These cookies are not your average treat. They’re thick, chewy, and absolutely loaded with gooey chocolate chips in every bite. With this recipe, you can achieve that perfect, professional bakery-quality cookie right in your own kitchen. Plus, they are so easy to make it means you can whip these up anytime the craving strikes.

Treat yourself to a different kind of cookie with chocolate chip shortbread cookies.

Why Our Recipe

  • Extra-large cookies packed with chocolate chips for bakery-quality results at home.
  • Uses a mix of all-purpose and cake flour for the perfect chewy texture.
  • Quick and easy method for making impressively thick, soft cookies every time.
Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies cut in half and stacked on each other.

Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies are all the rage. These giant, soft, thick, warm cookies are easy to make. The duo of flours gives the cookies their irresistible chewy texture and soft interior. Why pay $4+ per cookie when you can bake them fresh at home in less than 20 minutes!

Ingredient Notes

  • Butter: Unsalted butter is preferred, but salted butter works too—just reduce the added salt by 1/4 teaspoon. Make sure it’s softened to room temperature for easy creaming.
  • Brown Sugar: Light or dark brown sugar will work. Dark brown sugar adds a richer, caramel-like flavor and creates extra chewiness.
  • Granulated Sugar: Balances the sweetness and helps the cookies achieve lightly crisp edges.
  • Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla extract provides the best flavor, but imitation works if that’s what you have on hand.
  • Cake Flour and All-Purpose Flour: The combination of these two flours gives the cookies their signature texture. Cake flour creates softness, while all-purpose flour provides structure. If you don’t have cake flour, replace it with an equal amount of all-purpose flour. The cookies will still be delicious, just not quite as tender.
  • Baking Powder and Baking Soda: These leavening agents ensure the cookies rise and puff beautifully. Be sure they’re fresh and not expired for the best results.
  • Salt: Enhances the flavors and balances the sweetness.

Milk or Semi-Sweet

Using milk chocolate chips versus semi-sweet chocolate chips is a matter of personal preference. Either will work in this recipe, or you can use a combination of both. If you like your cookies on the chocolate-y side…use 4 cups of chocolate chips in this recipe. If you like a ratio of more cookie to chip, then use only 3 cups.

Why Cake Flour?

Cake flour is the secret to getting that soft texture in bakery-style cookies. It has less protein than all-purpose flour, which means it makes less gluten. Less gluten equals lighter, fluffier cookies. We balance it with all-purpose flour to give the cookies enough structure so they don’t spread out too much.

No cake flour? No problem! You can swap it with the same amount of all-purpose flour. The cookies might be a bit less tender, but they’ll still be amazing.

Dark Brown Sugar vs. Light

The big difference between dark and light brown sugar is the molasses. Dark brown sugar has more of it, which means a richer, almost caramel-like flavor and a slightly chewier texture. Plus, the extra moisture helps keep your cookies soft for days. Don’t worry, light brown sugar works too if that’s what you have on hand!

The Science of High Heat

We bake these cookies at 400°F—hotter than your typical cookie recipe—and it makes all the difference! The high heat melts the butter fast, so the cookies spread just enough while the edges set quickly. This gives you that golden, crisp edge and soft, gooey center we all love.

Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies are cooling on a wire rack.

Extra Thick Cookies

If you want these cookies to be extra thick and tall, shape the dough into balls and then refrigerate or freeze. This will help slow the spreading that occurs when baking. Baking the dough straight from the freezer will produce the tallest cookie.

Smaller Cookies

This recipe makes about 12 giant cookies (5–6 ounces each), which is perfect for that bakery-style wow factor. Use a kitchen scale to weigh out each dough ball if you want them to be perfectly uniform.

Prefer smaller cookies? Divide the dough into 24 portions, around 2 ounces each, or grab a 2-ounce cookie scoop. Bake the smaller cookies at 400°F for about 8 minutes.

Reheat Cookies

Warm gooey cookies are a must for many people. If you do not eat all these cookies in your first sitting while they are still warming no worries. You can put these cookies in the microwave for 15-second intervals until it is the desired warmness.

Storage & Freezing Instructions

Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

Freeze baked cookies by placing them in a single layer on a baking sheet to freeze initially, then transfer them to a resealable freezer bag or airtight container for up to 3 months. This prevents them from sticking together. To enjoy, thaw at room temperature, or warm them in the microwave for 10–15 seconds.

Freeze cookie dough in pre-portioned balls. After shaping the dough into balls, place them on a baking sheet and freeze until solid. Then transfer the frozen dough balls to a freezer-safe bag or container for up to 3 months.

To bake from frozen, transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 400°F (200°C). Add 1-2 extra minutes to the baking time, and enjoy fresh, warm cookies on demand!

Store any leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Watch the video below where Rachel will walk you through every step of this recipe. Sometimes it helps to have a visual, and we’ve always got you covered with our cooking show. You can find the complete collection of recipes on YouTube, our Facebook Page, or right here on our website with their corresponding recipes.