Big, thick, soft, chewy, and loaded with chocolate chips, these bakery-style Chocolate Chip Cookies are absolute perfection and yet so easy to make!
Confession: I haven’t always liked cookies. Growing up, we always had some store-bought cookies in the house for a little treat, usually chocolate chip, but they just didn’t float my boat. They were hard, crunchy, and dry.
Not that there’s always something wrong with hard, crunchy, and dry. I mean sourdough pretzels? Yes, please. Give me the box. But I just don’t love my cookies that way. So I became a lover of cakes and brownies and never paid cookies much attention.
One day, David asked me, “How come you never make me chocolate chip cookies? They’re my favorite!” Oops. His most favorite chocolate chip cookies were the ones his grandma made, and those were the ones he wanted. There was just one problem: No one knew the recipe.
One thing he did know: they were NOT the cookies from the back of the bag of chocolate chips. Darn. Of course it wasn’t going to be that easy. He described his grandma’s cookies as thick, soft, and chewy. Substantial. Hmm. That sounded like a cookie I wanted to eat. Challenge accepted!
After trying many recipes (and gaining a pound or two from all the testing), I found this recipe from Baking Illustrated, which I slightly adapted. They’re thick, soft, chewy, and substantial. David absolutely loved them and said, if he can’t have his grandma’s cookies, then these are the ones he wants!
Mission accomplished (okay, well, sort of – no one ever did find that darn recipe). Oh, and guess what? I found out that I do like cookies! These are awesome!
INGREDIENTS YOU NEED TO MAKE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES:
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder
- Salt
- Unsalted butter (melted)
- Light brown sugar
- White sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla extract
- Semisweet chocolate chips
HERE’S A QUICK LOOK AT HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES:
One of the best things about this recipe is the melted butter. How many times have you gone to make cookies and you find out you need softened butter, yet all of your butter is as hard as a rock? Yep, I know. Been there. Lots of times. Not a problem with this recipe! Just make sure you let the melted butter cool off before adding it to the dough. If it’s too hot, your cookies may spread out too much when baking.
The original recipe called for 1½ cups of chocolate chips. A 12-ounce bag of chocolate chips has about 2 cups of chips. I add the whole bag because why should I let that last ½ cup sit lonely in my cupboard waiting to be used? Besides, they are chocolate chip cookies. The more the merrier, I say!
Chilling the cookie dough balls for 20 minutes before baking was also called for in the original recipe. I did it that way for a long time. One day, I was in a hurry and decided to see what would happen if I didn’t chill them. Well, they turned out just as good! I didn’t notice any major difference. 20 minutes saved!
You could be enjoying a batch of these awesome chocolate chip cookies in under an hour. What are you waiting for? Oh, and I highly recommend trying a few of these while they are still a little warm. Oh. My. Goodness.
TIPS:
The secret to making these cookies soft and chewy is to make sure you don’t overcook them. Now, if you do overcook them, they will still be really good. They just might be a little more crunchy than soft and chewy. Here are a few tips:
- Use light-colored cookie sheets and parchment paper and bake in the upper portion of your oven to ensure the bottoms don’t get too brown. If you have to use two pans and two oven racks, be sure to rotate the pans halfway through the cooking time.
- Watch them carefully! The tops of these cookies won’t really have much color on them when they are done. In fact, you actually might think they aren’t done and be tempted to leave them in there longer (guess how i know that?). The bottoms and edges should be set and lightly golden brown. The tops will be puffy, but not browned.
- Cool the cookies completely on the cookie sheet to ensure maximum chewy goodness.
COMMON QUESTIONS:
- What if I don’t have an electric stand mixer? Use a large bowl, spoon, and some good old-fashioned elbow grease! Bonus: a few extra calories burned!
- Can I add nuts? Sure! I’m not a nuts-in-my-cookie kind of girl, but if you like nuts in your cookies, go right ahead and add some in when you stir in the chocolate chips.
- I don’t have unsalted butter. Can I use salted butter? Yes, you can. If you do, I would eliminate the salt called for in the recipe. Salty cookies are not good cookies.
- Can I use dark brown sugar? Yes.
Every home cook should have a good chocolate chip cookie recipe in their box. Look no further! People absolutely love these cookies. They are requested often! I get so many compliments on them and am always asked for the recipe.
I hope you try this recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookies and love it as much as I do! Thanks for visiting today!
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 (12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325°F.
- Cover one extra large or two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- Using an electric stand mixer, beat the melted butter, light brown sugar, white sugar, egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract until smooth.
- Add the flour mixture and stir just until the flour is combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Divide the dough into 18 equal-sized balls (each should be about 60 grams or about 1½ tablespoons) and evenly space them out on the cookie sheet(s) about 2 inches apart.
- Bake in the top portion of your oven for 18 to 20 minutes or just until the bottoms and sides are set and are lightly golden brown. The tops will be puffy and will not have much color. (Note: If you use two cookie sheets and two oven racks, be sure to rotate them halfway during baking.)
- Cool the cookies completely on the cookie sheet(s) to maintain the chewy texture.
- Store the cookies in an air-tight container.
Notes
- I recommend using light-colored cookie sheets and parchment paper to prevent the bottoms of the cookies from becoming too brown.
- If you would like to add nuts to your cookies, stir them in with the chocolate chips.
- If you don't have unsalted butter, you could use salted butter. However, I highly recommend eliminating the salt called for in the recipe so your cookies don't turn out too salty.
- Make sure you allow the melted butter to cool before adding it to your cookie dough. If it's too hot, your cookies may spread out too much when baking.
- You can use dark brown sugar in place of the light brown sugar.
- If you don't have an electric mixer, you can mix the dough by hand.
Recipe slightly adapted from Baking Illustrated via Genius Kitchen.
If you made this or any of my other recipes, take a photo and tag @nowcookthis on Instagram and hashtag it #nowcookthisrecipes.
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