The ultimate soft chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe. How to make perfect homemade chocolate chip cookies from scratch!
Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies
If you love homemade classic chewy chocolate chip cookies, this is the recipe for you! This was passed down to me by a pastry chef and quickly became one of my favorites.
If you have read my blog for only five minutes, you will know I am a cookie freak of epic proportions.
I like to try them all. You know… experiment with all types of ingredients and methods just to see what happens. It’s the best kind of science. I am some kind of Mad Scientist in the kitchen and I have zero fear!
SECRETS for making the PERFECT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE:
It’s everything you want in a cookie – chewy center, crispy edges, rich chocolate, and sweet dough with a touch of salt. My mouth is salivating just thinking about them.
Not everyone loves the same kinds of cookies — some like them thin and crispy and others like them thick and chewy. I’ve got you covered! Here are a few of my other favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes —
Levain Bakery Copycat Chocolate Chip Cookies
MJ’s Top Secret Chocolate Chip Cookies
Salty Sweet Caramel Pretzel Chocolate Chip Cookies
A tip for making perfect chocolate chip cookies:
This Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie gets even better with time! I chilled my cookie dough for 24-48 hours and it created a more flavorful cookie that didn’t spread as much in the oven. It is worth it to be patient.
Why play TIC TAC TOE with checkers when you can play it with COOKIES? Oh, it’s way more fun.
You can roll in individual balls before chilling your dough OR wrap all of the cookie dough in Saran Wrap and place in refrigerator. If you chill the dough in individual portions, place on cookie baking sheet for at least 30 minutes before putting in large bag to keep them from sticking.
So how do we make a perfect cookie? I am so glad you asked. Let me introduce the perfect recipe for the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Tips and Tricks for making the ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES:
#1 – Cream your butter and sugar for at least 4 minutes. No grainy cookies allowed. This helps to create a creamy texture and allow the sugars to be enveloped by the butter.
#2 – The creaming process is important, so add each egg one at a time. This allows the egg to be fully incorporated before adding the next one.
#3 – Don’t overmix your flour. It creates more gluten and affects the texture. No tough cookies allowed.
#4- Use high-quality chocolate. My preferred method is to chop a Pound Plus Bar from Trader Joe’s into my cookies because the chocolate spreads so nicely (huge TJ fan here). Guittard and Ghiradelli make delectable chocolate chips as well.
#5 – Chill your dough. I don’t have the patience of Job when it comes to waiting to eat my cookies. I have to look at the long run and know that my cookies will taste better as my dough has time to get acquainted in the refrigerator. It’s been tested over and over again that dough which has been chilled creates a more flavorful cookie with an improved texture. If you can really exercise patience, 24 hours is best.
#6 – Embrace the sea salt flakes. A touch of sea salt on cookies walks that delicate balance of salty and sweet with perfection.
#7 – Don’t overbake your cookies. Set the timer for less time, turn on your oven light, and watch. The cookies will continue to bake on the hot cookie sheet once you take them out of the oven so watch carefully. No burnt cookies allowed. 🙂
- 1 cup Butter room temperature
- 1 1/2 cup Brown Sugar
- 1/3 cup Sugar
- 2 Eggs
- 2 teaspoons Vanilla
- 3 cups Flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 2 cups Chocolate Chips or Chocolate Bars chopped
- Sea Salt for sprinkling
- Preheat oven to 365 degrees.
- In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar for 5 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add eggs one a time, creaming after each addition. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Fold in chocolate chunks.
- Chill for 30 minutes (cover entire bowl tightly or wrap dough in Saran Wrap). If you can hold out, chill for at least 24 hours as the cookie dough get better in time.
- Drop on cookie sheet. Sprinkle with Maldon sea salt flakes. Bake for 10-13 minutes.
All you need is a big glass of cold milk, a plate of these Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies, and something to watch on Netflix. Now that’s a little bit of heaven!
Happy Baking!
Thank you for sharing on Pinterest and Yummly! xoxo Find me on Instagram at @modern_honey.
These look delicious! I love how you arranged them in a tic tac toe pattern, that makes it so fun. And now I totally have a craving for chocolate chip cookies! 🙂
Thank you so much, Natanja! Playing with my food and photographing it is one of my favorite parts of my “job.” Have a great day and thanks for reaching out!
cousin! I’m so confused by the whole ” to melt the butter or not to melt the butter” when it comes to choc chip cookies- which is better and why??
Hey cuz! It can be confusing because there are many methods out there. I always say that I believe in using cold butter, melted butter, and somewhere in between….depending on the recipe. I experiment with using butter in different ways.
Using melted butter, that is slightly browned, will change the flavor of the cookies. It adds a rich, toffee flavor to the dough which is unbelievably delicious.
Using cold butter, cut into cubes, will keep the cookies from going flat. The key is to allow the butter and sugars to cream long enough that it breaks down the sugar and you don’t end up with a grainy cookie.
Using room temperature or soft butter is what is used to incorporate easily into the sugar. When I use this method, which is quite popular, I will usually chill the dough before baking so it sets up nicely.
It just depends on what kind of cookie you love. If you like them a tad thinner with crispy edges and toffee flavor then go with the melted butter. If you want a traditional one, use the softened or cold butter.
I hope that helps! Let me know if you have any more questions….always happy to help! xo
Can I use honey as a substitute?
Can you state exactly which chocolate you used in this? Did you do a combo?
I have made several attempts to make the american chewy style cookie but they always turn out cakey. These, although slightly less cakey, are still super soft and dont really spread out much on the baking sheet, rather than flat and chewy. I followed all the tips – I don’t know what I’m doing wrong – are these meant to be flat and chewy or the soft cakey mound type?
I just made your peanut butter, snickerdoodle, and now chocolate chips cookies. Easy to follow and the trick is to beat the butter/sugar combo for 4+ minutes. I am spreading the love and sharing these as gifts (July 4 gifts, a little late). Thank you for your fine work.
hi! these look so,so delicious! i would love to try them out. Anyway, the photography is amazing- I make my own recipes and I’m trying to start a dessert blog. How do you get the cookies to look like that? Is it just chopping the choc into long pieces or do you press some on top before/after you bake? Thank you so much!!
These cookies were awesome. Crisp, tender, chocolately and delicious. Just the way we enjoy them. Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe, that we will enjoy again. BK
In the ingredients it says to use brown sugar, but the recipe doesn’t say anything about brown sugar.
She says to cream the butter with the sugar (meaning both sugars).
my cookies never spread
why? 🙁