Super Easy Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie {12-Inches!}
Nothing says I love you like a giant chocolate chip cookie! This 12-inch cookie is perfect for bake sales, neighbor gifts, or just because life deserves a giant chocolate chip cookie!
You don’t have to say giant cookie twice to get my attention.
Just look at this beauty! If you’ve ever wanted a soft and chew giant (12-inch!) chocolate chip cookie in your life, today’s the day.
And if you’ve never wanted a giant chocolate chip cookie in your life…um, what is wrong with you??
I’ve probably made this giant cookie recipe more than any other recipe on my site over the last 10 years. Seriously. It is a huge staple around here.
And…it’s so easy (one bowl, no electric mixer) my kids can whip it up and pop it in the oven in less time than I can (probably because I get sidetracked by the open bag of chocolate chips).
Perfect for bake sales, neighbor treats, for a friend in need – this large and in charge chocolate chip cookie is perfect for anything!
We often bring it to potlucks as our offering and sometimes decorate it with M&Ms and frosting for a “cookie cake.” It is definitely one of my go-to treats for take-in meals, and it goes without saying that it’s also a standby for after school enjoyment (super fun for the last day of school, maybe?).
And I know regular, ol’ chocolate chip cookies aren’t necessarily hard, but there’s something so endearingly quick and easy about this recipe that keeps us coming back day after day after day (I wish I were kidding – we make it ALL.THE.TIME!).
If you have lived your life thus far without a giant chocolate chip cookie, please rectify that situation immediately. You can have this deliciously soft cookie staring you in the face in less than 30 minutes.
Whether you choose to share is up to you (no judging!). 🙂
And for all my chocolate lovers, here’s a double chocolate version of this giant cookie!
I bake this cookie on a parchment-lined baking sheet (I lightly grease the parchment), and after cooling, the cookie slides off easily onto a tray. Although, who are we kidding, we usually just dig in while it’s still warm on the baking sheet.
If you are using the cookie for gift-giving or for a bake sale, it can be transferred to a 12-inch cardboard circle (found at most craft stores in the cake decorating aisle).
Not only is this cookie more than a little impressive, it is crazy delicious. Soft and a slightly chewy and full of chocolate chip cookie goodness!
One Year Ago: Best Italian Pasta Salad {With Quick Homemade Italian Dressing}
Two Years Ago: Double Chocolate Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Three Years Ago: Whole Grain Pumpkin Blueberry Muffins
Four Years Ago: My Favorite Breakfast Smoothie
Five Years Ago: Chipotle Chicken Skewers with Creamy Dipping Sauce
Giant Cookie
Ingredients
- ½ cup (106 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (106 g) packed light brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (113 g) salted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups (213 g) flour, (add an extra 1/4 cup for a thicker cookie)
- ½ cup (85 g) chocolate chips, plus more to sprinkle on top, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet (12-inches by 17-inches or so) with parchment paper or foil and lightly grease with cooking spray (can also use a silicone baking liner; no need to grease).
- In a medium bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda and salt. Add the butter, egg and vanilla and mix until thick and well-combined. Add the flour and chocolate chips and mix until no dry streaks remain.
- Press the cookie dough onto the center of the prepared pan into an evenly thick 9-inch circle. When it bakes, it spreads to about 11-12 inches (the cookie will fit perfectly onto a 12-inch round cardboard circle you can find at most craft stores).
- If desired, top the cookie with additional chocolate chips or M&Ms. Bake for 13-16 minutes until the cookie is set around the edges and slightly crackly on top. Let the cookie cool completely on the baking pan – this helps the cookie set up so it can be easily lifted off the pan. Once cool, gently use the foil or parchment to lift the cookie off the pan; slide a thin spatula underneath to transfer. Cut into slices and serve!
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Recipe Source: adapted from Aunt Marilyn’s friend, Elnora
Recipe originally posted May 2010; updated with new photos, recipe notes, commentary.
Add a couple Valentine M&M’s, and I think I just found my husband’s Valentine for this year…
Lindsay – yes, you can definitely adapt this recipe to taste. The cookie base is like a chocolate chip cookie so it fares well with about any kind of chip or M&M!
Could you substitute other mix-in’s for the chocolate chips? Like I was thinking m&m’s or white chocolate with nuts? Would that taste good or are those kinds of cookies made with a different base?
Lauren – it’s somewhere in between but definitely more flat than it is cakey or puffy.
I have a question
Does this produce a flat cookie or a puffy cookie?
From the pictures it looks “flatter” but I want to be sure, since I’m more fond of flat cookies. Thanks 🙂
Ok i’ve had a look. LAST question, haha.
When you say 360 degrees.. is that degrees fahrenheit or centigrade?
Katie x
Katie – 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Thank you so much for all your help. I’ve been and bought my ingredients today, i’ll have a go at making some soon! 😀
Yea, i’ll have a search for what temperature I should put it at, i’m sure i’ll find some conversion gadget. haha.
Thanks again
Katie x
Oh goodness! I’m not very good, am I..
Is it just plain flour or self raising? I feel so embarrassed with all of these questions but I need to know.
Thank you SO SO much!
Katie – no worries – the recipe calls for all-purpose flour, not self-rising flour.
Oh!
And by white sugar, do you mean caster sugar?
(Sorry, I did say I don’t really bake! I’m trying! Haha)
Thanks x
I think I will just put more chocolate chips in, i’m sure he’ll appreciate any cookie I make!
One more question…
What gas mark would I put the cookies on? I know you say 360 degrees, but I have a gas oven, and i’m not sure how to convert it.
I think i’m going to have to make some smaller ones for his family, especially as he has a 5 year old sister! Haha. Do you have any recommendations? Or a recipe for smaller ones of these?
Thank you!
Katie x
Hi Katie – I don’t have a scaled down recipe for smaller cookies but you could just divide the dough in half and make two smaller sized cookies. I’m not sure how gas ovens convert with electric oven temperatures. You might try googling the issue to see what you can find – I don’t want to lead you astray! By white sugar, I mean granulated sugar. Is that the same as caster sugar?
Hello!
I was searching for giant cookie recipes to make for my boyfriend for his birthday.
I don’t know a lot about baking, especially as i’m only 15. Haha!
This recipe looks good, but I wanted to make him ALL chocolate cookies (he’s a real chocoholic). How would I adapt it to make it chocolate?
Also, is this a recipe for those really soft cookies? Not crunchy? If not, how would I make them softer?
Thank you so much.
Katie x
Hi Katie – yes, this is a soft, chewy cookie. As for making it all chocolate, I don’t dare try to guess at a substitution because it could affect how much the cookie spreads. My only tip would be to double the chocolate chips if he really loves chocolate. Good luck!
Perfect recipe! I’ve made two in the past week, and both were received with high compliments and great surprised looks :). It’s fun and easy and a fast way to make someone’s day better. Thanks!
Thanks, Louise!
This is a great recipe!! Just made 6 for a bake sale that will benefit my cousin who has leukemia. My 5 y/o son kept coming in the kitchen telling me that we should not sell them. I made one more for my son so as not to torture him any longer with 6 giant cookies sitting on the kitchen table.
Thanks, Kristen! What a worthy cause for a bake sale. And what a nice mom to throw in an extra giant cookie in the oven for your son!
Wow, thanks for the quick responses! Today I made two more of these (bithday party tonight and family reunion tomorrow, those are my excuses anyway :). I tried the first one on the pizza stone and it was very gooey in the middle even though the edges got very crispy. So I did the second one on the cookie sheet and it was perfect! Amy- great idea about the pizza place! I called and they said they would possibly donate some disposable pans (the bake sale is to raise money for a local child that’s in the hospital). They are suppose to call me back later today. Thanks for the idea!!
Hi Whitney –
Just wanted to let you know that I’ve baked regular sized cookies directly on a pizza stone and they’ve turned out great…soft in the middle and crispy on the outside. While I wouldn’t normally use parchment paper, I second Mel’s suggestion for using it with this receipe since it’s such a huge cookie and needs time to cool before being moved off its’ baking surface. If you didn’t use the parchment you’d need to let it cool directly on the stone which would take forever to cool completely and just might burn the bottom. Since you want to make these for a bake sale I wonder if you could go to your local take and bake pizza place and purchase several of the disposable paper trays they bake the pizzas on? It would solve your lack of baking sheet problem and might make packaging them for re-sale much easier since I’m sure you can get one that’s almost exactly 11 inches like this cookie bakes into. GOOD LUCK!!!
I made this tonight and it was awesome! I’ve tried several other giant cookie recipes and this is the only one that worked! I was wondering if you have ever made this on a pizza stone? I want to make a bunch of these for an upcoming bake sale and all my cookie sheets will be busy making other goodies. Do you think the stone would work? Thanks for such a wonderful blog!!
Whitney – I’m so glad you liked this giant cookie! As for a baking stone – I imagine it would work but I would definitely bake it on parchment paper just so it comes off easily (you probably already planned on doing that but I thought I’d at least mention it since I’ve never baked a cookie on a baking stone).
I made this last night for a couple of kids across the street to celebrate their first day of school today. This was very simple to throw together and the kids were impressed by the large cookie. I did have to cook it for quite a bit longer than the stated time, I think about 25 minutes total and the end result was still a little bit underdone. I will say that I only pressed the cookie into an 8.5 inch round instead of 9 and my baked cookie was also a half inch short of 12 inches which is most likely the reason for my underdone cookie and longer baking time. I also didn’t have time to let my melted butter cool as much as I would’ve liked since I was in a major hurry to put this together and deliver it before the boys I was giving it to went to bed which also likely contributed to the end result being underdone. Unlike some reviewers, my cookie cooked evenly through from edges to middle…the edges were only slightly crisp.
I cooked this on parchment paper instead of foil. Because my cookie sheets are only 12 inches wide and have edges like a jelly roll pan, I flipped the pan over and baked the cookie on the bottom so I wouldn’t have a ruined edge if the cookie spread a little bit too much on one side. Not having edges also made it much easier to remove since I could slide it rather than lift it.
Overall I would say this recipe was a success and I will be making it again in the future. Kid’s love it! Next time I will ensure that my butter has cooled a little more and that I press the dough into the full 9 inches as the recipe states. If that still produces an underdone cookie, I will transfer the cookie directly onto a pizza stone halfway through cooking to give the bottom more of a crispyness and in hopes that the cookie will benefit from both the direct heat of the stone and the indirect heat of the oven more than it would simply on the cookie sheet alone.
Thank you for another great recipe!!!
Amy – loved your review on this. Thanks! I think the idea of baking the cookie on the underside of the cookie sheet is brilliant. Really. Thanks for detailing your review of the recipe! I hope your friends liked it.
I made this cookie this weekend and it turned out awesome! Thanks for the recipe!
Thanks, Bridget!
I made this for my boyfriend and he LOVED it. Turned out great! I made a fudge icing and decorated it with a pastry bag and some m&ms. Thanks for sharing this perfect recipe.
Michelle – your giant cookie looks adorable. I love that thick fudge border…delicious!
This is now a soft-porn link–skip it or remove it. 🙁
Yikes! Just removed the link. Thanks for the heads up.
We have made this 4 times in the past 2 weeks… that sound tell you something!!! :o) We just signed up to get fresh raw milk from a local farm and its so good icy cold with a slice of giant cookie!!!
tanya – glad this giant cookie has made a frequent appearance in your house!
When you say soda, did you mean baking soda or regular soda?
manda – baking soda.
Hi Mel,
Thanks for your response.
I’ve made this recipe twice now, following the recipe to a “T,” and both times I’ve had to bake it much longer than the recipe says–more like 20-22 minutes. And both times, the middle of the cookie still isn’t baked all the way, while the edges are hard and crunchy.
Any idea what I might be doing wrong? I have an oven thermometer and it’s saying the oven’s at 350 degrees, so that isn’t the problem.
It tastes really good, though! 🙂
Nina – what size is the dough circle when you put it into the oven? Perhaps it should be spread a bit thinner in order for it to bake more evenly. A lot can depend on the type of baking pan you use, how thin the dough is spread, etc. I’m sorry it hasn’t worked out so well! My advice would be to spread it out into a bigger circle and see how that goes.
Yum! I’m going to try this recipe this weekend for a friend’s birthday!
I’m curious–do you have any idea why the butter needs to be melted and cooled, rather than simply softened to room temperature as in other recipes?
Thanks!
Hi Nina – I’m not sure about the butter being melted, except that I think it allows more flour to be added and absorbed into the dough so that the cookie bakes up sturdier than a normal chocolate chip cookie. (With softened butter, the same amount of flour would probably produce a dry, crumbly dough.)
I don’t know how I missed this post, but I found it yesterday and made it this morning. Gorgeous! And, I am using Heather H’s idea and using one as an end of the year treat for my daughter’s teacher. Thanks Mel and Heather H!!
Erin – glad you loved this!
Thank you, thank you once again (and thanks to Aunt Marilyn who never fails!). We made a “test” cookie the other night for our family night, and it got such great reviews we’re making 4 more today to decorate with frosting/lettering and to give to teachers for our last day of school tomorrow.
Thanks for the tip about the 12 inch cake boards; we’re going to wrap them up in cellophane & ribbons (like a gift basket) and use the lip of the board to keep the piped decorations from getting smooshed. 🙂
Very tasty, and super-easy. You rock!! 🙂
Alicia – actually, I should thank you (and the others who mentioned it!) – I’m going to make these cookies for a teacher thank you and I never would have had the idea until I read the comments. So thanks for the idea!
LOVED IT! Super easy to make with the “oh-so-helpful” assistance of my 3 and 5 year olds, we whipped this together and baked it for an object lesson. Everyone was happy with the outcome. I must admit I was skeptical…’cause the giant cookie thing NEVER works out and holds together and bakes evenly, etc., etc., etc., but this was perfect! Thanks for another great recipe.
Jenny – what good little helpers you have! And what a good little mommy you are to let them “help!” I’m glad that this cookie beat the doubts you had and that it turned out. Thanks for letting me know!
Sorry, but I noticed that the instructions do not include adding in the vanilla. I made this today, for a second time and realized it then. I haven’t forgotten it, but just wanted to make sure no one else did cuz this cookie is awesome! It was perfect for a take in dinner and also great for an after meeting dessert. Thanks.
just letting you know – thanks for the heads up! I’ve fixed the recipe.
Oh that really is giant! 🙂
Would this work with splenda?
Cheri – the short answer is I don’t know since I don’t bake with splenda, but it’s worth a try.
This was WONDERFUL & so easy! Made it for dessert last night and my boys loved it 🙂 Thanks for another great recipe…I’ve LOVED everything from Aunt Marilyn 😉 her chocolate chip cake is to DIE for..can’t make it too often though, not so good for the thights 😉
Thanks, Denissa! Listen, my thighs are angry at Aunt Marilyn, too, so I feel your pain. Glad you have loved these recipes!
Yum!! My boys would love this!!
That. Is. Perfect.
I LOVE THIS! Of course, I love c.c.c. but my kids are going to explode when they see this. Great idea. Thanks!
LOVE big, giant cookies!
I had to try this the minute I saw it. When I would bake cookies as a child, I would get bored after cooking a few batches so I would make a giant cookie with the rest of the dough. My mom would get so frustrated with me and the giant cookie never cooked all the way through. So guess what I did with this yummy giant? I took it straight to my mom!
Cammee – what a nice daughter you are!! I used to do the same thing with cookie dough and it would make ME frustrated because the big gigantic cookie would always be burned on the edges and gooey in the middle. I’m glad this version worked out for you!
This was so good! It was so nice to make the dough and just dump the entire batch on the sheet and press into the circle. This dough was delicious and yet stayed together well after it was baked, cooled and moved onto a plate. So great to have a recipe that is measured out exactly the right size for one giant cookie. Thanks.
Thanks, Kira! I appreciate you checking back in with your feedback on this recipe, I’m so glad you liked it!
how is this different from a reg choc. chip cookie recipe shaped into a big cookie? just curious 🙂
Hi Tia – I don’t know the exact answer, but due to the makeup of ingredients, it cooks more evenly than other cookie doughs I’ve tried to mold into a big cookie. Every cookie recipe has a different ratio of fat, flour, sugar, etc. For some reason, this recipe makes a perfect giant cookie – whatever the science may be!
I love this! You could do so many fun (and yummy) things with it. Thank you for sharing.
we used to request giant cookies decorated with frosting in lieu of a birthday cake. you can’t go wrong, obviously. 🙂
That is one big cookie. I think I could eat it all by myself:)
WOW, this is the size of a pizza!
oo i cant wait to try this! i hope my oven doesn’t ruin it though, it bakes a little too hot sometimes
This same recipe is in “Kid’s Cook” cookbook the only difference is 1 cup of “mix-ins” like the chocolate chips. It is the best recipe for chocolate chip cookies!
You have never failed me, and today you made my day! I was wishing I could make one of these for my son’s soccer coach, but I’ve tried some recipes online that were severely lacking. Now that you’ve posted this one, I know it tastes awesome and I am making two this afternoon during naptime! THANK YOU!!!
This is SO PERFECT for today! I need to make my boys cookies for their father and son campout but I also needed NOT to eat any of it myself. 🙂 This is exactly what I am going to make for them. Again, you have come to the rescue.
I don’t think I could eat more than two.
I’ve never seen a homemade recipe for this–most people use gross store-bought dough. Thanks for sharing a homemade version! It looks perfect for kids!
I’m going to make these for an end of school treat for my kids teachers!!
OMG! That cookie is the size of a dinner plate! I have seen giant cookies in the cookie store at the mall, but I have never attempted to bake one at home. Now that you have posted this perfected tested recipe, I will definately make it! Thanks for sharing, Melanie! 🙂
Oh, how fun! I want to make one this weekend. I’ll probably eat the entire thing…