The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
(no, seriously)
Today I’m going to talk (write??) you through how to make my absolute favorite thing to bake. You see those right up there? That’s what I’m talking about. I know, I know… there are a bajillion recipes on the internet already for chocolate chip cookies. So what makes these so special? Years ago I set out to create my ideal chocolate chip cookie, bringing out everything I want and subtly adjusting the ingredients to get there. Without getting into the science of it all (proportions, ingredients, and temperature)… these are soft and chewy with a delicate crunch when fresh and a balanced sweetness. You also can’t discount the love and energy that goes into them alongside the list of ingredients below - there’s nothing quite like putting a little bit of yourself into something you make. I’m pretty sure they’ve done studies about this sort of thing. But let’s just get into it…
Chocolate Chip Cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter1, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar (homemade2 is my favorite!)
1/4 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour3
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt (kosher, if you have it)
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips4
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
First things first - preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Optional: line a baking pan with a sheet of parchment paper or a silpat (not necessary, but it makes clean up a heck of a lot easier).
Using a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, or a big bowl and a hand mixer (or if it’s arm day, a good ol’ spatula and some muscle) beat the butter with both sugars until cohesive and light in color.
Crack the egg and mix it in, along with the vanilla extract - mixing until fully incorporated.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Pour the mixture into the wet ingredients and either turn the mixer on low until mostly incorporated, or mix by hand to prevent a mess of flour getting all over your kitchen counters and walls.
Add the chocolate chips to the bowl and mix on low for a few seconds, or stir them in by hand until they’re enveloped by the dough.
Using a scoop/spoon/your hands, make 1” mounds of dough and place them a few inches apart on your prepared baking pan. Lightly press the mounds down with your fingertips, flattening out the cookies a smidge. Bake the cookies for 12-14 minutes. (The magic number for me seems to be 13 minutes, but it will depend on your oven and your preferred cookie texture.)
Place the baked cookie pan on the stovetop to cool, or place the pan directly on a cooling rack if you have one of those (also not necessary, but nice to have). Let them sit for a few minutes to set, then help yourself to as many cookies as you desire - no judgement here! These also taste great the next day… if they last that long.
Also! No need to bake all of these at once. The dough balls keep well for days/weeks in a container or baggie in the fridge - just bring them back up to room temperature before baking them. I usually set them up on the baking pan and let them sit while the oven preheats. They may need an additional minute or two of baking time - just keep an eye on them.
Psst!! Prefer to follow along with a video? I made one back in 2021 that you can find here. (In case you wanted this same information in spoken form, or just a good laugh.)
If all you have on hand is salted, just omit the salt in the recipe. Feel free to use any butter here, though the fancier kind will always taste just a touch better… and please for the love of the pastry gods, make sure it has had time to soften! I usually take it out of the fridge and place it on the counter as soon as the urge to make cookies hits… and then I forget all about it for a few hours and it’s definitely soft by the time I remember again.
Okay, so now you may be asking yourself “But Marine, how the heck does one make homemade brown sugar?!?!” I’m here to tell you it’s super duper easy! You combine white sugar with molasses and beat the heck of them until it looks like brown sugar. The measurements here are debatable; internet searches typically say to use 1 tablespoon of molasses for every 1 cup of white sugar… that is absolutely a great place to start; I always just eyeball it and gradually add more molasses until I get the color I want. I tend towards a medium-dark brown sugar because it makes for a chewier cookie with more robust flavor. Make sure you store any extra in an airtight container (there’s always extra - and if there isn’t, you’re just doing yourself a disservice for the next time you’re craving cookies).
By now you’re definitely wondering just how many footnotes this seemingly simple recipe has - this is the last one, I promise I think. I just hate those recipes that have a ton of info you have to sift through before the recipe, when all you want is to get to the g-damn recipe!!! so instead I’m giving you the option to read further into things at the end if you want to. (I think it’s safe to say that if you’ve read this far it was a conscious decision because what psychopath forces other people to read footnotes?!) Seriously though, let’s talk about flour for a second. Just like the butter you can choose your level of fancy here - I try to avoid bleached flour and my pantry is pretty much always stocked with King Arthur all-purpose and whole wheat flours- but you do you, boo. Could you sub in wheat flour here? I mean, sure, but then you really should be asking yourself why you insist on depriving yourself of simple pleasures. If you choose to go that route, I’d still recommend keeping some AP flour in there for literal consistency. Whole wheat flour is denser, so I’d aim for 1 cup WW with 1/2 cup AP. Could you use gluten free flour here? Sure! I’ve used a GF cup-to-cup mix in the past but the cookies came out crunchier and didn’t rise as much (as is to be expected) and that’s just not how I like my cookies. I haven’t played around with GF flour much though, so if you want to play then go ahead and play, friend!
Okay, last footnote, I promise! Milk chocolate chips. You could totally use all semi-sweet chocolate here and still have a delicious (slightly less sweet) cookie. But I urge you to try it with some milk chocolate chips at least once. They just make for a more balanced cookie and they satisfy that craving that you’re having, trust me. (Yes, I lied about the footnotes. No, I’m not lying about the chocolate chips - I would never!) Do I always use them? Nope. Sometimes I’m craving cookies and all I have in the pantry are semi-sweet chocolate chips and that is a-okay. But should you happen to find yourself with some milk chocolate chips that need a-usin’, well this dough is the perfect vessel for such a conundrum. Bittersweet chocolate chips also work here if you’re still feeling bitter about the footnotes.