How long do chocolate chip cookies take to bake

My favorite type of recipe to bake is absolutely COOKIES. They’re so fun and simple but they can teach us SO much about the science of baking.

My Ultimate Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies is still one of my most popular posts. It’s been visited by over half a million people!

That post actually inspired the creation of The Ultimate Cookie Handbook. And THOUSANDS of you have purchased that book. So I think it’s clear that we’re all obsessed with cookies here.

That’s why I’m SO thrilled to be sharing this recipe for Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies with you today. In my opinion, it’s the perfect easy everyday chocolate chip cookie recipe. This homemade recipe is simple to make, and yields thick, beautiful cookies that are golden brown, crisp at the edges, and gooey at the center.

Watch the video below to step into my kitchen and see exactly how to bake these delicious cookies with me. I give tons of tips and tricks for getting perfectly thick cookies with chocolate chunks, and you can see what every step of this recipe should look like!

There’s actually a time-lapse video shot of these cookies cooling right after I took them out of the oven. You can see that they hardly shrink or deflate as they cool. If you only beat the butter and sugar for 2 to 3 minutes max, your cookies shouldn’t deflate!

How to Make The Best Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

How to make soft chocolate chip cookies:

The key to the best soft cookies is to take the chocolate chip cookies out of the oven just before they look like they’re done baking. They should still appear slightly wet in the very center. The residual heat of the oven and pan will finish cooking the cookies through to soft perfection once you allow them to cool completely.

Also, be sure to measure your flour correctly. Too much flour will lead to dry, dense, or crumbly chocolate chip cookies that barely spread. Check out my article on How to Measure Flour here, it’ll forever improve your baking!

Why are my chocolate chip cookies flat?

When making cookies, be sure your butter is at a cool room temperature before beating with your sugar. It shouldn’t be greasy or overly soft otherwise it’ll melt and spread the cookies too much.

The warmer your chocolate chip cookie dough is when it enters the oven, the thinner and flatter your cookies will be. To prevent flat cookies, try freezing your balls of cookie dough while your oven preheats. Learn more about how to bake THICK cookies here.

Better yet, refrigerate your chocolate chip cookie dough for 24 to 48 hours. This ‘marination’ process will transform your chocolate chip cookies by making them thicker, chewier, and more flavorful! Plus, this is a perfect way to make your delicious cookies ahead of time. Read more about the magic of chilling your cookie dough here. NOTE: chilling is OPTIONAL for this recipe but using chilled dough will enhance your cookies!

How to make chewy chocolate chip cookies:

One of the keys to CHEWY chocolate chip cookies is to use more brown sugar than granulated sugar. The molasses in the brown sugar draws in more moisture, making the cookies thicker, softer, and chewier.

For extra chewy cookies, try adding an extra egg yolk to this recipe. You can also replace half or all of the all-purpose flour in this recipe with bread flour for an ultra chewy bite.

How to bake chocolate chip cookies:

For the BEST chocolate chip cookies, make the recipe below keeping these top tips in mind:

1. Use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients for the BEST most consistent results.
2. Make the recipe exactly as written, without substitutions, at least the first time you bake it.

Use the correct baking pan and a spring-loaded cookie scoop for bakery-quality cookies at home. More on that below!

Why use a cookie scoop?

Using a stainless steel spring-loaded cookie scoop when portioning out cookie dough is one of the KEYS to beautiful, uniform, evenly-shaped and evenly-baked cookies. My cookie scoop is one of my most frequently used kitchen gadgets. A spring-loaded scoop saves you *so much time* in forming the balls of dough. When using a scoop, you ensure each ball is evenly sized so the cookies bake evenly, meaning you don’t have any small overbaked cookies or large underbaked cookies. Learn more about Cookie Scoops and how to use them here!

Handle the Heat now has our very own Perfect Cookie Kit, containing three spring-loaded stainless steel cookie scoops, two spatulas, 6-piece stainless-steel, round nested cookie cutter set with silicone rim and more! Learn more here.

What’s the difference between baking soda and baking powder?

Baking powder and baking soda are both chemical leaveners that work to create light textures in baked goods.

Although baking powder actually contains baking soda, the two leaveners are very different. Baking powder and baking soda are not interchangeable – just take a look at the impact the type of leavener used had on each of the cookies below!

Find out more in my Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder article here.

Which baking pan is best for cookies?

Take a look at the chocolate chip cookies below. These cookies are all the same batch of cookie dough, baked at the same temperature of 350°F, baked for the same amount of time of 12 minutes. The only difference? The type of baking pan used!

Check out my Best (and WORST) Baking Pans article here for more details on the science of baking pans.

How to Keep Chocolate Chip Cookies Fresh

The best cookies are the freshest, there’s no magical way around that. However, here’s a few tricks to keeping them fresh and soft for as long as possible!

Can you freeze chocolate chip cookies?

I love the taste of cookies straight from the oven the best. I always keep pre-scooped balls of chocolate chip cookie dough in a resealable bag in my freezer, so I can bake cookies off and have them warm from the oven in a matter of minutes whenever I want. Here are more tips for freezing cookie dough.

But for those times when you need to keep already-baked cookies soft, see below for my tips. First of all, most cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temp for up to 5 days. Be sure they are completely cooled before storing.

How to keep cookies soft:

To keep your baked chocolate chip cookies soft, you can add an apple wedge, piece of bread, or a tortilla on the top and bottom of the cookies to the container a day or two after baking them, or whenever you find the texture starting to harden. The moisture from the bread or apple will migrate to your cookies, making them soft and chewy again.

A tortilla is a favorite of mine because it takes up much less room than a slice of bread, and doesn’t transfer any flavors or aromas like an apple wedge. Not to mention, it fits into a round cookie tin pretty perfectly.

How to refresh stored cookies:

What I like to do is reheat and refresh the cookies in a 350°F oven for 3-5 minutes. Your toaster oven should work just fine. This improves the texture and there’s nothing like a warm chocolate chip cookie!

More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes

See ALL of my types of cookies recipes & cookie baking tips here!

November 2022 Baking Challenge

This recipe is one of the two current picks for our monthly Baking Challenge! Make the recipe (EITHER the Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies OR the Browned Butter Toffee Chocolate Chip Cookies), snap a picture, and upload it for a chance to win PRIZES! Click HERE for more details!
November 2022 Baking Challenge – Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 3 cups (380 grams) all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 sticks (227 grams) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature (67°F)
• 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups (247 grams) lightly packed light brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups (340 grams) semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and eggs. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. If time permits, wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 24 hours but no more than 72 hours. This allows the dough to “marinate” and makes the cookies thicker, chewier, and more flavorful. Let dough sit at room temperature just until it is soft enough to scoop.

5. Divide the dough into 3-tablespoon sized balls using a large cookie scoop and drop onto prepared baking sheets.

6. Bake for 11-13 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

7. Although I prefer cookies fresh from the oven, these can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. See post for storage tips.

   How long does it take to bake cookies at 350?

   However, in general, cookies should be baked at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. If you are using a convection oven, you may want to reduce the baking time by a minute or two. You'll know the cookies are done when they are golden brown and slightly firm to the touch.

   How long do chocolate chip cookies bake for?

   How Long Do Chocolate Chip Cookies Last? Chocolate chip cookies will last up to 5-7 days after baking if stored at room temperature. What is this?

   How long do cookies usually take to bake?

   Bake at 375 degrees F until golden and tender, 12 to 15 minutes. For crispy-cakey cookies: Bake the cookies at 425 degrees F until golden and crunchy on the outside, 8 to 10 minutes.

   Should chocolate chip cookies bake at 350 or 375?

   For those ooey, gooey chocolate chip cookies, 375 degrees Fahrenheit is your sweet spot. It's the perfect temperature to ensure super crispy exterior edges, while leaving the center slightly underdone and, thus, doughy and fudgey. If you're feeling particularly bold, give 400 degrees Fahrenheit a go.