Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies are the perfect classic chocolate chip cookies made just a little sweeter with milk chocolate instead. These amazing cookies are gooey in the middle, crispy on the edges and so satisfyingly chewy!
I didn’t want to be another blogger to claim to have the best chocolate chip cookies recipe in the world. But you can ask my coworkers because they will tell you these milk chocolate chip cookies are indeed the best!! You will keep coming back for more.
I have been baking these chocolate chip cookies with milk chocolate chips for over 10 years now. They are one of the most popular and well-loved cookies and I can imagine why! They are gooey, chewy and crispy all at the same time. The milk chocolate chips give them a milder and sweeter taste that sets them apart from a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Table of Contents
Why this recipe works
- These cookies are made with both granulated sugar and brown sugar which give them their signature chewy texture with crispy edges.
- The melted butter also contributes to their characteristic chewiness.
- Again, the milder and sweeter taste of the milk chocolate chips really sets them apart from other chocolate chip cookies.
- They are very easy to make, even the kids can help you out with these.
- The dough as well as the baked cookies freeze wonderfully so you can make them ahead for the holidays or for any day!
Ingredients and Substitutions
As always, you’ll find the complete list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card at the end of this post. Below are some notes and substitution tips for each ingredient:
- Butter – I used unsalted butter but you can use salted butter in a pinch. If you do make this substitution, you have to reduce the amount of salt added by ¼ – ½ teaspoon. Even then, the balance of salty sweet may still be thrown off because we don’t really know exactly how much salt is in the salted butter. If you can, stick to unsalted butter.
- Brown sugar – You can use dark brown sugar or light brown sugar here, but don’t substitute all granulated sugar because brown sugar adds chewiness to these cookies. These are not my no brown sugar chocolate chip cookies.
- Granulated sugar – a small amount of granulated sugar is also used in this recipe to give these cookies some crispiness.
- Egg – I use 1 large egg and 1 egg yolk. The extra egg yolk adds fat to the dough making the cookies richer, more tender, chewier.
- Vanilla – I use pure vanilla extract to add complexity to these cookies.
- Flour – simple all-purpose flour will work for this recipe.
- Salt – I use kosher salt, if you’re using table salt, only use about a half to two thirds as much.
- Leavening agents – both baking soda and baking powder are used in this recipe. Baking soda will contribute to browning of the cookies as well as making them more chewy, while baking powder will add a little bit of lift.
- Chocolate chips – I use Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips for this recipe and have been using this same brand for so many years. You can use a different brand but just make sure it is high quality chocolate that you actually love eating.
Tools you’ll need
- A stand mixer or electric mixer because this is not a recipe where you simply mix everything together by hand in one bowl. The butter and sugar and eggs need to be beaten for a good amount of time to allow the eggs to emulsify.
- A cookie scoop to get consistent size cookies so they all bake at the same time and you don’t end up with some that are too under or too over.
How to make milk chocolate chip cookies
The following instructions, step by step photos and tips are here to help you visualize how to make the recipe. You can always skip straight to the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
First, add cooled melted butter and sugar to your stand mixer and beat with a paddle attachment for at least 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
Tip: Using melted butter here will give you chewier cookies rather than soft cake-like cookies as with room temperature butter.
Next, add egg, and vanilla to the beaten butter and continue to beat for at least another 2 minutes until light and fluffy again.
Tip: Don’t be afraid to beat the wet ingredients really well at this stage, even longer than 2 minutes to allow the eggs to emulsify into the butter.
Sift together the dry ingredients or simply whisk everything together. Add it to the wet ingredients and stir to combine. You may want to stop the mixer and scrape the bottom of the bowl in this step to make sure everything is well combined but don’t over mix here.
Finally, add the chocolate chips, and stir to distribute them evenly throughout the cookie dough. Stop the mixer and use a spatula to give it a final mix to ensure everything is distributed evenly.
Divide the dough with a large cookie scoop and place them on a lined baking sheet. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before baking.
Bake the cookies, one tray at a time in the middle of the oven. You should be able to fit 6 cookies per tray.
More baker’s tips
- Measure flour correctly – adding too much flour can dry out the cookies, so make sure to fluff your flour before scooping and level it off. Or use a kitchen scale for more exact measurement.
- Don’t overmix – overmixing will further develop gluten in the cookie dough which will make it dry, so make sure not to overmix.
- Chill the dough – you must chill the dough for this recipe! Chilling the dough will allow the melted butter to re-solidify so the cookies don’t spread too much. It also allows the flour to hydrate properly and the flavor to develop.
- For perfectly shaped cookies use a large round cookie cutter or a spatula to scoot the edges of the cookies toward the center to make them perfectly round.
- It’s better to underbake – these cookies should come out of the oven looking pretty gooey and underbaked in the middle. That’s okay, let them sit on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes to finish baking. Over baking will result in dry cookies.
- Wait for them to cool completely – you may be tempted to eat these straight from the oven, try to refrain from this! They are infinitely better when cooled completely and even better the next day.
Why do my cookies spread so much?
I’ve experienced some inconsistent spreading with this recipe so over the years I’ve made small tweaks to minimize too much spreading. However, I tried to make minimal changes without altering the wet to dry ingredient ratio too much because I love the gooey chewy texture of these cookies and don’t want to make them too dry.
The original recipe included 2 tablepsooons of milk in the wet ingredients, but I’ve omitted milk in this final recipe because it does help reduce the spreading a bit without making the cookies too dry.
I’ve also tested the recipe with less baking soda but that didn’t seem to affect the spreading much.
I’ve also baked these on a silicone mat, parchment paper and bare baking sheet.
- Greasy silicone mat will contribute to more spreading.
- Brand new or very clean silicone mat will reduce spreading. I think, in this case, the bottom of the cookies can grab onto the mat better which helps them spread less.
- Parchment paper doesn’t really help spreading that much.
- Bare baking sheet reduces spreading the most but the cookies can stick to the baking sheet and the bottom brown quicker.
I think if you run into too much spreading, the best way is to scoot the cookies toward the center using a spatula or large round cookie cutter as soon as they come out of the oven. This will help make them rounder and a bit thicker.
One last tip, make sure to chill your dough thoroughly and freezing them will also help reduce spreading. The spreading is a little annoying but it doesn’t make these cookies any less delicious. It is better to keep the dough a little softer and deal with a little spreading than ending up with dry cookies.
Storage
Room temperature
These delicious milk chocolate chip cookies will stay fresh when stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days. They will actually last for a week at room temperature, but they will start to harden the longer you keep them, though still yummy in my opinion.
Refrigerator
You don’t need to keep the baked cookies refrigerated. But unbaked cookie dough will last in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Freezer
You can freeze the baked cookies for up to 3 months, thaw at room temperature for a few hours before serving. You could pop them in the microwave for 10 seconds to soften and warm them up, they will taste like freshly baked.
You can also freeze this cookie dough for 3-6 months. I prefer freezing the cookie dough over freezing the baked cookies because you can pop them into the oven and get freshly baked cookies anytime you want.
FAQs
Simply portion them out on a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze until hardened. Then transfer the dough balls to a freezer bag and keep them frozen.
You can bake frozen cookie dough directly from the freezer without thawing. Simply increase baking time by about 30 seconds to 1 minute. You want the outer edges to brown but still underbaked in the middle for maximum gooeyness.
Sure! These milk chocolate chip cookies can be made into smaller cookies using a medium cookie scoop instead. You just need to reduce the baking time by about 3 minutes.
Technically you can, but I don’t recommend it. One, your cookies will spread a lot if not chilled. And two, chilling the dough will allow the flavor to develop further making it even more delicious. All good things come to those who wait!
Even more chocolate chip cookies
- Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pecan Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Chocolate Chip Biscoff Butter Cookies
- Matcha Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Oreo Chocolate Chip Cookies
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📖 Recipe card
Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 8 oz unsalted butter (227 g, melted and cooled)
- 1 ¼ cup brown sugar (250 g)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 g)
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour (300 g)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 bag milk chocolate chips (11.5 oz, 326 g)
Instructions
- Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat and set it aside to cool before making the cookie dough.
- Add cooled melted butter, and sugar to the stand mixer bowl, and beat with the paddle attachment for 2-3 minutes until light in color and creamy.
- Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and continue beating for another 2-3 minutes until fluffy.
- In another mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir in the kosher salt and give it a good mix to distribute. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredient mixture in the stand mixer bowl, stir until incorporated. Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.
- Add the chocolate chips and stir to distribute. Stop the mixer and use a spatula to scrape the side and bottom of the bowl to ensure good distribution of chocolate chips throughout the cookie dough.
- Portion the cookie dough with a large cookie scoop and place them on a lined baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, and up to 3 days, before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Place 6 dough balls on a baking sheet, about 2 inches apart, and bake 1 batch at a time for 14 minutes, until the outer edges of the cookies turn golden brown and the middle is still underbaked.
- Remove the baking sheet from the oven, but allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet to finish baking from the residual heat for 10-15 minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Make sure to measure flour correctly so you don’t end up with too much flour which can dry out the cookies. I usually fluff the flour in the container, then scoop. Or use a kitchen scale for more exact measurement.
- Don’t overmix, as this can dry out the dough as well.
- Make sure to chill the dough to allow the butter to re-solidify which can curb spreading and also allow the flavor to develop.
- If too much spreading occurs, scoot the edges toward the center using a spatula or a large round cookie cutter, right when the cookies come out of the oven and are still soft. This will also make them perfectly round.
- You can use a medium cookie scoop to make smaller cookies. Smaller cookies will bake faster. Reduce the baking time by about 3 minutes in this case.
- The cookie dough can be kept frozen once portioned. You can bake from frozen and increase baking time by 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Nutrition
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