The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies (Soft, Thick & Bakery-Style)

This best chocolate chip cookies recipe delivers soft, chewy, bakery-style cookies filled with melty chocolate chips in every bite. Made with a blend of sugars, butter-flavored shortening, and plenty of chocolate chips, these cookies turn out perfectly every time!

After testing dozens of recipes over the years, I can confidently say this is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe you’ll ever need.

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Why we Use Half Butter & Half Shortening

The secret to why these cookies come out thick and bakery-style every time is butter-flavored shortening. Most chocolate chip cookie recipes use all butter, which tastes incredible but has a high water content that causes cookies to spread flat in the oven. Shortening has a higher melting point than butter, which means the cookies hold their shape and stay thick while they bake. The result is a cookie with a soft, chewy center and lightly crisp edges — exactly like something from a bakery counter. We use butter-flavored shortening rather than plain shortening so you still get that rich buttery taste without the spreading. It sounds like a small swap but the difference in the final cookie is immediately noticeable.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Ingredients

• Sugar: Use 1 cup of brown sugar and 2 cups of granulated sugar to make the cookies sweet and chewy. For best results, make sure your brown sugar is fresh and soft.
• Butter-flavored Shortening: I usually use butter in cookies, but shortening does create an amazing softness and consistency that is incredible. If you don’t have butter-flavored shortening, you can use half butter and half shortening instead.
• Eggs: You’ll need 4 large eggs to bind everything together.
• Vanilla: Adding 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract will enhance the flavors in the cookies.
• Salt: Just a teaspoon of salt helps all of the other flavors to pop.
• Baking soda: The recipe calls for 2 teaspoons of baking soda. This acts as the leavening agent in the cookies, so make sure your baking soda isn’t old or expired.
• Flour: All-purpose flour works best in cookies.
• Chocolate chips: Add in 2-3 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips, depending on how much chocolate you want in every cookie.

Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Tips

Full instructions on how to make the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies can be found on the recipe card below, but here are a few helpful tips.

1. Make sure there’s enough flour in the dough: If your cookie dough feels too sticky, add a bit more flour to help the cookies hold their shape while baking.
2. Cream the shortening and sugars well: Beat the shortening and sugars together for 2–3 minutes to help create the perfect cookie texture.
3. Preheat your oven: Starting with a fully preheated oven helps the cookies bake evenly and prevents spreading.
4. Use a cookie scoop: This helps your cookies turn out uniform in size and shape, making them look bakery-perfect.
5. Line your pans: Use parchment paper or silicone baking mats to prevent sticking and to help the cookies bake evenly.
6. Avoid overbaking: Take the cookies out when they look slightly underdone; they will continue to set on the baking sheet as they cool, resulting in soft, chewy cookies.

How to Store the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Room temperature: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. These cookies stay soft longer than most chocolate chip cookies thanks to the shortening — don’t be surprised if they’re just as good on day four as they were fresh from the oven.

Can you freeze baked cookies? Absolutely. Let the cookies cool completely, then place them in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze until solid — about one hour. Transfer to a freezer bag or airtight container with a sheet of parchment between each layer to prevent sticking. They keep beautifully for up to 3 months. To serve, thaw at room temperature for 20-30 minutes, or warm individually in the microwave for 15-20 seconds for that fresh-from-the-oven feel.

Can you freeze the cookie dough? This is our favorite method and the one we recommend most often. Scoop the dough into balls and press a few extra chocolate chips onto the top of each one so they look beautiful right out of the oven. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze until completely solid — about 1-2 hours. Transfer to a labeled freezer bag and store for up to 3 months.

When you’re ready to bake, place the frozen dough balls directly on a lined baking sheet without thawing and bake at 350°F, adding 2-3 minutes to the bake time. You get perfectly fresh, warm, bakery-style cookies any time the craving hits with almost zero effort. This method is especially useful during the holidays, for last-minute company, or any time you want something homemade without starting from scratch. We almost always have a bag of these in the freezer.

Make-ahead tip: The dough can also be refrigerated for up to 48 hours before baking. Many bakers swear the cookies taste even better after an overnight rest — the sugars and vanilla have time to fully develop and the flour hydrates completely, which gives the finished cookie a slightly deeper, more complex flavor. If you have the time, make the dough the day before and bake the next day.

Troubleshooting — Why Didn’t My Cookies Turn Out Right?

This recipe is reliable and forgiving, but a few specific things can go sideways. Here’s how to diagnose and fix the most common problems:

My cookies came out completely flat. Flat cookies are the most common issue with this recipe and almost always come down to one of three things. First — the shortening was too warm. Shortening should be solid and at room temperature, not soft or greasy-looking. If your kitchen is warm, measure the shortening cold from the pantry and let it sit for only 10-15 minutes before creaming rather than leaving it out for a long time. Second — the baking sheet was warm when the dough went on. If you’re baking multiple batches, let the pan cool completely between rounds or use two pans alternating. Dough placed on a warm pan starts softening before it even reaches the oven, and by the time the structure sets the cookie has already spread. Third — not enough flour. If your dough felt unusually soft or sticky when you scooped it, it likely needed a bit more flour. Add it one tablespoon at a time next time until the dough holds its shape cleanly when scooped.

My cookies came out puffy and cakey instead of chewy. Too much flour or overmixed dough. When you add the flour in the final step, mix only until just combined — stop the mixer the moment you don’t see dry streaks. Every extra second of mixing develops more gluten and pushes the cookies toward cakey rather than chewy. Also check that your baking soda isn’t expired. Old baking soda creates erratic, uneven lift that can make cookies puff up in unexpected ways. To test it, drop a small pinch into a bowl of white vinegar — it should bubble vigorously and immediately. If it just sits there, it’s time for a new box.

My cookies spread unevenly — some flat, some thick. The dough balls weren’t uniform in size or the oven has hot spots. Use a cookie scoop rather than dropping by hand — a consistent size means consistent baking. For hot spots, rotate the pan halfway through baking and consider investing in a light-colored aluminum pan if you’re using dark pans, which absorb more heat and can cause uneven browning and spreading.

My cookies are hard and dry. Almost certainly overbaked. This is the trickiest part of baking these cookies — they should look underdone when you pull them from the oven. The centers should appear soft, barely set, and slightly glossy. The residual heat from the pan finishes the cooking over the next 4-5 minutes as they cool. If you’re pulling them when they look perfectly golden and fully set, they’re already overbaked by the time they cool. Reduce your bake time by 1-2 minutes next time and trust the carry-over cooking. Also make sure you’re measuring flour correctly — too much flour makes cookies dry and crumbly even when baked perfectly.

My cookies taste bland. Three possible culprits: old vanilla, expired baking soda, or not enough salt. Vanilla extract loses potency over time — if yours has been open for more than a year, it may not be contributing much flavor. Use pure vanilla extract rather than imitation for the best result. Old baking soda affects flavor as well as lift. And don’t reduce the salt — one teaspoon sounds like a lot but it’s what makes the chocolate taste like chocolate and prevents the cookies from tasting flat and one-dimensional. Salt is flavor, not just seasoning.

My cookies look great but the bottoms are too dark. Your oven runs hot, you’re using dark pans, or the rack position is too low. Light-colored aluminum pans reflect heat and produce more even browning than dark or non-stick pans. Move your oven rack to the center position if it isn’t already — the bottom rack sits too close to the heating element and burns bottoms before the tops are set. If you’re already on center rack with light pans, reduce the oven temperature by 25°F and add 1-2 minutes to the bake time.

My cookies are greasy. The shortening was melted or too warm rather than solid at room temperature. Melted shortening releases into the dough rather than emulsifying with the sugars during creaming, which causes the finished cookie to feel greasy. Always start with solid shortening and cream it with the sugars for the full 2-3 minutes the recipe calls for — proper creaming incorporates air and creates an emulsion that gives the cookie structure.

My cookies stuck to the pan. The recipe recommends parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, and this is one time it really matters. An ungreased pan with shortening-based dough can sometimes stick more than a butter-based dough because shortening doesn’t leave the same natural release that butter does as it melts. If you don’t have parchment, lightly grease the pan — but parchment is the most reliable option for clean release every time.

More delicious chocolate chip cookie recipes to try:

• Peanut butter and chocolate are one of my favorite flavor combinations. Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies and Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are both delicious.
• Fruit pairs well with chocolate as well. Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cookies have fresh raspberries in them, and Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies are made with maraschino cherries. And Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies are amazing too!
• Want something a little more unique? Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies are a favorite (for us AND our readers), and Avocado Chocolate Chip Cookies are slightly healthier (and a little more green) than your typical chocolate chip cookie recipe.
• For more classic recipes, you’ll want to try our Chewy Chips Ahoy Copycats and our Better-than- Nestle Toll House cookies!

Once you try this best chocolate chip cookies recipe, it will become your go-to for creating soft, chewy cookies that everyone will ask for again and again.