BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES – This ‘best chocolate chip cookie recipe’ makes the most perfect homemade chocolate chip cookies! Loaded with chocolate chips, I’ve spent years perfecting how to make cookies that are chewy, soft, and slightly crispy with a slightly crackled top. You’re going to love these award-winning, easy BEST EVER CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES!
WHAT MAKES A BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE?
Perfect chocolate chip cookies that are soft on the inside, chewy on the outside, with a slight crispy bottom. Easy to make, you’re going to love biting into these best chocolate chip cookies that are loaded with chocolate chips! They really are the best ever, and the only chocolate chip cookie you’ll ever need!
My chocolate chip cookies are ‘The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe, Ever’ after being challenged into a Twitter Bake-Off in 2009. Loaded with chocolate chips, what sets this chocolate chip cookie recipe apart is the fact they are perfectly soft and gooey on the inside, chewy on the outside, with a slight thin layer of crispiness to the cookies.
Not many people can claim their chocolate chip cookies are award-winning, but I can! So can several other people who’ve used this Best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe to enter and win blue-ribbon baking contests – that is the ultimate compliment!
The story of the ‘best chocolate chip cookies ever’ all started when I started blogging. I’d always wanted to share what only my friends and family had only known, “Alice’s best chocolate chip cookie recipe” but up until this point hadn’t shared it with the world.
You see, my chocolate chip cookies are insanely good. The problem is, EVERYONE and their grandma thinks their chocolate chip cookies recipe is the best, too. So, I decided I wouldn’t do a post on my ultimate cookies because it seemed overplayed (putting it mildly). I didn’t have it in me to enter the “I have the best chocolate chip cookies” rat race.
Back in 2009 on Twitter I asked why people believed their homemade chocolate chip cookies were the best. After some friendly trash-talking, Ashley Rodriguez and I would engage in the ” Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever Twitter War,” and the following week we engaged in the ultimate chocolate chip cookie bake-off.
I asked her to post her recipe, and she kindly obliged. I made her chocolate chip cookie recipe that same evening, and I must say they were incredibly good. I reported back my results to her and said, “They’re really good, almost as good as mine.” Her next tweet went something like this, “Almost?” – a.k.a “Say what?!?”
We weren’t the only ones baking our chocolate chip cookies. People who followed our chocolate chip cookie battle on Twitter also baked them sharing their findings on their food blogs. Depending if you like a more sophisticated cookie or the BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES, the verdict was clear. This perfectly easy cookie recipe was the crowd favorite!
I can tell you she does have a fabulous recipe. But I can also tell you with bold confidence; my homemade chocolate chip cookie recipe is fierce.
Who doesn’t love chewy caramel edges and soft centers loaded with gooey chocolate chips with hints of sea salt? I mean, c’mon. How much more perfect of a cookie can there be?
THE ROLE OF BROWN SUGAR IN CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
The reason why I love this chocolate chip cookie recipe so much is the balance of flavor and texture. Not overly sweet, the brown sugar gives the cookie a deeper flavor that only the molasses in the brown sugar brings. It gives it a caramel type chewiness around the edges.
As a result, you get a nice paper-thin crisp bottom, but the rest of the cookie is soft and chewy.
Using coarse sea salt or kosher salt (over table salt) enhances and intensifies the flavor of the chocolate chips bringing a nice balance to the cookie. I will sometimes sprinkle 3 or 4 flecks of sea salt over each ball of uncooked dough before baking just to get a tiny hit of salt amplifying the chocolate flavor to another level.
These are the chocolate chip cookies my Army sister who lives in Germany requests of 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 chocolate chip cookies I will be sending to her in Afghanistan. I once sent her a batch of a new recipe and trusted me, she noticed. I was told not to deceive her again and send this version only.
Moral of the story… Do not trash-talk-tweet if you can’t back it up. And for the record, I can back it up. Enough said.
I hope you enjoy the most best ever chocolate chip cookies in the world!
NOTES ABOUT THE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE AND TROUBLE SHOOTING
*PLEASE do not use table salt, the course 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.
-WHY ARE MY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES FLAT?-
If you’re cookies are coming out flat and not like the pictures there are probably 4 reasons for this.
#1) Your 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 properties and isn’t reacting properly.
#2) Creaming. It’s 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. This step is crucial as it whips air into the mixture to help the cookies rise properly. This also helps with the crackled top.
If you own a Kitchenaid stand mixer and bake regularly, I HIGHLY recommend purchasing the beater attachment with the silicon edge scraper. I’ve own two of these beaters because it saves me a step from having to stop the mixer to scrape the bowl down. I haven’t used the medal attachment for years since discovering the scraper attachment. I hate having to scrape the bowl down when baking and this attachment makes for a better workflow for me. I recommend this KitchenAid KFE5T Flex Edge Beater for Tilt-Head Stand Mixers.
#3) Too little or too much 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. Because all measuring cups are not manufactured exactly the same, weighing the flour is the only real way to measure correctly. If too little flour is used, the fat content in the butter will cause the cookies to spread more than usual. A good inexpensive digital scale (like this one Ozeri ZK14-S Pronto Digital Multifunction Kitchen Scale) pays for itself in joy and peace. Don’t let too much or too little flour ruin your baked goods you’ve worked so hard on. I own an older version of this scale and I use it nearly daily for weighing ingredients.
#4) Parchment paper vs. silicon mat – I’ve literally baked these cookies a gazillion times and I’ve noticed when I bake the cookies on parchment paper they hold their shape much better than the silicon mat. I get inconsistent results with the mat because of the natural wear and tear on them. A NEW mat will prevent the cookies from spreading a lot better than a really worn one. But parchment paper always yields the the most consistent results! I’ve used Reynolds Kitchens Cookie Baking Sheets Parchment Paper (Non-Stick, 22 Sheets) with very good results!
-Other Notes and Helpful Tips-
* I know most bags of chocolate chips are 12 oz but this recipe requires a lot of chocolate chips to help bulk the cookie up. You’ll need approximately 1.5 bags. I’ve found towards the last of the dough I sometimes add a small handful of extra chips because when we scoop cookies we tend to scrape just dough off the scoop and the last of the dough has a lot less chocolate.
*If you like your cookies to look uniform and the same size, please use a cookie scoop. It makes all the difference and works a lot better than the spoon method. I own this OXO Good Grips Medium Cookie Scoop. I’ve had it for 10 years strong and it is my go to tool from scooping cookies to scooping mini-scoops of ice cream.
*For those of you interested in freezing your dough for future use, here’s a great article on HOW TO FREEZE COOKIE DOUGH. Having pre-frozen balls of dough is great when you need to bake a batch for future use.
I PRESENT TO YOU, THE AWARD-WINNING BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE, EVER!
ALICE RECOMMENDS THESE COOKIE RECIPES FOR YOU TO CONSIDER!
- 1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- 1.5 cups brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1.5 tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp smallish-medium coarse sea salt or kosher
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour (12 ounces) If at all possible, please weigh the flour
- 2¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Preheat the oven to 360 degrees. This is not a typo.. three hundred and sixty.
- Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar until it is nice and fluffy (approx. 3 minutes on medium-high speed on a Kitchenaid)
- Add both eggs and vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes on medium.
- 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 golden brown. Remove from the 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!
Updated: May 7, 2018
Deanna says
Absolutely love these cookies! Not sure if it’s the brand of salted butter I buy, but the first time I made these they were way too salty. This time around I made them with one stick salted and one not, and replaced the salt in the dough with it being a sprinkle of sea salt on top before baking. High quality chocolate makes all the difference as well! AMAZING!
Alice Currah says
Thanks Lisa!
Lisa says
The BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe I have ever tried. Followed recipe exactly (including the salt) and they were spectacular! Thanks for sharing:)
Fourteen and Baking says
This is my #1 cookie recipe! They’re absolutely perfect and my family and friends love them.
I’ve tried other recipes before, but this one is definitely the best! You certainly weren’t bluffing when you made that title.
I tried the sea salt since it was so strongly recommended, but I found that using 1/2 tsp of kosher salt tasted better. It was a bit too strong for my tastes and I wasn’t a fan of the slight crunch.
Jonathan says
I love these cookies!!!!! And love just might be and understatement. I have been using your recipe, with a slight tweak ( I use a combination of light and dark brown sugars), and I have had nothing but rave reviews. So much so, that I have baked over 10 dozen in 1 sitting….more like standing. 🙂 Everyone I have shared this with thinks it is too difficult to bake, but your recipe, if followed to the “T” will have miraculous outcomes everytime!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for sharing this recipe!!!!!
Rae says
Hi Alice, thanks for sharing this recipe. I absolutely ♡ them and make them frequently. I am, however, in search of an oatmeal cookie recipe that is just as delicious. Any recommendations?
Rae says
These cookies are absolutely delish!!! They are crispy on the edge while chewy in the cnter, just the way I like them. Image these at least twice a month. I agree, keep negative comments to yourself.
Kim says
Wow. What an absurdly rude and out-of-place comment. Pick your battles.
Alice Currah says
Hi Michael, I love toasting pecans and adding them to the cookies too. Thanks for stopping by!
Emily says
Just right. Been looking for the right mix between crispy and chewy for a long time. Thanks for sharing!
dianna says
Followed this recipe, and they are the best ever chocolate chip cookies!
This recipe is a keeper! Thanks so much!
Gwen says
Oh…and I follow the 360 degrees for exactly 13 min and let them sit for 2 min before transferring them. (I have a dark non-stick cookie sheet).
AND mix in the chocolate chips (and nuts or other add-ins) BEFORE the dry. They are the last in and I hand stir it until just mixed to keep them from being tough.
Gwen says
I have had this recipe bookmarked for a while now. They are an exceptional and easy cookie IMO. I haphazardly throw it together sometimes and still end up with a winner. Thanks for posting it!
(I love the few negative comments though. It is a COOKIE, people, not the meaning of life.)
michael says
Hi Alice I just tried your recipe and I must tell you these cookies are very good In my convection oven i kept them in for about nine minutes. The mix yielded 5 doz cookies and they were a good size
next time id like to try some with chopped pecans Thanks for sharing
Mike
Angela says
OMG YUMMY ! My kids love me , now I know a way to get out of trouble with a loved one if I should mess up lol!
jan says
I never ever leave any comments but ,,,,, OMG this is the most delicious cookies I have ever made. I probably baked dozens and dozens of cookies and never had that 100% satisfaction. UNTIL, this one. I am saving it and printing it and keeping it in my recipe book. Thank you soooooooo much for sharing this with us. My whole family loves it so much! it is just perfect! if anyone looking for a perfect cookie recipe, don’t look further. this is the real deal~~~~~
Alice Currah says
Hi Melissa,
Thank you so much for taking the time to write a thoughtful comment with all your adaptations. I really appreciate it!
Alice Currah says
Hi Jennifer! I love this one.. https://savorysweetlife.com/drop-cracked-sugar-cookies/ . These aren’t big and airy, but they have a nostalgic quality to them that I absolutely love.
Jennifer hill says
Can’t wait to try! Can you help me in my search for a drop sugar cookie recipe? I’ve been searching for years!!!! The ones my great gma use to make: big, airy, light, fluffy & very high in the center!
Melissa says
A few years ago I googled for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe and found this one online. It sounded good so I gave it a shot. AND… this has been my go to recipe ever since. I have always gotten rave reviews when I’ve made these and taken them anywhere. I will say that my preferred chocolate chip is the Ghirardelli dark 60% cocoa ones, so that’s what I use. Or sometimes I put in a combo of dark and milk chocolate chips. I think it just gives them a little something extra. I also combine one tsp instant coffee with 1 tbsp water and add that mixture in when I add the vanilla. I got that idea from the Neiman Marcus recipe. It enhanced the chocolate flavor, especially if using the dark chips. I’ve also made this recipe with carob chips for a friend who is allergic to chocolate and never had a chocolate chip cookie in her life! It comes out wonderful with the carob and most chocolate lovers who have eaten them don’t even know the difference. The weighed flour does tend to be just over 2 cups, which is not enough for how I like my cookies, so I’ve adjusted the recipe to 3 cups of flour. This still yields the soft and chewy cookie, but it’s a bit thicker. I think the secret to this recipe is the time spent blending the butter, egg, and sugar mixture. Don’t skimp on that part. It helps if you have a stand mixer. I have refrigerated and frozen this dough, with BEAUTIFUL results! Love love love this recipe. A million thanks to Alice for sharing it with the world, or those lucky enough to find it after googling!
Jeni says
I’ve just made this recipe for the second time. I definitely enjoyed these cookies the first time and followed the recipe exactly (including weighing the flour). They came out amazing!
I tend to substitute white sugar for stevia (Pyure brand for baking) in all of my recipes. It has a great taste and I don’t notice much of a difference when compared to the real thing. I am very picky about that and absolutely despise the taste of splenda. When a recipe calls for something different such as brown sugar, I will follow that part of the recipe so that the flavor isn’t compromised..
Anywho, I made this recipe for the second time today and added my own twist! I cut the aforementioned recipe in half and added about 1/4 cup of raw cacao powder which I obtained from Whole Foods. I didn’t cut out an equal amount of flour from the recipe, which I will do the next go around. The cookies came out a bit fluffy and cakey due to the additional dry ingredients.
This is by far a wonderful recipe on its own and I absolutely recommend it!!
Donna Garnett-Elias says
Great Cookies! My 4 year old loves these cookies. They are soft in the middle & a little crunchy on the edges. This is my new Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe! I did change the recipe a little. I used 1 stick of butter & 1/4 Cup light olive oil instead of 2 sticks of butter. I cut the brown sugar to 1 Cup. I also added chopped walnuts. I’ve looked for the best Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe for years. I’ve finally found it! Thank you!!!!
ana says
Can I use refined sugar or just granulated sugar? normally others recipes calls just common sugar. this make difference?
June says
Hi Alice!!! 🙂
I totally didn’t that little blurb at the bottom of the recipe about creaming it completely. I used a fork to mix since I broke my mixer and it didn’t come out as creamy. I bought another mixer and used it. Perfection!! The cookies are deliciouso once again. (My roommates are addicted) Thank you for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever!!! 🙂 <3
Alexander says
This is my “go-to” recipe for chocolate chip cookies. I can assure you, it is ALL that and a bag of pretzels.