Chocolate Chip Cookies
A chocolate chip cookie recipe you can count on! These chocolate chip cookies are soft, thick, chewy, and sprinkled with a touch of sea salt to excite your taste buds on a whole new level!
If you want more cookie variations we have a delicious Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake, Double Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Ben and Jerry’s Cookie Dough Bites! If you are a big cookie dough fan, then try my Cookie Dough Cake Recipe!
While I grew up making Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies and have experimented with a good deal of chocolate chip cookie recipes in my day, these are probably the best ever! Through experimenting and trial and error, I have found what it takes to make the BEST chocolate chip cookies, and I’m sharing it here with you now. I also have the best chocolate chip cookie bars too!
Why This Recipe Works
- Chocolate in every bite. These cookies have pieces of chocolate in every bite! The secret is to use a variety of chocolates and sizes of chocolates in the dough. This recipe uses regular-sized chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips and pieces of Ghirardelli’s bittersweet chocolate.
- Perfectly chewy cookies that don’t spread! The trick to getting cookies that don’t spread and go flat is to chill the dough! I recommend chilling the cookie dough for 24-72 hours in order to get the best results. See my FAQs below to learn why!
- Flaky sea salt on top. Trust me on this. The flaky sea salt on top of these cookies is a HUGE difference. You’ll love it! The direct saltiness on your taste buds followed by the sweetness of the cookies is a party in your mouth! You’ll quickly see why sea salt chocolate chip cookies are so amazing!
Ingredient Notes
- Cornstarch: Normally seen as a thickener in soups, but in cookies, cornstarch helps to give a tender texture and it used as a type of anti-cake texture ingredient. This means it helps the cookie remain chewy and not puff up like a cake texture.
- Leavening Agents: Baking powder and soda are both used to help create a lighter cookie.
- Butter: I use unsalted because salt has already been added to the dough, but butter helps add that savory melt-in-your-mouth feel in every bite. If you want a brown butter cookie, try my brown butter chocolate chip cookies. They’re amazing!
- Sugars: A mix of both brown sugar and granulated sugar gives you a sweet and chewy cookie with crisp edges just like the ones you’re dreaming of.
- Eggs: Make sure that they’re room temperature, but if you forget to pull them out in time you can always stick them in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes to make them room temp!
- Chocolate Mixture: Using a mixture of mini chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and chocolate chunks you know you’ll have that classic melted chocolate look and a good amount of chocolate in every single bite!
- Flaky Sea Salt: Years ago I would have never thought of this, but flaky sea salt really helps to deepen the flavors and make them pop. It’s amazing and you only need a sprinkle over each cookie!
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt in a medium bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugars together in a stand mixer or mixing bowl with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Add in the vanilla and 1 egg, mix and then add in the other egg and mix again until well incorporated.
- While mixing on low speed, slowly add in the dry ingredients. Mix until incorporated and then add in the chocolates. You may have to mix the chocolate in by hand because the batter will be thick.
- Once the chocolate has been added, place the dough in an airtight container and place it in the fridge for 24-72 hours. (This is a game-changing secret to getting the perfect taste out of the cookies. The flavor is more pronounced after the cookie dough has been chilled for a longer period of time.)
- When the dough is ready to be baked, preheat your oven to 375°F degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Use a 2-tablespoon-sized scoop to scoop the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Top with a sprinkle of flaked sea salt.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes or until the edges are a light golden brown and the centers still appear soft. Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Recipe Tips
Using the difference types and sizes of chocolates increases the amount of melty chocolate in each bite as well as provide difference of flavors. I love the addition of the Ghirardelli chocolate pieces. The unsweetened chocolate makes a huge difference!
Adding the cornstarch is an important ingredient. Don’t skip it or substitute for it. The cornstarch helps produce soft chocolate chip cookies that are chewy in texture as well.
Looking to make a smaller batch of chocolate chip cookies? Instead of halving this recipe, check out my Small Batch Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe!
Want to add some peanut butter? Try my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing
These cookies are best made in advance because of the necessary chill time. Store the cookie dough in the fridge in an airtight container for 24-72 hours depending on your time frame and how developed you want the flavors to be.
Baked chocolate chip cookies should be stored in an airtight container. They will last at room temperature for 3-4 days.
To freeze cookie dough, I recommend freezing the dough in the cookie portioned balls. Flash freeze on a baking sheet until the dough balls are firm (about 20 minutes) and then transfer to a Ziplock bag or airtight container. The cookie dough will last in the freezer for 4-5 months.
To freeze baked cookies, wait until they are cooled all the way before storing in an airtight container or Ziplock bag. You can also store them with sheets of parchment paper between the cookies so they don’t stick all together in the freezer. Freeze for up to 2 months for best results. Anything above 2-3 months maybe develop freezer burn. To reduce freezer burn, wrap the cookies individually in plastic wrap before storing in a Ziplock bag in the freezer.
FAQs
Yes! Chocolate chip cookie dough can be frozen as well as baked cookies. For freezing the dough I recommend freezing it in already portioned baking sizes so that it’s easy to grab a few at a time and bake. This allows you portion control so you don’t have to bake an entire batch at once if you don’t want to and you still get fresh from the oven taste and feel. For freezing cookies, flash freeze them on a baking sheet for about 20 minutes before transferring to an airtight container or Ziplock bag in the freezer.
Yes they can but that molasses in the brown sugar is what helps to give chocolate chip cookies their iconic chewy goodness. You can make your own brown sugar substitute if you find yourself trying to avoid the store. Simply mix 1 cup of white sugar with 1 teaspoon of molasses and it becomes 1 cup of brown sugar. Use what you need and follow along as directed.
Aug. 4 is National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day. But you don’t need a national holiday to make these yummy cookies! This is by far the best chocolate chip cookie recipe out there!
You definitely should! Baking cookies with chilled dough helps with so many things. It helps the flavors develop because the dry ingredients incorporate the wet ingredients better. This gives you a more even bake and more developed flavor. It also helps so your cookies don’t get flat! 👇🏻
If you chill the dough, you won’t get flat cookies! One of the biggest reasons for flat cookies is a warm dough. By chilling our dough, we allow the butter and everything in it to set up so much that while baking, it helps the cookie retain a little bit of its height instead of flattening out. So even if you are in a hurry to get your hands on these tasty cookies, make sure you chill the dough before baking because it’s super important!
You can, but instead, you should check out my Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe! They are amazing!
My Favorite Cookie Recipes
- Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Crumbl Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
- Soft Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Brownie Cookies
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
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BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 1/4 cups unsalted butter, room temp
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, room temp
- 1 3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate (70% or higher), - chopped into chocolate chip size chunks
- flaky sea salt to sprinkle over chocolate chip dough balls before baking
Instructions
- Combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and kosher salt. Whisk to combine. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or with hand held beaters, cream the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. About 3 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and 1 egg. Mix. Add the second egg. Mix to combine. With mixing speed on low, slowly add the dry ingredients. Mix until incorporated. Add in the chocolate chips, and chocolate chunks. Mix. (You may have to mix in the chocolate by hand). Once the chocolate is mixed into the dough, place the cookie dough in an airtight container and place in the refrigerator for 24-72 hours.
- When ready to bake preheat the oven to 375°. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Using a 2 T size cookie scoop, scoop the cookie dough and place on the prepared baking sheet. (12 cookies per sheet). Lightly sprinkle the cookie dough balls with flaky sea salt. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until lightly golden brown on the edges. The centers will appear soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. Remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
This recipe was originally published on July 24, 2020. It was updated on Dec. 20, 2021, to include additional information and photos.
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40 Comments on “Chocolate Chip Cookies”
Ultimate chocolate chip cookies! Perfect balance of sweet & salty. Have made these multiple times and everyone loves them!
So happy to hear this, Renee! Glad you loved them. Thanks for the 5-star review.
Loved this recipe… could not wait to refrigerate for so long. Refrigerated for an hour and they were still amazing!
This is by far theeeee BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe to date!!! My family has gone bananas over them. Thank you so much for sharing this AMAZING recipe!
I’m so glad you love them! They are by far our favorites and I’ve made so many versions to get the perfect recipe! Thanks for your amazing review!
I never leave reviews, but this recipe deserves 6 stars! Hands down the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever! I have family members who use a different recipe that they claim is the ULTIMATE chocolate chip cookie recipe, but yours is MUCH better!! I appreciate the explanation of what each ingredient brings to the table, too, because it helps me understand it even better. Thanks so much, Whitney!
I have tried many chocolate chip cookie recipes, trying the find the “perfect” one that is my go to… and this is IT! I make these quite often and they are requested by friends often!
For someone who is impatient to wait for a chilled dough, it really does make a difference (but that doesn’t stop me from making a few cookies right after making the dough then chilling the rest haha). Thank you!!
Could I melt the butter instead of creaming it? Do you think that would mess up anything?
Melting the butter will change the cookies yes. Have the butter be at room temperature for this recipe.
Would this recipe work without the cornstarch?
Yes it will. Let me know how you like the cookies!
I have made this a few times and we really enjoyed it. Gave some to co workers and friends. One of the batches I made I added dark chocolate with espresso chocolate chips since the person I was gifting them to prefers dark chocolate and they loved it. Thank you so much.
Thanks for coming back to leave a comment Abi! What a great idea to swap with the espresso chips.
Hi
Did you use light or dark brown sugar in this recipe?
I use light brown sugar, but dark brown sugar would be delicious too!