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This recipe actually IS The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe – it’s been the most popular chocolate chip cookie recipe on my entire website for almost a decade now! It made it into my first cookbook and has remained a reader favourite for years now thanks to it having ingredients that you have in your pantry, Just read all the hundreds of rave reviews that have been left over the years, this is the only chocolate chip cookie recipe you’ll ever need! If you don’t believe me – believe the tens of thousands of people that have baked these cookies over the years – they know their stuff!
How to Make Easy Chocolate Chip Cookies From Scratch
These are fast and easy chocolate chip cookies that turn out thick and chewy! Remember to under bake them slightly and they will turn out chewy. These thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies are the base for my Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies with Raisins, my Chocolate Mint Ritz Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies and my personal favourite Walnut Loaded Chunky Chocolate Chip Cookies. This chocolate chip cookie dough is perfect for making stuffed cookies of all types! If you are looking for crispy chocolate chip cookies, try my Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, that one is MY all time favourite!
How to Freeze Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate chip cookies freeze exceptionally well and it’s easy to do! Bake them up and then store them in the freezer for snacks and school lunches.
- You are going to freeze the already baked cookies on a cookie sheet in one layer until they are frozen solid.
- Remove the frozen cookies from the cookie sheets and place into an airtight, freezer safe container.
- Place the cookies layer by layer (putting parchment paper or wax paper between the layers to make sure that they don’t stick together) and then seal with the lid.
- Freeze for up to 3-6 months.
- Defrost on the counter-top and enjoy!
How to Keep Your Cookies Fresh
I learned this trick from a professional bakers daughter! To keep your chocolate chip cookies fresh, seal them in a container with a piece of fresh bread (or at least not stale bread) The chocolate chip cookies will wick the moisture from the bread while they are sealed up in the container and you will have chocolate chip cookies that will last for 4-5 days on your counter top- and still be soft and chewy! I do NOT recommend anything else – I have seen apple slices and wet paper towels recommended – as flavors from the apple WILL wick into your cookies and paper towels are messier.
What type of flour do I use in chocolate chip cookies?
The best type of flour to use in chocolate chip cookies is unbleached, all purpose flour. The brand doesn’t really matter as long as it’s a brand that YOU like to use.
What type of butter do I use in chocolate chip cookies? Can I use salted butter?
The best butter to use in your baking is one that tastes good off the spoon – or you can taste test it on plain toast. You want to use a butter that is good quality and tastes delicious! This is what your cookies are going to taste like, so make sure it’s good! As for salted butter, I use salted butter all the time in my baking, just use a portion of the salt in the recipe if you are doing so. The rule of thumb is that you leave out 1/4 tsp of salt for every 1/2 cup of salted butter you use, so you would only use 3/4 tsp of salt in my recipe.
Do you need brown sugar for chocolate chip cookies? What kind?
You absolutely need brown sugar for chocolate chip cookies, or they will be too sweet and lack a depth of flavour. I use golden or light brown sugar in all of my cookie recipes, but I have a friend who uses dark in almost everything she bakes – and everything she makes turns out great as well! It will be a deeper, more molasses-ey flavor when you use a dark brown sugar. If you don’t have brown sugar, mix in 2 tbsp of molasses to every cup of white sugar that you are substituting.
Chocolate Chip Cookie Troubleshooting
Here is a list of the common problems you might encounter when making chocolate chip cookies – or most cookies, for that matter.
Problem: My cookies spread out and are flat.
- If it’s humid or hot, like with any other cookie recipe, you are going to have to adjust your methods. Chill the dough in the fridge before baking to combat heat, and with humidity add in a couple tbsp of flour until the dough firms up.
- If you have neither heat nor humidity and you have a wet dough – I hate to break it to you but your butter is cheap and has a high water content. It happens, a LOT and is massively important AND always overlooked when it comes to baking. There are 2 1/4 CUPS of flour and only 1/2 cup of butter – this is one of the driest cookie doughs out there.
- You also could have measured wrong, because there is no way 1/2 cup of butter mixed into that large amount of flour can be wet.
- You aren’t measuring the flour correctly OR you are using sifted flour. A lot of people don’t realize that your flour can come pre-sifted, which means that when you are measuring out your flour it will NEVER match recipes on the internet! Never buy pre-sifted flour unless it’s for a recipe that specifies it. Most households buy unsifted and use un-sifted.
- Your oven could be running at a different temperature, check it’s accuracy.
Problem: My cookies are tough and not chewy
Make sure to under bake the cookies. You only have to heat them up to 165 °F, to properly and safely cook the raw eggs in them. You can have ooey gooey chocolate chip cookies without adding honey or corn syrup, just simply under bake and enjoy!
You might have over-beaten the cookies. Don’t beat the dough as much next time
More Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes
- Nothing beats the Original Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe!
- This recipe from Allrecipes has great ratings as well.
- Cakey Chocolate Chip Cookies from Martha Stewart
These chocolate chip cookies are very kid friendly, thick and delicious, strong enough to hold together in children’s lunches and small enough that you don’t feel too guilty sending them to school for a treat. This is a super delicious recipe and my go to for late night “Oh my god, I need a cookie” moments.
Happy baking!
Love,
Karlynn
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 1 teaspoon salt ( use 1/2 tsp if you are using salted butter)
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 °F. Get out your baking sheets and line with parchment paper.
- Cream together your butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy. Add in the eggs and vanilla, mixing thoroughly. .
- Whisk together the dry ingredients ,then beat them into the butter mixture until combined completely.
- When that is done, fold in the two cups of chocolate chips by hand, and prepare to put them on the parchment paper lined cookie sheets.
- Drop by rounded tablespoonful onto the baking sheets.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown and slightly underdone. Cool on the sheets completely. Store in closed containers
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Compost Happens says
I just made these cookies and they are excellent. I like how there is only one stick of butter which I think helped prevent the greasiness one often finds in choc.chip cookie recipes. But I didn’t use parchment paper, I just spatulaed them off the sheets right away, out of the oven, onto cooling racks. I thought they looked goofy when i made the first batch as just balls, expecting them to spread out but they didn’t so after that I smushed them between my hands a bit before putting on sheet. Your troubleshooting section is very good too! Thanks, I will be repeating this recipe in the future. Everybody keeps casually walking by the cooling racks and the cookies are vanishing. A good sign.
Lynn says
Best ever…so delicious. The second time I made these delicious cookies, I cut back on the sugar and it did not change the taste or consistency. This is my go to CCC recipe. Thank you
Kind Baker says
This recipie was abseloutly delicious!!! I made a half batch to try it out and it was super thick and chewy. I’m going to make some for my teacher. I bet she’s gonna love it with her coffee!!
Tess says
Love these cookies. So easy to throw together with amazing taste. My husband is very picky with his cookies but he loved these. I used 1/2 milk chocolate and 1/2 semi sweet and I thought it was a perfect combination. Only recipe I will use from now and the easiest recipe I’ve ever used. Thank you so much for your effort in perfecting this.
michael stern says
you’re sure 1/2 c of butter only? with that much flour, recipes traditionally call for a full cup of butter (see toll house).
Earlyne says
Love your recipes! Also Love your hat too! I’m a hat lover too. ❤️🎩
Katie says
Hi,
In the information under what butter, it says to decrease salt by 1/4 teaspoon if using salted butter for every 1/2 cup.
“The rule of thumb is that you leave out 1/4 tsp of salt for every 1/2 cup of salted butter you use, so you would only use 3/4 tsp of salt in my recipe.”
But in the recipe it says to use 1/2 teaspoon of salt…not 3/4. which one is correct?
Thanks
Sarah Din says
Hi
Can i make these cookies by coconut sugar? I’ve made them many times with brown sugar but want to try a healthier substitute
Jen says
Perfect every time! Love live this recipe! Family loves these cookies
Thank you so much! I have trued many other recipes, this ones a keeper !
Wendy Katz says
Hi do you ever put nuts in the cookies? Has anyone here tried that?I have trouble thinking of Chocolate chip cookies without nuts.Would they turn out as good and how much would you put it.Would they take the same amount of time to cook?I wouldn’t want to overcook them like you said not to do.Thank you.
Wendy Katz says
Hi do you ever put nuts in the cookies? Has anyone here tried that?I have trouble thinking of Chocolate chip cookies without nuts.Would they turn out as good and how much would you pu it.Would they take the same amount of time to cook?I wouldn’t want to overcook them like you said not to do.Thank you.
Wendy Katz says
I haven’t made these yet but I will soon.When you say 24 servings,how many cookies to a serving? How many cookies does it make?Thank you for a delicious sounding,easy recipe.
Lisa says
Easy recipe and wonderful cookie! Yum!
Carley says
I usually don’t read the writing before the recipe on food blogs but I suggest that everyone reads it as there were many helpful tips.
They turned out crispy on the outside and fluffy and chewy on the inside. My husband who is always on the search for the ultimate chocolate chip cookie said this recipe is a keeper!
Angela says
My cookies good but kind flat
Jshshjsjw says
Sorry just kidding this is the best cookie I have ever seen thanks for the resipie
Jessica says
The butter: melted or softened?
Thanks!
Karlynn Johnston says
Softened!
Grace says
Can I use margarine instead? And cake flour? Thanks!
A Baker~ says
Cake flour would make for a more light cookie. For the 1/4 cup of flour in the recipe, I used bread flour and the rest just A.P. This combo made for a nice chewy cookie.
Julie Scriver says
Hello from West Kelowna! your cookies are in the oven as we speak, the smell in my house is amazing! My grandson always asks for chocolate chip cookies, so here is some for you, Max!
M.Gonzalez says
I didn’t see when the vanilla was added .
Karlynn Johnston says
Step 2
SUZI MCGEE says
Step 3
SUZI says
Ooooops step 2
Melissa says
My family loves this recipe! It’s the only chocolate chip recipe I use now. Even my picky preschooler who hates chocolate eats these. Baking some up now for after school treat!
Jessica Jan | jessicajan.ca says
My 5 year old and I had a lot of fun making these! Easy recipe, and most importantly, delicious cookies! ?
Tiffany says
Turned out looking very yummy, smelled good, good size when I used a soup spoon for dropping…. cut the white sugar down to 1/4 cup and still awesome!
Nunyabizz says
Just making these now as im typing, i cant wait too see how they turn out.. 3more minutes left &the house smells soo great!?
I might even freeze some to have on hand when company comes down
(I know this is bad but tasting the cookie dough, omfg i loved it lol) deff will be my go-too recipe& i love the website, its soo accurate i love it!❤
Julie says
Love these cookies! I thought teaspoon size cookies would be a little small but i followed the recipe first go and they were really tiny. I used tablespoons the second time and they turned out much better!
Mel says
Website owners have to pay their bills too.
Lauren says
How mich of the ingredient s do I use? I cant find it.
Deb says
Best chocolate chip cookie ever!! Cutting the butter by half really makes a huge difference, and you don’t sacrifice flavor one bit! This is my only recipe from now on!
Melissa says
I swear to god I make this recipe once or twice a month, it is absolutely my go-to cookie for whenever I need to bring a treat for my friends or when I need a pick me up after a bad day. Comes out great every time, thanks for such a great cookie!
Lamia says
Can I use milk chocolate chips?
Wayne R says
These cookies ROCK!
Hi Karen, thank you for sharing your recipe. My lady loved them.
She has been so busy at work these days and hasn’t had the time to bake. So, I surprised her, and I baked them tonight. These are the kind of cookies she loves. Nice and chewy.
This was the very first time that I have baked cookies, the last time was home-ec-class, which was many, many moons ago! I had no clue what I was doing. To be honest, I never really bake. Not even a Betty Crocker cake. However, I’m the main chef around here. So I improvised.
Another thing, we don’t have a mixer. What I did, I pressed the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon until it was creamy. Then added one egg at a time. Then the vanilla. Then used the wooden spoon to stir slightly. Then I thought, hey, let’s try a whisk. Then I read your directions, then noticed that I was to whisk the dry ingredients, but I ended using a fork to whisk the dry ingredients because I dirtied the whisk. The whisk really didn’t work with the sugar butter mixture anyway. I ended up kneading it with my clean hands and then slowly added the dry ingredients in with the butter, eggs and vanilla. Then I added the chocolate chips. All this, while I was pre-heating the oven.
When it was time to put the cookie dough on the cookie sheet, like your directions read, I used the measuring teaspoon and scooped the cookie dough with it, put the teaspoon ball on the cookie sheet. They looked so small. However, I believed in your recipe and followed the instructions. It was so exciting to be baking. I had a bit of a rush going on here! Actually I still do. Sorry for the long comment by the way!
I set the timer for 12 mins. After the timer went off, I pulled them out, it didn’t look brown, I added another 2 mins because when I pressed down on one of the cookies, it felt too soft still. It could be my oven. Your cookies looked brilliant coming out of the oven in the end. The aroma was fantastic! The cookies looked like they belonged on a cover of a cooking magazine.
After I took out the first batch, I took some photos and sent them to my dad, he is a retired baker, he was impressed.
And I sent a photos to my mother. She told me they looked perfect. She told me to press down on the cookie, and if the puff back out after pressing down on them, they are ready.
Karen, I’m so happy that I followed your recipe to a “T” you made this guy look like a rockstar!
I will keep your recipe in my back pocket and bring this to potlucks etc.
These are the best tasting cookies I’ve ever had. My girl agrees. Way better then any supermarket or bakery.
Thanks again Karen, you rock!!!
Cheers,
Wayne R
Wayne R says
Karlynn, sorry I called you Karen and your name is Karlynn.
Claudia says
This Is The Second Time Making This Wonderful Recipe and Every Time It Gets Better and Better with My Stay at Home Skillz. This is The Most Deliciousness “Hit To The Heart”.
Thank You Karlynn!
Love Claudia.
Karlynn says
Wayne thank you SO much for the amazing comment, you made my day! Your cookie baking experience is why I love doing what I do! Thanks for letting me know, I love reading comments!
Andrea says
These cookies were excellent! I can’t give a 5 star rating to the recipe, however, due to the novel I had to scroll through to actually find the recipe.
Karlynn says
A) there’s a jump to recipe button
B) use the button. I paid a lot for my site design.
C) the novel is all baking tips, chocolate tips, troubleshooting etc. You basically get a free mini cookbook on this page. Seems a little silly to complain. ?
Nana Li says
Bi$#h much? Lol
Applestuff says
Yo, can you use self rising baking flour instead?
Karlynn says
I’ve never tried it. Use at your own risk!