Almost my entire life I have searched for the perfect chewy chocolate chip cookie. I am almost convinced that I came out of the womb asking for chocolate chip cookies with my milk! I have tried so many chocolate chip cookie recipes and ordered them at so many bakeries and only a few ever achieve perfection for me. What is perfection you ask?
A chewy chocolate chip cookie.
A super thick chocolate chip cookie.
A flavor-filled chocolate chip cookie.
The ideal ratio of chocolate chips to cookie.
Perfect light brown edges with the center just done, and never over cooked!
Panera is one of the only places that I can purchase a chocolate chip cookie just like this. A chocolate chip cookie I LOVE! The main problem is they are almost $3 a pop! Every once in a while I will still indulge but I decided that if they can do it, I can too. So I set out on a renewed effort to make a copycat Panera chewy chocolate chip cookie. After years have passed, a great deal of experimentation, a lot of good (but not perfect) cookies, and probably 100 pounds of butter, I found something that is epitome of the qualities that the Perfect Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie has!
In my pursuit of the perfect chewy chocolate chip cookie, I often try them out on my friends (and so I don’t end up consuming all 100 lbs of butter myself!) When my friend ate this cookie the first words out of her mouth were “For the love of all that is good! You have got to blog these cookies!” I have made them 6 times since and been asked for the recipe every time so here it is!
 {See ALL of my Thick & Chewy Cookie Recipes here!}
{Copycat} Panera Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
To make these cookies you will need pretty basic cookie ingredients with a few little extras. First you will cream your softened butter, shortening and sugars until they are light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and combine well.
Next measure your dry ingredients in a separate bowl. TIP: Use a single cup measure to measure your flour instead of a 2-cup or 4 cup measure. This is a very dry recipe (but will make a moist, chewy cookie) so using a single cup measure will allow you to be as exact as possible giving you a better result. Once combined, add the dry ingredients little by little into the wet ingredients stirring in between each addition until everything is well combined.
The dough will be a very dry, stiff dough. This is part of what makes these cookies so thick! However, the dough should not be super crumbly. If the dough becomes crumbly after you add all of your flour mixture, you probably ended up with too much flour. Add water 1 teaspoon at a time stirring in between until the dough holds together. Do not add too much water. The dough should NOT be sticky!
Once you have your dough together the last step is to add the chocolate chips! Add the chocolate chips and stir them in until they are evenly distributed. Although you can use full sized chocolate chips in this recipe, mini chocolate chips make them so much better. Since the cookies are so thick it perfectly distributes them throughout the cookie and allows the balance between chocolate and cookie in each bite to be just right. Panera uses the mini chocolate chips in their chewy chocolate chip cookie and I couldn’t agree with that decision more!
Now you want to take a 1/4 cup measure and use it to scoop out the dough. Form it into a ball with your hands and then ever so slightly flatten it. I usually form all of these balls and then pack them away into a gallon sized ziplock bag. Then off into the freezer they will go!
You will want to chill them at least an hour but you can leave the dough sealed in the freezer for up to three months. So at this point you have the option to just take them out and cook them a few at a time so you can always have a fresh hot chewy chocolate chip cookie when the craving comes calling or just bake them all!
When you are ready to bake just pop your cookie dough balls out of the freezer and arrange on a cookie sheet, set your oven to 350 and bake. 15 minutes later… Heaven! Tip: Using parchment paper to line your baking sheets will insure your cookies never stick and make clean up super easy!
Tip: If you bake more cookies than you will eat that day, store them in a ziplock bag in the freezer and they will maintain their freshness for 2-4 weeks. Just pop one out of the freezer and let it thaw or nuke it for around 15-30 seconds depending on the microwave. You will LOVE this trick!
I have no doubt that these cookies won’t be hanging around your house very long! Get ready to make them over and over again. And now you know… if you are ever NEEDING a chocolate chip cookie now and have no time to cook, just stop by Panera!
Make sure to scroll down to get a full printable recipe
My other go to recipe for years is this Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. Â Where the Panera cookies are huge, these are mini, but don’t worry, it is every bit as amazing! Â Make sure to save this recipe… I promise you will thank me for this one!
If you like your cookies thick and chewy, you will love our new Super Thick & Chewy DOUBLE Chocolate Chip Cookies! Â You’ve gotta give these a try!
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{Copycat} Panera Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 c butter softened
- 1/2 c shortening
- 1 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 bag mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Mix butter, shortening and sugars until light and fluffy.
- Add egg and vanilla and mix until well combined.
- Combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt and mix together.
- Mix dry ingredients slowly into wet ingredients and blend well.
- If the dough is crumbly, stir in water 1 teaspoon at a time until it just holds together. The dough should not be sticky.
- Add in chocolate chips and stir until evenly distributed.
- Using ¼ cup measure, scoop out dough and form into a ball. Continue until all dough is balled. Approx 24 cookies.
- Place dough in the freezer for 2 hours or up to 3 months.
- Place frozen cookie onto parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F for 15 min.
- Let cool 2 minutes.
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
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If you love these these cookies, check out our other CopyCat recipes:
If you try our recipe we would love to hear about it in the comments!
Rochelle Waddill says
Do you use a stone cookie sheet/jelly roll pan? I was trying to tell from the picture. I find they cook slower but I wonder if that is a good thing for a thick cookie like this. Just curious your results with metal vs. stone.
Katelyn says
I don’t usually leave reviews on recipes, but these cookies definitely deserve one! They are the best cookies that I have ever made! I love how big they were! This recipe makes a TON of cookies, so I rolled the dough into balls and froze them for when I wanted a quick treat. When I took a dough ball out of the freezer, I would microwave it for about 5-10 seconds to soften it and slightly flatten it on the pan to bake! I am really excited to try the double chocolate version of this recipe!
Maddie says
Do I have to use both butter and shortening? or can I skip the butter? if i can, how different would the cookies taste and in what way?
Maddie says
Do I have to use both butter and shortening or can I just use shortening? if I can, how would the cookies taste different?
Maddie says
how will the cookies be different if I just use shortening?
Kimber says
Butter adds flavor to the cookies and has a lower melting point. You can make these with all shortening and I am sure they will still be good, but may not be quite as flavorful. Also, since the shortening content is higher, you may find the cookies spread even less and need to be flattened slightly before baking.
Louise says
Made the cookie recipe & followed directions to the letter….. they were just horrible…… wasted a lot of money on making this recipe. They turned out to be like biscotti…. Save your money or follow the tried and true recipe on the back of the chocolate morsel bag.
Kimber says
I am so sorry you didn’t like them. I know that everyone has different tastes and that is what makes the world go round. I am not sure exactly what you didn’t like about these or if something went wrong, but know that these are pretty sensitive to flour content as well as differences to altitude and oven temperature so they should definitely be closely watched the first time you make them. We really love these cookies and hope that you find a recipe that you do really love too even if it isn’t mine.