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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I made these cookies for my coworkers. They RAVED about them. My boss said they tasted better than Crumble cookies. I had to make a separate batch for my husband and kids-everyone was sad when they were gone. These are the BEST and I will never make them without King Arthur flour as you suggested. Thanks for sharing <3
Hi Jenn, can these be made into bars, in a 13×9 inch pan, and if so what temperature and how many minutes of baking time? Thank you
Hi Mary, I’ve never tried these in bar form so for the most predictable results, I’d suggest using my blondie recipe. You can omit the nuts if you’d like and I’d double it for a 9 x 13 pan. Hope you enjoy if you make them!
Hi there!! Can I use milk chocolate chips instead of semi sweet?
Thanks and I’m excited to try these
Sure!
Soft, delicious cookies. These are a family favorite!
My husband loves these cookies! They really are delicious. 11 minutes bake time is so excellent because after cooling they crisped up perfectly. The 1.5” round pre-baked sized cookie dough instructions make them thin and crispy after they bake. The best part is that they are loaded with chocolate chips! I really like the taste of pure vanilla extract so I use a little extra. They are so easy to make. We are empty nesters so I just halved the batch. I plan to bake the other half of that half batch tomorrow.
Really good.
Made these yesterday after an overnight stay in the fridge and baked in the AM as per a commenter’s suggestion keeping the house cool and they are delicious. In your baking tips I was unable to find information regarding what type of salt should be used in your recipes, so I used regular no iodine table salt since the recipe did not state Kosher. They were fine, was I correct? Thx BTW the Girahdeli chips were $5 and change! Wow!
Glad you enjoyed these! And when a recipe of mine says salt in the ingredient list, I am referring to regular/table salt. If it calls for something else like kosher salt, I will specify that in the recipe. Hope that clarifies!
I made these cookies yesterday and they were a real hit! everyone wanted to know how they came out so delicious!!
I didn’t have butter and used regular canola oil and it was still so good!
I will be making these again in the future
thank you!!
Whether you bake cookies from scratch or use the cookie kits at the store, I find your cookies will stand out if you take the time to add extras. Instead of uniform chocolate chips, put in some giant Ghirardelli chocolate chips as well, and consider some white (not chocolate really) chips, a handful. Other companies put out small bags of crushed candy, Butterfingers and Heath bars, to name two. People (usually male) will ask, what exactly did you add to these cookies, they are incredible.
The additions are to be used sparingly, so they will last for many batches ENJOY
I’ve made these so many times… almost weekly! They are THE BEST. Everything she makes is amazing.
Hand chopping good quality chocolate makes a big difference with these cookies. I’ll hand chop semisweet chocolate, bittersweet and milk chocolate. The variance in chip or chunk sizes adds another dimension to the cookies. The issue with premade chocolate chips is that they are made to keep their shape. Ghirardelli adds soy lecithin to their chips, for example. This isn’t bad, there are worse additives but it’s preferable to just use chocolate if the person is comfortable chopping it rather than chocolate and whatever additives are in their chip of choice. For children or anyone who feels shaky with a knife, of course go for the chips. You can also get good quality chocolate bars and break them up without the need for a knife.
Be careful when you add the flour to only go a couple of quick bursts. Much more and you develop the gluten resulting in a tougher cookie.
Great recipe!
Well I enjoy the texture of the chip rather than a runny mass of chocolate in my cookie.Not only that they are much more convenient and they look better.
Thanks for this comment. I can’t get chocolate chips where I live (Holland), so I was wondering if I could just chop up a few of their really good chocolate bars. So now I know it will still turn out OK.
Chopped dark chocolate will make even better cookies because the lovely iregular chunks of chocolate will give bursts of flavor.