The Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
A chewy middle with a golden brown exterior, this delicious cookie is full of the chocolatiest chocolate chips. These cookies are guaranteed to be your new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. With just a handful of common ingredients, you can have a batch of these perfect chocolate chip cookies whipped up in under an hour. Surprise your friends with a yummy snack, or eat them all yourself.
It is estimated that in the US, we will eat 35,000 chocolate chip cookies in our lifetime. That’s a lot of cookies! Better make sure you have the best recipe, and you will with this one. The quintessential cookie, chocolate chip cookies were created in 1938 by Ruth Graves Wakefield, owner of the Tollhouse Inn. She wanted to create a special cookie to serve to guests. Initially called the ‘Chocolate Crunch Cookie’ Ms. Wakefield chopped up a Nestle semi-sweet chocolate bar into bits, tossed them into a cookie recipe, and the chocolate chip cookie was born. Maybe the greatest invention since indoor plumbing. Well, my boyfriend says he is the best thing since indoor plumbing, so I guess these cookies are the best thing since sliced bread.
Ingredients
- Flour– all-purpose
- Butter– unsalted, room temperature
- Egg– room temperature; eggs provide structure to the cookies and help bind them together
- Baking Powder and Baking Soda– to provide lift and softness
- Chocolate Chips– milk chocolate and semi-sweet, however, if you only have one that will work as well.
- Vanilla– pure vanilla extract
- White and Brown Sugar– just enough sweetness, but not too much.
- Salt– to balance out the flavors.
- Cinnamon-I love the slight spice of cinnamon in these cookies.
- Milk
Let’s Make This
Making chocolate chip cookies really couldn’t be any simpler. First, you’ll add the dry ingredients together, minus the sugar.
Next, you’ll cream the butter and sugar together, then mix in the egg and vanilla.
Then, you’ll slowly beat the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. I like to do this in three separate batches. Last, you’ll mix in the chocolate chips (the best part!).
I have used both a hand mixer and a stand mixer to make these cookies. The stand mixer is definitely easier on your hands, but these cookies can easily be made with a hand mixer if that is all you have.
Now it’s time to put them on the cookie sheets. I use silicone baking mats to line the cookie sheets, but you can use parchment paper as well. The cookies come off very easily when baked on the silicone mats. To form the dough balls, you can use a spoon and scoop up the cookie dough into roughly a quarter-inch size dough balls and form by hand. You can also use a cookie scoop. It keeps your hands much cleaner and helps you get even scoops.
If you want your cookies to have a ‘rustic’ look, then drop them onto the sheet directly from the scoop. If you want a smoother look, you’ll want to roll the dough in your hands to form a smooth dough ball before you drop it onto the sheet.
Place the two sheets of cookies into the refrigerator once the dough has been formed into dough balls and dropped onto the sheets. While the cookies are in the fridge, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. I also like to use this time to clean up.
Once the oven has preheated, place one sheet of cookies on the middle rack. I like to bake one sheet of cookies at a time to ensure even baking. Bake for 18 minutes. Cookies should have light golding on the tops in a few areas, but not all over. You don’t want the entire top of the cookie to be browned. When the first sheet of cookies is done, place the next one in and bake for 18 minutes. Let the cookies sit for about five minutes before removing them from the sheet and placing them on a cooling rack. Be sure to try a cookie while they are still warm. Nothing beats a warm, freshly baked chocolate chip cookie, except maybe two!
Other Recipes to Try
If you’re looking for more delicious desserts to make, try my Peanut Butter Cookies or my One Bowl Brownies. Try my Kitchen Sink Cookies, they use the same base as this chocolate chip cookie recipe and are so delicious.
Recipe Notes
Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for three days for best results.
Yes, you can freeze these cookies. You can freeze them before you have baked them or after. If freezing after they are baked, let the cookies cool all the way. Then, place them in an airtight container and place in the freezer for up to three months.
You can also freeze these cookies before you cook them. Once you have made the dough, form the dough balls. Freeze flat on a tray. Once frozen, transfer dough balls to an airtight container. You can make as little or as many cookies as you want as they are frozen in individual servings. Freeze for 6-8 weeks.
You can thaw them out overnight in the refrigerator, or out on the counter for a few hours, then bake according to the recipe.
To bake directly from frozen, heat the oven 20 degrees cooler than the normal baking temperature. Line a cookie sheet with silicone or parchment and place cookies on the sheet. You may have to bake the cookies a few minutes longer than the normal time. The edges should be golden brown and the middle just a bit soft when done.
Your butter may have melted too much before you added it in. You want room temperature butter, not melted.
Try using a silicone mat or parchment paper if you are not already.
Chilling the cookie dough also helps prevent cookies from spreading.
Check to make sure your baking soda has not expired. To do this, you’ll want to add a small scoop of baking soda to a bowl, then add a few drops of vinegar or lemon juice. If the baking soda fizzes, it is good to use.
The Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1 cup milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or silicone mats. Set aside.
- Mix dry ingredients together: 2 cups flour; 1/4 tsp baking powder; 3/4 tsp baking soda; 1/4 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp cinnamon.
- With a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the 1/2 cup butter; 1/2 cup white sugar; and 1/2 cup brown sugar.
- Mix in the egg for about 30 seconds. Mix in the 1 tsp vanilla.
- Slowly add in the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. I like to do this in three batches, almost fully incorporating each batch of dry ingredients into wet before adding the next batch.
- Mix in the chocolate chips.
- Onto the prepared cookie sheets, drop 1/4 inch dough balls using either a spoon or a cookie scoop. You should get a total of 12 dough balls on each sheet.
- Put the sheets of dough into the fridge and chill for 20 minutes. The cookies, not you. You still have work to do!
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Clean up the kitchen while the dough is chillin'.
- Bake the cookies one sheet at a time, on the middle rack, for 18 minutes.
- Let the cookies rest for 5 minutes, they've earned it, then move them to a cookie rack to cool completely.
- Ok, ok, enjoy a cookie while they're still warm. Warm cookies are the secret to a good day.
Notes
Nutrition
About Author
These cookies are easy to make and so good.