe noticeably better.

For storage, flash-freeze the cookie dough before putting it in an airtight container. Roll the cookie dough into balls and space them out on a parchment-lined baking sheet, then put the baking sheet in the freezer for about 30 minutes until the dough slightly freezes. Once slightly frozen, transfer the cookie dough balls to an airtight container or plastic bag and freeze for up to 2 months.

There you have it, Lykkers! The chocolate chip cookie recipe you never knew you needed but will now make every single week. Soft in the center, slightly crisp on the edges, and packed with melty chocolate, these little rounds of joy are proof that the best things in life are baked. Whip up a batch, share with people you like, and keep a stash in the freezer for the moments life gets rough and only a warm cookie will do.