Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Everyone needs a go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe in their baking regime. This is mine, but upgraded to have chocolate chunks (because let’s face it, bigger pieces of chocolate in cookies is always a good idea).

TELL ME ABOUT THIS CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIE RECIPE

Level of difficulty: Easy. Measure, mix, scoop, and bake.

Flavor: The best version of chocolate chip cookies you’ve ever had… a soft and buttery cookie with large chunks of chocolate.

Time: It will take you approximately 30 minutes to make a single batch of these chocolate chunk cookies. Time may vary depending on the size of your baking trays, and how many trays you bake at one time.

❤ Love this cookie recipe? Find all of my cookie recipes here!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED

• Salted Butter
• Granulated Sugar
• Brown Sugar – works great with both light and dark varieties
• Vanilla Extract
• Large Egg
• Salt
• Baking Soda
• All-Purpose Flour
• Chocolate Chunks – I typically use a 62% semi-sweet or 70% bittersweet chocolate chunk when this chocolate chunk cookie recipe

OVERVIEW: HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE CHUNK COOKIES

1. Preheat the oven and set out baking pans: Preheat your oven to 375°F. Set baking pans aside to use once the dough is ready.
2. Mix together the wet ingredients and sugars: In a large, microwave-safe mixing bowl, melt the butter in the microwave (this takes about 30-45 seconds from refrigerated). It’s ok if there are a few solid pieces of butter left. Add both sugars, the egg, and the vanilla extract to the bowl and stir until combined.
3. Slowly add dry ingredients: Slowly stir in the salt, baking soda, and all-purpose flour until a dough is formed.
4. Mix in the chocolate chunks: Stir in the chocolate chunks until they are well distributed throughout the dough.
5. Scoop dough onto your baking sheet(s): Using a small cookie scoop (or a 1 Tablespoon measure) scoop dough onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving about 2 inches in between dough balls.
6. Bake: Bake each tray of cookies for 8-10 minutes. Remove from the oven when the edges look set. For super chewy cookies, do not overbake (they will set up more once pulled from the oven).
7. Cool: Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. Serve and enjoy! Enjoy chocolate chunk cookies warm or cool.
9. Store: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

RECIPE VARIATIONS AND SUBSTITUTIONS

• Change the chocolate used. I typically use a 62% semi-sweet or 70% bittersweet chocolate chunk when making these. But have fun with it! Mix some lighter and darker chocolates in your cookies. Use milk chocolate chunks if that’s your favorite type of chocolate in cookies. Chopping up your favorite chocolate baking bar to use in your chocolate chunk cookies is also a great option! Or turn these into the best chocolate chip cookie recipe by using your favorite chocolate chips instead!
• Use unsalted butter. Some purists would say you should always bake with unsalted butter… but I admit I personally love baking with salted butter, especially in cookie recipes. If you’d prefer to use unsalted butter (or that’s what you have in your fridge), swap the butter 1-for-1 and increase the amount of salt to ½ tsp.

MODIFICATIONS FOR DIETARY RESTRICTIONS: DAIRY FREE, GLUTEN FREE

This chocolate chunk cookie recipe is vegetarian as written. One small modification is needed to make this recipe into a dairy free cookie recipe or a gluten-free cookie recipe:

• Make this into a dairy free chocolate chunk cookie recipe by replacing the butter with vegetable or canola oil. Typically, oil can be used in place of butter by using ¾ the amount of butter that is called for. So in this recipe, replace the ½ cup of salted butter with 6 Tablespoons of oil and increase the amount of salt used to ½ tsp.
• Additionally, if you are serving this to someone who cannot have dairy, make sure the chocolate chunks you use are noted to be ‘dairy free’ on the package (many chocolate chips / chocolate chunks have dairy in the ingredients list).
• To make this into a gluten free chocolate chunk cookie recipe, replace the all-purpose flour called for in the recipe with a one-to-one gluten free flour alternative.
• Additionally, if you are serving this to someone with celiac intolerance it is wise to ensure the chocolate chunks you use are noted to be ‘gluten free’ on the package.

EXPERT TIPS

Get your cookies to all be the same size by using a cookie scoop! While not a necessity, a cookie scoop is a super helpful tool that I use a lot in my kitchen. For the perfect chocolate chunk cookies, I like to use a medium cookie scoop. If you prefer smaller cookies, this small cookie scoop is what you’ll need (and what I use for many of my cookie recipes). For larger cookie lovers, a large cookie scoop may be preferred. If you can’t decide which size to get, they do have a 3-pack of cookie scoops so you can try them all!

Get your cookies to be perfectly round with “the cookie scoot”! When you pull your cookies out of the oven, use a circular cookie cutter (or a round glass larger than your cookie) to gently “scoot” your cookies in a circular motion to help shift the edges and create perfectly round cookies.

EQUIPMENT NEEDED

• Large Mixing Bowl
• Measuring Spoons
• Measuring Cups
• Wooden Spoon
• Medium Cookie Scoop
• Baking Sheets

LOVE THIS RECIPE? YOU MAY ALSO ENJOY:

• Death by Chocolate Cookies