The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

the perfect chocolate chip cookies

Back when I started blogging in February, my first post was for chocolate chip cookies.

I am sure most of you did not see it unless you happen to be my Mom.

Anyway- in that first blog post, I thought I had it all figured out when it came to Chocolate Chip cookies. In fact- that was one of the few recipes that I thought I had perfected. I was SO wrong.

There is no way those were anything close to the perfect chocolate chip cookies because THESE are. They so are. They have the perfect taste, consistency and look.

They are chewy, the edges are crispy, they are melt-in-your-mouth. Everyone that tasted one was amazed they were homemade…the list goes on and on.

These are simply the best. This recipe has definitely made the rounds on the food blogs. And though chances are you’ve seen it, it is too good not share in case you haven’t.

 

the perfect chocolate chip cookies

This recipe uses melted butter which sounded so wrong to me at first!

I always thought the key to good Chocolate Chippers was to use perfectly room temperature butter. In fact- when people used to ask me my secret I always just told them room temperature butter was it!

Well- I stand corrected- and from now on this will always be my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe. They are just that good.

the perfect chocolate chip cookies

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

  • 2 cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
  • ½ tsp. baking soda
  • ½ tsp. salt
  • 12 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
  • 1 ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • *optional- sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions

  1. Adjust oven racks to upper and lower-middle positions. Preheat oven 325°. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
  2. Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl; set aside. With electric mixer, or by hand, mix butter and brown sugar until thoroughly combined. Beat in egg, yolk, and vanilla until combined. Add dry ingredients and beat at low-speed just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.
  3. Roll a scant half-cup of dough into a ball. Holding dough ball in fingertips of both hands, pull apart into two equal halves. Rotate halves 90 degrees and, with jagged surfaces facing up, place formed dough onto cookie sheet, leaving ample room between each ball. Sprinkle with sea salt. (optional)
  4. Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy (approximately 11-14 minutes). Do not overbake.
  5. Cool cookies on sheets until able to lift without breaking. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Unsaturated Fat: 0g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram

Source: Baking Illustrated

69 Comments

  1. To truly claim that I would love to try these out against those made by a first hand at APT. Every tech about 12 dozen cookies appeared. By the end of the night not a crumb remains. But she guards her secrets like a mother lion!

  2. mmmm..chocolate chip cookies:)) I just woke up and drinking my morning coffee and just wish I could eat these right now!!! I love it!!! Awesome photos too!!!Have a great Monday sweetie!

  3. I’ve made these, too!!! SO good! And I feel the same way about my blog for about the first 3 months…I think I was the only reader :) At least you had your mom!

  4. I never get sick of trying new chocolate chip cookies recipes, because really even a “bad” chocolate chip cookie is better then no chocolate chip cookies! These look perfect!

  5. Those cookies look so yummy! Just started reading your blog and you just make me want to bake 24/7! I will definitely try out this chocolate chip cookies recipe. My chocolate chip cookies are so far from perfect, though I never discriminate against chocolate chip cookies of any kind. ^_^

  6. these look soooo good and i would totally go and make them right now if it wasn’t for the fact that i just consumed like half a jar of nutella :(

  7. First of all, Mom will always read your blog, so you can count on that. Secondly, I’m a little mystified because my ‘perfect’ recipe is so similar, yet different. Help me figure this out. Mine calls for 2c flour only, yet adds 1T vanilla (vs. your 2tsp.). Also, my recipe says to bake for 15-17 minutes, and I needed the full 17 minutes. When I added the 1/2 tsp. of cream of tartar, the dough seemed dryer (but the cookies looked AMAZING with lots of cracks on top and tasted equally amazing – at least for the first day). What is your expert opinion? Would these changes make a huge difference in the outcome? Do you think your success is due to the breaking in half and ‘folding’ technique? One more question – how important is the unsalted butter, especially since you’re sprinkling with salt at the end?

  8. These look absolutely Perfect!! I would give anything for a fresh out of the oven cookie, right now!

  9. @Maureen- (Mom) 1-I think salted butter is OK- but it is adding much more salt than the small amount I sprinkled on top. It also may slightly change the consistency so I’d go with unsalted if possible.
    2-It is weird that your recipe is so similar but turned out differently. Even though they seem so close- sometimes just a slight difference really changes everything. So try this one and report back!
    3-I think the twist/break off of the dough is only for the look of it. It helps the top look crinkly and imperfect! :)

  10. Another chocolate chip cookie recipe to add to my collection…yes!! Thank you! :) The photo up there looks amazing… I wish I could pick a few cookies right off the screen.

  11. Keep recipe as is but when melting the butter, keep going till it begins to turn brown. It should start smelling nutty and toffee like. This is called Brown Butter Chocolate Chip cookie.
    This is my favorite!
    Linda Cook

  12. I saw this recipe on SmittenKitchen a couple years ago and it is delicious. It’s one of my go to recipes for sure. Yum.

  13. I just want to let you know that I feel like I can completely relate to you! I’m also an actress living in NYC (www.kayleblogna.com) and I looove cooking and baking, and blogging about it as well (http://cookingactress.blogspot.com/). I love your blog, this all looks amazing and I just wanted to say hi to a kindred spirit!! (And I completely agree with you on your “favorite foodies”! Those are some of my favorites too!)

  14. Any suggestions as to why these cookies spread and spread? I liked the flavor very well, but looked nothing like yours. I even chilled a batch and they still spread.

  15. Kate- So sorry to hear that they didn’t turn out quite right.
    It is hard for me to know exactly what went wrong your time around.
    Something like the cookies spreading too much sounds like an issue of there being too much melted butter in relation to the dry ingredients. If you followed the recipe though, it could have to do with climate or your specific oven.
    Sorry if that wasn’t at all insightful, try it again and see if the results change for you!

  16. Audra–it just dawned on me that I put in too much butter, apparently math was too much for me. Now I am excited to try them again. Thanks!

  17. I just made two batches and each tasted like Shortbread cookies with chocolate chips. I’m not really a fan but it was very soft and chewy. baked really well and was easy to make

  18. I just tried your recipe and my cookies came out perfectly! Thank you! I have been chocolate chip cookie-challenged my whole life. :-)

  19. These are amazing!! My boyfriend ate all of them in 2 days haha I sifted the dry ingredients and it turned out to be both cakey and gooey— very interesting.

  20. Mine turned out too puffy, instead of ooey and melty like the picture. The dough seemed a bit dry, so maybe my flour was off. How do I remedy this in the future? Add water, or butter? Thanks!
    I’ll still eat them, I’d sure they are delicious.

    1. Hey Kali!
      Is there any chance you used too much flour? I’ve made these dozens of time and they’re always pretty consistent. Did you use a stick and a half of butter as well? Sometimes the 12 tablespoon measurement is confusing. :)

  21. Can’t wait to try these this morning! One question though: the 12 tbs of butter, are those twelve in solid form, or already melted? I can imagine it makes a lot of difference! As I read it the tbs should be measured and then melted…

    1. I’m guessing it’s the same either way- but I always measure out 12 solid tablespoons and then melt. :) Good luck!

  22. I made these today and they are fantastic! My family ate them all up in no time and are still talking about how good they are! I will have to make some more soon!

  23. did you add choc chips on top before baking also. looks like it from the picture

    1. Nope! The buttery texture of the dough tends to keep the chocolate chips on the outside looking all perfect :)

      1. oh no wonder i used margarine. still the chips look like they are just sitting on top gorgeous picture

  24. hello…i just saw ur recipe of perfect chocolate chip cookies n would love to make them soon…but as i have never baked any cookies i have a few questions…

    1) how much is 1 cup in terms of grams or ml or oz for ur recipes? i have searched google for measurements n it showed different measurements for sugar n flour n liquid…for example- 1 cup sugar is 200 gms but 1 cup flour is 120 gms…i don’t understand….pls help

    2) my oven has 3 racks…in which rack should i bake? top,middle or bottom…i can only bake 1 batch at a time as i have only 1 baking tray…

    3) do i have to grease the baking pan as i don’t have any parchment paper available in the place i stay

    i know its a lot of questions but i hope u plssssssss answer them…..thank u … :-)

    1. Hey Puja!
      I unfortunately can’t answer your questions about converting to grams, but there are lots of great resources you can google to do that.

      You should bake the cookies on the middle rack.

      If you don’t have parchment paper then I would lightly spray your cookie sheet so the cookies don’t stick! :)

      1. hello again…thank u for ur reply but pls atleast can u convert the measurements to ounces / oz…..please…that way i can have some idea…am soooooo wanting to make this cookies….please help….thank u… :-)

  25. hi audra,
    the cookies look so lovely and tempting. i am so dying to try out this recipe, but i don’t quite understand step 3 in your instruction for this Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe.
    i would appreciate if you would care to explain step no.3 in a simpler manner?
    Thank you.
    Brinda

  26. I’ve had cookies that were truly a blessing in disguise, but I think we can all take words from the late great Elvis Presley and say they were the devil in disguise! Melted butter you say, how about we stick to softened. Let’s not change what we already know is good, and right. When starting my little adventure of searching for a cookie recipe, I nearly fell out of my chair in surprise that these cookies used melted butter! Of course I had to give them a hesitant try. Upon getting nearly half way done with the cookies batter, I knew something had to be up. This just didn’t look like good cookie dough. I thought to myself while I sat in my chair pondering whether to go on making them or not, I threw some dough at my dog to hush her up, she took one lick of it and left it alone! My dog eats raw onions mind you. I knew finishing these would be an utter waste of my time but I still pushed through. When I finally finished the cookies melted all over my freshly cleaned oven… Que sera sera I suppose.

    1. Wow…your review couldn’t be more true chanty. I think I will not be using this recipe ever again! Mine didn’t melt all over my oven like yours did, but they sure did make me sick. Me and husband of 9months have been searching for a cookie recipe that was better than my mothers (bless her soul she’s a terrible cook) and happening upon this really made my day! Until I then ate one and nearly had a conniption fit. I will be returning to my mothers chocolate. Chip cookie recipe for now.

      1. I’m sorry this recipe didn’t turn out for you- I’ve made them countless times and they are always perfect!

  27. I am a chocolate chip cookie connoisseur of sorts, and these are the BEST chocolate chip cookies I have ever made or tasted in the world! They are perfect in every way. They have just the right amount of crispiness and chewiness. Thank you so much for this recipe! <3

  28. Brown the butter. Do everything else the same, but brown the butter instead of just melting it. Takes the perfect cookie and elevates it.

    Unrelated, but I’ve found the perfect cookie weight to be 35 grams.

  29. Brown the butter. Do everything else the same, but brown the butter instead of just melting it. Takes the perfect cookie and elevates it.

    Unrelated, but I’ve found the perfect cookie weight to be 35 grams.

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