Subway was where my family stopped for sustenance during long drives. And with all the sports my brothers and I played in school, we were in the car a lot for soccer games, races, and swim meets. I’m not crazy about Subway sandwiches, but they’re easy to grab and tuck away on a busy day. Not to mention there are very few options when you’re in a sub-5,000 population town in the woods of Maine for a cross-country ski race.
But the cookies. The cookies are the best thing at Subway. The promise of one or two cookies was always enough to keep me from complaining. subway cookie recipe have crisp edges, but the middles are still soft and chewy. They’re chocolatey, buttery, and full of molasses flavor from the brown sugar. Most importantly, they always seem to be freshly baked and warm.
These Subway Style Chocolate Chip Cookies are the best choc chip cookie recipe ever! They are crisp around the edges, soft and slightly chewy in the center, and full of choc chips. They are seriously the best choc chip cookies!
These cookies have it all! But most importantly, you don’t need to chill the dough, meaning you can have these cookies in your mouth in under 30 minutes! Plus, the dough freezes perfectly and can be baked from frozen, so you can have a batch ready to go whenever the need for a cookie hits you!
Serve the cookies as an after-school treat, take them to work to wow your colleagues, or bake up a batch and eat them all while watching TV on a Friday night (sharing is optional). Also try this one Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Cookies
THE PERFECT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE
The perfect cookie should be easy to make, buttery, crispy yet soft, chewy, tender, and have the perfect balance of sweetness.
These Subway Style Choc Chip Cookies have it all! You probably have everything you need in your fridge or pantry right now.
INGREDIENT NOTES
- Butter: Use salted butter to give you a great-tasting cookie.
- Sugar: The recipe calls for two types of sugar. White granulated Sugar and Light Brown. This is what gives you the chew.
- Egg: One large room temperature egg.
- AP Flour: You will need plain all-purpose flour for this recipe. I always use unbleached flour, but any plain all-purpose flour will be fine.
- Salt: The measurements given in the recipe are for fine salt. If you are using kosher salt, add a pinch extra.
- Baking Soda: This gives the cookies a bit of rise, which helps with the tender center. It is also called Bi-carb, Sodium Bicarbonate, and Bicarbonate of Soda. Don’t get confused with baking powder.
- Chocolate Chips: I use Semi Sweet Choc chips as Semi Sweet gives you the closest results to Subway. (See substitutions for alternatives)
SUBSTITUTIONS
When it comes to baking ingredients, I have found that you can make very few substitutions without affecting the final cookie. But these have all given great results:
- Butter: You can substitute for vegan butter or use canola oil. If you use oil, chill the dough for 30 minutes.
- AP Flour: Although I haven’t tried it, my sister makes these with GF flour. She uses one that says it measures cup for cup with regular flour.
- Choc Chips: You can substitute the semi-sweet choc chips for Milk Chocolate Chips, Dark Chocolate Chips, White Chocolate Chips, Caramel Chips, or Peanut butter chips.
The Secret to Making Great Subway Cookie Recipe at Home
Subway cookies aren’t thin and crispy, but they’re also not monstrous, Levain Bakery-style cookies. While they have the thickness of supermarket bakery cookies, they’re browned and crisp on the border instead of soft from edge to edge like the grocery store version.
My first trick is to use very soft, room-temperature butter. It shouldn’t be melty, and I know it’s ready when I can easily poke right through the butter to the surface it’s on. I slice the butter into 1/2-inch pieces and leave it on a plate in a single layer to warm up for 1 to 2 hours, depending on how warm it is in the kitchen. The extra soft butter limits how much air can be incorporated into the batter during mixing, making denser, chewier cookies.
To achieve the perfect texture and thickness, I use a higher ratio of flour compared to butter and sugar. I chill the dough before baking (overnight is best) and bake the cookies at a slightly higher temperature of 375°F. These tricks control how much the cookies spread while striking a balance between brown, crisp edges and a just-set chewy center.
For the best experience, let them cool for 5 to 10 minutes so they can set, then serve while the chocolate is still melty.
Bake Times for Every Size
I wrote the recipe for 1½-tablespoon-sized dough balls, which make about 2¾-inch-round cookies. You can change the size of the dough balls to make them bigger! Here are my tested bake times at 350°F with different dough temperatures for each dough ball size. Start checking a minute early since ovens vary.
| Portion | Dough Temp | Bake time |
| 1½ – 2 tbsp. (#40 scoop) | Straight from the bowl | 12 minutes |
| 1½ – 2 tbsp. | Chilled 1 hour | 13 minutes |
| 1½ – 2 tbsp. | Frozen solid | 15 minutes |
| 3 tbsp.(#20 scoop) | Straight from the bowl | 13 minutes |
| 3 tbsp. | Chilled 1 hour | 14 minutes |
| 3 tbsp. | Frozen | 16 minutes |
| ¼ cup(#16 scoop) | Straight from the bowl | 14 minutes |
| ¼ cup | Chilled 1 hour | 15 minutes |
| ¼ cup | Frozen | 18 minutes |
HOW TO FREEZE THE subway cookie recipe DOUGH
I like to roll the cookie dough into balls and flash-freeze them. This way, you can remove just the right number from the freezer.
To do this, roll the dough into balls and place them on a lined baking sheet. Place the sheet in the freezer for 30-45 minutes until they have hardened. You can then pop them into an airtight container. If you want to put them into a Ziplock bag, then allow them to freeze on the baking sheet for 2 hours until fully solid. Once frozen, they will keep in the freezer for up to 2 months.
RECIPE TIPS
- The butter wants to be very soft. Your finger should push through it easily. If you have cold butter, cut it into chunks, microwave it for 5-7 seconds, and then stir it together.
- Take time to really cream the butter and sugar together. It will take at least 3-4 minutes. This will ensure your cookies spread out during baking, giving you a chewy center.
- Although the butter and sugar need to mix well, when adding the flour, only mix it until just combined. Overmixing it at this stage will give you a less tender cookie.
- Space the cookies out on the lined baking sheet, so they have room to spread.
- Don’t overbake the cookie. When it comes from the oven, they will not look fully cooked. Please don’t put them back in, or you’ll get crispy cookies. As the cookies cool, they firm up.
- When you remove the cookies from the oven, bang the sheet down on the countertop a couple of times to flatten the cookies. You can then use a spoon to flatten them further. This ensures you get a thin, but soft cookie.
- Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. This stops them from breaking.
Variations
This recipe is easy to adapt to change texture, flavor, or mix-ins! I often make one of these swaps based on my current craving or who I’m giving a batch to.
- Soft subway cookie recipe. Whisk 2 tablespoons of cornstarch into the flour mixture for softer, chewier cookies with tender edges. The starch traps more water, keeping the cookie texture softer.
- Brown butter. Browning the butter adds a toasty, nutty flavor. Browned butter loses water as it cooks, so you’ll need to start with 2 tablespoons more butter than this recipe calls for. It also needs to cool down before you can cream it with the sugar. If brown butter is the cookie you’re after, my brown butter chocolate chip cookies are tested with the cooked butter from the start so you don’t have to make any adjustments.
- Nuts and other mix-ins. Chopped toasted walnuts or toasted pecans, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, toasted coconut, sprinkles, and M&Ms all work, as long as the total amount of mix-ins stays at 1½ cups. Past that, I find that the dough has trouble spreading and you end up with thicker baked mounds.
Subway Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 stick softened salted butter Note 1
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 egg Note 2
- 1 ½ cups plain all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt Note 3
- ½ teaspoon baking soda Note 4
- 1 ½ cup semi-sweet choc chips Note 5
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF/175ºC.
- Put the softened butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar into the bowl of your stand mixer. Beat them together for 3-4 minutes until the mixture is light.
- 1 stick softened salted butter - Note 1
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- Add the vanilla extract and egg, then beat slowly until everything is creamy and even lighter in color. (Around 3 minutes)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg - Note 2
- Add in the flour, salt, and baking soda. Mix until the flour is almost combined.
- 1 ½ cups plain all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt - Note 3
- ½ teaspoon baking soda - Note 4
- Tip the chocolate chips into the mixture. Then mix until everything is combined. Don't overmix.
- 1 ½ cup semi-sweet choc chips - Note 5
- Roll golf ball-sized balls of dough and place them onto a baking sheet lined with cooking paper. Ensure they are 2"/5cm apart
- Bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden. (They will be soft when you take them from the oven! Note 6)
- Bang the baking sheet on the countertop to flatten the cookies; use a metal spoon to lightly flatten them further.
- Cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet.
- Carefully transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and leave to cool.
Notes
- The butter wants to be very soft. Your finger should push through it easily. If you have cold butter, cut it into chunks, microwave it for 5-7 seconds, and then stir it together.
- A large room temperature egg.
- The measurements given in the recipe are for fine salt. If you are using kosher salt, add a pinch extra.
- Baking Soda is also called Bi-carb, Sodium Bicarbonate, and Bicarbonate of Soda. Don't get confused with baking powder.
- You can use alternatives to semi-sweet choc chips - see bulk of post for adaptions and substitutions.
- The cookies are soft when they come out of the oven, don't be tempted to put them back in. Allow them to cool as directed and they will firm up to give you the perfect soft centre.
36 Responses
how many does the batch make?
18 cookies per batch
These cookies never fail to impress! They come out perfect every time and are incredibly moreish. My go to crowd pleaser 🙂
The best for sure. Made many cookies, these are perfect every time.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for the lovely review! ❤️
I LOVE these they are my perfect cookies in every way I can’t wait to watch them!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for the lovely review! ❤️
These are 100% the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had in my life. They are so soft and moist and can’t believe how amazing these cookies are! I love them and these are a phenomenon cookie!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for the lovely review! ❤️
Omg! I’m 11 and made these with a friend. Absolutely delicious! The best cookies ever, we will both be making these again.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for the lovely review! ❤️
Could I brown the butter?
As your choice but not over dark
I’m going to try that right now
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for the lovely review! ❤️
This is an amazing recipe and really easy to make. I made the batch twice and made 60 cookies which was amazing.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for the lovely review! ❤️
My friends absolutely love these cookies, they’re truly amazing.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for the lovely review! ❤️
Delicous, crunchy and gooey
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for the lovely review! ❤️
I’m loving this recipe so much.
I have made two variations.
Omitted 200g chocolate chips for 200g plain M&Ms.
Omitted 200g chocolate chips for 100g Macadamia Nuts and 100g Caramelised white Chocolate chunks.
I use Whittakers chocolate.
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for the lovely review! ❤️
Absolutely Yum.😊
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for the lovely review! ❤️
O.M.G!!!! The best cookies in the ENTIRE UNIVERSE! I used dark chocolate but I cut up part of a block into chunky pieces and it’s SOOOOO GOOOD! I’m eleven and these never fail me. THANK YOU!
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for the lovely review! ❤️
These cookies are amazing!!! I made these today and doubled the recipe due to a large family of foodies and it made even more than double the cookies which is fantastic. I love how these cookies bake so quickly and don’t overwork your arms with creaming the butter and sugar because the butter is melted when you add it which makes the recipe really easy to mix. When they come out of the oven they are the perfect consistency after cooling a little, crisp edges with a soft gooey centre and plenty of chocolate chips in them too, my entire family loves them and the 42 cookies will definitely be gone by the end of Saturday (it’s now Thursday night)
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you so much for the lovely review! ❤️
Excellent chocolate chip cookies recipe with crispy edges and chewy in the middle which is all I want in a cookie!
Hi! I haven’t made the cookies yet because I was wondering if the baking time is correct. I always see cookies call for bake time 12-13 minutes but this one is 8 to 10. I don’t want undercooked cookies but I would like to to be soft.
Is it enough if i use real butter with normal salt and just brown sugar instead of sugar ?
I think that will work fine 🙂
Does flour need to be sifted?
I don’t bother. Sifting flour is one of those jobs that I inexplicably hate! 😉