Soft and chewy chocolate chip cookies with ooey, gooey centers and crispy edges that literally melt in your mouth? Yes please. 🙂 These is seriously the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever. Or, check out my equally delicious gluten free chocolate chip cookies.
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Who doesn't love fresh baked homemade chocolate chip cookies? This is a recipe that I've made sooooo many times over the years and I think it's pretty close to the perfect chocolate chip cookie now (if I may say so myself.) 😉 I've also been on a mission to not just create a seriously good recipe for chocolate chip cookies, but also an easy one with simple instructions. I'm so excited to share it with you!
Did you know?
Chocolate is technically a fermented food since the cocoa powder used to make it is produced from fermented cacao beans. The fermentation process lasts for about a week before the fermented beans are roasted and processed into powder. And even though the high heat used during processing will kill any beneficial bacteria from the fermentation step, you can still thank them for helping to give your chocolate its irresistibly rich and alluring taste we've all come to know and love. 🙂
If you want even more chocolate in your cookie, you can also try these double chocolate chip cookies, triple chocolate cookies or mini cookies. Or if you're craving chocolate chip muffins instead, you'll love these chocolate chip muffins or banana chocolate chip muffins.
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❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- Easy CC cookie recipe that's practically foolproof
- Soft and chewy middles with crispy edges
- Easy to find ingredients
- Freezes well for up to 2 months
- Make small batch cookies and save more for later
🌿 Ingredients
All of the ingredients should be widely available at any large grocery store. Feel free to use your favorite kind of chocolate chips and swap milk chocolate for the dark chocolate if you'd like. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips and a Lindt 70% Cocoa Dark Chocolate bar for the dark chocolate.
See recipe card below for exact quantities.
📝 Instructions
First, there are some key things you should know so that you can make the perfect batch of CC cookies...
10 tips for making chocolate chip cookies
- When you measure out your flour, make sure you don't just scoop out the flour from the bag or container directly with a measuring cup; instead, use a regular spoon to scoop flour out into a measuring cup, then level off with a knife (this will prevent over-measuring your flour.)
- The brown sugar should be packed when you measure it; you can use the back of a spoon or a knife to pack down.
- The combination of sugars is the key in this recipe; the white sugar creates the crispy edges, and the brown sugar gives them their rich caramelly flavor.
- The cornstarch helps soften the flour and gives these cookies a little chewiness. So if you love chewy chocolate chip cookies you'll definitely want to include this ingredient.
- Sea salt is preferred for this recipe, but you can also substitute regular table salt.
- Make sure your baking soda is fresh and hasn't expired!
- The butter and eggs should be at room temperature. If you need to warm the butter in the microwave in a pinch just make sure it's not runny when you make the dough.
- Use pure vanilla extract.
- You can use any kind of chocolate chips or chunks you like—I love chopping up a dark chocolate bar in addition to the chips as is written here.
- The dough should be refrigerated for at least 2 hours for best results (one hour if you just can't wait any longer!) If you don't chill the dough, the cookies will spread too much.
Step 1: Whisk the flour, cornstarch, salt and baking soda in a large bowl and set aside. Chop the dark chocolate bar into small chunks if you haven't already.
Step 2: Place the room temperature butter and both sugars into a second mixing bowl and beat together until creamy using either a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then add the vanilla and eggs one at a time while beating for at least 30 seconds after each egg is added.
Step 3: Add half of the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low for about 20 seconds; add the rest of the dry mixture and continue to mix just until incorporated. Use a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to fold in the chocolate chips and chunks.
Then, place the batter in the refrigerator and chill for a minimum of 2 hours, or overnight. Pro tip: To chill the dough faster, divide into 2 separate bowls.
Step 4: Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place rounded tablespoonfuls of batter onto each sheet at least 2 inches apart and bake one sheet at a time for 11-12 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet once. Remove the from the oven once the edges are just starting to brown and the tops are golden (the middle should still look soft.)
Finally, let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack using a spatula. Place the second cookie sheet in the oven to bake (if you're using the same sheet, let it cool before you place the next batch on it.)
Pro tip: If desired, you can chill the dough up to 5 days in the fridge and cook small batch chocolate chip cookies if you love straight-from the oven fresh cookies (who doesn't?!) Or, you can freeze formed balls of dough for future baking up for to 2 months. To freeze, place the balls on a lined cookie sheet into the freezer until they're solid, then you can transfer the balls into a freezer-safe bag. When you decide to bake the dough balls, just add an extra minute or two to the cooking time; no need to defrost first.
📋 Substitutions
Feel free to make any of the following adjustments as needed:
- All-purpose flour - see my GF chocolate chip cookie recipe to make these cookies gluten free
- Cornstarch - use arrowroot powder instead, or simply substitute the same amount of additional flour
- Unsalted butter - use salted butter if necessary and leave out half of the added salt, or use coconut oil to make dairy free
- White sugar - substitute coconut sugar or maple sugar
- Light brown sugar - use dark brown sugar instead; in a pinch, you can just use all white sugar and the cookies will still be tasty, but may not be as soft and rich tasting
- Vanilla extract - use pure vanilla powder instead
- Chocolate chips - use any kind of chocolate chips or chocolate chunks, mint chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, or white chocolate chips
- Dark chocolate - use another favorite chocolate bar type such as milk chocolate, semi-sweet or white chocolate
🔪 Equipment
You'll need the following equipment to make these homemade chocolate chip cookies:
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- whisk
- mixing bowls
- cutting board
- chef's knife
- stand mixer or hand mixer
- silicone spatula
- baking sheet
- parchment paper (optional, for easy cleanup)
🍱 Storage
Chocolate chip cookies can be stored in the fridge for up to five days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
🎉 Top tip
Keep in mind that oven temps will vary across different ovens, so if this is your first batch just keep an eye on the cookies and take them out of the oven once the edges just start to brown and the tops are golden (if anything, err on the shorter side; they will continue to cook when you take them out.)
Enjoy your cookies! 🙂
💭 FAQ
Yes, you'll need either a stand mixer or a hand mixer to cream the butter and sugar together and mix the batter for this recipe.
Yes; you'll need to chill the batter for this chocolate chip cookie recipe so that the cookies don't spread too much during baking.
To make chocolate chip cookies softer and chewier, you can add an extra egg yolk when you beat the eggs. Additionally, make sure you don't leave out the cornstarch as it'll help with a soft chewier texture. And, don't forget to chill the dough before you bake your cookies.
Yes! You can refer to this gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe to make these cookies gluten free.
🍳 Recipe
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- parchment paper optional, for easy cleanup
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour or make gluten free chocolate chip cookies
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
- ⅔ cup white sugar
- ¾ cup packed light brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs at room temperature
- 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips or mini chips
- 4 ounces dark chocolate chopped into small chunks
Instructions
- Prepare the dry ingredients: Whisk the flour, cornstarch, salt and baking soda in a large bowl and set aside. Chop the dark chocolate into small chunks if you haven't already.2 ½ cups all-purpose flour2 teaspoons cornstarch1 teaspoon sea salt1 teaspoon baking soda
- Prepare the wet ingredients: Place the room temperature butter and both sugars into a second mixing bowl and beat together until creamy using either a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then add the vanilla and eggs one at a time while beating for at least 30 seconds after each egg is added.1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter⅔ cup white sugar¾ cup packed light brown sugar2 teaspoons vanilla extract2 large eggs
- Incorporate: Add half of the dry mixture to the wet ingredients and mix on low for about 20 seconds; add the rest of the dry mixture and continue to mix just until incorporated. Use a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to fold in the chocolate chips and chunks.12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips4 ounces dark chocolate
- Chill: Place the batter in the refrigerator and chill for a minimum of 2 hours, or overnight. Tip: to chill the dough faster, divide into 2 separate bowls.
- Bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place rounded tablespoonfuls of batter onto each sheet at least 2 inches apart and bake one sheet at a time for 11-12 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet once. Remove the cookies from the oven once the edges are just starting to brown and the tops are golden (the middle should still look soft.)
- Cool: Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack using a spatula. Place the second cookie sheet in the oven to bake (if you're using the same sheet, let it cool before you place the next batch on it.)
- Enjoy: Enjoy the cookies while they're warm; there's nothing better! The rest of the cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
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