How to make thick, puffy bakery-style cookies

Scrolling on Instagram, we’ve noticed an uptick in bakery-style cookies ... only they’re coming out of home ovens, not pastry cases. What makes a bakery-style cookie? They’re jumbo in size (often filling an entire pastry sleeve!) and have thick, gooey centers to boot. Here are our tips for nailing this style at home. 

Go big 

Use a larger cookie scoop, like our 4 Tablespoon Scoop, to measure out bigger dough balls. If you’re using a scale, each dough ball should weigh anywhere between 75g to 90g and should measure approximately 2" in diameter. (For reference, our Supersized, Super-Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies are made from 90g balls of dough!) Note that bigger cookies may take longer to bake through, so keep an eye on them — and consider baking one or two test cookies to dial in the bake time.  

Properly chill your dough 

To ensure these larger cookies don’t spread too much and maintain a thick, puffy center, allow ample time for the dough to chill before baking. Depending on how soft your cookie dough is, you can do so before or after scooping. This is especially important in recipes like our Supersized, Super-Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies, which are made with melted butter; the dough needs a full 24-hour rest to firm up in the fridge. Controlling the spread is key, otherwise you’ll end up with a large (but flat) cookie. If you’re adapting a recipe, a good rule of thumb is to chill the dough overnight, at a minimum. 

Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne

Try a different cookie dough shape 

Rather than scoop out jumbo-sized cookie dough balls, you can also mold your cookie dough into different shapes to emphasize a thick, puffier center. Cookbook author Kat Lieu experimented with shaping dough with triangular, pointed tops to achieve this, while other bakers recommend shaping their dough into thick cylinders. By making the dough taller in the center, it’ll spread less while baking to create a puffier, thicker middle.  

Deflate and de-puff your cookie 

Cookbook author Zoë François discovered a novel technique when attempting to replicate Levain Bakery’s famous chocolate chip cookie, which surely had a hand in popularizing thick, puck-like cookies. “I grabbed a spatula and smashed them [when they came out of the oven]. The result was a cookie that had a better ratio of toasty edges and a gooey center,” says Zoë.

Photography by Patrick Marinello; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne

That technique inspired these Oatmeal-Date Smash Cookies, which call for pressing the cookies flat with a spatula twice: towards the end of their bake time, then again after a short rest in a turned-off oven. The result is a large, thick cookie with a dense, fudgy center and crispy exterior. And in Content Editor Rossi Anastopoulo’s own experience, she’s found that the technique can be adapted to other cookies, like these Sugar Cookies, as well.  

Similarly, these extra-large Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies call for dropping the sheet pan of just-baked cookies from a height of a few inches onto the countertop to deflate them. Their thickness and gooey center are maintained, but that extra step gives your cookies the added bonus of a crinkly top. 

Ready to make your own bakery-style cookies? Try these recipes: Buckwheat-Cardamom Chunk Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Sweet Corn Cookies,  Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies, Supersized, Super-Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies. 

Cover photo by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne.