Chewy Sea Salt Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

There’s nothing quite like warm, homemade chocolate chip cookies straight from the oven—especially when they feature dark chocolate and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt. These Salted Chocolate Chip Cookies are sweet, slightly salty, and wonderfully chewy. They’re easy to make, adaptable to what you have on hand, and always a crowd-pleaser.

These cookies bring back classic kitchen memories—crisp edges, soft centers and pockets of melted chocolate. If you prefer your cookies thick and chewy like I do, this recipe is tuned to deliver that texture: a slightly puffy, tender middle with golden, crisp edges and a rich dark chocolate flavor highlighted by a touch of flaky sea salt.

Why you’ll love this recipe:

• Produces thick, chewy cookies with crisp edges and melty dark chocolate.
• Finished with flaky sea salt for a perfect sweet-salty balance.
• Simple, straightforward steps you can follow in about 10–15 minutes of hands-on time.
• Flexible and freezer-friendly: freeze dough balls or baked cookies for later.

Recipe ingredients

This is a classic chocolate chip cookie ingredient list with a few small tweaks for texture and flavor. Dark chocolate chips add depth; brown sugar helps give chewiness and a bit of acidity to react with baking soda for lift. The recipe is easy to customize—swap chips, add nuts, or omit the finishing salt if desired.

Ingredients notes

• Unsalted butter: Use unsalted butter so you can control the salt level. To speed softening, cut into small chunks and let it sit at room temperature.
• Sugars: A combination of brown and granulated sugar delivers chewiness and caramel flavor—brown sugar contains molasses, which helps keep cookies tender.
• Eggs: Use large eggs at room temperature for best mixing. To warm quickly, place eggs in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes.
• Chocolate chips: Dark chocolate chips provide robust chocolate flavor, but use whatever chips or chunks you like. Chopped chocolate creates gooey pockets; add-ins like chopped walnuts can add crunch.
• Flaky sea salt: Sprinkle a pinch of flaky sea salt on the cookies right after they come out of the oven. Maldon-style flakes work well but regular sea salt is fine or omit to taste.

How to make this recipe

Once the butter and eggs are at room temperature, the cookie dough comes together quickly—about 10 minutes of mixing. The dough benefits from chilling: it firms up, helps control spread, and improves texture and flavor.

Pro tip: Cut butter into small pieces to bring it to room temperature faster. Place eggs in warm (not hot) water for 10 minutes to warm them quickly.

1. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl; set aside.
2. Cream the room-temperature butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then mix in the vanilla extract.
4. On low speed, add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in the dark chocolate chips.
5. Cover the dough and chill for up to 2 hours or overnight for best texture.
6. When ready to bake, let the chilled dough sit at room temperature for 10–15 minutes to make scooping easier. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
7. Use a 1½” cookie scoop (about 1½ tablespoons) to portion dough into balls and place them 2 inches apart on the prepared sheets.
8. Bake 8–12 minutes, or until the edges are golden and the tops are just beginning to brown. Rotate pans halfway through baking if needed.
9. Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with flaky sea salt. Cool on the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough.

FAQs

• Does the cookie dough have to be chilled? Yes—chilling is recommended. Chilled dough spreads less and yields thicker, chewier cookies. If you skip chilling, the cookies will spread more and be thinner and crispier.
• What does brown sugar do in cookies? Brown sugar adds moisture and flavor due to its molasses content. The acidity in molasses also reacts with baking soda to encourage a slightly puffier cookie.
• How long does cookie dough last in the fridge? Dough can be refrigerated for 2–3 days. Let it sit 10–15 minutes at room temperature before scooping so it’s easier to portion.
• Can chocolate chip cookies be frozen? Yes—freeze unbaked dough balls or fully cooled baked cookies for up to 3 months. Bake from frozen dough balls, adding a minute or two to the baking time if needed.

Recipe notes

• Room-temperature tips: Cut butter into small pieces to soften quickly. Warm eggs in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes.
• Baking time: Start checking at 8 minutes. Cookies can go from lightly golden to dark quickly; darker cookies will be crisper.
• Storage: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
• Freezing: Freeze dough balls in a zip-top bag and bake when ready, or freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months.

More easy cookie recipes:

• Chocolate-dipped almond horn cookies
• Flourless chocolate peanut butter cookies
• Flourless peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
• Spicy espresso gingersnap cookies
• Greek almond cookies (amygdalota)
• Kourabiedes (Greek butter cookies)
• Flourless almond butter chocolate chunk sandwich cookies

Did you try this recipe? If so, please leave a review below and tag @flavorthemoments on social media so I can see your results!

This recipe was originally published in July 2014. Photos and text have been updated to add more recipe information and tips.