Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
These thick, chewy chocolate chip cookies are the perfect mix of gooey centers, chewy edges, and rich chocolatey goodness. They’ll be your go-to treat for family nights, bake sales, and every cookie craving in between!
Servings: 30 cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter (that's 2 sticks), softened
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt I use sea salt, table salt needs a little less
- 3 cups flour (measured by scooping fluffed flour; or weigh out 435g)
- semi-sweet chocolate chips measured with your heart (I use 1.5 to 2 cups)
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat your oven to 350°F. I use a nonstick, unlined cookie sheet that's completely flat (no raised edges) for baking - feel free to line yours with baking parchment if it’s not nonstick, or you want to avoid the cleaning.
- Creaming stage: In a medium bowl, beat the softened butter with both sugars using a hand mixer on medium-high speed until creamy - about 1-2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, baking soda and salt, and beat JUST until fully combined.1 cup butter, 1 cup light brown sugar, ¾ cup granulated sugar, 2 large eggs, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt
- Finish dough: Add the flour and beat on low speed JUST until incorporated and no more dry flour is visible. Fold in the chocolate chips using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.3 cups flour, semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Portion dough: Scoop the cookie dough into 2-3 tablespoon sized mounds (see notes below for different shaping techniques). Place 2 inches apart on your cookie sheet (only bake one sheet at a time, work in batches).
- Bake: Bake for 8-12 minutes, until set and very lightly golden. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes (they are very delicate when warm!), then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
Notes
Butter: Use unsalted butter; if using salted, reduce added salt to ¼ tsp. Soften at room temperature for the best texture.
Don’t overbake: Pull cookies when edges are golden and centers look soft; they’ll set as they cool.
Shaping techniques
- Large and delicate: Scoop ~3 tablespoons of cookie dough with a ~2 tablespoon cookie scoop and portion it out looking a little messy and scraggly around the edges. The cookies will be large, a little flatter, and have a chewy edge. These are more delicate, and perfect to serve straight out of the oven over a scoop of vanilla ice cream!
- Compact and easy to transport: Scoop 2 tablespoons of cookie dough with a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop and make a neat mound, the cookies will be more compact, sturdy, spread less, come out soft and medium-thick. I like these best if I need to be able to transport them somewhere.
- Very thick and soft: Scoop 3 tablespoons of cookie dough and instead of leaving the edges messy like in the first option above, you push the messy base inwards to form a tall cylinder shape vs a cookie dough ball, you will get very thick and soft cookies. This is the gold star if you like bakery-style cookies!
- Countertop: Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days; add a slice of bread to keep them soft.
- Freezing dough: Freeze scooped dough balls for up to 3 months; bake from frozen, adding 1–2 minutes to the bake time.
- Freezing cookies: Freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months; thaw at room temperature or warm in a 300°F oven.