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. Where the Panera cookies are huge, these are mini, but don’t worry, it is every bit as amazing! 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! 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.)
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!
Anonymous says
Can you not use “a bag of” as a measurement. Every region will have different sizes for bags/boxes/containers of food. For instance my current bag of chocolate chips is 2 kgs. Im sure you don’t mean add 2 kgs of chips. Though that may be yummy I’m pretty certain it’s a cup or two. Can you please clarify.
Leah C says
She’s from the U.S., so I’m going to assume that her bags are the same size as mine – all of them are around 10-12 ounces, or about 300 grams. Hope that helps.
Leah C says
I’m not sure my comment should even count because I did so many things different, but I thought I’d add it anyway. First of all, we weren’t looking for quite as HUGE cookies so I halved the recipe and still made 2 dozen, I would call them medium-sized. Didn’t have shortening on hand so I just used more butter, the corresponding amount. When I got to the end, I was surprised to find that the dough, rather than “just holding together” as I’d expected from the recipe, was VERY soft and sticky! I tossed in a bit more flour, but I didn’t want to throw off the proportions of the recipe too far! There was no scooping it without making a ridiculous mess, so I recalled one of my mother’s old friends method: freeze the dough in a long “log” in parchment paper and then cut it in slices when you’re ready to bake. I did that, cut down on the bake time since the cookies were smaller, and…they were AMAZING! Phew!!! Honestly, I wonder if it’s the baking-from-frozen method that really makes a big difference? I’ve tried recipes with very similar ingredients, you know, high fat content, but they all spread out flat like pancakes. The fact that it’s frozen in the middle keeps it from spreading out all the way before the outside starts baking. Anyway, can you comment at all about the dough coming out so sticky? Does it have to do with not using shortening? Any thought about using vegetable oil, either? Just curious…
Kimber says
Hi Leah- Thanks for the detailed comment! I add the shortening in because it has a higher melting point than butter which allows the cookies to keep more of their shape while baking. Depending on the temperature you were mixing at it could have been stickier with no shortening, but I tend to think that the flour has more to do with this, or getting a tad more liquid than usual. I am just a home cook (but an engineer by trade so I love the science of it all) so I can’t give you “professional” advice, but I also think the freezing helps because as you said, it keeps the cookie from spreading before it starts to bake on the outside, again due to taking longer to reach the melting point. In all my experimenting the thing that has made the biggest difference to me though is just making sure the flour content is much higher than my normal cookie. This is why I increase the Vanilla and use part butter, to make sure that the flavor is not sacrificed for the texture. Hope this helps a bit!
Leah C says
Thanks for the reply! I’ll just blame it on Florida, everything’s different in Florida. My brother who grew up here and moved claims that he can’t cook anything the same as it comes out here. 🙂
Tabitha says
Hi Leah! Did you use margarine or unsalted stick butter? I find that margarine (even stick margarine) causes very smooshy cookies; I only use unsalted stick butter now and theres a huge difference in the results.
Amy says
Soooooo good. I sub shortening with coconut oil because I’m just not a fan of shortening and I like the flavor the coconut oil gives❤. Still has a great texture.
Tabitha says
This recipe is my new go-to for chocolate chip cookies. I’ll be making another batch next week to take to my brother’s since I’m sure the kids will eat this one up by then.
I made my cookies using a round tablespoon instead of a 1/4 cup. The cookies were the size of my palm, I can’t imagine a cookie four times that size. Plus making them smaller means I can eat more with less guilt and they’ll last longer. But amazing, the husband and kids insist on more.
Kimber says
I am so glad you liked them! We sometimes make them smaller too, but people really get a kick out of giant cookies when I bring them places (and Panera’s are GIANT!) so I make them full sized often too. It makes my day when readers leave sweet comments. Thank you!!
Katy | Her Cup of Joy says
I made these last night. I froze 20 cookies, they were about 2 tablespoons in size each. I baked 8 cookies right away to test them out and they were amazing! I love how much this recipe makes, perfect for freezing and enjoying later. This recipe creates a thick delicious cookie, I would add more mini chocolate chips though.
Kimber says
So glad you loved them! I agree! You can never go wrong with more chocolate!
Elyssa says
Is it okay to use butter instead of shortening? Will that effect the taste or texture?
Kimber says
You should be able to use all butter. The shortening does have a higher melting point so it helps them stay thick and puffy, but if you get the flour right so they are not sticky, but not crumbly it should hold up still without spreading too much.
Elyssa says
Will the dark brown sugar cause the cookies to have a slight taste of molasses? Will it affect the color?
Kimber says
I don’t notice it, and I don’t like molasses. I have not tried it without the brown sugar since the brown sugar helps to make them chewier and less crispy so I can’t speak on the color. Let me know what you think if you try it!
Mary says
This is a great chocolate chip cookie recipe! I followed the recipe as written and chilled the dough for 4 hours. They turned out perfect; slightly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Thanks for a great recipe!
June Morris says
Made 1/2 batch and sorry I did. Everyone loves these cookies. Freezing these cookies make it so you bake as many or as few. Try them you’ll love them!