Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies
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These Chocolate Chip Cookies are my go-to cookies for whenever we have a sweet tooth or want something yummy and quick. They’re chewy, soft and just simply the best! Incredibly easy to make, no chilling time, perfect every single time!
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Nothing beats a good batch of freshly baked cookies coming out of the oven. The smell of freshly baked cookies just fills your home with the most mouth watering aroma ever. I’ve got a bit of a sweet tooth and there’s one thing that really satisfies that craving in a pinch and that is chocolate chip cookies. Chewy texture, soft, and filled with just barely melted chocolate chips, these cookies are just stellar. This recipe is hands down the best ever, so get that glass of milk ready.
This is our go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies for the past 10 years or so. I once received a Christmas card from a vendor I had worked with. Inside the Christmas card was this wonderful chocolate chip cookie recipe which was titled Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies. I had my doubts back then, but when I finally gave in, I was pleasantly surprised. Ever since then this is pretty much the only chocolate chip cookie recipe I ever make.
Why This Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Works
- It’s quick! You can whip up these cookies with relative ease and find yourself enjoying them in no time.
- They are perfectly tender with just the right amount of chew.
- They aren’t overly sweet or even slightly dry.
- No fail, no fuss, works every single time and they taste fantastic!
- Sugar – We’re using brown sugar and white granulated sugar today. Both are needed for a cookie with depth and perfect sweetness.
- Butter – Unsalted butter that’s been melted. We want melted as it helps the cookies spread and give it that perfect bite.
- Eggs – Our binder for this recipe. If you’d like to go egg free you can substitute this for 1/4 cup of unsweetened apple sauce.
- Vanilla – The secret weapon flavor booster in most baked goods. Extract will work just fine.
- Baking soda – The leavening agent in our chocolate chip cookies to make them tender. You can use baking powder instead just keep in mind that 1/4 teaspoon baking soda equals 1 teaspoon baking powder.
- Salt – All baked goods need salt, it helps balance the sweetness and ensure our flavors shine.
- Chocolate chips – I used semi sweet for this recipe but feel free to use whichever chocolate chips or chocolate chunks you like.
- Flour – I used all purpose for this recipe. You can also use bread flour in these chocolate chip cookies. Bread flour has more protein and produces more gluten, therefore you end up with a more chewy cookie. You can substitute gluten-free flour at a ratio of 1:1 if you’re gluten free.
- Preheat your oven. To 375°F degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or leave ungreased.
- Combine the butter and sugars. In a large bowl or the bowl of you mixer add the sugars and melted butter and mix well until creamy using the whisk attachment. Add the eggs, vanilla, baking soda and salt to the bowl and beat on low speed until well incorporated, for about 30 seconds.
- Finish the cookie dough. Change to the paddle attachment and add the flour to the bowl and mix until crumbles form. Note that you could mix your flour with the salt and baking soda, but I don’t find that it makes a difference at all. Add the chocolate chips to the bowl and use a spatula to stir them in to the dough.
- Form the chocolate chip cookies. You can use a small or medium ice cream scoop to scoop out cookie balls or use your hands to roll out the dough into balls, up to you how big you want your cookies. Place them onto the prepared baking sheet. This recipe yields around 50 cookies if using a small cookie scoop or 30 if using a medium scoop. If you can only bake one baking sheet at a time, place the remaining cookie dough in the fridge until ready for the next batch. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.
- Bake the cookies. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until just barely golden around the edges of the cookies. Do not over bake! Let them cool on the sheet for 15 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire wrack to finish cooling or eat them up!
How Do You Make Chocolate Chip Cookies Gooey
The secret is in the dough. If your cookie dough is too dry and crumbly, you cookies will be dry themselves. If your dough is too sticky, the cookies will flatten out and turn crispy during baking. To end up with the perfect chewy cookies, you need your dough to be pliable so that it will hold its shape while baking, so that the cookies turn out soft, chewy and moist.
I alway tell you to not over mix certain doughs. The same is true here. You just want to mix until everything is combined and the dough comes together. Over mixing will result in dry, crumbly and hard cookies.
Can You Freeze The Cookie Dough
Absolutely! You can always bake half and freeze the other half, or just double the batch and freeze some for later. The best way to freeze cookie dough is to flash freeze cookies first. That means that you have scoop out the cookies as instructed and place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze them until the dough slightly freezes. It usually takes 30 minutes to 1 hour.
After the cookie dough is slightly frozen, transfer the cookie dough balls to an airtight container or a plastic freezer bag and freeze for up to 2 months.
How To Bake Cookies From Frozen Dough
The great news is that you can bake the cookies either from frozen or thaw it. Up to you. Here’s how:
- Bake frozen cookie dough. Preheat your oven to 350°F. You’ll notice this is 25°F lower than if baking normally and this is because our cookie dough is frozen and it takes slightly longer to bake our cookies. Next, place the cookie dough balls on a parchment lined baking sheet and transfer the cookies to the oven immediately, even though the oven has not reached the desired temperature. Bake for 14 to 15 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 10-15 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
- Thaw the cookies first. You can also thaw the cookie dough balls first, by placing them on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, straight from the freezer. Cover them with a clean kitchen towel and let them thaw for 1 to 2 hours. It doesn’t take long for them to thaw but it totally depends on the temperature in your kitchen. Once thawed, bake them as instructed in the recipe card.
Expert Tips
- Always use butter and not margarine. Although many recipes call for softened butter I find that melted butter helps spread the cookie just a bit more and give you the perfect cookie every single time.
- Do not ever grease your cookie sheets. I always line them with parchment paper and this way there’s no cleaning required afterwards.
- Use a cookie scoop to form your cookies.
- Make sure you DO NOT over bake your cookies. Keep in mind that they will continue to cook once you take them out of the oven.
- If you find that the dough is too sticky, add a little bit more flour. You should be able to form it into a ball with your hands but they should still be easy to handle.
- Feel free to add toffee bits as well as chocolate, have some fun with this recipe!
- If you like the sweet and salty combination, add a bit of sea salt to them either before or after baking the cookies.
Storing Cookies
Be sure to store these in an airtight container at room temperature and your chocolate chip cookies will last for 2 – 3 weeks! This will ensure you keep the cookies soft and will prevent them from turning hard. If you don’t have an airtight container, add a slice of bread which will keep them soft. It works the same way as you do with brown sugar.
Freezing
Chocolate chip cookies are perfect for freezing. You can either wrap them individually or place them together in an airtight container. They will last in the freezer for 3 months, just warm them back up in the oven and enjoy.
Craving More Cookies? Try These Incredible Cookie Recipes:
- 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
- Oatmeal Cookies
- Classic Shortbread Cookies
- Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- Chocolate Rumballs
- Snickerdoodle Cookies
- Lemon Shortbread Cookies
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Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup brown sugar (packed)
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 cup butter (unsalted, melted)
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chocolate chips (semi-sweet)
Before You Begin! If you make this, please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
Instructions
- Prep oven and baking sheets. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Line a couple baking sheets with parchment paper or leave ungreased.
- Mix sugars and buter. In a large bowl or the bowl of you mixer add the sugars and melted butter and mix well until creamy using the whisk attachment.
- Incorporate eggs and vanilla. Add the eggs, vanilla, baking soda and salt to the bowl and beat on low speed until well incorporated, for about 30 seconds.
- Mix in flour. Changet to the paddle add the flour to the bowl and mix until crumbles form. Note that you could mix your flour with the salt and baking soda, but I don't find that it makes a difference at all.
- Add chocolate chips. Add the chocolate chips to the bowl and use a spatula to mix them in to the dough.
- Form cookies. You can use a small cookie scoop to scoop out cookie balls or use your hands to roll out the dough into balls, up to you how big you want your cookies. Place them onto the prepared baking sheet. This recipe yields around 50 cookies if using a small cookie scoop or about 30 cookies if using a medium scoop. If you can only bake one baking sheet at a time, place the remaining cookie dough in the fridge until ready for the next batch. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.
- Bake cookies. Bake 9 to 11 minutes or until just barely golden around the edges of the cookies. DO NOT OVER BAKE.
- Cool and enjoy. Let them cool on the baking sheet for about 15 minutes, then transfer them to wire rack to finish cooling or enjoy eating them.
Equipment
Video
Notes
- Why melt the butter: Melt the butter in the microwave for about 30 to 40 seconds until it’s almost entirely melted but not hot. I find that if you just use softened butter the cookies will not spread enough, this way melted butter will give you the perfect cookie every time.
- Dough too sticky: If you find that the dough is too sticky, add a little bit more flour. You should be able to form it into a ball with your hands but still easy to handle.
- How do I store them: Store them in an airtight container, and they will stay soft and chewy for about 2 to 3 weeks at room temperature. You can also freeze them in an airtight container, or wrap them in individually, then place them in an airtight container.
- Nutrition: Nutritional information assumes recipe will yield 30 cookies. It depends on the size of the cookie scoop you use. I’ve made these with a smaller cookie scoop and ended up with 50 cookies.
Nutrition Information
Notice: Nutrition is auto-calculated for your convenience. Where relevant, we recommend using your own nutrition calculations.
Everything Jo says is right. Fast, easy, and very yummy.
Is it possible too fast, & too easy &too yummy. Nah! If anything, the first batch disappeared too quickly.
Looking forward to making Jo’s Cranberry Orange cookies in a couple of days.
I’ve made these three times and its time to review. I’ve tried to logo use and the Mrs.Fields bogus recipe with ground oatmeal.and shredded Hershey’s. These are my favorite
OMG! I am in love! The cookies were utter perfection! I fudged and added the whole bag of milk chocolate morsels. The taste was divine. Thank you for a scrumptious recipe.
Happy to hear you like them!
I’ve made this recipe a few times. Love the large quantity, and chewy texture. Today I made a batch with 1/2 chocolate chips and 1/2 m&ms for my son’s best friend. They were a hit!
So glad you like them!
Yes! Best ever chocolate chip cookies! Many previous recipes have left me disappointed. Not this one! What’s the difference? 375 oven, just the right ratio of ingredients and mix in soda before flour. Family approved!
My wife’s name is Jo and I have been making her these cookies for years. We added this to our recipe book in the kitchen.
YES, the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve found – I’ve been looking for the absolute best chocolate chip cookie and this is it !!
I made a 1/2 batch thanks to Kristina’s baking math on 5/20/2020. This recipe is a keeper, the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. Thank you Jo and Kristina
Glad you liked the cookies. Just FYI, if you hover over the number of servings, you can move that slider up or down to how many cookies you want to make and the ingredient amounts automatically change.
These cookies were amazing, and so little effort with huge reward! Thanks very much for another great recipe.
This is my favorite recipe ever. I’ve made these about 6 times and they’ve been great every time. Also, for the High Altitude bakers, I’m at 5000′ and 10 minutes on a middle rack is spot on.
Cookies like I always wanted! They turned out great and are super easy! Thank you!
My pleasure! 🙂
Can you freeze this dough
Yes, absolutely! You can freeze cookie dough for up to 3 months.
Table salt or Kosher salt?
Either would be fine.
Can I substitute oatmeal for the flower?
You can substitute some of it, but I would still add a bit of all-purpose flour, maybe 1 cup flour and the rest oats.
This is a great recipe I’ve made them before. My question is could you make them with almond flour?
You can make chocolate chip cookies with almond flour, but I’m not sure of the ratios. Let me know how they turn out if you try it.
Oh goodness, these are dangerous! Soooo good. Soft, delicious, and the perfect shape. I was nervous about melting the butter because I was always taught that’s the biggest no-no when baking. But let me tell you what, these were amazing and now my go-to recipe! I was excited at how quickly they came together, and they were perfect without any rest or chill time. I put some with fall m&M’s on top and it added a fun festive flair. But they were perfect without as well, so you really can’t go wrong. Thank you for the amazing recipe!!