Today I’m sharing a recipe for truly crispy chocolate chip cookies. Crunchy, snappy, and soo good, these are easy to make and use a surprising (but easy to find!) ingredient. No chilling needed, they can be ready in under 30 minutes! Recipe includes a how-to video!
The Real-Deal Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
This one is for you real crispy cookie lovers. I’m not messing around today, sharing some cookie with slightly crisped edges but disappointingly soft and chewy centers, oh no.
These are the real thing. I’m talking so crisp you can snap them clean in half, crunch all the way through, potato-chip-level-addictive, can’t-eat-just-one cookies.
If you’re looking for something soft and chewy, you’re in the wrong place for once (psst… soft & chewy fans please check out my worst chocolate chip cookies!). If you’ve enjoyed my lace cookies, my brownie brittle, or my crispy gingersnaps, you’re going to love what I’ve created for you today.
Weeks of careful testing and tweaking went into meticulously designing a dough that yielded a cookie with a crisp bite. It wasn’t easy (I have nearly two dozen versions that didn’t make the cut!) and I learned quickly that classic chocolate chip cookie ingredients just weren’t going to cut it.
We needed to bring in something special, something a little different. Which… is kind of my specialty, anyway, so I wasn’t afraid to break outside of the box.
Read on for the ingredients that come together to make these truly thin and crispy cookies.
What You Need to Make Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
The ingredients to make these cookies thin and crispy were carefully chosen and I don’t recommend making any substitutions. It took me many attempts to get the recipe just right, and any alterations may result in cookies that aren’t quite right.
- Butter. You’ll need one cup (this is two standard-sized sticks) of unsalted butter. It should be softened, but not so soft that the exterior is oily or greasy or the butter is beginning to melt on its own, or the cookies may spread too much in the oven. Cream this by itself first to ensure the butter is nice and smooth before adding any other ingredients, otherwise it may not mix smoothly with your condensed milk.
- Sugar. There is a high ratio of sugar in this recipe between the brown sugar, granulated sugar, and condensed milk. This is not by accident, it’s important in perfecting a cookie with an almost candy-like crunch to it, and therefore I do not recommend reducing the sugar.
- Sweetened condensed milk. My secret weapon! While it might seem like an odd ingredient to use, this one is perhaps most critical to making perfectly textured, truly crispy chocolate chip cookies (it’s also the key to making my perfectly smooth cookie dough frosting, different recipes, different uses!). It helps the cookies to spread so they’re thin, and it also helps to nearly crystalize the cookie dough as it bakes. It’s responsible for the snappy crispness of each cookie (along with the baking soda… more on that below). Make sure that you do not substitute any other kind of milk, especially not evaporated milk (which is often sold right beside it in a nearly identical can!).
- Baking soda. While the cookies will already be fairly thin without this ingredient, adding it helps to make the cookies more porous (and a bit more crackly on top, as a bonus). Baking soda makes them brittle and breakable which results in a crisp, crunchy texture (rather than obnoxiously stick-to-your-teeth, peanut brittle-esque one!).
- Flour. I only recommend using all-purpose (plain) flour. It’s absolutely critical that you measure this properly. For best results use a scale, but I talk a bit more about measuring flour below.
- Salt & vanilla add flavor.
- Chocolate chips. I like to use semisweet or dark chocolate chips, the very slight bitterness helps to counter the sweetness from the cookie. A blend of miniature and standard-sized chips is my preference, but feel free to use your favorite flavor and your favorite size.
Remember, this is just an overview of some of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
Frequently Asked Questions
The most common cause of this is accidentally over-measuring the flour (though if your baking soda is expired this could also be a contributing factor!).
Make sure you stir your flour, spoon it into your measuring cup, and then level it off if using a straight-edge (like the back of a knife). Better yet, use a scale!
First, check your ingredients! Most often, cookies that spread too much are caused by accidentally mis-measuring an ingredient or using the wrong ingredient.
Make sure you used sweetened condensed milk and not evaporated milk. Make sure your butter was not so soft that it was melty. Oh, and don’t ever place cookie dough on a baking sheet that’s still warm.
First, make sure they are cooled completely. These otherwise crispy chocolate chip cookies will still be a bit soft at their centers while they are warm.
However, if they’ve cooled completely and are still soft, it’s most likely that the cookies weren’t baked long enough. Cookies should be baked on the center rack of a 325F (165C) oven until golden brown all over.
Many ovens run hot or cold, so if you’re not certain your oven temperature is accurate you may need to bake the cookies a bit longer than indicated.
If you make your cookies too large they may also end up chewy in the centers.
To ensure even baking and crispness all the way through, it’s necessary to bake the cookies on a low temperature for a longer period of time. A little patience ensures that your cookie centers are just as crisp as your edges.
They’ll keep at room temperature for up to two weeks. I prefer to keep mine in an airtight container.
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Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Make sure to check out the how-to VIDEO in the recipe card!
Truly Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup (237 ml) sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
- 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar, firmly packed
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups (280 g) all-purpose flour¹
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (170 g) semisweet chocolate chips
- ⅔ cup (110 g) mini chocolate chips
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F (165C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl using an electric mixer (or in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment) beat butter until creamy. Add condensed milk, sugars, and vanilla extract and beat well until creamy and well-combined (about 30-60 seconds on medium speed). Pause to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure all ingredients are well-combined.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 cup (237 ml) sweetened condensed milk, 1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar, 1 cup (200 g) light brown sugar, firmly packed, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.2 ¼ cups (280 g) all-purpose flour¹, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt
- With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to the butter mixture until completely combined (scrape sides and bottom of bowl with spatula as needed).
- Use a spatula to stir in chocolate chips.1 cup (170 g) semisweet chocolate chips, ⅔ cup (110 g) mini chocolate chips
- Scoop cookie dough by Tablespoon-sized scoop and drop onto prepared baking sheet (for more uniform, round cookies, you can roll cookies into balls between your palms before placing on baking sheet, this will be a bit messy as the dough is very soft), spacing cookies at least 2” apart.
- Transfer to 325F (165C) preheated oven and bake for 17-18 minutes or until cookies are golden brown all over (if your oven bakes unevenly, rotate baking sheet halfway through). Cookies will still be soft at their centers until they are cooled completely.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Britt
My go to recipe for delicious crispy cookies! 💖 Thank you for sharing your recipe. 💖
Sam Merritt
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Britt! 🙂
Doc Caty
I can always give these cookies with the confidence of them holding up to the promise of TRULY CRISPY!!! They are soooo goood and always makes me look like a professional!!! I love them but then again there are those who prefer the chewy chocolate chip cookie and I just say… so what????
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to feel confidence of a cookie that makes me feel proud to give away… so good for therapy 😉
Sam
I’m so glad everyone has enjoyed them so much! 🙂
Bruce
I’m giving these 5 stars, because they definitely are excellent, but it’s not an unconditional 5 like you usually get. I love Tate’s chocolate chip cookies, and that is what I was hoping for with these. Unfortunately, these have a brittle crunch, while those have a more delicate crunch. I think Tate’s are just made from a regular dough that spreads more than usual, then are baked a little extra. I’m definitely enjoying these for what they are, and you earned the 5 stars, but I won’t be making them again. You should feel good, though, that I ignored my dislike of making cookies so that I could try this recipe. Don’t feel bad, though. I’m definitely enjoying them. I know I’ll love your oatmeal raisin cookies when I get around to making those, since they’re almost the same as the oatmeal cookie bars, which you know I love.
Lizzy
Oh-em-gee! Finally a crispy chocolate chip cookie. My husband loves crispy cookies and these are great. I never would have thought sweetened condensed milk would make such a difference. And no eggs! You are a baking genius. Thank you!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy these were such a hit for you, Lizzy! Thanks for coming back to leave a review 🥰
Amanda
Hey Sam! These were amazing, I always love a good crunch! I am curious though, what caused these cookies to be so crispy? Was is the softened butter?? Thank you!
Sam
Hi Amanda! I’m so glad you enjoyed! I cover what makes them so crispy in detail in the blog post, I hope that helps! 🙂
Tracie
I made these today. They were sooo good and everyone loved them!
Barbara evans
I’m going to try these for a vacation treat, can they been frozen since I want to make them ahead of time, thank you.
All of your recipes have been great, that is why I want to try these, because they are different.
Sam
Hi Barbara! These cookies should freeze just fine. 🙂
Lori
Ermagerddd! These are delicious! 😋
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
So happy you liked them, Lori! ♥
Rachel
These cookies are delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so glad you liked them! Enjoy 🙂