Thick Chocolate Chip Cookies (NYC-Style, Gooey Centres)

In our house growing up, chocolate chip cookies were a Sunday-afternoon thing. My mum would pull out the same scratched old mixing bowl, and within twenty minutes the smell of warm butter, brown sugar and melting chocolate would creep up the stairs until the whole family had drifted into the kitchen without anyone calling them. My younger sister always burned her fingers on the first one because she could never, ever wait for it to cool.

That’s the quiet magic of these cookies — it was never really about the cookie. It was about the ten minutes the house smelled like one, and everyone somehow ending up in the same room on a slow weekend, hovering by the cooling rack. A hard week got a little softer around the edges when there was something warm and sweet to break in half and share.

So this is the version I bake now when I want that Sunday feeling back: thick, NYC-bakery style, with crisp golden edges and a centre so soft it almost folds. Pull one apart while it’s warm and the chocolate stretches in long, glossy ribbons. They take one bowl, no mixer heroics, and under an hour — and somehow they still turn an ordinary afternoon into the kind you remember.

What makes these cookies special

Thick and bakery-tall

These aren’t thin, lacy cookies — they’re proper chunky mounds with height. A little extra flour and cornflour, plus tall dough balls and a quick chill, keep them from spreading flat, so you get that satisfying thickness in every one.

Crisp edges, gooey centre

The contrast is the whole point. The outsides bake to a golden, slightly crisp edge while the middles stay soft, fudgy and just-set — pull them from the oven looking a touch underbaked and they finish to perfection on the tray.

Chips and chunks

Using a mix of chocolate chips and roughly chopped chocolate gives you the best of both: chips that hold their shape and chunks that melt into glossy pools and ribbons. Every bite has a little of each.

Ingredients

Everything here is a baking-cupboard staple — butter, sugar, flour, an egg and plenty of chocolate. Here’s the full line-up:

For the dough: softened butter, brown and white sugar, an egg, vanilla, plain flour, a little cornflour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

For the chocolate: a generous mix of chocolate chips and chopped chocolate — plus a few extra chunks and some flaky salt to finish.

How to make thick chocolate chip cookies

1. Cream the butter and sugars. Beat the softened butter with the brown and white sugar until pale, light and fluffy.

2. Add the egg and vanilla. Beat in the egg and vanilla until smooth and well combined.

3. Mix in the dry ingredients. Add the flour, cornflour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, and mix to a soft dough — don’t overwork it.

4. Fold in the chocolate. Tip in the chocolate chips and chopped chocolate and fold through until it’s studded all the way to the middle.

   

5. Shape big, tall dough balls. Scoop into 6 large mounds, keeping them tall and chunky rather than flat. Chill for 30 minutes — this is the secret to thick cookies.

   

6. Bake. Place well apart on a lined tray and bake at 180°C / 350°F for 12–14 minutes, until the edges are set but the centres still look soft and underdone.

7. Finish and cool. Press a few extra chocolate chunks on top, add a little flaky salt, and leave on the tray for 10 minutes to finish setting before eating warm.

   

Tips for perfect cookies

Don’t skip the chill: even 30 minutes in the fridge keeps the butter firm so the cookies bake up tall instead of spreading into thin puddles.

Keep the dough balls tall: shape them taller than they are wide. Tall going in means thick coming out.

Underbake on purpose: pull them while the centres still look soft. The residual heat of the tray finishes them into that gooey middle.

Press chocolate on top: a few extra chunks pressed onto each cookie the moment they come out makes them look straight out of a bakery window.

Make ahead, store & freeze

Make ahead: the dough keeps in the fridge for up to 2 days — the flavour only gets better.

Store: keep baked cookies in an airtight container for up to 4 days; warm one in the microwave for 10 seconds to bring back the gooey centre.

Freeze: freeze the shaped dough balls solid, then bag them up and bake from frozen (add 1–2 minutes) for warm cookies any time.

And before you get butter and dough all over your fingers, use the print button on this page to run off a free recipe card — far nicer to glance at on the worktop than scrolling a screen mid-bake.

Easy variations

• Double chocolate: swap 2 tbsp of the flour for cocoa powder for a deeper, brownie-like cookie.
• Nutty: fold in a handful of chopped walnuts or pecans, NYC-bakery style.
• Brown butter: melt and brown the butter first (then cool it) for a richer, caramel-toffee flavour.
• Stuffed: push a square of chocolate or a little spoon of cookie butter into the centre of each ball before baking.
• More sweet treats: if you love an easy bake, our soft, golden spiced beef stuffed buns prove the same simple dough-and-bake magic works for savoury too.

Nutrition (per cookie)

Here’s the approximate nutrition per cookie (this recipe makes six large ones). These are big, rich bakery-style cookies, so treat them as a generous sweet treat. Values are estimates and vary with your chocolate and cookie size.

Nutrient	Per cookie
Calories	~380
Carbohydrates	50 g
Protein	5 g
Fat	18 g
Fiber	2 g
Sugar	32 g

Nutrition note: These values are estimates calculated from the ingredients and are for general information only — not medical or dietary advice. Actual numbers vary by brand and portion. For precise data, check product labels or USDA FoodData Central, and see our disclaimer. If you’d like the science of why chilled dough bakes better, King Arthur Baking explains it well.

Thick chocolate chip cookie FAQ

How do I make my chocolate chip cookies thick, not flat?

Three things keep them thick: use enough flour (and a little cornflour) so the dough isn’t too loose, shape tall, chunky dough balls instead of flat discs, and chill the shaped dough for at least 30 minutes before baking. Chilling firms up the butter so the cookies hold their height in the oven instead of spreading thin.

Why chill the cookie dough?

Chilling solidifies the butter, so the cookies spread less and bake up tall with gooey centres and crisp edges — that signature NYC-bakery shape. It also deepens the flavour. If you’re short on time, even 20–30 minutes in the fridge (or 10 in the freezer) makes a real difference.

Can I freeze the cookie dough?

Yes — these are perfect for freezing. Shape the dough balls, freeze them solid on a tray, then keep them in a bag. Bake straight from frozen, adding 1–2 extra minutes. That way you can bake one or two warm cookies whenever the craving hits.

Why do my cookies look underbaked in the middle?

They’re meant to. Pull them out when the edges are set but the centres still look soft and slightly underdone — they keep cooking on the hot tray as they cool. That carry-over is exactly what gives you a gooey, fudgy middle instead of a dry, crunchy one.

Can I use only chocolate chips, or do I need chunks too?

You can use all chips, but a mix of chocolate chips and roughly chopped chocolate is what makes these special. The chunks melt into glossy puddles and pools, while the chips hold their shape — so every bite has both. Chop a bar of your favourite chocolate for the best results.