What's better than homemade chocolate chip cookies? Homemade Chocolate Chunk Cookies! Make this recipe for the BEST cookie you've ever had.

March 11, 2019 Updated February 3, 2022 Jump to Recipe
What's better than homemade chocolate chip cookies? Homemade Chocolate Chunk Cookies! Make this recipe for the BEST cookie you've ever had.
Is there anything better than a classic, homemade chocolate chip cookie?
The answer is no.
Oh, unless it’s a homemade chocolate chunk cookie.
Yep. Have you ever noticed that chocolate chips from the store don’t really have the greatest texture?
Unless that cookie is piping hot from the oven, store bought chocolate chips aren’t really going to give you an oozy chocolate effect when you break that cookie apart.
That’s why chocolate chunk cookies are better than chocolate chip cookies.
Now all you need is the BEST cookie recipe to put those chocolate chunks in, right?
That’s where this recipe comes in. (But you could also check out my Boy Meets World Cookies here.)
I’ve been making cookies…for a long time. And along the way I’ve learned a few things about this seemingly humble dessert that is actually quite hard to bake just right.
So today I’m sharing with you my ultimate cookie recipe, and my ultimate cookie baking tips and tricks. Let’s delve right in.
Again, chop some good baking chocolate up yourself. Milk, dark, semi-sweet—whatever your chocolate preference. I’m telling you, you’ll be AMAZED with the difference it makes in your cookies. Chocolate chips are only acceptable in the case of a cookie emergency.
(Yes, cookie emergencies do happen, and I’m guilty of using chocolate chips on those occasions when I can’t bring my lazy self to chop some chocolate. But I always regret it!)
It’s so important to refrigerate or freeze the dough before baking my chocolate chunk cookies. And really, this is a best practice for just about any cookie recipe.
I’ve found that most cookie dough will bake better, more delicious cookies if you refrigerate it for at least a half hour, and up to two days, before baking. I like to shape the dough into cookie dough balls first, then refrigerate. (The dough is easier to shape before it gets cold in the refrigerator.)
Alternately, you can freeze the cookie dough balls, and then let them defrost a bit on the cookie sheet while you wait for the oven to preheat before baking.
A scientist could describe this amazing refrigerator phenomenon much more accurately than I can, I’m sure. But basically, letting that dough get cold after we’ve beaten and mixed all those cookie dough ingredients together helps the fat in the dough solidify again, and then the dough behaves better in the oven during baking.
If you’ve ever ended up with really flat cookies that spread out a whole lot during baking, chances are the dough never got cold enough before it was put in the oven. So refrigerate that cookie dough!
I think this is the biggest cookie mistake I made for the longest time.
For years, I baked cookies until they looked perfect on the cookie sheet in the oven, then I took them out to cool. But by the time they cooled down, those cookies were hard as rocks.
This happen to anyone else????
The solution is easy: take the cookies out of the oven while they still look under-baked.
I know, I know, easier said than done. It’s really hard not to second-guess yourself when you pull a batch of just over half-baked dough out of the oven.
But trust me, those cookies will continue baking on the cookie sheet for several minutes after you take them out of the oven. In that time, they will bake to the absolute perfect cookie texture.
As a rule, I take my cookies out of the oven when they are lightly browned on the edges, and the middle still looks under-baked and dough-y.
Then, I let them finish baking outside of the oven, on the baking sheet, for 5 to 7 minutes.
Only after 5 to 7 minutes will I even think about removing the cookies from the baking sheet. And the wait is well worth it, because that cookie texture is to die for every time.
I make a batch of cookie dough every few months. I roll it into cookie dough balls, then I store them in the freezer. There’s nothing better than inviting friends or family over and realizing that you’ve already done the work for an amazing dessert everyone will love: you’ve just got to bake the cookie dough.
Or keep cookie dough balls on hand in the freezer and just make a couple each day to enjoy yourself. I do that all the time.
This dough stays fresh in the freezer for at least two months, probably longer. I can’t say for certain though, because we always use this chocolate chunk cookie dough up within two months!
Make my Chocolate Chunk Cookie recipe, and utilize these easy cookie tricks. You’ll be amazed at the bakery-worthy cookies you can proudly say came out of your kitchen.
I prefer Ghirardelli Baking Chocolate for my chocolate chunk cookies. Milk, dark, semi-sweet, Ghirardelli does it all to perfection. You can find my favorite Ghiradelli here on Amazon [aff. link], but there should be a nice selection at your local grocery store.
But when I made these cookies last week, I used a Tony’s Chocolonely Caramel Sea Salt Milk Chocolate bar [aff. link].
And ohhhh my goodness was that one delicious batch of cookies! I discovered Tony’s last summer, and now, I always have a bar to snack on in the house. I can’t believe it didn’t occur to me to use Tony’s Chocolonely in my cookies sooner.
I highly recommend using Tony’s Caramel Sea Salt Milk Chocolate bar, or another one of their amazing bars, in your next batch of cookies. I’ll be experimenting with Tony’s dark chocolate bars [aff. link] next time I make cookies.
This Post Has 4 Comments
You said it, Shannon – the chocolate chip cookie might be readily available, but only few chocolate chip cookies actually rise to the status of being great. With that said, these look amazing! Great tips in here about baking the perfect cookie, too. This post makes me want to bake a batch with Robbie today!
Thanks David! Awww that sounds like the best way to spend the afternoon! MJ and I always love baking cookies together, particularly this recipe! I have to chop extra chocolate when we do though, because between the two of us, a good portion of it doesn’t make it into the cookies…! 😄
I absolutely agree with you on chocolate chips – while they are often convenient to use, they cannot beat real chocolate. You can also play with different types of chocolate in one cookie dough, so you would get a variety of textures and flavours, from rich and bitter dark to sweet white chocolate. Needles to say, these cookies look awesome!
Thanks Ben! Ohhh I totally agree! There’s nothing better–or more addicting–than using multiple types of chocolate in a cookie. 😋