Golden and crisp on the outside with a chocolatey gooey middle, these are the best THICK chocolate chip cookies ever! In this recipe you’ll find step-by-step photographs, top tips and lots of thick cookie chat 😊
A new year means a new personal baking project, and I’ve decided to make 2022 the year of the cookie 😍 Over the next 12 months I plan to share all my cookie baking tips, tricks and secrets with you, plus a whole heap of brand new delicious cookie recipes. Say hello to the first recipe in this new baking series: THICK chocolate chip cookies. Otherwise known as NYC Cookies.
Why these thick chocolate chip cookies are the BEST
- Chunky AF! Each cookie weighs in at 120g!
- Rustic, golden brown exterior
- Slightly crunchy on the outside
- Molten lava in the middle
- Chockablock with milk chocolate chips
- An easy peasy, one-bowl recipe
Need I say anymore!? Feel free to jump straight down to the recipe 😅
Chunky vs. chewy cookies
Okay, this is a BIG debate. I completely sit on the fence on this one. Sometimes I love a thinner chewy cookies, and sometimes I just want a big fat thickkkkkk chunky cookie. So guess what? I’ve created a recipe for both!
In this blog post you will find the recipe for my thick chocolate chip cookies. But if you’re looking for chewy chocolate chip cookies (think Millie’s Cookies texture) then check out this recipe instead.
5 important tips for baking thick chocolate chip cookies
This recipe took a lot of testing, trial and error to make sure it was absolutely fool-proof and perfect. Along the way, I learnt a few tips that will help you bake the most epic thick chocolate chip cookies.
Tip #1 – Use cold butter
It may seem strange to use cold butter for cookies, as typically you would start with room temperature or even melted butter. But for thick cookies it’s all about reducing spread in the oven as much as possible and that’s why we start with cold butter.
You will need to beat the butter with the sugars however, so you don’t want the butter to be like a hard brick otherwise it will be impossible to work with. 30 minutes before you start baking (if you’re kitchen is really warm, reduce to 15 mins) , take the butter out of the fridge and let it sit on the counter to slightly soften.
Tip #2 – Choosing the best chocolate chips
For this recipe you want to use big, chunky chocolate chips for a rustic looking cookie with melted pools of chocolate inside. Personally, I love Guittard Milk Chocolate Chips. They’re maxi in size and they’re specially made for baking, so they won’t burn in the oven.
You can find Guittard chocolate chips on Ocado, in Lakeland or in Waitrose. Alternatively, you could use good quality bars of chocolate and chop them into big chunks.
Tip #3 – Freeze the cookie dough before baking
For this recipe you will bake the balls of cookie dough from frozen rather than from chilled. Frozen cookie dough = less spread = thick cookies!!!
I recommend at least 90 minutes (enough time to tidy up, make a cuppa and watch an episode of your favourite series). BUT (and that’s a big but!) the longer you leave the cookie dough, the thicker your cookies will be. 24-48 hours is ideal!
Baking these cookies for a special occasion? Prep the dough in advance and leave it in the freezer for up to 2 months. On the day, bake the cookies so they’re fresh, gooey and delicious!
Tip #4 – Use a pre-heated, dark baking tray
What makes thick chocolate chip cookies extra special is their crisp golden outside with a gooey texture inside. Using a pre-heated, dark coloured baking tray will heat up the outside of the cookie more quickly, making it crisp and golden.
Tip #5 – Eat your thick cookies straightaway
The best tip of all 😅 These cookies are best eaten straight from the oven whilst they’re still warm, fresh and gooey. If you have leftovers, you can freeze them to enjoy another time. See the notes below on how to freeze the cookies.
Can the cookie dough or baked cookies be frozen?
Freezing the cookie dough: You can store the cookie dough balls in the freezer for up to 2 months. Bake from frozen for 15 minutes at 180°C (fan).
Freezing the baked thick chocolate chip cookies: layer the baked cookies between sheets of greaseproof paper to prevent them from sticking to each other. Then place in a container and freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost the cookies at room temperature.
Quick links to equipment & ingredients
Looking for more sweetness?
Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 200 g Cold unsalted butter Take the butter out of the fridge 30 minutes before you start baking so that it's not completely solid
- 180 g Light brown sugar
- 80 g White caster sugar
- 2 large Eggs at room temperature
- 250 g Self-raising flour
- 150 g Plain flour
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 300 g Milk/white/dark chocolate chips – or a mixture of all three see notes above on choosing the best chocolate chips
Instructions
Start by making the cookie dough
- Chop up the butter into chunks and place in a large mixing bowl. Beat using an electric mixer or wooden spoon for 1 minute. You want the butter to be slightly softer, broken up, but not at the 'creamed' stage.
- Add the light brown sugar and white caster sugar and beat together until just combined. Try not to over-mix at this stage otherwise the butter will become too soft.
- Mix in both of the eggs. The mixture won't look very appealing at this stage but don't worry it will do soon!
- In a separate bowl, stir together the self-raising flour, plain flour, salt and baking powder until well mixed. Tip into the butter mixture and fold everything together until it forms a thick cookie dough.
- Now add all of the chocolate chips and use your hands to mix them into the dough.
Shaping the cookies
- Line a baking tray or tin (one that will fit inside your freezer) with greaseproof paper.
- Weigh out 120g of the cookie dough, then use your hands to roughly shape it into a ball and place it on the baking tray. Thick cookies are meant to look rustic, so lumps and bumps on the cookie dough is exactly what you're looking for.
- Repeat this step until all the cookie dough is used up. You should get between 9-10 cookies in total. At this stage, you don't have to worry about the cookies being too close together on the baking tray. As long as they're not touching it's all good.
- Cover the baking tray with clingfilm and freeze the cookie dough balls for at least 90 minutes or up to 48 hours for best results. The longer you leave them, the thicker your cookies will be.
Baking the cookies
- Whilst the cookies are in the freezer, preheat your oven to 180°C (fan).
- Do this step 5 minutes before the freezing time is finished:Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper and place in the oven for 5 minutes to heat up. The heated tray will help the cookies crisp up and brown on the outside but still keep a gooey centre.
- Place 3 to 4 of the frozen cookie dough balls onto the tray. These cookies are very chunky so make sure you leave plenty of room between them.Bake the cookies in batches if you need to.
- Bake on the middle shelf of your oven for 15 minutes until golden on the outside edge but still only lightly browned on the top and in the middle. The cookies should still be nice and thick, with very little spread.
- Leave to cool for 5 on the baking tray, or just until you're happy to pick them up without them falling apart.
- Enjoy your cookies straightaway!
Notes
More cookie recipes to love
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hi I really want to make these cookies using a electic mixer but im worried that my mixer will break when mixing the cold butter. do you have any tips or advice will really be helpful 🙂
I have a KitchenAid and use the paddle attachment. Start with the mixer on a low speed. If you’re worried about it breaking that you could use a wooden spoon to beat it first just to help soften the butter a little bit, then swap to using the electric mixer ☺️
These are the best thick, soft cookies!! I made them according to the recipe once and fell in love. The second time, I subbed all whole wheat flour, and they still turned out amazing. Great recipe!
Hi Elisabeth, thank you for taking the time to leave this lovely review 😊 so happy to hear you loved the recipe and it’s a great idea to switch it up and use whole wheat flour instead, I must try this!
These ROCK! I’m giving them a shout-out on my blog http://www.miccisbiccies.com !
Thanks so much Micci 😍🍪
No self rising flour in Mt area, is that the same as all purpose flour?
Hi Beeyah,
Thanks for your comment 😊 where is the Mt area? I’m based in the U.K so I’m not sure where that is.
All purpose flour doesn’t have any raising agent in it. In the U.K we call that “Plain flour”. Where as self-raising flour has baking powder and salt mixed into the flour already, helping bakes to rise.
This recipe uses both all-purpose and self-raising flour. However the cookies will definitely still work just using 400g all-purpose flour if that is all you have 😊
Hope that helps!
[…] In this blog post you will find the recipe for chewy chocolate chip cookies. But if you’re looking for thick, chunky chocolate chip cookies (think NYC / Levain Bakery style) then check out this recipe instead. […]