These ultra-thin chocolate chunk cookies are perfect and shatteringly crispy with a distinctive caramel flavor thanks to brown sugar, oats, and bittersweet chocolate chunks.
A theatrical departure from mainstream chocolate chip cookies, these ultra-thin chocolate chunk cookies are large and decidedly flat. They shatter dramatically when you bite them, releasing loads of caramel brown sugar goodness and bursts of bittersweet chocolate. [Editor’s Note: Crispy cookie junkies, once you experience these brittle, caramelized ultra-thin cookies that seem heaven sent, you may find yourself falling to your knees in reverence.]–Alice Medrich
☞ Contents
Ultra-Thin Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 1/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter melted
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon light corn syrup
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 7 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chopped into chunks, or 1 generously heaping cup chocolate chips or chunks
Directions
- Combine the flour and baking soda in a small bowl, mixing them thoroughly with a whisk or fork.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, oats, granulated and dark brown sugars, corn syrup, milk, and salt.
- Whisk in the flour mixture. If the batter is still warm from the butter, let it cool to room temperature before adding the chocolate.
- Stir in the chocolate chunks. If possible, let the dough rest for at least several hours at room temperature or covered overnight in the fridge. (The resting time makes for an especially crisp and extra-flavorful cookie. If you refrigerate the dough, you may need to warm it to room temperature before you're able to portion it into cookies.)
- Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C). Position the oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. (These cookies will not spread as they should in a convection oven, so make them only if you have a conventional oven.) Have ready 3 baking sheets.
- Place 3 large sheets of aluminum foil, cut to fit your baking sheets, on the counter. Divide the dough into 15 equal blobs of about 2 tablespoons each. Arrange 5 blobs of dough well apart on each sheet of foil, situating 4 in a square and 1 in the center. Flatten each piece of dough until it is about 3 inches in diameter. Slide two of the sheets of foil onto baking sheets.
☞TESTER TIP: You want to squash the dough flat, but not too flat, before baking. And you'll need to keep careful watch over the cookies so the sugars caramelize but not scorch. Practice makes perfect. (And oh, what palatable practice!)
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cookies are thin and very brown, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through the baking time to ensure even baking. If the finished cookies are too pale, they will not be crisp, although watch the cookies carefully as they turn brown quickly. Slide the cookies and foil onto wire racks to cool completely before removing the cookies from the foil. Repeat with the third batch—you can slide the last sheet of foil and cookie dough onto a hot baking sheet as long as you put the sheet in the oven immediately.
- Cool the cookies completely before stacking or storing. The cookies can be kept in an airtight container for at least 3 days.
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Recipe Testers’ Reviews
If you love crispy cookies, you have to try this recipe. They take no time at all to put together.
I let them rest in the fridge overnight, as I wanted to get the most caramel flavor out of them as possible. Follow the instructions and limit the number of cookies to 5 per sheet as stated in the recipe, as they do spread out. I used Silpat sheets rather than aluminum foil and the cookies released easily after cooling. I would make this recipe again, but might make the cookies slightly smaller as they are quite large. A crowd favorite!
I was skeptical about crisp chocolate chip cookies but these are delicious! They’re very easy to make and go great with a cup of coffee.
I used regular rolled oats instead of quick, and I liked the texture. This is a keeper.
Admittedly, I’m a crisp-edges-chewy-middle kind of gal when it comes to chocolate chip cookies, but I enjoyed these ultrathin cookies.
I ate at least 3 off the cooling rack, in the name of researching how the texture changed as they cooled, of course. I was surprised that there was no vanilla in the recipe, but I didn’t really miss it in the finished cookie. I baked the cookies on Silpat sheets, and they spread just fine. I can see how putting more than five cookies on a sheet would cause them to spread into each other.
And 25 minutes in the oven got them thin, browned, and crisp. I didn’t notice a difference in baking times between the chilled and non-chilled dough, but the chilled dough was easier to flatten (and didn’t stick as much to the bottom of my measuring cup). Instead of separating out into 15 pieces, I weighed the dough and figured out how much one piece of dough should weigh. Then I used my cookie scoop and found that about 2 tablespoons was pretty close.
My cookie tester didn’t like the oats in the cookie—he said they were too chewy and stuck to his teeth—but I didn’t hear any complaints from anyone else. I thought the chewiness gave the cookie an interesting texture, but you could probably leave it out for a more delicate cookie. I DO really love the ratio of chocolate to cookie in this one – loads of chocolatey goodness! I’d make these again for a dessert platter or for a gift, but when I’m looking for a comforting warm cookie at night, I think I’ll have to stick with a chewier recipe.
The procedures for these cookies look a little odd, but they work. I would suggest just putting the tin foil on cookie sheets instead of trying to slide the pieces on to the sheets. I used chocolate chips and only let the dough sit for about two hours. I don’t know how different they would be if they were made ahead of time, but the cookies spread like promised. This dough was also very tasty! Since it doesn’t have eggs in it, it is safe to eat!
Originally published April 16, 2020
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If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We'd love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
I used semisweet chocolate chips since it was what I had on hand. A silicone baking mat and a small cookie scoop were employed. Gently pressing the dough down to the thickness of a chocolate chip allowed for spread to a 4 in cookie that was just right. But note my bake time was much shorter – 12 minutes, though my oven runs hot. I did single sheets in the oven and did not rotate. Watch closely since once they start browning they’ll get too-brown somewhat quickly. Satisfyingly crisp and sweet, salty and caramel-y. More of a relative of a lace oatmeal cookie. Easy and worth doing.
Thanks, Deb. Greatly appreciate your tips!
The taste is wonderful but the cookies did not spread out at all, or very very little. And the chocolate chunks made it impossible to press down on the cookies to try to flatten before baking. All quite disappointing.
Hi Gary, so sorry that you had an issue with your cookies not spreading properly. This is usually due to too much flour or an incorrect oven temperature due to the calibration being off. Did you weigh your flour? You also might try using an oven thermometer just to confirm your oven temp.
David; I’m pretty devoted to thin, crunchy cookies. But then, at a mile high, try to get a soft chewy cookie! Even after 2 decades of experience, it take one small dot of baking soda in excess or letting the cookies sit out for oh, 10 minutes in our dry air and thin and crunchy is what you’ve got…so these would be normal for me, and I really want to try that caramel crunchy goodness in a not so normal sort of way. 🙂
Barbara, I could never live a mile up–I love chewy cookies too much. But if I had to, these little lovelies certainly are no slackers in taste and texture department.
oh these look crisp and DELICIOUS!!! and rich and thin too, great combo!
createdbydiane, they are guilty on all four counts.
Isn’t it funny how our tastes change from time to time? I had always been a cakey/chewy cookie lover but that started changing last year. I found a recipe for chocolate chip cookie brittle and just loved having shards of cookies to offer, not to mention for dunking. Then I switched out my ginger cookie recipe to a snap instead of a crinkle. This year I made Krumkaka for the holidays; talk about crisp, but so delicate, too. Can’t wait to try these, now. They do sort of remind me of “lace” cookies in appearance, but I’ve never even had one of those. Oh, how you are turning my head!
Susan, I adore your spirit of openness…but then, I also adore crisp, delicate cookies. I think you’ll find these cookies to be quite lovely, and far easier to shape and make than lace cookies. Do let us know!