Chewy Chocolate Cookies are the best fudgy soft cookie recipe with intense chocolate flavor. Ready in just 20 minutes with basic ingredients!
This chewy dark chocolate cookie recipe is just as easy and tasty as Cake Mix Chocolate Cookies, but made completely from scratch. Chocolate Cookies are sure to be a new favorite Cookie Recipe for your family!
Sometimes when your inner chocolate lover comes out, a Chocolate Chip Cookie is simply not enough. You need one that is more chocolaty, more chewy and fudgy, like a soft and tender bakery style choco cookie. These homemade Chocolate Cookies have all that rich, intense chocolate flavor you are craving and they only take 20 minutes before you get to take that first warm, gooey chocolatey bite.
These chewy Chocolate Cookies are simple baked treats with basic ingredients. They are made similar to Chocolate Brownies with unsweetened cocoa powder and butter so you get rich, decadent fudgy chocolate down to the last crumb. They are so chocolatey you don’t need chocolate chips or chocolate chunks but feel free to get choco-crazy with add-ins to really satisfy your cravings.
These cookies go great with a cold glass of milk, one dunk and they will be melting in your mouth. Serve them all year round or make them your new favorite cookie for Santa. For decoration, top them with Buttercream Frosting or dust with powdered sugar. For an extra special treat, there are quick instructions at the bottom of this post to make your own homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches with these amazing Chocolate Cookies.
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: Natural vs. Dutch Process
To get richer dark chocolate color and flavor, use Dutch processed unsweetened cocoa powder. The difference between natural cocoa powder, like Hersheyâs or Ghirardelli, and Dutch process is that âDutchedâ cocoa powder has been alkalized. Basically this means that the cocoa powder is less acidic and the cocoa is darker. They use Dutch processed cocoa powder in Oreo cookies. If you used Dutch process, swap your baking soda with baking powder.
How to Make Chocolate Cookies
- Prep: Preheat your oven and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Butter: Cream the butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla and mix until smooth.
- Dough: Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt, then mix into the creamed butter mixture until a dough just forms.
- Scoop: Scoop large spoonfuls of dough onto the cookie sheets about an inch apart.
- Bake: Bake cookies until the edges are just set. Cool for a few minutes, then finish cooling on wire racks.
More Chocolate Cookie Recipes
FAQs for Chocolate Cookies
The cookies should be slightly firm around the edges but still slightly soft in the center. They will continue to set as they cool on the baking sheet, so it’s important not to cook them too long or they won’t have that delicious soft and chewy texture.
It can be easy to over bake Chocolate Cookies. To bake cookie dough evenly, line a light baking sheet with parchment paper. A dark cookie sheet heats up faster, so if you donât have a light one, stack two pans and line the top with parchment paper.
Whether to use regular unsweetened cocoa powder or dutch-process cocoa powder depends on how intense you want the chocolate flavor. Dutch process cocoa is extra dark, yet slightly less bitter so that will give your cookies more of an Oreo taste, where regular cocoa will give them a hot chocolate flavor.
One possibility is that the butter was too soft or melted, causing the dough to spread excessively during baking. Another reason overmixing the dough or handling it too much makes the dough warm which also causes spreading. Finally, if your baking soda isn’t fresh they could be flat.
Create a free account to Save Recipes
Key Ingredients
- Butter: There is lots of butter in these rich, fudgy cookies. You want to use soft butter but don’t use melted butter or your cookies will be flat. If the dough seems really wet, pop it in the fridge to chill before baking so they don’t spread.
- Sugar: Two cups of sugar seems like a lot but the extra sweetness is needed to balance the bitterness in unsweetened cocoa powder. Sugar also makes your cookies nice and chewy.
- Eggs: These cookies have plenty of egg so they are rich and fudgy, almost like a brownie inside. Make sure they are room temperature so they mix easily, creating air for puffier texture.
- Vanilla: Vanilla extract enhances the overall taste of the chocolate cookies and complements the chocolate flavor, bringing out the warm notes in the cocoa.
- Flour: Regular all-purpose flour gives the cookies their characteristic texture and helps them hold their shape during baking. They have the right amount of gluten for soft, thick cookies.
- Cocoa Powder: Unsweetened cocoa powder is responsible for the intense chocolate flavor in the cookies. It also adds a rich color and when mixed with the soft butter and eggs, it gets a fudgy texture.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda is a leavening agent that helps the cookies to rise so they are fluffier despite the fudgy center and they are tender and soft.
- Salt: A little bit of salt enhances the flavor of the cookies by balancing the sweetness and intensifying the chocolate taste.
Can you make Chocolate Cookies ahead of time?
Yes, you can definitely make Chocolate Cookies ahead of time, either by baking them and freezing for a couple months or freezing the dough for even longer.
- To freeze unbaked cookie dough, start by rolling your dough into even balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Freeze in single layer for at least 30 minutes, or until the dough balls are frozen.
- Transfer frozen dough balls to a freezer safe bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months.
- Bake cookies straight from freezer for about 2 minutes longer than normal.
Variations
- Chocolate Chips: Mix in your favorite kind of chocolate chips, like dark chocolate chips or semisweet chips, to give your cookie bursts of chocolaty flavor. For a creamier bite, try white chocolate chips.
- Chocolate Chunk: Chop up Hersheyâs chocolate candy bars into large chunks and stir into your batter. Itâs fun to do a mixture of milk chocolate bars and Hersheyâs Cookies and Cream bars.
- Peanut Butter: Chocolate and peanut butter taste amazing together. Mix in a handful of peanut butter chips and chopped peanuts for a delicious peanut butter cup flavor.
- Other Mix-ins: For crunch in every bite, mix in chopped walnuts, almonds, or other nuts into this chocolate cookie dough. Some more tasty ideas to mix in are chocolate candy, dried berries, or Marshmallows.
- Brownie Cookies: Use brown sugar to make these more like Brownie Chocolate Cookies. Replace half of the white sugar with brown sugar. For gooey brownie cookies, reduce the butter to ¾ cup and increase to 3 large eggs.
Easy Chocolate Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
- You will need 24 small baked Chocolate Cookies, cooled completely.
- Allow Vanilla Ice Cream or Chocolate Ice Cream (or another favorite flavor) to soften on the counter until it is soft enough to spread but not melted.
- Place a small Chocolate Cookie in each cup of a 12 cup muffin tin.
- Using a cookie scoop, top each cookie with a small scoop of ice cream (about 2-3 tablespoons).
- Press the remaining cookies on top of the ice cream. Freeze for 1-2 hours, until solid.
Easy Delicious Chocolate Desserts
How to Store
- Serve: Chocolate Cookies are okay at room temperature for up to 2 days. Store in an airtight container.
- Store: Keep cookies longer in the refrigerator. Place in a sealed bag or container and store for up to 1 week.
- Freeze: Freeze baked cookies for up to 2 months. Allow cookies to cool completely before putting in a freezer safe bag.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups butter , softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.
- Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.
- Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended.
- Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven.
- Cool for a couple of minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
Video
Nutrition
Want to save this recipe? Create a free account to easily save your favorite recipes
Photos used in a previous version of this post.
I think this recipe is absolutely perfect, this is my second time. You do not need to “correct” anything.
However. I do have one question. I don’t entirely understand why the cookie sheet should be ungreased. I didn’t do it last time and don’t intend on doing so this time, I’m too paranoid of stuck cookies.
Am I missing something?
Thanks –
Greased can sometimes cause excess spreading. I like to just use parchment paper. So glad you enjoyed them!
I followed this recipe to a T and they turned out horrible. This recipe called for FAR too much butter and not enough leavening agents, I ended up having to add a teaspoon of cornstarch, a teaspoon of baking soda, and around a cup of flower for these to come out salvageable. I feel like there must have been a typo or mistranslation when this was posted.
The amount of flour is way to low and the cookies came out flat, fatty and generally terrible.
I followed a BBC Good food cookie recipe and added 30% more flour and doubled the cocoa in the remaining mix and they were perfect. Have you even tested this recipe?
You need to correct the amount of butter called for in thus recipe! It’s the wrong ratio. Basically ruins the recipe.
Thank you Barbra for your critique, will keep it in mind!
Thanks for the recipe. Stuffing mine with mini York peppermint patties. I’ll get back with you.
Utterly amazing. My whole family is in love with these cookies, and at the mention of making them everyone’s face lights up. I’ve made them over 5 times now, and have not once been disappointed with the results. They are so easy to throw together, and the ingredients are very common. If I could give these a 10-star rating, I would. Best cookies ever, and great with cream on top or dunked in milk.
I just made these with my toddler and they are delicious!
Halved the recipe and baked the first 2 batches straight from mixing and got a really flat cookie that spread out. I decided to spoon out the remaining dough then chilled them in the fridge for at least 15 minutes before baking and they came out perfect, not flat just chewy. Chill your batter after mixing and they should come out great 🙂
This recipe tastes so good but mine were also flat at first. After reading this I froze the dough for about 20 minutes and they are perfect now!
These are the best homemade cookies I made. My brother and parents all love it. Thanks, Sabrina.
Thank YOU Bryan!
Oh my gosh! These are by far the best cookies that I have ever baked and boughten! They’re so delicious. I used a cookie scoopers and they came out perfect and uniform. They look professional, as if I had boughten them from a bakery.
Thanks so much Monique! I am so glad you enjoyed them!
These are so good , I’m Glad I baked them !? I might actually make them again , my family also loved them too !
I didn’t see the comments until after I started, so I used the full amount of butter, but added .25C more flour to try to counteract. I also chilled the dough and made smaller cookies so I ended up with about 30-35. They’re thin, but really tasty!
Dough was a tad sticky but firm. My one addition was a teaspoon of raspberry flavoring (dough tasted yummy). I put it in refridgertor as I wasn’t going to bake them until morning.
They taste great but they are flat & thin. Not puffy like yours. I let the dough warm up, baked some for 9 minutes and some for 8 … puffy when I took them out but really deflated when cooled. I used TBS cookie scoop so I got 5 dozen to your 2.
Made these 2 weeks ago with my granddaughter and made just 1/2 a recipe to try it. We used mini chocolate chips in some of the dough. We preferred the cookies without the chips. Granddaughter came back the next week and asked if we still had those chocolate cookies.
I just made a whole batch, but added a little bit of baking powder. Kept the rest of recipe the same. 8 min in oven. Came out great. Very delicious. Thank you!
Will be making them again and again!! ? Debi
I’m so glad you all enjoyed them, Debi.
Worked great! They are a soft cookie which makes that so gooey and delicious! I have made them twice the second time I did chill my dough for half and hour before baking and that helped them keep there shape a bit better!
I’m glad you enjoyed them, Bella. Thanks for the 5 stars.
Terrible recipe unfortunately. Used the metric system measurements and the cookies spread out so fast and gelled together. Won’t try this again.
Cookies tasted great but did flatten when they cooled. The amount of butter seemed fine to mel. I think using 1/2 cup only of butter would have made it impossible to combine the dry ingradients.
I am making them again to see if they come out not so flat. The flavor was awesome.
Really disappointed. Cookies came out flat. Super flat. I hate wasting so I’ll use them for the bottom of a chocolate pie.
Oh no! Usually flat cookies are a indication that the butter was too warm. Make sure it’s at room temperature when using. Also, make sure you’re using a cool cookie sheet before baking another batch. I like to rotate cookie sheets giving the one that just came out with cookies to cool down before placing dough on it. Hope this helps for next time.
So I dunno if it was my baking soda or something buuuuut mine came out normal but when they cooled they were SUPER flat! 🙁 I was a little disappointed because they were so fragile but they tasted great. P.S. don’t eat too many!
Love these cookies so much, not too sweet, just perfect as per the recipe.
Yay!! Thanks for the 5 stars, Johanna.
Great recipe 🙂
My cookies came out a little sticky, what did I mess up on or what do I need to tweak to fix this?
Sounds like the dough might have gotten a bit warm. You can pop it back in the refrigerator or freezer for a bit to get it back to where you want it. Hope this helps for next time.
Can eggs be replaced with anything ?
I wouldn’t have a good substitution for you without recipe testing it.
They came out flat spread out to about 4” x3” rectangles I followed directions what happened?
I’m so sorry this comment got stuck and I just came across it. I know your cookies are long gone now. You followed all the ingredient amounts? I’m sorry I will retest this recipe, I didn’t have that issue.
Every one in the house loved these. I used crisco instead of butter. They definitely taste like brownies. Every cookie reminds me of eating the corner piece. I will be making these again. Thank you for sharing.
You’re welcome, Kimberly.
mine came out completely FLAT ?
Oh no! Flat cookies usually means a few different things. It could possibly be that the dough was overbeat. You really only want to beat it until it’s blended, no more. Also, make sure to use room temperature pans and try using a silicone baking mat on them. That also helps to distribute heat while the cookies are the in the oven. I really hope this helps for next time.
I didn’t over beat just until mixed used parchment paper
I think 11/4 c butter too much No semblance of a cookie Batter all ran together into a bib flat shee
agree – I found 1-1/4 cups of butter to be too much and I had the same issue with flat cookies. I put more baking soda in and that helped with subsequent batches, but still too buttery. Made me feel a bit sick.
same
I made these tonight with York Peppermint Patties in the middle, and they didn’t work out. I don’t know what went wrong! The dough was really sticky, so I added more flour. But it was difficult to work with, and the cookies have white peppermint oozing out the sides. That’s never happened to me before with other recipes? I did everything the recipe said.
This recipe doesn’t have enough flour to support being stuffed.
These are delicious! Everyone raved about them. I just added walnuts and increased the baking time because we live over 5000 ft.
Thanks for the 5 stars, Debi. I’m so glad they were a hit.
I made these and they came out perfect I used cookie scoop to form balls no issues what so ever . And as far as being to much butter most cookies have a lot of butter . I love butter so thank you for recipe . I was referring to the other comments about the butter ratio .
I’m glad you enjoyed them. A cookie scoop is such a great tool to make the process easier. Glad you have one!
I’ve made these before with the specified amount of butter (though I substituted it with margarine) and then I made them with the reviewer suggested half a cup. The latter came out super dry. Don’t be stingy – use the specified amount.
Awful. The cookies were practically liquid, none of them were a good texture, this recipe contains far too much butter. I tried to leave them in the oven for a little longer so they’d become somewhat solid, but then they were just ridiculously soft while also being slightly burnt. Try a different recipe, this one ain’t it.
mine worked maybe you have a bad ingredient?
can this recipe be adjusted for high altitudes (over 5,000 ft.)?
It can but I am not an expert on that, sorry. I’m sure you can find an online resource that could help make those adjustments. Good luck!
I made these with what I had in my kitchen so I had to substitute some ingredients. Instead of white sugar I used coconut sugar and maple syrup and instead of cow butter I used oat butter. And since I used dutch chocolate I used baking powder as directed. I also added a bit of cinnamon. They came out AMAZING! Everyone in my house can’t get enough of them. Thanks for getting me started with this great recipe! ?
I’m so glad you were able to use what you had on hand. Thanks for all of the suggestions, Pamela.
Made these and added a little peppermint extract, crushed peppermint stick, and rough chopped dark chocolate and they were divine
Claire, thank you for posting your cookie add ins. What you made is what I was planning to do. I specifically came to the comments looking to see if anyone else tried peppermint and how it turned out.
Thank you!
wut duh hek 2 cups of flour and sugar?!!!
Cookies gotta cookie. Its for 24 good sized ones so its like 4 teaspoons of each per cookie. Happy Thanksgiving!
Is butter or margarine used. Recipe calls for butter. Instructions call for margarine????
Thank you for catching that misprint. You should use butter for this recipe. I hope you enjoy them.
Made these for friends today, following suggestions of others in the comments. Used 1 stick of butter (1/2 c), 1 cup of sugar, added 3/4 c dark chocolate chips and they were terrific. They were not too sweet but I prefer a rich chocolate flavor as opposed to an overly sugary cookie. Sprinkled powdered sugar which was pretty. Great, super simple and quick recipe I highly recommend.
These are delicious! Highly recommend! I reduced butter to 3/4 cup and it worked great. Thanks for sharing this recipe! I plan to make again and again with all kinds of add-ins.
These are AMAZING!!! My family and I finished them in 2 days, they are so delicious. Definitely making these again sometime!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Sam. Thanks for the 5 stars.
They’re ok. Mixture is pretty runny.
it shouldnt be… mine wasnt
hi i love your recipe it is so good thanks for sharing
1/2 cup of butter works better!
Hello there, so I followed this recipe accordingly the only thing I did differently was instead of using the required amount of butter I went ahead and followed what others were saying in the comments which was to use only 1/2 cup of butter rather than the 3 sticks. Other than that I have to say this recipe is surprisingly easy and the cookies taste amazing!
So glad you enjoyed them!
I love these cookies! They are amazing. My family loves them. I did add chocolate chips in them, its super good. Thanks for sharing this recipe
You’re welcome, Rose.
Came out lovely! Really yummy and exactly what I wanted.
Thanks for the 5 stars, Jenine!
These cookies are really yummy – my granddaughter and I made them today. She said they were the best cookies she ever ate. We did follow one of the comments and only used 1/2 cup of butter. Terrific texture and flavor.
I’m glad you both enjoyed them, Sharon. Thanks for the 5 star rating.
Just made these. Used just 1 cup butter and added miniature mint chips. Awesome!!
Thanks for coming back to let me know how much you enjoyed them, Helen.
Cookies were delicious and super easy to make!
Thanks for coming back to let me know you enjoyed them, Jolyn.
I made these today and they are brilliant! I halved the recipe, and increased cocoa. They were devoured in no time 🙂
So glad you enjoyed them!
OMG!!! These are absolutely FAB cookies using 1/2c granulated sugar & 1.5c packed dark brown sugar, so I knooooow they are even more FAB made as written!!! I gently rolled each into quarter sized balls which resulted in nearly perfectly rounded edges, baked for 12 mins & topped some with a dusting of powdered sugar! My neighbor friends REALLY enjoyed them almost as much as I did!!
THANK YOU for this perfect chocolate cookie recipe (can’t wait to try it with chopped walnuts)!!
Why is everyone reducing the butter? Would you recommend that?
Absolutely delicious!
I did two batches one plain chocolate and one with raisins and chopped honey roasted peanuts as add ons it came out great both ways!
Sounds fantastic, Jamie. Thanks for the 5 stars.
I just made these and it was extremely easy and didn’t take a lot of ingredients. I did lower the amount of butter as one reviewer did. I think next time i may go with a tad less sugar but all in all they turned out great. Thanks for the recipe.
I halved the recipe, and it turned out perfect!! I love recipes like these that don’t have a lot of ingredients, and the end result is a very yummy cookie!! Thank you!!
Thanks, Hunter. So glad you enjoyed them.
Heyo! Just out of curiosity, by “Halved the ingredients” do you mean that you divided ALL of the ingredients by 2? Or just some? Thanks!
This was one of the best chocolate cookies ever!! However the first time I made them the 1 1/4 cup of butter was too much so the second time around I added only 1/2 a cup and it worked perfectly didn’t change anything else though! Look exactly like the picture.
So glad you enjoyed them!
I added an egg as suggested for a brownie cookie consistency. Added peanut butter chips. They are outstanding. Thank you for this recipe.
Thanks for letting me know, Melissa.
I like how easy chocolate cake cookies are, but I like how these taste so much better! Delicious! And, really, they’re not THAT hard! Definitely worth it! My family loves these.
So glad you enjoyed them.
Give me all the chocolate cookies! The whole family loved these!
You really can’t go wrong with chocolate.
Absolutely delicious! Added dark chocolate chips and chopped almonds, one of the best cookies I’ve ever had.
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I love this super simple chocolate cookie recipe!
So glad you enjoyed them, Sarah. Thanks for the 5 stars.
I luv the chocolate cookies but want to incorporate and make orange chocolate ricotta cookies can I add these new ingredients…help pls…
I haven’t tested it with those ingredients. I’ll have to add it to my research. Thanks for the suggestion.