Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (Best You’ll Ever Make)

January 26, 2026 Ellen 0 Comments

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Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies Made with Both Bread and Cake Flour

Buckle up, cookie friend — you’re about to meet your new favorite chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe. This isn’t your grandma’s cookie (no offense, grandmas — your cookies are great too). This one’s got browned butter for a caramel-y hug, a flour combo so precise it should come with a lab coat, and a couple of secret ingredients that will have your friends interrogating you at parties. These aren’t your average drop-and-bake rounds. This recipe is a smidge more elaborate than normal, but then again, these aren’t normal chocolate chip cookies. THIS is the one. THIS. IS. IT.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe with Bread Flour

This recipe was inspired by the legendary Jacques Torres chocolate chip cookie, which uses both bread flour and cake flour to nail that perfect chewy-yet-tender texture. I took it a step further because, well, why stop at “great” when “extraordinary” is right there?

The Secret’s in the Butter (Literally, It’s Browned)

Browning the butter isn’t just a fancy chef move to make you feel superior at brunch — it genuinely transforms this cookie with a rich, nutty, caramel undertone you didn’t know you needed. A splash of milk brings back the moisture lost during browning, so your cookies stay perfectly chewy, not dry and sad.

Espresso powder and malted milk powder are the two ingredients guests will never guess but always notice. The espresso doesn’t make these taste like coffee — it just deepens the chocolate and brown sugar flavors, giving them a roasted, grown-up complexity. The malted milk powder adds that nostalgic, malty richness that makes people squint at their cookie and go, “Wait…what IS that?”

This chocolate chip cookie recipe took me 35 years to perfect, ever since my friend Katie gifted me a copy of The Cake Bible. I baked, I noted, I tweaked, I declared “THIS IS IT!” and occasionally “TOTAL BUST!”—then laid awake at night dreaming up new ratios, methods, oven temps, and everything else under the sun. This is the very first recipe I entered into Moderate Posh, because it is, quite simply, everything to me. Now I’m sharing it with the world.

bread flour
cake flour
butter
brown sugar
granulated sugar
eggs
vanilla
espresso powder
malted milk powder
baking soda
semi-sweet chips and chunks
milk

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Recipe with Bread and Cake Flour

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The search is over. This is the last chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need.

There is not a single recipe that I have revised more than this last chocolate chip cookie recipe that you will ever need. In my quest to make a cookie that is chewy, yet crispy on the edges, the perfect ratio of dough to chocolate, the perfect combination of brown sugar/sugar/salt to the type of chocolate used, plus that wonderful surprise that lights up your tastebuds that makes you ask, What’s in these cookies? There’s just something about these cookies that makes them spectacular. This recipe is elaborate and time consuming but this is the cost of being amazing.

Author: Ellen
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 17 minutes
Total Time: 27 minutes
Yield: 22 to 24 cookies 1x
Category: Dessert, Snack
Method: Baking
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Units Scale

8 1/2 ounces cake flour
8 1/2 ounces bread flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups salted butter, browned (2 1/2 sticks)
50 grams whole milk
220 grams dark brown sugar
190 grams granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 teaspoon malted milk powder
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 pounds chocolate (a mix of chunks, chips, callets; dark, bittersweet, semi-sweet)
flaked sea salt to sprinkle

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Instructions

Brown the salted butter in a frying pan. The extra surface area of the wide pan will help the butter brown quickly and evenly. Once you see brown flecks start to form in the bottom of your pan, remove the butter immediately and pour the butter into the bowl of your stand mixer. Refrigerate the butter for 30 minutes or until the butter is the same consistency as softened butter.
In a medium bowl, whisk the cake flour, bread flour, baking soda and baking powder.
In the bowl of our stand mixer, add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, espresso powder and malted milk powder to the cooled butter. Using the paddle attachment, mix on medium speed for 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time until mixed and then vanilla. Continue to mix for 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Turn off mixer.
Add the half the flour mixture and mix on low for 10 seconds. Turn off the mixer and add the remaining half of the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Add the chocolate and mix for another few seconds until the chocolate is evenly incorporated, about another 5 to 10 seconds.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scoop about 3 ounces of dough for each cookie. For perspective, this is almost 1/4 cup. You can make them bigger if you prefer a bigger cookie. I don’t recommend making smaller cookies, as that would effect the chewiness of the cookie. Roll the the dough balls between your palms just enough to smooth out the rough edges, but don’t squeeze or pack them solid. Line the scooped dough very close together so they are almost touching each other. Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap, making sure to tuck the wrap snuggly around the perimeter of the dough.
Chill the dough for 1 to 2 hours. 4 hours max, then bake or freeze.
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove each dough mound and place them on to another baking sheet, about 3 inches apart. Allow the dough to cool to room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
Cookies should just start t look slightly darker around the edges but still soft in the middle. The cookies will continue to cook after taking them out of the oven. Sprinkle with flaked sea salt. Let them cool for 5 minutes before transferring the cookies to a wire rack.

Notes

In the process of browning butter, water will evaporate. The liquid loss is approximately 50 grams if you are browning 2 1/2 sticks. This varies between different brands of butter. Adding the milk will reconstitute the lost liquid. You can also use water. If you are not browning your butter, omit the 50 grams of milk/water.
You can also freeze the dough to bake at a later time. After scooping the dough and refrigerating the dough mounds for a few hours, the dough will be hard enough to transfer to a freezer bag without them clumping together. Allow the dough to sit at room temperature for about 45 minutes before baking.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 cookie
Calories: 220
Sugar: 9 g
Sodium: 80 mg
Fat: 12 g
Carbohydrates: 25 g
Protein: 2.5
Cholesterol: 48 mg

Why do I need both bread flour and cake flour?

Bread flour brings extra structure and chew (thanks to its higher protein content), while cake flour keeps things tender and soft. Together, they create the ultimate chewy-soft balance — no compromise required.

Can I really taste the espresso powder?

Nope—you won’t taste coffee. The espresso powder quietly amplifies the chocolate and brown sugar flavors, giving them a deeper, roasted richness. It’s the ultimate flavor wingman.

What does malted milk powder even do?

It adds a subtle, nostalgic, malty sweetness that makes people ask, “What IS that flavor?” It’s the ingredient equivalent of a magic trick.

Why brown the butter instead of just melting it?

Browning the butter caramelizes the milk solids, creating a nutty, toffee-like depth of flavor that plain melted or softened butter simply can’t match.

Do I really need to add milk back in?

Yes — browning butter evaporates some of its water content, and that missing moisture needs to be replaced to keep your cookies chewy instead of crumbly.

Can I use chocolate chips instead of chunks?

You can, but why choose? This recipe uses both semi-sweet chips and chunks so you get even distribution plus glorious pools of melted chocolate in every bite.

Can I make the dough ahead of time?

Absolutely—and it’s encouraged. Chilling the dough deepens the flavor and improves texture, so an overnight rest in the fridge only makes these better.

Can I freeze the cookie dough?

Absolutely! This dough freezes beautifully. Scoop, freeze on a tray, then transfer to a bag — bake straight from frozen and add a minute or two to the bake time.

Why are my cookies not chewy?

Usually it’s over-baking or too much flour. Measure carefully (use a scale), pull them from the oven when the centers still look slightly underdone, and let them finish setting on the pan.