Thick Chocolate Chunk Cookies Recipe

These chocolate chunk cookies are thick and chewy, with crisp edges and melted pools of chopped bar chocolate. One batch makes 16 big cookies from ¼ cup scoops. Chill the dough for 30 minutes to an hour, then bake at 350°F (175°C) for 11 to 13 minutes.

The height comes from two things working together: cold dough and tall scoops. Leave the middles looking a little underdone and they set into soft centers on the hot tray.

From the Community: “The recipe is The Best Cookie recipe. I have tried so many and this one beats them all. That little touch of Sea Salt makes it come together.” (Olivia)

The Numbers Behind 16 Thick Chocolate Chunk Cookies

• Yield: 16 large cookies, about ¼ cup of dough each
• Oven: 350°F (175°C), 11 to 13 minutes on parchment
• Chill: 30 minutes minimum, 1 hour as timed in the card, up to 24 hours
• Chocolate: 12 oz (340g) chopped bar chocolate for 2¾ cups (345g) flour
• Butter: 1 cup (227g), softened, creamed with 1 cup brown sugar and ½ cup white sugar
• Total time: about 1 hour 32 minutes, most of it hands off in the fridge

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Chocolate Chunks vs Chocolate Chips in the Same Dough

Chips are made to keep their shape in the oven. That is what you want in my best chocolate chip cookies, where every bite has a neat little dot of chocolate. Chopped chunks behave differently. Bar chocolate is not made to hold a shape, so it slumps and spreads into glossy puddles that look like ganache when you break a cookie open.

Chunks also come in uneven sizes. Some melt right into the dough, some stay as thick slabs. That mix is what gives these the bakery look. Save a small handful and press them into the tops of the dough balls before baking so the chocolate shows on the surface.

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Which Chocolate Bar to Chop, and How Big

Use 12 ounces of bar chocolate in the 50 to 70 percent cocoa range. Semi-sweet bars give a sweeter, milder cookie. A mix of semi-sweet and dark gives more depth, and it is still the combination I reach for. Milk chocolate melts faster and tastes sweeter, so pair it with a dark bar rather than using it alone.

Chop into rough pieces about ½ inch across. Keep the dusty shards from the cutting board. They melt into thin streaks through the dough, while the big pieces make the puddles.

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Butter, Sugar and the Leaveners That Give a Tall Center

The dough starts with a full cup of softened butter, creamed with brown and white sugar for 3 to 4 minutes until pale and fluffy. Brown sugar keeps the middles chewy and adds a caramel note. White sugar crisps the edges. Soft butter should dent when pressed but not look shiny or greasy. Melty butter is the fastest way to flat cookies.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla. Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder and kosher salt separately and add them in two or three additions, mixing only until no dry flour shows. Baking soda browns and spreads the rim. Baking powder lifts the middle. Together they give a crisp edge around a tall, soft center.

Measure the flour carefully. Spoon it into the cup and level it off, or weigh 345 grams. Packed flour gives a dry, cakey cookie, and too little lets them run across the sheet. I used to add cornstarch to this dough, but chilling does the same job without changing the texture.

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Why This Dough Needs 30 Minutes in the Fridge

Cold butter melts more slowly in the oven, so the cookie sets before it has time to spread. The rest also lets the flour soak up moisture, which gives a chewier bite and a deeper, toffee-like flavor.

Thirty minutes is the minimum. An hour is what the recipe card times assume. You can leave the covered bowl in the fridge for up to 24 hours, and the cookies only get thicker and more flavorful. Scoop before or after chilling, whichever suits your day.

For the tallest cookies, bake straight from the fridge. For wider cookies with more caramelized edges, let the scooped dough sit at room temperature for 10 minutes first.

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Scooping, Baking and Pulling Them at 11 Minutes

Line two baking sheets with parchment and portion the dough with a large cookie scoop or a ¼ cup measure. Roll each one into a ball that is taller than it is wide, and leave a few inches between them.

Start checking at 11 minutes. The edges should be set and golden, the tops puffed, and the very middle still glossy and soft. If they look fully done in the oven, they will be dry once cool. Leave them on the sheet for 5 to 10 minutes. The heat of the tray finishes the centers. Then move them to a wire rack.

A pinch of flaky sea salt on the warm tops sharpens the chocolate without making the cookies taste salty. Serve them next to my brown butter chocolate chip cookies and you can see how differently chips and chunks bake.

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Flat, Cakey or Raw in the Middle: Chunk Cookie Fixes

• Spread flat and thin: the butter was too soft or the dough went in warm. Chill the next tray for 30 minutes, and check the flour was measured level, not scooped light.
• Dry and cakey: too much flour, usually packed into the cup, or the cookies stayed in past 13 minutes. Weigh the flour and pull them while the middles are still glossy.
• Greasy edges: the butter was melting when it was creamed. It should be cool to the touch and hold a thumbprint.
• Raw in the middle after cooling: the dough balls were bigger than ¼ cup or the oven runs cool. An oven thermometer settles it.
• Lopsided shapes: while the cookies are still hot, swirl a round cutter or the rim of a glass around each one to pull it back into a thick circle.

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Keeping Baked Cookies and Freezing the Dough Balls

Once completely cool, keep the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. A sheet of parchment between layers stops the chocolate tops from sticking together.

To bake ahead, scoop the dough into balls, freeze them on a tray until firm, then move them to a freezer bag. Bake from frozen at the same temperature and add 1 to 2 minutes. That way you can bake four cookies on a Tuesday night instead of all sixteen.

Leftover cookies make thick sandwiches with vanilla ice cream, in the style of these chocolate vanilla ice cream sandwiches. If you want more add-ins, try chocolate chip walnut cookies or kitchen sink cookies. For a richer peanut base, there are peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and for a darker dough, dark chocolate brown sugar cookies.

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Chocolate Chunk Cookie Questions From Readers

Can I use chocolate chips instead of chunks?

Yes, use the same 12 ounces. The cookies will hold neat dots of chocolate instead of melted pools, and they spread a touch less.

Do I have to chill chocolate chunk cookie dough?

For thick cookies, yes. Unchilled dough spreads wider and thinner. Thirty minutes in the fridge is enough to make a clear difference.

Why use both baking soda and baking powder?

Baking soda helps the edges spread and brown, and baking powder lifts the center, so you get a crisp rim around a thick, soft middle.

How do I make bigger, bakery size cookies?

Use ⅓ cup of dough per cookie, chill them well, and expect a few extra minutes in the oven. Start checking at 13 minutes and pull them while the centers still look soft. For a different giant cookie, try Crumbl dark dream chocolate chip cookies.