These are the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER! Just 20 minutes and 12 ingredients, including semisweet AND dark chocolate, for the perfect combination of crispy, chewy, soft, chocolatey, and delicious.
There’s nothing like a classic chocolate chip cookie. A cookie that’s not too fluffy, but not too chewy, with golden edges and killer flavor.
Well, today’s the day, my friend, for my classic chocolate chip cookie aka the best chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Everybody has their version of the BEST chocolate chip cookie. This is mine, but you should also try my chewy chocolate chip cookies and my fluffy chocolate chip cookies. Here they are compared:
Ingredients
Just 12, every day ingredients for the best chocolate chip cookies EVER!
- Unsalted Butter – brought to room temperature to achieve perfect cookie dough texture. Melted butter will give you a chewy cookie and cold butter will give you a fluffy cookie. Room temperature butter gets you somewhere in between.
- Granulated Sugar – used both in the cookie dough and as a coating for the dough ball before it’s baked.
- Brown Sugar – I love to use dark brown sugar because of its molasses-y flavor, but you could also use light brown sugar.
- Eggs – bind the dough together.
- Vanilla Extract – adds a warmth and depth to the flavor profile of the cookies.
- Hot Coffee – brings out the chocolate flavor and adds depth. Don’t have hot coffee? Use boiling water instead!
- Baking Soda & Baking Powder – leavening agents that make the cookies fluffier.
- All-Purpose Flour – thickens and fills out the dough.
- Cornstarch – our power house ingredient! It adds a little fluff, a little crisp, and a little chew! It gives these cookies an almost airy texture that is absolutely incredible!
- Salt – cuts the sweetness of the rest of the cookie dough.
- Semisweet Chocolate Chips and Dark Chocolate Chunks – I like to use these two types of chocolate for my cookies because of the flavor and texture they both add. Feel free to use whatever chocolate you have on hand.
How to make
This may look like the directions for every other chocolate chip cookie recipe, but my subtle variations – like dissolving the leavening agents in hot coffee or water – are what makes these cookies special.
- Use a stand mixer or hand mixer to cream together butter and sugars either in the stand mixer bowl or a large mixing bowl.
- Beat in eggs and vanilla.
- Dissolve baking soda and baking powder in hot coffee.
- Beat that into the dough followed by flour, cornstarch, and salt.
- Beat in your chocolate chips/chunks.
- Form the dough into balls and roll each ball in a bowl of granulated sugar until fully coated.
- Chill then place 12 dough balls at a time on a cookie sheet lined with a silicone baking mat.
- Bake, let cool, and enjoy!
What chocolate chips are best for cookies
Semi-sweet chocolate chunks and dark chocolate chips are the best chocolate for chocolate chip cookies.
Both are sweet, but not too sweet which balances out the sweet dough. I LOVE the pools of chocolate created by the bigger chunks. With two kinds of chocolate, there’s a surprise in every bite.
If semi-sweet or dark chocolate aren’t your thing, feel free to play around with other flavors and combinations:
- Milk chocolate chips
- White chocolate chips
- Peanut butter chips
- Butterscotch chips
Tips for making the best chocolate chip cookies
Here are some of my tips and tricks to ensure that you end up with the absolute best chocolate chip cookies you possibly can!
- Use room temperature ingredients. Let your butter and eggs reach room temperature before making this recipe. Ingredients at the same temperature incorporate better.
- Don’t warm your butter in the microwave. It won’t heat evenly and you’ll end up with some butter that’s too cold and some butter that’s melted and too hot.
- Don’t leave out the cornstarch. It adds a little fluff, a little crisp, and a little chew! It gives these cookies an almost airy texture that is absolutely incredible!
- Spoon and level the flour and cornstarch. If you scoop your flour and cornstarch with your measuring cup, it can pack those ingredients down into the cup causing you to over-measure your dry ingredients. Take a spoon and spoon the dry ingredients into the measuring cup until it’s overflowing, then level it off with a knife.
- Don’t use expired leavening agents. Baking soda or baking powder that is too old will leave you with flat cookies.
- Use a cookie scoop. Your cookies will be more uniform and hold their shape better this way.
- Scoop the dough before chilling. It’s WAY easier to scoop and roll the dough at room temperature. Have you ever tried scooping chilled hard dough out of the bowl? It’s a nightmare!
- Chill the dough. Cooling the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes allows the cookies to hold their shape better when they’re baked so they don’t flatten out. If you have the time, let them chill for a day or two!
- Line your baking sheet. No one likes scraping destroyed cookies off of a baking sheet. To ensure that your cookies are easy to get off the cookie sheet, line it with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper before baking.
- Don’t over bake. The cookies may look slightly underdone in the middle (but the edges will be a light golden brown) when you take them out of the oven. As they cool on the baking sheet, they will continue to bake because the sheet will still be hot.
Why do i need to chill my cookie dough?
The short answer: Chilling cookie dough results in a fluffier cookie and helps prevent the cookie from spreading too much while baking.
The long answer: Chilling cookie dough before baking solidifies the butter (or whatever fat you’re using). Then as the cookie bakes, the butter takes longer to melt (than room temperature or melted butter), which means the cookies will spread less resulting in a thicker cookie.
Why dissolve the baking soda in the hot coffee?
Dissolving the baking soda ahead of time in the hot coffee or water allows it to incorporate more evenly into the dough. This ensures that every cookie is the perfect amount fluffy.
Possible cookie add-ins
I love to keep it simple and stick to classic semi-sweet and dark chocolate chips for my cookies, but you can definitely experiment with other types of chips, nuts, etc. Here are some suggestions!
- Other Chips: milk chocolate, white chocolate, peanut butter, butterscotch, etc!
- Nuts: pecans, walnuts, almonds, peanuts, macadamia nuts, you name it!
- Dried Fruit: raisins or craisins!
- Maldon Sea Salt: sprinkle a little on the top of the cookie while it cools. SO GOOD!
How to store
You can store these as fully cooked cookies or cookie dough balls ready to be made later.
Fully cooked and cooled chocolate chip cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week, in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Enjoy them as-is from room temperature or from the fridge or pop them in the microwave to reheat if desired!
To enjoy from the freezer, let your cookies thaw in the fridge and then pop them in the microwave to make them warm and gooey!
Chilled cookie dough balls can be stored on a lined baking sheet, loosely covered with tin foil, in the fridge for up to 2 days before baking or can be frozen for up to 3 months.
To freeze: place the cookie dough balls evenly spaced on a lined baking sheet. Freeze for 1 hour or until firm. Transfer to a freezer safe ziplock baggie and freeze for up to 3 months.
Bake from frozen following the recipe directions, but you’ll need to add a few extra minutes of bake time.
This really is the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe of all time! Excuse me while I go eat the whole batch. 😉
– Jennifer
Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment for this recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ½ cup granulated sugar plus 1/2 cup more for rolling the dough
- 1 ½ cups dark brown sugar packed
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon hot coffee could also use hot water
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 3 cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- ¼ cup cornstarch spooned and leveled
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup dark chocolate chunks
Recipe Video
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and line 4 rimmed baking sheets each with a silicone baking mat. Set aside.
- In a large bowl or stand mixer bowl, cream together butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Scrape down the sides.
- Beat in eggs one at a time until they're just incorporated (don't over mix), then beat in vanilla extract.
- Dissolve the baking soda and baking powder in the hot coffee, then beat that into the dough. Scrape down the sides.
- Beat in the flour, cornstarch, and salt until just combined (don't over mix).
- Beat in chocolate chips and chocolate chunks. Set aside.
- Place 1/2 cup of granulated sugar in a medium-sized bowl.
- Scoop cookie dough using a medium cookie scoop, then roll in granulated sugar. Don't be shy with the sugar.
- Place 12 sugar-rolled cookie dough balls onto each of the prepared baking sheets.
- Optional: Chill in the fridge for 30+ minutes (up to 2 days)*.
- Bake for 10-14 minutes in preheated oven.
- Cool for two minutes on baking sheet before transferring cookies to a wire cooling rack.
- Repeat with remaining cookie dough and enjoy!
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Notes
Nutrition Information
*Note: Nutrition information is estimated and varies based on products used.
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