Bakery Style Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

Looking for your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe? You’ve found them! My recipe for bakery style soft chocolate chip cookies makes rich, buttery cookies with crisp caramelized edges, and soft, chewy, gooey centers. They bake into the perfect thickness with classic wrinkled tops, plenty of melty chocolate, plus subtly hints of orange. Once cool, the centers set into that signature bakery style chew, though they’re nearly impossible to resist warm from the pan.

This recipe grew out of my Orange Chocolate Chip Cookies from my cookbook and during testing of my Chewy Salted Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies while trying different ratios of sugars and flours. What can I say, I like to put orange in my cookies! As I scribbled notes, taste-tested batch after batch, and snapped photos, these were the cookies I kept reaching to snack on. That’s when I knew they deserved a post of their own, so here we are.

Key Ingredients & Test Notes

• Salted European Style Butter has become my new go-to cookie butter. A “cultured butter” with 80% butterfat, which is the same for standard US salted butter, gives these cookies a buttery flavor and tender crumb.
  • Test Note: Different brands vary in the level of salt in the butter, I use President Salted (Demi-Sel) for a light even distribution. Read the back label of the European Butter. Unsalted butter will have at least 82% butterfat.
• Light Brown Sugar reacts with baking soda to gives the cookie that coveted chewy texture with a hints of molasses, toffee, and caramel.
  • Test Note: I found that dark brown sugar with added moisture from the extra molasses increased the cookie spread slightly.
• Granulated Sugar helps the cookies to set with a nice light crispy texture around the edges.
• All Purpose Flour with a slightly higher protein of 11.7% (closer to bread flour) contributed to the thickness of these cookies, helping to support all the melted chocolate.
  • Test Note: I tested this recipe with a softer wheat flour with 11% protein against King Arthur All Purpose Flour which is a stronger wheat flour at 11.7% protein. Both tests were similar, but I preferred the lift from the stronger flour.
• Orange Zest is of course optional, though if you try it once, you’ll never skip it again. Citrus is a lovely compliment to all the rich brown sugar and dark chocolate.
  • Test Note: The orange zest carries more moisture than lemon zest and releases extra citrus oil into the sugar. Rubbing the zest into the sugar with your fingertips helps the sugar absorb that bright orange flavor.
• Bittersweet Dark Chocolate with 70% cocoa gives all the chocolate flavor without adding more sweetness to the cookie. I prefer to chop a dark chocolate bar over using baking chips to ensure bits of chocolate throughout the dough.
  • Test Note: For picture perfect cookies, mix 3/4 of the chocolate chunks into the dough and press the rest onto the dough balls before baking.

Cookie Test

Below is a photo from one of my chocolate chip cookie recipe tests. All cookies were made with the same amount of butter, baking soda, and chocolate. The dough balls weighing roughly 39-40 grams, were chilled overnight, then baked at 350℉ (180℃) for 11 minutes.

• 1: Chewy Salted Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
• 2: Flour adjustment, resulting in a cakier cookie.
• 3: Sugar and butter adjustment resulting in a flatter cookie with more spread, chewier and crispier.
• 4: Bakery Style Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies with flour and sugar adjustments, minimal spread and soft texture.

Step-by-Step

No mixer, no creaming butter, just a mixing bowl, whisk, spatula, and a cookie scoop. You’ll also need a baking sheet. I like to line mine with two layers of parchment paper to keep the bottoms from over crisping.

1. Chop the dark chocolate into roughly small-sized chunks.

2. Rub the orange zest into the granulated sugar to absorb the cirrus oils. Whisk together the orange sugar and brown sugar together in a large mixing bowl.

3. Pour the cooled melted butter into the sugars and whisk until smooth.

4. Mix in the eggs, vanilla, and almond extract.

5. Add in the flour and baking soda.

6. Fold the flour into the mixture until all the flour streaks are gone.

7. Pre-scoop the cookie dough into 1.5 tablespoon (39 grams) sized balls onto a parchment lined tray. Cover the tray and refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours. Or cover the bowl with plastic wrap, refrigerate for same time and then weigh out the cookie dough.

8. Roll the cold cookie dough balls between your hands and gently pack them into tall mounds. Space a few inches apart on the lined cookie sheet and bake.

Storage & Leftovers

Room Temp: Cooled baked cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 5-6 days of delicious chewy goodness.

Cookie Dough: Raw dough can be made ahead and kept in the fridge for 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Make sure the dough is sealed in an airtight freezer safe container.

Freeze: Wrap the baked cookies well in plastic wrap for up to 3 months. Once they’re firm, use them to make ice cream cookie sandwiches.

★★★★★ Please leave a star rating and review below if you make this recipe! THANK YOU!!

5 from 2 votes

Bakery Style Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

By Jenn Davis

Prep: 20 minutes mins

Cook: 11 minutes mins

Chilling Time: 3 hours hrs

Servings: 22 cookies

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Bakery style soft chocolate chip cookies, the kind you eat warm straight from the oven. They bake up with a classic wrinkly top, just the right thickness, and plenty of melty chocolate, lifted with a hint of almond and orange. The gooey centers will firm as they cool.

Click for Ingredient Details

Equipment

• large mixing bowl
• 1.5 Tbsp (#40) medium cookie scoop
• rimmed baking sheet

Ingredients

• ▢ 152 grams (2/3 cup) salted European style butter, 80% butterfat, (American salted butter can also be used)
• ▢ 250 grams (2 cups) all purpose flour, 11.7 % protein
• ▢ ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 100 grams (½ cup) granulated sugar
• ▢ 2 tablespoons fresh orange zest, 1 large orange zested
• ▢ 165 grams (¾ cup) light brown sugar
• ▢ 1 large egg (50 grams), room temperature
• ▢ 1 large egg yolk (20 grams), room temperature
• ▢ 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
• ▢ ½ teaspoon almond extract
• ▢ 170 grams (1 cup) 70% bittersweet dark chocolate, roughly chopped (or chocolate baking chips)
• ▢ flaky sea salt

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Instructions 

• Place the cold cubed salted butter in a small bowl and microwave for about 15-20 seconds, until halfway melted. Stir with a fork until the remaining butter melts. Set aside to cool completely, yet still liquid. Do not put warm butter in the cookie dough.
  152 grams salted European style butter, 80% butterfat, (American salted butter can also be used)
• Whisk together the flour, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Set aside.
  250 grams all purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon baking soda
• Place the granulated sugar and orange zest in a large bowl and rub them together with your fingertips. This helps release the oil of the zest into the sugar, infusing it with orange flavor.
  100 grams granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons fresh orange zest
• Add the brown sugar and the cooled butter to the orange zested sugar. Hand whisk together to form a thick applesauce like mixture.
  165 grams light brown sugar
• Whisk in the egg, yolk, vanilla, and almond until nice and smooth.
  1 large egg (50 grams), 1 large egg yolk (20 grams), 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste, ½ teaspoon almond extract
• Add the flour mixture onto the wet ingredients and gently fold together using a rubber spatula until no flour streaks remain.
• Fold the chopped chocolate into the cookie dough to evenly distribute. Careful not to overwork or stir the dough too much.
  170 grams 70% bittersweet dark chocolate, roughly chopped (or chocolate baking chips)
• Scoop the cookie dough into 1.5 Tbsp balls, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or even better overnight.
• Chilling the dough, firms the butter to prevent over spreading while baking and also allows the flavors to deepen.
• When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃). Line a rimmed baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or two layers of parchment paper.
• Gently pack each ball together with your hands to form a thick tall mound.
• Place the dough balls about 2-3 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Keep remaining dough in the fridge until ready to bake.
• Bake for about 11-12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown and the center is mostly set.
• Remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle each cookie with flaky sea salt. Leave cookies on the hot tray for 5 minutes to finish baking before transferring directly to a wire cooling rack.
  flaky sea salt
• Repeat with remaining cookie dough, making sure the baking tray is cool each time.

Notes

Ingredients Used

• Flour: King Arthur All Purpose Flour, 11.7% protein
• Butter: President Salted (demi-sel) Butter, 80% butterfat

Some salted European butter brands may have 82% or higher butterfat like the unsalted versions. Read the label, as more butterfat means less water and will change the outcome of the cookie’s spread.

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Weigh your flour: The measurement I use: 1 cup of flour equals 125 grams. This amount can change based on a different baker’s recipe or using a conversion tool. The weight listed in the recipe is how it was tested and should be used for accuracy.

Different brands of flour are made with soft or hard wheat and have varying levels of protein, ranging from low to high. This can change the final result of a baked good, giving different outcomes on the same recipe. I list the level of protein in the ingredients, the brand of flour tested with and a link to My Baking Ingredients for additional details. When choosing a flour, look at the protein level on the back of the bag and consult the recommended amount for the recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 186kcal, Carbohydrates: 25g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 9g, Saturated Fat: 6g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 2g, Trans Fat: 0.2g, Cholesterol: 31mg, Sodium: 96mg, Potassium: 77mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 15g, Vitamin A: 196IU, Vitamin C: 0.04mg, Calcium: 35mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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