These are the best chocolate chip cookies! You’ll love the crisp golden edges and gooey, chocolatey middles. I give you all of my expert tips and tricks for making the best cookies: how to chill or freeze the dough for later, various mix-ins you can add, and a secret ingredient to making the perfect soft chocolate chip cookies.
The cookie dough freezes beautifully. Feel free to make a double batch and freeze half to enjoy the next time you feel like enjoying warm, comforting, chewy chocolate chip cookies. But it’s so simple to make, and you don’t need to chill the dough if you want cookies fast— they’re ready in about 30 minutes! For more easy cookie recipes, try my double chocolate chip cookies, butter cookies, and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies!
Ingredients
Flour — a standard all-purpose flour makes a perfect chocolate chip cookie.
Baking soda — make sure your baking soda has not expired. Do not swap for baking powder, as it will make the cookies cakey and puff more instead of spreading.
Salt — salt rounds out the flavors in the cookies, and flaky sea salt is the perfect finishing touch for chocolate chip cookies.
Butter — you need softened unsalted butter. Adding the salt separately allows you to have control over the saltiness of the cookie dough.
Sugar — you need both granulated sugar and light brown sugar. Not only does brown sugar impart moisture and a subtle molasses flavor, but it also contributes to the chewy texture of the cookies. Granulated sugar creates the addictive crisp edges.
Egg — an egg helps to bind the cookie dough ingredients. Without the egg, the dough would bake up thin and crispy cookies instead of soft or chewy cookies.
Vanilla — use good vanilla extract for the best flavor.
Chocolate chips — you can use semisweet chocolate chips, chocolate chunks, or your favorite type of chocolate chips.
How To Make Chocolate Chip Cookies
1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer), combine the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar.
3. Beat on medium-low speed until very light and fluffy.
4. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Beat until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
5. With the mixer on low, gradually add the dry ingredients mixture. Beat just until combined.
6. Gently stir in the chocolate chips.
7. Using a 1 ½-tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop the chocolate chip cookie dough into balls and place on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
8. Press extra chocolate chips on top of each cookie dough ball. Bake at 350°F for 12 to 14 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. For best results, bake one sheet at a time. Immediately sprinkle chocolate chip cookies with flaked salt, if desired, for contrast. Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 to 10 minutes and finish cooling on a wire cooling rack.
Does Chilling The Cookie Dough Make A Difference?
Yes! Chilling does make a difference, but I developed my recipe so you have the option to chill the dough or bake it as-is. Sometimes, you want cookies fast and don’t want to wait!
So, how does chilling affect the dough? Unchilled dough will spread more than chilled dough because of the dough’s temperature and the state of the ingredients in it. Cold dough will spread less because the edges will start to set before the center is heated up. Plus, refrigerating the dough allows the flour to hydrate and the sugar to start breaking down. This means a longer chill time (or even freezing the cookie dough) will result in cookies with a deeper flavor and chewier center with crisp edges.
If you opt to chill the dough, do so for 1 hour or up to 72 hours and increase the baking time by a few minutes. The chilled cookies will need 13 to 15 minutes in the oven.
Can I Make The Cookies Different Sizes?
For larger, bakery-style cookies, scoop cookie dough into 3 tablespoons- or ¼ cup-sized portions. When baked without chilling, they should take about 12 to 14 minutes, depending on the size. For chilled or frozen dough balls, add another 1 to 2 minutes respectively. I don’t recommend going larger than ¼ cup scoops for this recipe, or you risk burning the cookie edges before the centers are baked.
Variations
- Add other mix-ins: In addition to semisweet chocolate chips, you can include other add-ins, as long as the total amount of chocolate chips and mix-ins doesn’t exceed 1½ cups. Feel free to add chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts, sprinkles, M&Ms, dried cranberries, peanut butter chips, or white chocolate chips.
- Use a variety of chocolate. Use a combination of chopped chocolate bars and chips for lots of gooey chocolate in the cookies. The little shards from the chopped bars mix throughout the dough, so you get more bits of melty chocolate in every bite.
- For soft chocolate chip cookies, add cornstarch! This is the secret ingredient to bakery-soft cookies. Simply add 2 teaspoons of cornstarch to the flour mixture for a more tender cookie that has softer edges.
- Use brown butter! Follow my guide for swapping in browned butter for regular softened butter in this recipe.
How To Freeze Cookie Dough
Once scooped, place the dough balls on a lined baking sheet and freeze the cookie dough balls until solid. Transfer to a freezer-safe container and bake within 3 months.
Can I Bake Cookie Dough From Frozen?
Yes! To bake the cookie dough from frozen, simply add 2 to 3 minutes to the baking time.
Tips For The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Weigh the flour. Using too much flour is a common mistake that will cause the cookies to turn out dry. A kitchen scale is the best tool for accurately measuring flour. If you don’t have one, fluff the flour in its container, spoon it into a measuring cup, and level off the top with a knife.
- Use room temperature ingredients, so they incorporate better. Set out the refrigerated ingredients in advance so they are not completely cold when you start working on the cookies. If you forget, simply set the egg in a bowl of warm water for 5 to 10 minutes and see my post for several ways to soften butter quickly.
- Make sure the brown sugar is soft and moist. If your brown sugar has hardened, don’t worry! Check out my detailed post on how to soften brown sugar.
- Use a cookie scoop. This ensures that all the cookies are the same size so that they bake evenly.
- For extra chocolatey goodness: Add another chunk of chocolate to the top of the scooped balls for a big pool of gooey chocolate in the center of the baked cookies.
- For gooey chocolate chip cookies, don’t overbake them. Look for golden brown edges and a puffed center that appears dry but is still soft to the touch. The cookies will set as they cool.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are a few reasons why the cookies didn’t spread properly: the butter and eggs were too cold, the dough didn’t mix together well, you added too much flour or too little sugar, or the oven temperature was too high. Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature and measured correctly. Also, ovens can vary widely in temperature, so an oven thermometer can help ensure it is actually heating to the correct temperature.
If the chocolate chip cookies spread too much and become flat, overmixing the dough is a common culprit. I stir in the chocolate chips by hand with a rubber spatula instead of beating them in to avoid accidentally over-mixing for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe!
Other possible causes include using too little flour or too much sugar or the oven not being hot enough. A cooler oven means the edges of the cookies will take longer to set, and the dough will just keep spreading. In addition, if the butter is too warm (while softened, it should still feel cold to the touch and not be so soft that it is greasy) or the dough is too warm, the cookies will spread very quickly in the oven before the edges are set.
I haven’t tested them with gluten-free flour, but you can certainly try it to make gluten-free chocolate chip cookies! You may want to add a couple of tablespoons of milk since gluten-free flour mixes typically absorb more moisture than regular flour. The added milk should help the cookies spread properly.
Once cooled, store leftover chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days. You can also freeze them. Flash freeze cookies on a lined baking sheet until solid, and transfer to a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature.
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this chocolate chip cookies recipe, then don’t forget to rate it and let me know how you got on in the comments below. I love hearing from you!
Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Equipment
- Mixer
- Baking Sheet
- Cookie scoop
Ingredients
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour (300g)
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened (227g)
- ¾ cup light brown sugar (165g)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100g)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1½ cups semisweet chocolate chips (or chocolate chunks) (270g)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl with a handheld mixer, combine the butter and sugars. Beat on medium-low speed until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
- Add the egg and vanilla. Beat until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.
- With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture. Beat just until combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Using a 1½-tablespoon scoop, scoop the dough into balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Press more chocolate chips on top. (If desired, chill the dough balls for 1 hour, or cover and chill for up to 72 hours.)
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. (If you’ve chilled your cookies, bake for 13 to 15 minutes.) For best results, bake one sheet at a time. Immediately sprinkle cookies with flaked salt, if desired.
- Let the cookies cool on the pan for 5 to 10 minutes. Finish cooling on a wire rack. Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Weigh the flour. Using too much flour is a common mistake that will cause the cookies to turn out dry. A kitchen scale is the best tool for accurately measuring flour. If you don’t have one, fluff the flour in its container, spoon it into a measuring cup, and level off the top with a knife.
- Use room temperature ingredients, so they incorporate better. Set out the refrigerated ingredients in advance so they are not completely cold when you start working on the cookies. If you forget, simply set the egg in a bowl of warm water for 5 to 10 minutes and see my post for several ways to soften butter quickly.
- Make sure the brown sugar is soft and moist. If your brown sugar has hardened, don’t worry! Check out my detailed post on how to soften brown sugar.
- Use a cookie scoop. This ensures that all the cookies are the same size so that they bake evenly.
- For extra chocolatey goodness: Add another chunk of chocolate to the top of the scooped balls for a big pool of gooey chocolate in the center of the baked cookies.
- For gooey chocolate chip cookies, don’t overbake them. Look for golden brown edges and a puffed center that appears dry but is still soft to the touch. The cookies will set as they cool.
Nutrition
Just made these today. It was absolutely delectable! The cookies tasted great and there was the perfect amount of spreading.