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Thin and Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies are made with brown butter, a combination of brown sugar and white sugar, and semi-sweet chunks and chips. A perfect chewy chocolate chip cookie!
I have come to a realization in my search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie…everyone has different taste buds. Some may love the thin crispy while someone else may prefer a thick and cakey.
Let’s take my family for example. My sister-in-law, Laura, despises cakey cookies (right there with you) and prefers a thin chewy cookie. My Mom loves a thick chewy cookie with nuts. My brother Ryan prefers one with very little chocolate so the cookie flavor comes through. I have created enough chocolate chip cookie recipes to please the masses! Scroll down to find all of my recipes on Modern Honey.
This is precisely the reason I test out SO many chocolate chip cookie recipes. I have been obsessed with figuring out the BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe, so for all of you that love a thin chewy chocolate chip cookie, this recipe is for you. But don’t worry this isn’t a recipe that produces super flat cookies with chocolate chip mountains. They aren’t that flat!
So how do you make these Thin and Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies? It all starts in the saucepan. Brown butter adds a ridiculous amount of rich toffee flavor to these cookies and is definitely the secret to making killer chocolate chip cookies. The key is to cook the butter until it is a nice warm amber color.
The key is to not brown the butter for too long or precious liquids will evaporate and you will lose some of the moisture. I suggest watching it like a hawk and removing it from the heat earlier than you may think to make sure you don’t end up with puffy cookies.
It is imperative to remove the butter from the heat and let it slightly cool, just to room temperature, before adding the rest of the ingredients (specifically the eggs). After the butter is slightly cooled, it is added to the mixing bowl and creamed with the remaining ingredients.
I love to use a mixture of chocolate chips and chocolate chunks. My favorite chocolate chips are Ghirardelli, Guittard, and Trader Joe’s. If I can find Callebaut chocolate chips at Restaurant Depot, then I love to mix those in too.
If you have read my blog for more than two seconds, you know how I feel about Trader Joe’s Pound Plus Bar. It is a GAME CHANGER. It is so good in the chocolate chip cookie dough because it melts just enough to make the cookies rich and chocolatey. A big bar lasts forever too!
Of course, it is important to chill your dough. I know it is hard to be that patient when all you want is COOKIES. But you need to give it that precious time to do its thing. Cookie dough just gets better with time (as long as it is tightly wrapped in the refrigerator). Give it at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator. If you can wait longer, do it! You will end up with an even better cookie. I promise you that.
Since we are discussing chocolate chip cookies, let’s chat about all of my recipes on Modern Honey. Let me know which one is your favorite! Find all of the popular recipes below. I am also sharing my favorite cookie baking tools….those that I couldn’t live without.
Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Copycat Cookies — the most unique chocolate chip cookie, using different methods to create a thick chewy cookie without being cakey. I am sharing all of the secrets, tips, and tricks to make this perfect cookie. I worked for months perfecting this chocolate chip cookie recipe and it was my very first post on Modern Honey. Before I even started this blog, I had a lawyer offer to patent this recipe after trying out the cookies. This is a Modern Honey favorite cookie! There is good reason why Levain Bakery is the number one bakery in New York City. I am saving you a trip because you can make them at home!
Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies — a traditional, fool-proof chocolate chip cookie recipe. This is my go-to recipe is if I want to make a classic chocolate chip cookie.
I Want to Marry You Cookies — this cookie recipe won the Cooking Channel’s Perfect 3 Contest to find the nation’s most perfect cookie. I filmed a segment for the show, “The Perfect 3” in Food Network Studios in NYC. It became the number 1 recipe on cookingchannel.com in 2012. This recipe is made in a saucepan (no mixer required) and has a touch of oats, chocolate chips, and white chocolate chips. It’s a winner!
MJ’s Top Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies — this is the recipe that started my brown butter love affair. This chocolate chip cookie recipe is made in one saucepan (no mixer required) and creates a toffee flavored chewy chocolate chip cookie.
Doubletree Hotel Copycat Chocolate Chip Cookies — people visit Doubletree hotels just to get their hands on their ultra-popular chocolate chip nut cookies. This recipe has a few secrets to set it apart from the rest. The result is a chewy chocolate chip cookie.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars — this is a super easy recipe since the cookie dough is baked in one pan. People go crazy for these ooey gooey chocolate chip cookie bars. It’s no wonder they are a favorite!
100K Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies — the combination of malted milk powder and milk chocolate chips make this a sweet and chewy chocolate chip cookie. If you love sweet malt, you will love these cookies!
My Favorite Cookie Baking Tools:
Baker’s Half Cookie Sheets — I prefer a light colored baking sheet as it ensures the cookies bake evenly on the top and the bottom. Dark colored baking sheets turn the bottoms too brown very quickly.
Silicone Baking Sheets — these are such a genius invention. This makes cleanup a breeze and the cookies remove so easily. Click HERE for an inexpensive version. Click HERE for the original Silpat version.
Nylon Turner — this ensures the cookies come off of the cookie sheets perfectly.
Spatula Set — these are imperative to use to remove the cookie dough from the sides of the bowl.
Cookie Scoop — this creates uniform, perfectly shaped cookies every single time.
Cooling Racks — this helps for the cookies to cool and stops the cookies to continue to cook on hot baking sheets.
Kitchenaid Mixer — my favorite mixer. This is a very well-used machine in my home! I can’t imagine baking without it.
Here is the recipe for Thin and Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies:
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Thin and Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
Ingredients
Full Recipe:
- 1 1/2 cups Butter (3 cubes, melted in a saucepan)
- 1 1/2 cups Brown Sugar
- 1 cup Sugar
- 2 large Eggs
- 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 cups Flour
- 1 cup Cake or Pastry Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1 1/2 cups Chocolate Chips
- 1/2 cup Chocolate Chunks (chopped from bar)
Small Half Recipe:
- 3/4 cup Butter (melted in saucepan)
- 3/4 cup Brown Sugar
- 1/2 cup Sugar
- 1 large Egg
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Flour
- 1/2 cup Cake or Pastry Flour
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 3/4 teaspoon Salt
- 3/4 cup Chocolate Chips
- 1/4 cup Chocolate Chunks (cut from chocolate bar)
Instructions
- Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Simmer until butter starts to turn a warm amber color and gives off a nutty aroma. Watch it carefully and don't allow it to get too brown as the liquids will start to evaporate (see NOTES below). Pour the butter into a mixing bowl, cover, and let cool in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.
- Once it is cooled, add brown sugar and sugar and cream for 4 minutes. Scrape down the bowl. Add eggs one at a time (if making the full recipe), mixing after each addition. Add vanilla and mix.
- Stir in cake or pastry flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix until just combined. The total flour amount added will equal 3 cups for the large batch.
- Add chocolate chips and chocolate chunks and mix.
- Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 20 - 30 minutes. 24 -48 hours is ideal. In order to the cookies to spread, let the cookie dough come to room temperature after it has been chilled. If it stays cold, it may hold its shape.
- Heat oven to 375 degrees.
- Scoop the cookie dough onto prepared baking pans. Bake until lightly golden on the edges, 9 -11 minutes for medium-sized cookies or 11-13 minutes for larger cookies.
- *Recipe adapted from G Bakes Recipe
Notes
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Happy Baking, my friends! Come say “hello” on my instagram @modern_honey. xo
This is undoubtedly the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe I have stumbled upon. I have been on a years-long hunt for a homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe that is flavourful and has the right texture. Let me tell you, I have tried dozens of recipes, but I am continually disappointed by the bland, sad results. While some recipes I’ve made have had formidable textures and appearances, they always fall short in flavor. These cookies are perfect. I actually found that they weren’t “thin” as the title states but they sure are crispy. But don’t get me wrong this is a pro, they have the perfect thickness, with a deliciously crisp outside and a divine chewy middle. TRY THIS RECIPE, you won’t be disappointed.
These have the best taste of any crispy crispy chocolate chip I have ever made, and I have made many types of recipes in search of the best crispy chocolate ch cookie! I am curious why you insist on refrigerating dough. Doesn’t refrigerating the dough keep cookies from spreading? With a crispy cookie, don’t we want a thin cookie that does spread?
This is my second time making this cookie recipe. Previously I wasn’t able to get the butter to brown melting in a sauce pan. Basically just used melted butter. Today I made the brown butter in a skillet pan and it worked beautifully, but stir because it will get brown super fast once it’s at a good simmer. Once all the ingredients were combined, my dough did end up more on the crumbly side compared to a normal CCC dough. I refrigerated for the minimum 20-30 mins. Baked with a small cookie scoop, pressed the cookies down, and then banged them on the oven rack a few time to make the center fall, back in the oven another minute or two (I like my cookies on the crisp side to dunk in milk). Surprisingly the dough baked up perfectly still. I used semi-sweet chips and walnuts for half the dough…then some m&m’s for the other. So good. The nuttiness does provide a good extra depth of flavor. However I’m even good just using the melted butter without browning. Best dough ever for thinner and crispier cookies.
I just baked a batch of these most delish chocolate chip cookie I’ve had in a long time. Exactly the crisp, thin but not super thin goodness I was looking for. I didn’t have spelt flour but had cornstarch and AP flour to make a substitute. My butter didn’t brown after a few mins so I turned it off and cooled as instructed. Once all the ingredients were mixed for my large batch, I decided to freeze the dough in the metal mixing bowl. Bad idea if wanting to make the cookies next day. I had hard rock dough that didn’t want to come even close to room temp! Into the fridge for a day, still little movement so I broke up the dough on a parchment covered jelly roll pan. After 3 hours I was good to go. Portioned then out, smashed them down and into the oven. Cookies baked up perfectly, no crumbling, just melt in my mouth yumminess. Oh I did use Ghiradelli 60% bittersweet chocolate chips and added walnuts.
Hi! Looking forward to trying this recipe! In step 2, you mention adding cream. Can you use milk & how much do you add?
These cookies are absolutely amazing. My husband and 2 boys devoure them. This recipe needs no alterations what so ever.
I have made these twice now, may mix a batch up tonight as well. The addition of brown butter really adds to the flavor, I added chopped pecans as well. Everyone I have shared these with has commented how good these are, however, they have yet to turn out thin and chewy. They were not cakey and puffed up just not as thin as I would like but they are great tasting. Probably browned butter too long.
I agree! Cookies are delicious! Mine didn’t turn out thin and chewy but were not puffed up or dry! I’ve tried to make several different recipes and this is my favorite now.
such a great recipe! it’s exactly the texture cookie i have been searching for. a real hit with my entire family. i accidentally left out 1/2 cup of white sugar and thought they were ruined but they still turned out great. thanks so much!
Just made these and I am at the step of letting the dough sit in the fridge for a bit, then I will take them out and bring them to room temp – then bake. My question is, why do I chill the dough first if I’m just going to take it out and let it come back to room temp? Really excited (maybe a little to eager) to bake these, I hope they turn out!
Absolutely amazing! I only used self raising flour and still used the bi carb and baking powder and still so good and thin and crispy. I also just did a splash of vanilla essence because it was in the cupboard and worked well. I used about 3/4th of the mixture and put the rest as a roll in the freezer. With what I used it’s made over 40 cookies all roughly the size of a small glass. So happy with them! Thank you!!