Since I started blogging I’ve always wanted to do a post on my chocolate chip cookies. You see.. my chocolate chips are all that and a bag of pretzels. But the problem is, EVERYONE and their grandma think their chocolate chip cookies are the best. So I decided I wouldn’t do a post because it seemed overplayed (putting it mildly). I just didn’t have it in me to enter the “I have the best chocolate chip cookie recipe” rat race.
But months ago I had asked the question on Twitter on why people believed their recipe was really the best. And from that moment on, Ashley Rodriguez and I would engage in the “Chocolate chip cookie Tweet wars”. I asked her to post her recipe and she kindly pointed me to her beautiful site. I made her recipe that same evening and I must say they were incredibly good. I reported back my results to her and said this.. “They were really good, almost as good as mine.” Her next tweet went something like this, “Almost?” – a.k.a “Say what?!?” Because we’re good friends and lovingly joke around a lot with each other, I can tell you that she really does have a fabulous recipe. But I can also tell you with bold confidence, my recipe is pretty fierce – if I do say so myself. The reason why I love this recipe is because it is not overly sweet and primarily uses brown sugar. The brown sugar gives it a more caramel type chewiness and more depth than the traditional Toll House type of recipe. As a result, you get a nice crisp bottom, but the rest of the cookie is soft and chewy.
These are the cookies my sister who lives in Germany asks me to send her because they are all she can think about when she thinks of home. They are the same cookies she shared with her platoon in Iraq and the same cookies I will be sending to her in Afghanistan. I once sent her a batch of a new recipe and trust me, she noticed. I was told not to deceive her again and send my version only.
But last night it happened again. It all started out so innocently. A typical night of tweeting and before I knew it, somehow I had trash tweeted my way into a chocolate chip cookie bake off with my good friends Lorna Yee and Ashley Rodriguez. If I recall correctly, the conversation went something like this.
Me to Ashley: Bring It!
Ashley to Me: Oh I’ll Bring It!
And before I knew it, other people were arranging a bake off. Moral of the story.. do not tweet and trash if you can’t back it up. And for the record, I can back it up. Enough said.
I present to you my favorite and original Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. Enjoy!
Alice’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes approx. 45-48 cookies using a sm-med 2tbl. cookie scoop
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups (12 oz) all-purpose flour *If at all possible, please weigh the flour
1 tsp. smallish-medium coarse sea salt *please do not use table salt, the sea salt gives the cookies a nice flavor and hints of texture. If you only have table salt, use 1/2 tsp. *When using sea salt, you will get small crunchy flecks of salt when you bite into the cookie. If you do not like this taste, go with 1/2 teaspoon of table salt.
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 1/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips *I realized grocery stores sell bags of chocolate chips in 12 oz bags but this recipe really needs every last chip. Otherwise you’ll get cookies with only a few chips in each one and this recipe requires lots of chocolate to bulk the cookie up. You’ll need about 1 1/2 bags.
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 360 degrees. Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar until it is nice and fluffy (approx. 3 minutes on medium-high speed on a K-5). Add both eggs and vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Add baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour until cookie batter is fully incorporated. Finally add chocolate chips until well distributed. The cookie batter should be somewhat thick. Drop about 2 tablespoons of dough or use a medium cookie scoop and plop the batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the edges are nice and golden brown. Remove from heat and allow the cookies to stay on the cookie sheet for an additional 2 minutes. Pick up the parchment paper with the cookies still on top and transfer to a cool non-porous surface. Allow the cookies to cool on the paper for at least 3 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
*Troubleshooting*
-If you’re cookies are coming out flat and not like the pictures there are probably 3 reasons for this.
#1) Baking powder and Baking soda is old. If your baking powder and soda is older than 1 year and has not been in a sealed (preferably air tight) container, it has lost some of it rising qualities.
#2) Creaming. It is not enough to just cream the butter and sugars until it has come together. This recipe requires you to beat it with a mixer for 3 minutes until the texture of the butter and sugar turns to light and fluffy-just like the picture.
#3) Flour. Flour should be weighed. This can make or break the recipe because just scooping flour into a measuring cup will never yield ideal or consistent results.
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This is my go-to recipe, chocolate chip is my boyfriend’s favorite cookie and this is what I ALWAYS use! The sea-salt is amazing, the cookies come out perfectly and your tips changed the way I bake. Thanks!
Used the coarser sea salt (the granules are bigger and chunkier, but also flakier) and the cookies turned out perfectly. Gave it just the right amount of savory and sweet, delicious taste. I keep a batch of these babies in the freezer for instant dessert now. Thanks again for another gem!
This is the only cookie recipe I use now. It’s stupid how good they are. I even made a vegan version of them for a friend (with egg replacer and fake butter and carob chips) and even they turned out awesome. Thanks for the recipe!
I was wondering where Ashley’s recipe is? I’d love to test both recipes. Is it possible to get her’s?
Response: Hi Ashley, the link for Ashley’s recipe is in the post.
I am always on the hunt for the best chocolate cookie recipe, and these are amazing! Thanks for the recipe! Even though mine did come out pretty flat, I haven’t been able to stay out of the cookie container….
Try to taste the mini choco chips cookies of Sofitel’s Spiral. It’s truly yummy. I bake choco chips too but i don’t put baking powder, just baking soda and the iodized salt. Is it really very necessary to put baking powder? I will try yours.
Thanks
I tried these cookies and they are indeed spectacular. One thing I would like to add: I don’t have a hand-mixer. I generally like to use elbow grease and find that once the butter is at room temp, and you really put some sweat into it, they come out terrific. Thanks for a fantastic recipe. I also froze half of the batch to make fresh for my boyfriend when we have tea in the evening and that worked out amazingly well!
Hi Bodhi,
Sometimes I let my kids make a batch of these cookies just using wooden spoons and their hands.. they love it!
Alice, thanks so much for sharing your recipee. I am just trying it for the first time in Mexico City…however I got confused with the amount of flour. 3 cups here mean 24 onz or 8 oz per cup…but your recipee indicate to measure 12 onz…
I just added 12 onz which for me is about a cup and a half…however the dough is not think at all…so I will go for 3 cups. I will tell you how it goes, but please if you can help me with the cups/onzes conversion I will really appreciate it.
Thank you for your help with this…. Luz
Hi Luz,
In the US, 1 cup of AP flour is approx. 4-4.5 oz. The recipe calls for 12 ounces total. Eight ounces per cup would be way too much! Make sure your scale is calibrated for “ounces” and also do not count the weight of your measuring bowl into the amount either. You should reset your scale to zero with the mixing bowl on the scale before adding flour. Hope this helps!
Hi Alice!
This recipe looks amazing and I’m going to bake them tomorrow. Problem – I don’t have a full size oven, I have to bake in a small Cuisinart convection oven and the tempreature settings only allow me to bake at 325, 350 etc. It says to bake at 360. What temp do you reccomend I bake them at and will it have any affect on the cooking time?
Thank you so much
Hi Jenny,
The reason the temperature is abnormally set to 360 degrees is because of the loss of heat which occurs when the oven door opens. You can bake these at 350 degrees. Just bake for an additional minute. Hope this helps.
Does this recipe still work if it is halved?
Hi Kristen,
Yes, the recipe can be halved but be sure to keep the baking soda and powder measurements the same.
I am going to make these in just a few minutes (assuming I have enough chocolate chips – I may just have to halve the recipe since I’m so eager to try…). I’ll let you know how it goes!
These are absolutely amazing and oh-so simple! Thanks for the troubleshooting too. My brother in law was visiting and tried some, he insisted that I ship some to him. Any pointers on shipping them safely?
These are in the oven now and I can’t wait to taste them, they smell delicious :]
Does this recipe call for light brown sugar or dark brown sugar? What brand of chocolate do you use? Thank you.
Hi Thao,
Either one works fine. I use golden brown sugar because this is the only one Sam’s Club sells.
Great cookies, Alice! They’re not too sweet and the texture is perfect. I followed your recipe to the letter, including weighing the flour. I will look no further for a chocolate chip cookie recipe because to me these are the best. Thank you!
These were delicious! Perfect if you enjoy thick, chewy cookies with melt in your mouth chocolate chips.
Ooooh, Alice. I’m a new reader of your blog (and I should add, I’m absolutely hooked…) and I’ve tried a few of your recipes so far, each one better than the next.
But this one?
Best. Cookies. Ever.
Really. I mean, you just improved my quality of life dramatically by sharing this, because now I can enjoy the most phenomenal cookies whenever I want. Thank you!
Alice,
Thank you for deciding to post your recipe! I googled “Best Chocolate Chip Cookies” because I am always searching for the best recipe and yours came up. Thank goodness – because these are the BEST!!! I liked your tips at the bottom too – very helpful!
Could you please tell me how to send food over seas. I wanted to send some baked goods out to my boyfriend in Iraq*includ. your awesome cookies* and i noticed that you send them to your sister and was wondering how to do it without them going stale before they reach their final destination… Please advise
Thanks for the great recipe. Unfortunately mine turned out flat and no cracling like your photos. I think my mix was too watery for some reason. But they still taste wonderful. I’m gonna try again in a few days
These rock! I think I used too much butter (had to convert to European measurements) but not such a bad thing. And i need better quality vanilla, this syrupy vanilla they sell in a small package here is… wierd.
But overall, Berlin says these are really darn good. Will have to send some home to California. Thanks, Alice
These cookies turned out great! Usually any chocolate chip cookies I make turn out too crunchy (and I love chewy soft cookies), but your recipe is perfect. I’m in college and the people in my dorm loved them. I especially like the hint of the sea salt- it really compliments the cookie.
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