Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
The best chocolate chip cookies that are soft and chewy in the middle, with the perfect amount of crispiness and bite around the edges.
There’s no treat more classic that a perfect chocolate chip cookie, don’t you think? The trouble is that everyone has a different idea of the perfect cookie.
Some people like them crispy, others soft, some people would rather just eat the dough and skip the baking altogether. But I, Rebecca think these truly are the best chocolate chip cookies that will appeal to anyone and everyone.
They’re soft and chewy in the middle, with the perfect amount of crispiness and bite around the edges. And they’re loaded with chocolate, which is, of course, the best part. Here’s what makes them so great:
What Components Make the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies?
- Partially melted butter: This may seem strange, but melting some of the butter allows the sugar to dissolve more thoroughly. The butters and sugar then mix well, resulting in a smoother dough and cookie.
- An extra egg yolk: The yolk adds more fat to the cookie dough, which gives extra richness and flavor. It also yields a more tender, tastier cookie.
- Lots of chocolate: It’s the best part, especially if you’re eating cookies warm from the oven. We like to use a mixture of chocolate chunks and chips for different looks and textures. Semisweet chocolate balances out the sweetness of the cookies. BUT you can add milk chocolate, white chocolate, or a mix of all three! Whatever you like works perfectly. Just make sure you have a few to stick on top of the dough before baking for pretty irresistible cookies.
- The perfect baking temperature and time: We know most recipes tell you to bake cookies at 350F, but we’re going rogue and bumping that up to 375F. The higher temp allows the outside of the cookies to bake more quickly while the middle stays soft and chewy. Also, do not over-bake the cookies! The middle may still look a little bit doughy when you pull them out of the oven. But residual heat from the pan and in the cookies themselves will continue to bake them as they cool. You know they’re ready when they’re lightly golden!
Ingredients in Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Unsalted butter
- Brown sugar
- White granulated sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- All purpose flour
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Chocolate chips and chunks
How to Make the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 — Start with butter that is very soft, and slightly melted. Then, cream the brown and white sugar in for 3-4 minutes, or until it’s very light and fluffy. This helps the sugar dissolve into the butter for a smoother, fluffier dough and cookie.
2 — Next, add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract. The extra yolk adds richness because of its fat content. And we always recommend pure vanilla extract. You can’t beat the flavor with anything artificial!
3 — Whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, and salt) to make sure that they’re all completely combined and will be evenly distributed in the dough. Stir the dry ingredients in by hand to avoid the mixer causing a flour explosion.
4 — Next, fold in the chocolate. As we mentioned above, you can use any combination of chunks or chips, or any flavor of chocolate that you like!
5 — Portion out the dough into about 2-ounce balls. Then, bake on a parchment lined baking sheet at 375F for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and the centers look slightly doughy (They’ll continue to bake a bit after they’re out of the oven).
6 — Cool slightly and eat them all! If you do have any left, you can store them in an airtight container or bag on the counter or in your pantry.
How to Add a Crunch to Chocolate Chip Cookies
We personally prefer soft butter chocolate chip cookies. But if you’d like to add a crunch, sprinkle sea salt on top of the cookies before putting them in the oven. Also, just bake them for an extra minute if you want an extra crisp.
Do I Need to Use a Cookie Scoop?
Technically, you don’t have to use a cookie scoop to make amazing cookies. However, using a scoop makes all of the cookies the same size, which helps them bake evenly.
A kitchen scale can also be a great way to get equal portions. We used a 2-ounce scoop for the cookies.
If you don’t have either of those things, of course you can use a regular spoon for scooping and eyeball scoops that are about the same size. Just keep an eye on them while baking to make sure that there aren’t any little cookies getting over baked.
Do I Need to Chill My Cookie Dough?
If you’ve read different recipes for chocolate chip cookies, you probably know that some call for giving the dough 24-hours of chilling time to rest in the fridge before baking.
And while that extra time for the dough to sit allows all of the ingredients to combine and flavor to develop, this recipe can go either way.
We firmly believe that cookies should be a low maintenance, comfort baking treat, so you can bake this dough up immediately or let it sit in the fridge overnight.
If you plan to chill the dough, we do recommend portioning it out before putting it in the fridge to make for easier baking the next day.
Can I Freeze Cookie Dough?
If you want to keep a bag of dough in the freezer, you absolutely can!
Just pop a bag of dough balls in the freezer, and pull one or all of them out a few hours before you want to bake for fresh cookies anytime you want them!
Note that cold dough will take a little longer to bake, so take that into account when baking. Or have the cold dough rest to room temperature first.
How to Store Chocolate Chip Cookies
Make sure the cookies have cooled down to room temperature. Then, store the cookies in an airtight container or bag and keep them on the counter. They will keep for 4-5 days in the refrigerator.
What Makes Chocolate Chip Cookies Chewy Versus Crispy?
What’s the difference between a chewy chocolate chip cookie and a crispy one? The consistency of course! You can tell which type of eating experience you’ll have by looking at their texture.
A “chew”ful cookie has moist, sweet dough that feels soft in your mouth.
Whereas biting into something hard such as crispbread will leave some teeth marks behind after consuming only one bite because it was broken apart with force before being eaten further down our throats — not pleasant for anyone who wants to go unnoticed while enjoying dessert (or breakfast!).
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies Even More Scrumptious
- Adding coffee grounds to the mix: Coffee is a powerful flavoring agent that can be used to enhance the taste of many foods, from chocolate chip cookies to beef stew. If you have some coffee grounds left over after making espresso or roast yourself then don’t throw them out. Use one teaspoon for every cup of flour in your recipe!
- Using melted butter: Use melted butter instead of throwing a stick into the cookie mix, let it melt in your microwave first. We recommend keeping what goes on top before adding more flour or else they’ll be too oily and leave a ring around their mouth when you eat them!
- Add hand-chopped chunks of chocolate: The best way to add chocolate flavor is by using chunks of the sweet treat. Cut up pieces in different sizes and mix them into your cookies for an extra special taste!
- Allow dough to sit overnight: If you’re not in a hurry, it is better to allow your dough to rest overnight. The dry ingredients will be able to absorb the eggs more easily which helps create an extremely fine texture for your cookies!
More Cookie Recipes to Try
Cookies are always a crowd pleasing favorite so our archive is packed with many kinds. A few other recipes you might like —
- Best snickerdoodle cookies
- Chocolate stuffed peanut butter cookies
- Everything sweet decorated sugar cookies
- Chewy pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
- Chocolate kiss snickerdoodle cookies
- White chocolate matcha cookies
- Mocha swirl meringue cookies
- No-bake chocolate almond cookies
- Brown butter toffee cookies
- Sugar cookie fruit pizzas
Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Equipment
- Mixer
- Baking sheet
- Mixing bowl
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter half melted/soft
- 1 cup brown sugar tightly packed
- 1/2 cup white granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips and chunks plus more for on top
Nutrition
Notes
- Yields 16-24 cookies, depending on how large you make them
- Time: 15 minutes active, 10-12 minutes per sheet of cookies
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Soften the butter in the microwave in 10 second increments, until it’s about half melted and very soft.
- Combine the butter with the sugars in the bowl of a stand mixer or in a mixing bowl with a hand mixer and cream for 3-4 minutes on medium speed or until the mixtures has become light and very fluffy.
- Stir in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract and mix the wet ingredients until well combined.
- In a separate bowl for dry ingredients, mix the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients by hand until completely combined.
- Fold in the chocolate chunks and/or chips to the mixture.
- Portion the cookie dough into 2 oz. balls.
- Place them on the baking sheet with at least 3 inches between them.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow them to cool on the sheet for 5-10 minutes.
- Remove the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Don’t forget to share your chocolate chip cookies with us on Instagram using the hashtag #sugarandclothloves. We always love seeing all of your creations! And if you’re looking for more quick and delicious recipes you can find them all right here!
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