Indulge in the ultimate treat: these incredibly delicious and satisfyingly large Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies! Each bite offers a perfect symphony of rich chocolate, a delightful chewiness, and subtle caramel undertones, creating a truly unforgettable dessert.
There’s nothing quite like a perfectly baked Thick Chocolate Chip Cookie. Crafted with a blend of dark brown sugar and an abundant mix of chocolate discs and chunks, these Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies are designed to impress and delight. They’re not just cookies; they’re an experience.
Why These Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies Are a Must-Bake
Picture this: a loved one, perhaps a college student home for a much-needed break after grueling finals, craving something truly special. That’s exactly how these magnificent cookies came to be. My son, Nick, arrived home, his eyes immediately scanning for a chocolate fix – but not just any chocolate. He wanted cookies, and not just ordinary ones. Inspired by culinary maestro Thomas Keller’s Bouchon Bakery cookbook, I embarked on a mission to create something extraordinary: the biggest, chewiest, most satisfying chocolate chip cookies imaginable. And let me tell you, these jumbo delights absolutely trump any standard-sized cookie!
Beyond satisfying specific cravings, these bakery-style chocolate chip cookies offer a multitude of reasons to find their way into your oven:
- **The Ultimate Comfort Food:** They are the perfect treat for college students returning home, conquering exams, or simply needing a serious chocolate fix. Nothing says “welcome home” or “you did great” quite like a giant, warm cookie.
- **Impressive Size and Taste:** Their grand, bakery-worthy size makes a memorable impression. Handing someone one of these substantial cookies is an instant mood-booster and a testament to your baking prowess.
- **Unmatched Flavor Depth:** The generous double dose of premium chocolate – both chips and chunks – combined with the rich complexity of dark brown sugar, elevates these cookies to an unparalleled level of deliciousness.
- **A Chewy, Caramel Dream:** The careful balance of ingredients ensures a perfectly chewy texture with those coveted caramel undertones that keep you coming back for more.
- **Homemade Goodness, Professional Results:** While they taste like they came from a gourmet bakery, they are surprisingly straightforward to make at home, even for novice bakers.
Unlocking the Secrets to the Best Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies
Creating truly exceptional Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies involves a few key ingredients and techniques that transform a good cookie into an extraordinary one. These aren’t just random additions; they’re culinary decisions that profoundly impact flavor and texture, ensuring a result that’s both chewy and decadently rich.
- **The Power of Dark Brown Sugar:** This is one of the primary “secret weapons” in this recipe. Dark brown sugar, with its higher molasses content compared to light brown sugar, contributes significantly to the magnificent caramel undertone that defines these cookies. It also adds crucial moisture, leading to a wonderfully chewy texture.
- **PRO-Tip: No Dark Brown Sugar? No Problem!** Did you know you can easily make your own dark brown sugar? Simply add one tablespoon of molasses to one cup of light brown sugar and mix thoroughly. This trick is a game-changer!
- **A Touch More Molasses:** Building on the dark brown sugar, this recipe incorporates an additional touch of mild molasses. While Thomas Keller’s original recipe called for blackstrap molasses, which can be quite dark and bitter for some palates, I recommend using a mild molasses. This ensures an even deeper, richer caramel flavor without any harshness, pushing the “dark” in dark brown sugar to an ultra-dark, flavorful level.
- **The Double Chocolate Advantage:** Why choose one kind of chocolate when you can have two? The best touch in these cookies is using a combination of semi-sweet chocolate chips and generous chocolate chunks. This duo ensures that every single bite is bursting with varied textures and intense chocolate flavor. The chips melt smoothly, while the chunks offer gooey pockets of chocolate goodness. Feel free to use part bittersweet chocolate if you prefer a less sweet, more intense chocolate experience.
- **Chilling the Dough is Crucial:** This step is often overlooked but incredibly vital for achieving perfect large cookies.
- **PRO-Tip: The Science of Chilling:** Chilling the dough does wonders. It allows the starches in the flour to fully hydrate, preventing the cookies from spreading too much during baking. More importantly, it gives the flavors, especially the caramel notes from the brown sugar and molasses, time to deepen and meld, resulting in a more complex and delicious cookie. Don’t skip this step – even 30 minutes makes a difference!
- **Perfectly Portioned Scoops:** This dough is designed to be wonderfully easy to handle and scoop. If you own a large cookie disher (mine is 2.5 inches in diameter), it’s perfect for creating uniform, jumbo rounds. If not, simply divide the dough into 12-14 even pieces and roll each into a ball by hand. Uniformity ensures even baking.
- **Quality Matters:** As with any baking endeavor, the quality of your ingredients directly impacts the final taste. Always opt for good quality chocolate (Ghirardelli bars are excellent for chopping into chunks) and, critically, pure vanilla extract. These premium ingredients make a noticeable difference in the richness and depth of flavor.
Ingredient Notes for Your Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Every ingredient in this recipe plays a vital role in creating the perfect jumbo chocolate chip cookies. Understanding their purpose helps ensure you get the best results every time.
- All-Purpose Flour: The structural backbone of our cookies. Precisely measured flour prevents dry or overly crumbly cookies.
- Baking Soda: Our leavening agent, which reacts with the acidic brown sugar and molasses to help the cookies rise and spread, contributing to their signature chewiness.
- Kosher Salt: Essential for balancing the sweetness and enhancing all the other flavors, especially the chocolate and caramel.
- Granulated Sugar: Works alongside brown sugar to provide sweetness and contributes to the crisp edges of the cookies.
- Dark Brown Sugar: As discussed, this is crucial for moisture, chewiness, and those irresistible deep caramel undertones. Don’t substitute with light brown sugar without adding extra molasses.
- Mild Molasses: Further amplifies the rich, complex caramel notes without adding bitterness. This extra boost is key to the distinctive flavor profile.
- Semisweet Chocolate Chunks: I highly recommend chopping high-quality Ghirardelli bars into ¼-inch pieces. The irregular shapes and varied melt points of chunks create pockets of molten chocolate throughout the cookie. Remember to use only the chunks, not the fine crumbs, for optimal texture.
- Semi-sweet Chocolate Discs or Chips: These provide a classic chocolate chip experience, melting evenly and complementing the larger chunks. A mix truly offers the best of both worlds.
- Unsalted Butter (Room Temperature): Using unsalted butter allows you to control the salt content in the recipe. Ensure it’s at room temperature for proper creaming, which incorporates air and creates a lighter texture.
- Large Eggs (Room Temperature): Eggs bind the ingredients, add richness, and contribute to the cookie’s structure. Room temperature eggs emulsify better with the butter and sugar, leading to a smoother, more uniform dough.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: Never skimp on vanilla! Use real, high-quality pure vanilla extract (like Nielsen-Massey) for the best flavor. Imitation vanilla simply won’t yield the same depth and warmth.
Speaking of vanilla, today happens to be Nielsen-Massey Vanilla’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, a delightful occasion celebrated by bloggers nationwide. Nielsen-Massey Vanilla has been an indispensable staple in my baking pantry for over a decade. I swear by its rich, pure flavor, often buying their generous 32-ounce container to ensure a healthy dose goes into nearly all my cookie recipes. Made with only the finest Madagascar vanilla beans steeped in bourbon, this isn’t the mild, often watery vanilla of your childhood. Using premium vanilla extract truly elevates these cookies, making a profound difference in their overall taste and aroma. And if you’re a fan of rich, nuanced flavors, you might also love my Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies!
How to Make These Incredible Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies
Follow these detailed steps to bake the perfect batch of jumbo chocolate chip cookies, turning simple ingredients into a bakery-quality masterpiece.
Frequently Asked Questions About Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies
Brown sugar is a game-changer in cookie recipes! It contributes wonderful caramel undertones to the flavor profile, creating a richer, more complex taste. Beyond flavor, brown sugar adds significant moisture, which results in cookies that are noticeably chewier and softer compared to those made with only granulated sugar. The molasses in brown sugar also helps the cookies stay fresh longer.
While many cookie recipes can be adapted, it’s not always a straightforward swap. You will almost certainly need to adjust both the baking temperature and time. Since larger cookies require a longer baking period to cook through to the center, you typically need to lower the oven temperature slightly to prevent the edges from burning or becoming too crisp before the middle is fully baked. Increasing the baking time accordingly is also necessary. It often requires a bit of trial and error; baking a few test cookies first is highly recommended to find the perfect temperature and time balance for your specific recipe and desired texture.
Several factors can cause excessive spreading. Ensure your butter isn’t too soft or melted, measure flour accurately (too little flour can lead to spread), and most importantly, chill your dough adequately. Chilled dough helps prevent spreading by solidifying the fats and allowing the flour to fully hydrate. An oven that isn’t preheated properly or is too hot can also contribute to spreading.
To maintain their delicious chewiness and flavor, store baked jumbo chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3-5 days. For longer storage, you can freeze baked cookies (or cookie dough balls!) for up to 3 months. Thaw frozen cookies at room temperature or warm them gently in the oven for a “freshly baked” experience.
You May Also Like: More Irresistible Cookie Recipes
- Jacques Torres’ New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Dark Chocolate Pudding Cookies
- Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Discover more of my Best Cookie Recipes for every craving!
This recipe for Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies was first shared in May 2014. The photos and text were updated in 2020 to provide even more helpful tips and details. The initial photograph is from the original post.
Stay in touch through social media! Find me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Don’t forget to tag me (@thatskinnychickcanbake) when you try one of my recipes! If you love the results, please consider leaving a 5-star rating in the recipe section below—it truly helps!
Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies
Big, chewy chocolate chip cookies with incredible caramel undertones – a true bakery-style treat at home!
20 minutes
20 minutes
40 minutes
14 cookies
Ingredients
- 3 ¼ cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 ¼ cups dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon mild molasses
- 1 cup plus 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 ⅓ cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks (chop Ghirardelli bars into ¼-inch pieces, use chunks only, not crumbs)
- ¾ cup semi-sweet chocolate discs or chips
- 12 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract (Nielsen-Massey recommended)
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the dark brown sugar, molasses, and granulated sugar until well combined.
- Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the room temperature butter on medium-low speed until it’s light and fluffy, resembling mayonnaise in consistency.
- Add the sugar mixture to the creamed butter and mix on medium speed for about 3 minutes until the mixture is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure even mixing.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing on low speed for only 15-30 seconds after each addition, just until incorporated. Stir in the vanilla extract. Scrape down the bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture in two additions, mixing on low speed for 15-30 seconds after each, just until combined. Be careful not to overmix, which can lead to tough cookies.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer. By hand, fold in the chocolate chunks and chocolate discs/chips until evenly distributed throughout the dough.
- Cover the dough and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. This step is crucial for developing flavor and preventing the cookies from spreading too much.
- While the dough chills, preheat your oven to 325ºF (160ºC). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Using a large cookie scoop (approximately 2.5-inch diameter), scoop generous balls of dough. Place 4-5 dough balls on each prepared baking sheet, ensuring plenty of space between them as they will spread. Allow the scooped dough to sit at room temperature for about 10-15 minutes before baking.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the centers are still slightly soft. For perfectly round cookies, you can gently tap them into shape with a spatula immediately after removing them from the oven.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before carefully transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely. Serve warm or enjoy at room temperature!
Notes:
If your cookies are misshapen when they come out of the oven, you can carefully tap them into rounds with your spatula. Be careful as the pan will be very hot!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 14
Serving Size: 1 large cookie
Amount Per Serving (estimated):
Calories: 394
Total Fat: 29g
Saturated Fat: 17g
Trans Fat: 1g
Unsaturated Fat: 10g
Cholesterol: 79mg
Sodium: 426mg
Carbohydrates: 36g
Fiber: 2g
Sugar: 32g
Protein: 2g
How much did you love this recipe?
Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Pinterest