BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies
Total Time
30 minutes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Rating
5 out of 5 stars
(431)
Ingredients
9-12 cookies
- 1 1/3 cups (170g) all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (112g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar, packed
- 1/3 cup (70g) granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 1/2 cups (250g) semisweet chocolate chips (I like Trader Joe’s, Guittard, or Ghirardelli) + more for topping
- Flaky sea salt
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Preparation
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 350F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
Step 2
In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour (see notes on how to properly measure), baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Step 3
In a large mixing bowl, add the melted and cooled butter, brown sugar, and sugar. It’s important that the butter is not hot, but it can be slightly warm. Whisk vigorously for 1-2 minutes until it turns into a paste-like consistency (see picture in post for reference).
Step 4
Whisk in the egg and vanilla until smooth.
Step 5
Pour in the dry ingredients and use a rubber spatula to fold to combine. Leave a few streaks of flour and pour in the chocolate chips. Continue to fold the dough until the chocolate chips are dispersed and the flour is completely blended in. Do not over mix.
Step 6
A large 2oz cookie scoop (or 1/4 measuring cup) is preferred for this recipe. Scoop 5 cookies onto the baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes (12 for a more gooey cookie, 15 more a more well done cookie). If you do not have a large scoop or prefer regular-sized cookies, scoop 6 cookies onto the baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes.
Step 7
The cookies are ready when they have a golden ring around the edge but are pale and puffed in the center (see the photo above of the cookies inside the oven for reference). And if your cookies spread too much, use a fork to nudge in the sides immediately after the cookies are pulled from the oven.
Step 8
When they’re fresh from the oven, top with a few extra chocolate chips and sprinkle with sea salt.
Step 9
Transfer to a cooling rack and continue to bake the rest of the dough.
Step 10
Let the cookies cool for about 20 minutes before eating. They’re best when they’re slightly warm and the chocolate chips are still melty. Enjoy!
Step 11
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Chef's notes
FLOUR – If you have a food scale, weigh out your flour to ensure accuracy. Otherwise, spoon the flour into your measuring cup and level it off. Don’t shake it down, pack it in, or scoop directly into the flour bag or container. This compacts the flour which will lead to too much flour in the dough. If there’s too much flour, the cookies will not spread properly.
Properly measure the flour – It’s the number one reason why most recipes fail, especially for cookies. If there’s too much flour, the cookies will turn out dry and they will not spread.
Know your butter – Different butters have different water to fat ratios. If your butter contains too much fat, it could cause the cookies to be too soft, greasy, or spread too much in the oven. When it doubt, stick with plain old unsalted butter.
2 sugars are better than 1 – The molasses in the light brown sugar is what gives these cookies that soft but chewy texture. Utilising both sugars is what gives you a well rounded cookie, one that’s soft in the middle and chewy on the outside.
The larger the scoop, the better – Larger cookies bake better because there’s more surface area to cover. It takes the heat of the oven much longer to penetrate the center of the cookie.
Don’t over bake – The cookies are ready when they look exactly like the picture above.
Don’t skip the sea salt – A light sprinkling of sea salt on top of warm chocolate chip cookies makes a world of a difference.
