Thin & Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
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These thin and crispy chocolate chip cookies have a delicious caramel flavor, hint of sea salt and perfectly golden edges. If you like your cookies paper thin with crispy edges and a slight crunch – then you’ll love these! 
**This post was updated April 6, 2024 with new photos and a slightly updated recipe for perfectly crispy, paper thin cookies**
Everyone has their preference when it comes to chocolate chip cookies – and these thin and crispy chocolate chip cookies are for anyone who likes they’re cookies so thin that you can almost see through them. They’re golden brown with a delicious caramel flavor and a hint of sea salt to balance out the sweetness. They’re slightly crunchy around the edges and perfect for stacking one on top of another.
Now, if you prefer your cookies pillow soft – I’d go for these cream cheese chocolate chip cookies instead. But if thin, crispy, slightly crunchy, paper thin cookies are your preference – then keep reading.
What Makes these Cookies Thin & Crispy
There are a few key ingredients and proportions to give your cookies the perfect thin and crispy texture:
- The proper ratio of butter to flour. Adding more flour to a cookie recipe will make your cookies thicker and pudgier. So less flour, compared to the amount of butter, creates thinner cookies.
- A little extra sugar creates more browning around the edges for crispier cookies. Adding the salt helps to balance out the sweetness.
- Corn syrup (or golden syrup) not only adds sweetness and browning (just like the sugar), but will also create cookies with slightly crunchy edges.
- Milk – just a little bit. Milk isn’t a typically ingredient in cookies. However, the addition of just a little milk makes these cookies spread as they bake for thinner cookies.
- And baking the cookies at a slightly higher temperature. Again, this higher temperature gives the cookies slightly crispier edges and bottoms.
Making the Cookies
This recipe isn’t complicated – here’s the rundown with recipe tips and photos.
- Start by preheating the oven to 375F (190C) and lining your cookie sheets. The higher temperature creates crispier cookies, and lining your cookie sheets keeps them stain free and helps prevent burning on the bottoms.
- Then beat together the melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar. You could also do this with a wire whisk. When you’re done, you shouldn’t see pools of melted butter sitting on top of the sugar.
- Then beat in the egg, corn syrup, vanilla extract and milk. You want to make sure that the butter isn’t hot before adding in the egg – otherwise, you can end up with pieces of scrambled egg.
- Add the flour, baking soda and salt to the bowl, then mix together starting with the mixer on a low speed and gradually increasing to medium speed. Be sure to measure the flour carefully, otherwise the cookies won’t be paper thin!
- Then stir in the chocolate chips. I always reserve about 1/4 cup of chocolate chips for dotting the top of each cookie later.
- Scoop the dough into balls with about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of dough each and drop onto your lined cookie sheets. Make sure that the cookie dough balls are at least 2 inches (about 5 cm) apart because the dough will spread as the cookies bake.
- Bake 1 cookie sheet at a time in the middle of the oven for about 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown. This depends slightly on how crispy your cookies are. Just watch carefully, as the difference of a few minutes can be crispy cookies or burnt cookies.
- As the cookies are cooling, I like to dot the tops of each cookie with a few extra chocolate chips, then sprinkle a few sea salt flakes or grind a little rock salt on top of the cookies. The extra salt really balanaces out the sweetness.
So if you love thin and crispy chocolate chip cookies – this recipe is for you! Crispy edges, paper thin & with a delicious caramel flavor. And even if you typically opt for thick cookies (which is the cookie camp I typically wear my game-day jersey for), these are thin and crispy chocolate chip cookies are definitely worth trying. Perfect for stacking, deliciously crunchy, and filled with chocolate chips. Plus – since there’s no need to chill the dough, you can go from start to finish making these cookies in no time.
And for more chocolate chip cookie variations, be sure to try:
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies – these are gigantic cookies with crispy edges and gooey centers
- Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Pudding Mix Chocolate Chip Cookies – for an easy recipe that’s super chewy
- Double Chocolate Cookies
Thin & Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie Sheets
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter (168 grams) , melted & cooled
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (150 grams)
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar (105 grams)
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon corn syrup (15 ml), or golden syrup
- 1 tablespoon milk (15 ml)
- 1 and 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (219 grams), spooned & leveled
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 3/4 cups chocolate chips (315 grams)
- sea salt, for sprinkle on top of cookies
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F degrees. Line 2 or 3 cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- In a large bowl, beat together the melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar.
- Beat the egg, vanilla extract, corn syrup and milk into the butter and sugar mixture.
- Add the flour, baking soda and salt into the bowl. Slowly beat together, starting with the mixer on a low speed until incorporated.
- Stir in 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips.
- Scoop the dough into balls with about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of dough each - I do this using a cookie scoop. Drop cookie dough balls about 2 inches (5 cm) apart on the lined cookie sheets.
- Bake 1 sheet at a time in the middle of the oven for about 8-10 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown.
- Place a few extra chocolate chips on top of each warm cookie and sprinkle a few sea salt flakes on top (or do a few turns with a rock salt grinder). Cool cookies on the cookie sheet for at least 10 minutes, before transferring to a wire rack to continue cooling.
Notes
- Flour: Measure carefully, otherwise the cookies can be thicker instead of paper thin. Whisk first, then spoon into dry measuring cups and level off the top. Or weigh in grams using a scale.
- Storage: Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
- Nutrition: Details provided are an estimate only and based on 1 cookie, assuming the recipe yields 36 uniform cookies.
Nutrition
I got comfused but they turned out delicious I am surprised how I only made 12 cookies and how others made 43 I was just wondering how big the cookies are supposed to be at the end diameter wide approx mine are about 15cm
Those definitely sound like very big cookies! I make each cookie about 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons of dough – they typically weigh about 25-30 grams. Each dough ball (before baking) is smaller than a golf ball – about 1 inch in diameter.
I’ve tried many chocolate chip cookie recipes and none of them ever turn out thin. After reading your recipe and the reviews, I really want to try this on. But what I’m looking for is thin , chewy in the middle and a little crispy on the edges, should I just bake them a couple minutes less?
So please with this recipe. I followed the recipe to the directions and they came out perfectly. Actually this is the second time and again they were amazing! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Christy Durden
Didn’t have chocolate chips but did have butterscotch….still delish. Great recipe. Thank you for sharing.
yum!!!! I could add butterscotch chips to just about anything! Thanks so much for reporting back
I made 43 cookies out of this recipe. The really do spread out! The cookies are thin and crunchy. I’ve been looking for a recipe like this one. Thank you!
Have not tried these but i just wanted to say parchment paper usually helps make a crispier cookie and the silicone usually doesn’t have the same effect. But all depends! Can’t wait to try these cookies thanks for the recipe
Thanks for the tip Alexis!
These turned out perfectly thin and crispy. I’ve always struggled with chocolate chip cookies being too thick, not anymore!
Came out just like the pictures and absolutely love them. Followed the recipe to a T – just perfect!
I’ve made these twice now, and I can say that the corn syrup must make a difference in the crispy outcome. I didn’t have any this lats time and subbed in honey, thinking it was a similar consistency, but the outcome was quite a bit different. They DID taste quite good, however, but just not the same super thin and crispiness. The batter was thicker and they didn’t spread near as much. I may just make them both ways, depending on my cravings!
Hi, I made these one today …. the though is super easy and quickly made… except the corn syrup I had all ingredients but somehow they didn’t turn out that thin and crispy what I wanted… any tip what I did wrong? I used the teaspoon and rolled the balls with my hands …
I think not adding the cornsyrup might have done it – or adding a little too much flour. Next time if you don’t have the corn syrup I’d try 1 more teaspoon of milk (to increase the amount of liquid and help the cookies spread more and be crispier), and/or substitute the brown sugar for more white sugar (white sugar tends to create a crispier cookie). I hope this helps!
I made 43 cookies out of this recipe. The really do spread out! The cookies are thin and crunchy. I’ve been looking for a recipe like this one. Thank you!
This recipe and these cookies are delicious. 10 out of 10
Thanks so much Moira! So glad you loved the cookies 🙂