It is so delightfully pleasant to walk into the kitchen and be welcomed by the sight and smell of freshly baked Amish chocolate chip cookies. This cookie recipe passed down from my Amish mom is still my favorite!
I love all kinds of Amish cookies, but nothing beats a soft and chewy homemade chocolate chip cookie with crisp edges. Pair it with a glass of milk, and you've got a perfect treat. Warm out of the oven, they're simply heavenly!
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Ingredients
- Canola or Vegetable Oil adds moisture to the cookies, making them softer. It also helps with spreading during baking.
- Butter contributes to the flavor and texture. It adds richness and helps create a tender cookie.
- White Sugar adds sweetness, moisture, and tenderness while promoting browning during baking.
- Brown Sugar adds sweetness, moisture, and tenderness while also contributing to the chewiness and providing a caramel-like flavor.
- Eggs bind the ingredients together and provide structure and moisture.
- Vanilla Extract adds a warm, aromatic flavor.
- Baking Soda acts as a leavening agent, helping the cookies rise and become light and fluffy.
- Salt enhances the overall flavor.
- All-purpose Flour contains proteins that, when mixed with liquid and leavening agents, create the structure of the cookies.
- Cornstarch contributes to the tenderness of the cookies. It helps create a softer center while creating a crisp edge.
- Chocolate Chips add the classic chocolate flavor and texture. They also contribute to the overall appearance and appeal.
All of these ingredients work together to create a flavorful and tender chocolate chip cookie. Adjusting the amounts or omitting certain ingredients may result in changes to the texture and flavor.
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How to Make Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe is very simple to make, especially if you have a big stand mixer (like a Kitchen Aid) that will do all the mixing for you. The dough does not need to be chilled, so there's no waiting around. Just mix and bake, and you've got some classic cookies to fill your cookie jar.
With the paddle attachment, mix the oil, butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Beat on medium to high speed until nice and creamy. Add the eggs and vanilla, and mix well.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda, then add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture only to combine. Stir in the chocolate chips (feel free to add more or less chocolate chips as desired).
If you don't have a good stand mixer that can handle heavy mixing, you can mix everything with an electric hand mixer until it gets to be too heavy a job, then finish mixing it by hand.
Growing up, we didn't have a big mixer, so we had to mix them by hand. It's not that difficult, but it does take a little more effort on your part.
Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies
Drop the dough, using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, onto greased or parchment-lined cookie baking sheets. You can use a big scoop for giant cookies or a smaller one if you prefer small classic cookies.
I like to make medium-sized cookies for our family so it makes more cookies.
Bake these Amish chocolate chip cookies at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned.
The secret to soft cookies is not baking them too long. The outer edge should be only lightly browned while the center may look slightly undercooked. Let the cookies rest on the tray for a minute to finish cooking.
Remove the cookies to a wire cooling rack to cool.
How to Soften a Crunchy Cookie
If you bake cookies too long they will be more crunchy. I prefer soft and chewy cookies unless I'm making PA Dutch sand tart cookies (which are supposed to be flat and crispy). Therefore, I remove my cookies from the oven as soon as they are set and very lightly browned. Sometimes they almost look underbaked.
However, my Amish mom taught me that whenever you have overbaked cookies that are not as soft as you like, put a slice or two of bread into the air-tight container with your cookies, and it will soften them.
But I always use a timer when baking and try to make sure I do not overbake them.
Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies
My mom loved anything peppermint. I guess I'm a bit like her because I sure do love anything with chocolate and peppermint.
Cookies such as mint snowtop cookies and Amish mint surprise cookies are some of my favorites.
And many times when my mom made chocolate chip cookies she added some peppermint extract (probably at least a teaspoonful) and mint chips instead of chocolate chips.
I don't usually add peppermint extract, but sometimes I like to add some Andes mint chips. They add an extra flavor if you like mint.
Variations
Try this basic cookie recipe to make white chocolate craisin cookies. Replace the chocolate chips with white chocolate chips and add the desired amount of craisins. Or add macadamia nuts and white chocolate chips.
Chocolate chip cookie dough is very versatile. You could add any kind of baking chips, chopped pecans, walnuts, etc. for a different flavor profile.
Can I Freeze Chocolate Chip Cookies?
Yes, you can. Growing up Amish, we always had a dessert such as cake, pies, etc. along with our dinner. But we also always had cookies around to put in lunches, eat for snacks, or serve to friends or family when they stopped by.
We often baked a huge batch of cookies at a time and put most of them in the freezer. This way the cookies would stay fresh longer, and we didn't eat them all up as quickly.
Chocolate chip cookies are actually good half-frozen, and my husband prefers them like that. He loves it when I have Amish chocolate chip cookies or Outrageous Cookies in the freezer. On Sunday mornings especially, he likes to have frozen chocolate chip cookies with his coffee.
I don't make this chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe often enough for him or my kids, for that matter. But they are always quite happy when I make homemade chocolate chip cookies, and they never last long.
I hope you enjoy these soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies! I think this is the best Amish chocolate chip cookie recipe ever! They are soft and chewy with crispy edges and perfect flavor!
If you try this Amish cookie recipe, I'd love it if you left a comment and star rating below. Thank you!
If you are a huge fan of chocolate chip cookies, you may want to try my chocolate chip whoopie pies as well, or turn chocolate chip cookies into chocolate chip bars. These Amish chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookie bars are great as well.
📖 Recipe Card
The Best Amish Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 c. vegetable or canola oil
- ½ c. butter softened
- 1 c. sugar
- 2 c. brown sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. salt
- 5 ½ c. all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
- 2 - 3 c. chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°.
- Mix oil, butter, and sugars. Beat on high speed until nice and creamy.1 c. vegetable or canola oil, ½ c. butter, 1 c. sugar, 2 c. brown sugar
- Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well.4 large eggs, 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- Mix flour, soda, salt, and cornstarch in a separate bowl. Add to the wet ingredients and mix.2 tsp. baking soda, 2 tsp. salt, 5 ½ c. all-purpose flour, 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
- Stir in the chocolate chips. (You can add more or less as desired.)2 - 3 c. chocolate chips
- Drop onto greased cookie sheets with a cookie scoop or by a rounded teaspoonful.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes or until very lightly browned.
- Let the cookies rest on the tray for a minute. Then transfer them to a wire rack to cool.
- Store in an airtight container.
Diane Benjamin
Thank you so much for sharing your recipe, Anna! I just made them and the results are outstanding! I didn't change a thing - and - I followed your recommendations throughout. I especially liked the suggestion of just baking off a couple first to increase flour, if desired. That paid off for me! FYI, I worked all the way through step 5, using the low end of the range on flour, baked off a couple cookies (yum!) and decided I did want the dough a little drier. I gently added flour, turning & mixing into the dough with a rubber scraper, just until a soft dough formed and came away from the sides of the bowl. Wondering - I used canola oil - have you experimented with other oils, like olive or peanut? Just curious. Thanks again!
Anna
I'm glad you enjoyed them! I always use canola oil for baking. I'm sure other oils would work too. If using olive oil, I would use the light tasting, otherwise you may end up with a weird flavor.
Anna
The BEST chocolate chip cookies ever!
EMilner
I plan on substituting tapioca starch for corn starch. I like tapioca starch for a few different uses, whereas I've never used cornstarch.
Thanks vm.
Ed
Josiah
I made these and they turned out perfectly š
Anna
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.