These thick, chewy salted chocolate chip cookies are the ONLY chocolate chip cookie recipe you’ll need! Plus a tip to keep them super soft for days!
If you’ve never tried salted chocolate chip cookies before, you’re in for a TREAT!! The sprinkle of sea salt truly accentuates the rich chocolate flavor, and this recipe produces super thick and chewy cookies that will be impossible to resist!
While everyone loves a classic chocolate chip cookie, once you add salt to the top, the become the ultimate dessert!
Even though these cookies are made entirely from scratch, they really don’t take very long at all! Yes, there is some chilling time… but that’s not hands on, so you have some down time.
If the “salted” part of these salted chocolate chip cookies is throwing you off, just promise me you’ll try it before you make a decision. The sea salt doesn’t make these overly salty, it’s just a pinch that truly accentuates the rich chocolate flavor.
Kind of like the Guinness does in these cupcakes, or the baking chocolate does to this turkey chili! I do really recommend sea salt for these cookies though, not kosher or table salt.
And of course, you can’t have these salted chocolate chip cookies without a glass of cold milk!
As we all know, baking, while more of a science, isn’t exactly the same from one kitchen to the next. The way someone measures their flour, temperature of ingredients, ambient temperature, freshness of ingredients, and different ovens are just a few of the variables.
To help you guys get the PERFECT cookies every time, here’s a few of my helpful tips.
Tips for Perfect Cookies:
- Use room temperature ingredients (eggs, butter, etc).
- Make sure your ingredients are fresh (like baking soda for example, if it’s not fresh, it won’t act the same during the baking).
- Chill your dough for at least 30 minutes.
- Roll dough into balls and don’t flatten them.
- Bake cookies on parchment paper, and don’t put them too close together.
- Gently press a few extra chocolate chips into the top of the balls of dough before baking (makes them look really pretty and bakery-like).
- Take cookies out when they look like they’re ALMOST done. The center should still look slightly underdone. They’ll keep baking as you let them cool a few minutes on the baking sheet.
I also have a super awesome tip I just HAVE to share with you guys. You know that freshly baked texture of cookies that you love, but fades after just a couple of hours? I found a way you can have that soft texture for days. Yes, DAYS!
Grab an airtight storage container and line the bottom with wax paper. Place a flour tortilla on top of the wax paper, then top the tortilla with another sheet of wax paper. Then add your cookies as usual, with wax paper between the layers.
Seal the container. That’s it! The tortilla gives off a bit of moisture, and it keeps the air in the container moist enough to keep the cookies super soft.
For some extra ooey-gooey fresh baked feel, pop a cookie in the microwave for 5 seconds or so before serving!
Think of these salted chocolate chip cookies a base recipe.. there will be other versions of these cookies coming to the blog!
Some Helpful Tools To Make This Recipe:
- Cooling Rack – this cooling rack has crossbars to reinforce it… no more saggy, flimsy racks!
- Cookie Scoop – Get perfectly sized cookies, every time!
- Sea Salt Flakes – You’ll love the texture and flavor of this sea salt!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup salted butter at room temperature, 1 stick
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup + 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (more or less, to your tastes)
- sea salt flakes (for sprinkling)
Instructions
- Add flour and baking soda to a mixing bowl and whisk for 15 seconds to incorporate and make them fluffy.
- In a separate bowl that's compatible with a stand mixer (or you can use a regular mixing bowl and use a hand mixer), add softened butter and both sugars. Beat with paddle attachment for about 2 minutes, until mixture is smooth and fluffy.
- Add egg and vanilla, beat on LOW speed until combined.
- Add flour, half the mixture at a time, beating on LOW speed until JUST combined after each addition. Don't overmix, or your cookies won't be soft and tender.
- Add chocolate chips and stir together with a wooden spoon.
- Cover bowl and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- minutes before you want to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Use a large cookie scoop (or a 1/4 cup filled about 2/3 of the way), scoop round balls of dough onto parchment paper about 2 inches apart. I baked 6 cookies per sheet.
- Press a couple chocolate chips into the tops of the balls of dough, and bake about 10-12 minutes, or until edges are lightly golden brown and tops of cookies look a little underdone. (mine took 11 minutes).
- Sprinkle top of baked cookies with some sea salt flakes.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Want to save this recipe for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own recipe box!
Chef Tips
2. If you use UNsalted butter, add 1/4 tsp salt to the dry ingredients
3. I measure my flour by whisking flour beforehand, scooping the flour with the measuring cup, leveling off with the back of a butter knife, then making sure to whisk the flour again before adding to the dough.
Video
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
Yvonne says
I made these cookies at Thanksgiving and they were a huge, HUGE, hit. They are now part of my cookie baking selection. Because I could not find Sea Salt Flakes, I just used what I did have which was Fine Sea Salt crystals.
Vee says
My cookies were more cakey in texture in the center. Any idea how to fix this? I followed all instructions except I didn’t use unsalted butter (used salt + butter) and no salt sprinkling on top at the end. I also didn’t use new baking soda.
Brenda says
I made these for a cookie swap at my church. I added butterfinger candy bar chips to my dough and the cookies were awesome! There were no cookies left on my trays!
Cassie says
Holy cow. I’ve tried a ton of chocolate chip cookie recipes from Pinterest, but this is by FAR the best recipe I’ve ever found. This will be our new go-to chocolate chip cookie from now on. Thank you!!
Bev says
I was wondering if these cookies can be frozen after being baked? Does the flaked sea salt get ruined after being frozen?
Amanda says
I’ve frozen these baked cookies before, but I just froze them without the salt on top. Then after I’ve thawed one, I pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to warm it up and then top with the salt 🙂
Nancy says
No oven temperature or am I missing it as I read and re-read the recipe?
Amanda says
It’s listed in step 7 🙂
Kathleen Carter says
These are the best cookies! The only chocolate chip cookies I make. 🍪 😋
Barbara Johnson says
These Cookies are the best I’ve ever made. Very soft and moist I will Never use another recipe again I rate these cookies a 10 out of 10.
Kathy says
I tried this the 3rd time!! Perfect!! My baking soda must have been expired, I bought a new one and packed my flour and they are wonderful. Now, my question is that the Nutrition part has 154kcal. Is that calories? And is it for 1 cookie? Thank you!
Amanda says
Glad the 3rd time was the charm! Baking recipes are difficult since there’s honestly SO many variations and even things like humidity in the air can throw things off. It’s per serving (which is 1 cookie), however keep in mind it’s very much estimated and automatically calculated, so I can’t speak to how accurate it is. If full nutrition information is important to you, I recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer, or that you seek a nutritionist/dietitian for exact nutritional information.
Emaline Roberts says
I forgot to mention in my earlier rating that I used gluten free flour mix in these cookies. They turned out great!!!
Emaline Riberts says
These cookies were wonderful! I forgot to add the salt on top but they were still delicious. I took them out of the oven after 11 minutes & they were perfect!
Jessi Cooper says
Best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever! Has anyone tried freezing the dough? It’s just me and my husband and If I make a batch I eat all of them. They are too good! I’m thinking it might be nice to pop a few in the oven for dessert. Thanks!
Katy says
These cookies are absolutely delicious, but I’m having a recurring problem each time I bake them! They keep flattening out too much in the oven. I’ve made so many batches, making changes each time but still run into this same problem. I made sure my baking soda was fresh, I used your scooping method for the flour, I even placed the dough balls back in the fridge before baking to make sure my hands hadn’t warmed them up too much right before baking. Is there anything else you can recommend that might be my issue? I love these and really want to get them right! Thanks!
Amanda says
Are you using margarine sticks by any chance? I’ve had several readers had this issue and they were using margarine instead of butter, which doesn’t work as well in this recipe.
Katy says
I finally got it to work! I was using butter, but it seems the flour was the issue- I just used my regular method of spoon and level, but added another 1/4 cup and they came out perfect! I didn’t want to try another recipe because these were just too delicious, so I’m glad I kept trying. Thank you for the recipe!
Tracy says
These are the best! Made several times and they even made an appearance on the dessert table at my daughters wedding reception last week! Thank you, thank you!!!
Alina says
Hi Amanda! Can I substitute the butter with vegetable oil? Has anyone tried this?
Amanda says
I’ve only tested this recipe as written. So without testing and retesting it myself, I can’t say for certain if that would work. However, I really don’t recommend large substitutions like that in baking recipes. Baking is a science and each ingredient is picked for a specific reason 🙂
Heather says
Hi! When you say 1 stick = 1 cup of butter, i thought 1 stick was 1/2 a cup of butter? I am just a little confused as to how much butter i should be adding
Amanda says
Did you use the slider to double the recipe perhaps? Because the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter. The slider will only change the ingredient amount, not any manually entered text.
Sisca Lien says
I have made this recipe a million times! It is now my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. I use room-temperature salted butter and egg, and reduce the chocolate chips to one cup. I usually make the recipe in the evening, leave the dough in the fridge overnight, and bake them in morning. I found the rock salt (I don’t have flake salt) not adhering to the cookie if sprinkle it on the dough, so I gently press them on each dough ball after pressing the chocolate chips. My friends love these cookies so I started making these as gifts. Thank you so much for the tips. As a non-baker I am so surprised how well these cookies turn out each and time again!
lauren says
mine turned out really watery. not sure why
Amanda says
Oh no, that’s no good! Did you follow the recipe exactly, with no substitutions? I’ve had a few readers try to substitute margarine instead of butter and had less than ideal results as well.
Tammy says
Love, love, love these cookies! My new favorite! Thank you so much!
Christine says
This is my new “go-to” cookie recipe. They are incredible. I have made these cookies far too many times since discovering this amazing recipe. I add pretzels and pecans to a few cookies in each batch for myself but my family likes them just as they are. Try it – you won’t regret it!