Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
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A few tweaks to the classic Nestlé® Toll House® recipe make this the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever.
The simplest recipes are typically the hardest to get right, and classic chocolate chip cookies are a perfect example. The most widely-used chocolate chip cookie recipe is found on the back of the Nestlé® Toll House® bag, but if you follow it to the letter, the cookies often come out flat as pancakes. Over the years, I’ve experimented with various techniques in search of the perfect chocolate chip cookie, from resting the dough for days to browning the butter to using different types of flour. However, I found that these methods didn’t produce a noticeable improvement in taste and texture—and, honestly, who wants to go to all that trouble for cookies?!
Instead, I tweaked the classic and easy Toll House® recipe to make it more reliable and tastier. These chocolate chip cookies are thick with a chewy, moist center and slightly crisp exterior, and they strike the perfect balance of sweet and salty flavor. Before you start baking, be sure to read my best baking tips to ensure success.
“I was a bit skeptical that these would be ‘the best’ as I have many recipes that make really good chocolate chip cookies. I was wrong! OMG, these cookies are outstanding.”
What You’ll Need To Make Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Butter: Provides richness and flavor to the cookies while contributing to their tender texture.
- Granulated Sugar and Dark Brown Sugar: Sweeten the dough, adding moisture and contributing to the cookies’ chewiness and caramelization. Feel free to substitute light brown sugar here.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the overall flavor profile with its warm and aromatic notes.
- Eggs: Bind the ingredients together and add structure to the dough.
- Baking Soda: Help the cookies rise and spread, resulting in a soft and chewy texture.
- All-Purpose Flour: Forms the base of the dough, providing structure and stability to the cookies.
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips: These add sweet pockets of chocolate flavor. You can easily swap them out milk chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips, or chocolate chunks for larger, meltier bites. To add crunch, mix in toffee bits or chopped nuts like walnuts, pecans, or almonds. You can even add candy pieces like M&M’s.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or beaters, combine the butter and both sugars.
Beat on medium speed (or high speed if using a hand mixer) for 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary.
Add the vanilla and eggs.
Beat for 2 minutes more, then scrape down the bowl.
Add the salt and baking soda and beat briefly until evenly combined, then add the flour.
Mix on low speed until the dough is uniform.
Add the chocolate chips.
Mix until evenly combined.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or scrape the dough mixture into an airtight container and let rest in the refrigerator until firm, a few hours or overnight. (Alternatively, if you don’t want to wait, form the dough into balls as instructed below, arrange on the baking sheets, and chill in the fridge until firm, about 30 minutes.)
Drop the dough in firmly packed 1.5-tablespoon balls onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. (I use a 1.5-tablespoon cookie scoop.) For thick cookies, it’s important to really pack the dough in the scooper or with your hands.
Pro Tip: If you’d like to see the chocolate chips on the surface of the cookies, hold back about 1/3 cup chocolate chips and dot them on the dough balls, pressing them in slightly, before baking.
Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until golden brown around the edges but still soft and pale in the center.
Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, this recipe will work using a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend. However, you will have even better results making my gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, which are the best I’ve tried.
King Arthur All-Purpose Flour has a higher protein content compared to other brands, around 11.7%, which gives the cookies more structure. The flour’s ability to absorb more moisture means your dough is less likely to spread too much, giving you plump, delicious cookies.
This recipe is specifically designed to prevent excessive spreading, incorporating the correct flour-to-fat-to sugar ratio, especially if you use the recommended King Arthur Flour. Additionally, it’s important to make sure your butter is soft but not melted, and chill the dough before baking. Chilling solidifies the fat, which helps the cookies maintain their shape better as they start to bake.
Yes, you can freeze chocolate chip cookie dough, and it’s a great way to have fresh cookies on demand. Portion the dough into individual cookie balls, freeze them on a baking sheet, and then transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to bake, you can bake the frozen dough balls directly from the freezer, adding a few extra minutes to the baking time.
Video Tutorial
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Chocolate Chip Cookies
A few tweaks to the classic Nestlé® Toll House® recipe make this the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever.
Ingredients
- 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (packed) dark brown sugar (fine to substitute light)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2½ cups all purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled off (see note)
- 2 cups (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips, best quality such as Ghirardelli
Instructions
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or beaters, beat the butter and both sugars on medium speed (or high speed if using a hand mixer) for 3 minutes, or until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as necessary. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat for 2 minutes more. Scrape down the bowl. Add the salt and baking soda and beat briefly until evenly combined. Add the flour and mix on low speed until the dough is uniform. Mix in the chocolate chips.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or scrape the dough into an airtight container and let rest in the refrigerator until firm, a few hours or overnight. (Alternatively, if you don't want to wait, form the dough into balls on the baking sheets as instructed below, and chill in the fridge until firm, about 30 minutes.)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and set a rack in the middle position. Line a 13 x 18-inch baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Drop the dough in firmly packed 1.5-tablespoon balls onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing them about 2 inches apart. (I use a #40/1.5-T cookie scoop with a wire trigger.) For thick cookies, it's important to really pack the dough in the scooper or with your hands. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until golden around the edges but still soft and pale in the center. Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining cookie dough, refrigerating the dough between batches. The cookies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Note: I highly recommend King Arthur All-Purpose Flour for this recipe – it's higher in protein than other brands and helps the cookies plump up and hold their shape.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cookie dough can be frozen for up to 3 months. To freeze, roll the dough into balls, let set on a baking sheet in the freezer for about 1 hour, then place in a sealable bag and press out as much air as possible. Bake as needed directly from the freezer. (Allow 1 to 2 minutes longer in the oven.) The baked cookies can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Let the cookies cool completely and store in an airtight container separating layers with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Before serving, remove the cookies from the container and let them come to room temperature.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (40 servings)
- Serving size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 69
- Fat: 4 g
- Saturated fat: 2 g
- Carbohydrates: 9 g
- Sugar: 5 grams
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Sodium: 36 mg
- Cholesterol: 11 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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These are the BEST chocolate chip cookies. I usually portion out the cookie dough and freeze, but the cookies were so good that I have already baked my freezer stash! Hopefully, this next batch stays in my freezer longer than a week!
Have both cookbooks and have never been disappointed with a recipe so I had to try these chocolate chip cookies that I found on the website. I had some extra walnuts so I made half the cookies and then added walnuts to the other half.
This is the recipe I will use from now on. The cookies were amazing. I could not decide if I liked them better with or without nuts- so of course, I had to keep testing them 🙂
They froze really well
Is the parchment paper just for easy clean up? I don’t have any on hand, so I’m wondering if it’s important and what it’s purpose is. TIA
Yep, it’s just for easy clean up. 🙂
I have read other chocolate chip cookie recipes that use half butter and half vegetable shortening. What does the shortening do to a chocolate chip recipe? I am not an expert baker and am wondering what it does to a cookie.
Hi Erena, Shortening helps the cooks stay thick and puffy, but in my opinion it detracts from the flavor.
Excellent! I was a little suspect with having to chill the dough for the 30 minutes – after all who has time to wait for cookies 🙂 ?…however it was worth it. I’ve been looking for a great recipe for simple chocolate chip cookies for years…this will be my go-to from here on! Kids and husband gave them 10/10. (btw – I just used regular Robin Hood flour)
Very good. Crispy on the edges, chewy inside. Just like a Tollhouse cookie but way better. A touch sweet, but do not suggest reducing sugar as it could mess up the texture. Used salted butter, added kosher salt and bittersweet chocolate chips. Left in fridge for 4 hours and then scooped into smaller balls (cooked for 11 mins, rotated pan after 5 mins). The bittersweet chocolate chips, along with the bite size, helped to balance the sweetness. Per another reviewer’s suggestion, added cream of tartar to increase outside crispiness.
I made some and my dough was really gooey:( what did I do wrong
Hi Grace, this is a pretty wet dough before it’s refrigerated. Had you refrigerated it yet when you asked this question?
I have tried different recipes over the years, but no more, this is the perfect chocolate chip cookie! Thanks Jenn!!
Made these last night and they’re definitely the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made in my 54 years of baking! I did reduce the amount of chocolate chips to 1½ cups. I find American recipes are usually too sweet for our liking so either cut back on the amount of sugar called for sugar or, as in this case, the chocolate chips.
I’ve always chilled my cookie dough before baking. I’m sure I read somewhere that it helps the gluten to “relax’ which makes for a tender cookie. Does that sound right to you Jenn or is my memory making it up? I’m 73 so that could be the case! LoL
Cheers,
Susan P. British Columbia, Canada
Hi Susan, So glad you enjoyed the cookies! And yes, in general, resting dough does help gluten relax. For cookies, chilling dough also makes for thicker, puffier cookies.
Not Chocolate Chip Cookie fan, but my husband loved them!
Thanks again, a
How long will the cookie dough last in the fridge covered?
Hi Melissa, I think you could get away with refrigerating it for 3 to 4 days.