The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ever
Posted Feb 11, 2018, Updated Mar 17, 2024
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This is the best chocolate chip cookies recipe ever! No funny ingredients, no chilling time, etc. Just a simple, straightforward, amazingly delicious, doughy yet still fully cooked, chocolate chip cookie that turns out perfectly every single time!
Everyone needs a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe in their repertoire, and this is mine. It is seriously the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ever! I have been making these for many, many years and everyone who tries them agrees they’re out-of-this-world delicious!
Plus, there’s no funny ingredients, no chilling, etc. Just a simple, straightforward, amazingly delicious, doughy yet still fully cooked, chocolate chip cookie that turns out perfectly every single time!
These are everything a chocolate chip cookie should be. Crispy and chewy. Doughy yet fully baked. Perfectly buttery and sweet.
How to make Chocolate Chip Cookies
Let’s walk through how to make chocolate chip cookies step-by-step, and don’t forget to watch the video.
Make the chocolate chip cookie dough
The first step in making these easy chocolate chip cookies to to combine the dry ingredients in a medium size bowl.
When doing this, make sure to Measure the flour correctly. Be sure to use a measuring cup made for dry ingredients (NOT a pyrex liquid measuring cup). Then, measure flour by scooping it into a measuring cup and leveling it with a knife.
Next, cream together butter and sugars, make sure to soften the butter early by taking it out of the fridge at least two hours before baking so it’s ready to go when you need it. You can also warm it in the microwave for about 7 seconds, but be very careful not to melt it.
Once butter/sugar mixture is beaten well, add the eggs & vanilla and beat to combine.
Add dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Then add the chocolate chips and beat until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Use LOTS of chocolate chips. You want at least two gooey chocolate chips in every bite.
The chocolate chip cookie dough should be easy to roll and not sticky. It should not be dry or crumbly. See photo below for the optimal texture.
Portion & roll dough
Once the cookie dough is finished, it’s time to portion and roll the dough. I know many people eyeball it when making cookies, however I highly recommend using a cookie scoop.
Using a cooking scoop ensures that all the cookies are uniform in size so that they bake evenly. I love this stainless steel cookie scoop and use it every time I make cookies.
At this point you can either bake your dough or freeze it.
To freeze cookie dough:
Since this chocolate chip cookie recipe makes so many cookies, I always make a full batch and freeze some. That way I have dough on hand for unexpected guests or whenever the cookie craving strikes.
I prefer to flash-freeze the cookie dough before putting it in an airtight container. To do this, roll the cookie dough into balls and space them out on a parchment lined baking sheet. Then put the baking sheet in the freezer for about 30 minutes, or until the dough slightly freezes.
Once the dough is slightly frozen, transfer the cookie dough balls to an airtight container or plastic bag and freeze for up to 2 months.
How to bake frozen dough
There are two ways to bake frozen dough:
- Thaw it first: I love having dough ready to go in the freezer for impromptu guests. When you want to bake them, remove the dough balls from the freezer, set them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and cover with a light cloth towel or napkin to let them thaw. Then, once they reach room temperature (after about 1-2 hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen) bake as directed in the recipe (at 375 degrees F). SO easy!
- Bake from frozen: Place the dough on a parchment lined baking sheet. Then, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (ONLY if you are baking the frozen dough) and put the cookies in the oven in the beginning of the preheating time. (So put the cookies in the oven as you preheat it). Set the timer for 15 minutes and remove the cookies after 15 minutes. The top will look a little more brown than usual, but they will still taste amazing.
Bake until they just barely look done
If you are baking the cookies immediately simply roll them into balls, place them evenly apart on a baking sheet (about 1.5 to 2 inches apart) and bake at 375 degrees for 8-10 minutes.
The most important piece of advice I can give you is – DO NOT over-bake these chocolate chip cookies! They will not look done when you pull them out of the oven, and that is GOOD.
At the end of the baking time, these chocolate chip cookies won’t look done but they are. They will look a little doughy when you remove them from the oven, and thats good. They may be lightly browned in a few places, which is exactly how you want them.
They will set up as they sit on the cookie sheet for a few minutes. I never bake them for more than 9 minutes
Cool
Cool the chocolate chip cookies on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely (or just eat them warm while the chocolate chips are melty)!
Store
Store these chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for up to 2 months.
FAQs about Chocolate Chip Cookies
The trick to making this best chocolate chip cookie recipe gooey is to not over-bake them.
There are a few main reasons for this that I have found in my experience:
1) Expired leavening agents. If your baking soda or baking powder are past their prime, your chocolate chip cookies will likely flatten and spread. Even if the date on the container checks out, it still might not be good. That would be the first place I would start.
How to test if your baking soda is active: Combine 1/2 cup of hot water, 1/4 teaspoon vinegar and 1/4 tsp of baking soda. When you add the baking soda a reaction should take place immediately. If not, then you need new baking soda.
How to test if your baking powder is active: Add 1/2 tsp of baking powder to 1/2 cup of hot water. It should bubble immediately. A reaction should take place immediately. If not, then you need new baking powder.
2) Over-mixing. If you over-mix the ingredients in this best chocolate chip cookie recipe you may end up with flat cookies.
3) Ingredients are too warm. Sometimes over-mixing can also lead to your ingredients becoming too warm. If you notice this happening, you can chill the dough before baking to return the batter to room temperature.
4) Incorrect oven temperature. I recommend baking with an electric convection oven. If your cookies and other baked goods are not turning out properly, invest in a cheap oven thermometer to check the temperature. If your oven is baking too hot or too cold, then the cookies will not turn out well.
If your cookies didn’t flatten, here are a few things that could’ve been the problem. I have never had this happen to me in 10 years, so here are my educated guesses…
1) The ingredients/cookie dough was too cold. Cold dough doesn’t spread as well as room temperature dough.
2) You accidentally used too much flour. Be sure to use a measuring cup made for dry ingredients (not a pyrex liquid measuring cup), and measure the flour correctly by scooping and leveling.
3) The oven temperature is incorrect. I recommend using an oven thermometer to check the temperature of your oven (it’s only $7), because it can often be different than the reading it gives on the display or what the dial is set at.
4) The butter/sugar mixture wasn’t fully creamed. Try creaming the butter and sugar together for longer.
I have tested baking this recipe from frozen more times than I can even count. I have gotten the best results when I place the dough on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Then, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (ONLY if you are baking the frozen dough) and put the cookies in the oven in the beginning of the preheating time. Set the timer for 15 minutes and remove the cookies after 15 minutes. The top will look a little more brown than usual, but they will still taste amazing.
Yes, this recipe halves easily. Simply decrease the ingredients by half and the recipe will make 18 cookies. Or, try this recipe for small batch chocolate chip cookies that makes 8 cookies.
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe: Ingredients & Substitutions
The only ingredient I feel confident that can be changed up is the mix-ins. Chocolate chips, sprinkles, peanut butter chips, etc. DO NOT change anything else in this recipe. If you do I cannot guarantee they will turn out. However, here are some tested substitutions.
- Butter. I use salted butter, but unsalted butter would also be great. I just recommend tasting the dough to ensure that it’s salted to your liking.
- White Sugar. You can use granulated white sugar or organic cane sugar.
- Brown sugar. I use light brown sugar in this recipe for the best results.
- Flour. I recommend using an unbleached, all-purpose flour to make these chocolate chip cookies. Many readers have used gluten-free all-purpose flour with excellent results. Or, try these gluten-free chocolate chip cookies.
- Sea Salt. I exclusively bake and cook with pure, fine sea salt. Sea salt is different than table salt (that is iodized), so if you use salt other than sea salt I recommend testing the recipe first with 1/2 tsp and then adjusting to your taste.
- Chocolate Chips. As you can see from the photos, sometimes I use chocolate chunks, chopped chocolate, or chocolate chips. It doesn’t matter what you use, as long as you use 2 cups.
More of our favorite cookie recipes!
- The BEST Cut Out Sugar Cookies – Perfect for Christmas (or any holiday really)!
- Make this giant chocolate chip chocolate chip cookie cake – better than store-bought and perfect for any occasion!
- For an easy and irresistible dessert, try this Skillet Cookie (Pizookie) recipe! It’s like eating warm cookie dough and it comes together in 20 minutes flat!
- Double Chocolate Chip Cookies have three different forms of chocolate!
- You have to try our Oatmeal Cookie Recipe – it’s seriously the BEST!
- Classic Soft Peanut Butter Cookies – My personal favorite kind of cookie!
- Classic snickerdoodles! This is my grandma’s recipe, you will love them!
- Soft & Chewy Gingerbread Cookies
- The BEST Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies (EVER)! My favorite Christmas cookie!
- Flourless peanut butter blossoms
- Candy Stuffed Cookie Bars
- No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Oat Bars
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The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ever
Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 cups chocolate chips (14 oz)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line three baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a medium bowl mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Cream together butter and sugars until combined.
- Beat in eggs and vanilla until light (about 1 minute).
- Mix in the dry ingredients until combined.
- Add chocolate chips and mix well.
- Roll 2-3 Tablespoons (depending on how large you like your cookies) of dough at a time into balls and place them evenly spaced on your prepared cookie sheets.
- Bake in preheated oven for approximately 8-10 minutes. Take them out when they are just barely starting to turn brown.
- Let them sit on the baking pan for 2 minutes before removing to cooling rack.
Video
Notes
- Butter. unsalted butter, coconut oil and vegan butter are all good substitutes. Or, use browned butter.
- Granulated Sugar. organic cane sugar works well too.
- Light Brown sugar. Dark brown sugar works well, but imparts a stronger molasses taste.
- Flour. I recommend using an unbleached, all-purpose flour to make these chocolate chip cookies. All-purpose gluten free flour works very well too.
- Sea Salt. I exclusively bake and cook with pure, fine sea salt. Sea salt is different than table salt (that is iodized), so if you use salt other than sea salt I recommend testing the recipe first with ½ tsp and then adjusting to your taste.
- Chocolate Chips. As you can see from the photos, sometimes I use chocolate chunks, chopped chocolate, or chocolate chips. It doesn’t matter what you use, as long as you use 2 cups. Choose your favorite variety: milk, semisweet, dark, etc.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
These cookies hold a special place in my heart. My friend brought me a meal after my first miscarriage (more on that below) and brought these cookies for dessert. They were so perfect I was convinced they were slice and bake, so I slyly said to her, “the cookies you brought are SO delicious, how did you make them?” Lo and behold they were from scratch and she shared the recipe with me!
Her sweet gesture (literally) took a very dark season in my life and made it a little brighter. You see, after our daughter Bethany turned one-year-old we were ready to have another baby! We found out I was pregnant with twins, but things didn’t look great. There were no heartbeats, and although it was early (7 weeks) we were fairly certain that it wasn’t a viable pregnancy. We waited two weeks just to be sure, and then I was scheduled to have a D&C and say goodbye to our babies.
This began one of the most difficult, trying times in my life. I was in a cloud of postpartum depression with no sweet baby to snuggle the blues away. My friends and family came alongside of me and I began to heal. I experienced another miscarriage and then got pregnant with my son, Gabe.
Losing three babies in such a short time changed me forever. I haven’t taken one single day of my kids’ lives for granted. They were chosen to be mine. I have some babies I never got to hold, so I cherish holding the ones I do. These cookies remind me of the sweetness and importance of friendship. I wouldn’t have made it through without a handful of close friends who I cherish. So make these cookies and share them with people you love.
Life is too uncertain to take a minute for granted. Spread love, make cookies. That’s my motto!
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We LOVE this recipe! Not only was it easy and quick to prepare, it is also as delicious as the author claims. Whenever my husband and son crave a chocolate chip cookie, we bring up this recipe and whip up a batch in no time! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much Belinda! I’m so glad your family enjoys it as much as we do!
Ive never put 2 cups of chocolate chips in a recipe, its just too much chocolate, you never get to taste any cookie! Ive had no complaints from my family.
You can always decrease the amount of chocolate chips! I’m of the opinion that there’s no such thing as too much chocolate! 😉 But you can absolutely adjust the amount to your liking!
I’ve been on the search for a good chocolate chip cookie recipe and have definitely found it!
These are AMAZING to say the least. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
Oh my goodness! What a delectable chocolate chip cookie recipe! Wow! I’ve been using another recipe for years and they always come out so flat. Not any more. This is my new recipe! Thank you! I used butter Crisco sticks and mini chocolate chips. I had a house full of family for a Thanksgiving and these were a HUGE hit. They were fluffy, chewy & delicious!!
You guys this is the Absolute BEST cookie recipe of all time AND I USED ALL SUGAR SUBSTITUTES!!! My cookies turned out incredible. Seriously. I even took them to work… my coworkers Loved them and really had no idea they were sugar free which is crazy but they are so rich and decadent that they could fool anyone. I was on the keto diet for a month and I still try to keep my diet as sugar free as possible. I used Sweet and Low to substitute the white sugar(reference chart of back of box), Truvia brown sugar blend to substitute the brown sugar (again reference chart on back of bag) and then my 2 cups of chocolate chips were Lily’s Dark Chocolate stevia sweetened baking chips. Every single detail of the recipe was followed except for thode three things. Everything creamed together nicely and created a nice thick dough. So I put them in the oven for 8-10 minutes but they didn’t really drop down much so after they were finished with 8-10 minutes in the oven. I set them out and a few minutes later pushed them all gently down with a spatula. This gave them all a nice cracked look into the cookie where the chips were gooey and the cookie center was hot and soft. I put them on the counter overnight and they are just so pretty and Tasty! The best word to describe them is decadent. They travel well and will without question be a hit. I’m in love.
I’ve been making these cookies for a couple months now, tweaking the ingredients every time. I love these cookies so much! My personal “ah ha!” Moments in making these the best possible cookies ever. I switched out different brands in your recipe and these made them go from amazing, to to die for!
-“I can’t believe it’s not butter” stick *left out to soften for about 15-20 minutes (softens fast!)*
-Reynolds non stick aluminum foil (effortless lift off sheet without any darker cook on the bottom)
-1/2 & 1/2 Reese’s peanut butter chips & nestle tollhouse semi sweet. (I eyeball I never measure the chips)
– I cream my butter and sugar and vanilla extract for about 5-10 minutes (however long it takes to pull out the rest of the ingredients and line me baking sheets)
I love these!! I made them the other day and every time I have one I say they are the best cookies I’ve ever made. The sea salt was a fantastic addition and they were perfectly cooked, due to your instructions. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with the world!
Thank you SO much Becky! I’m so glad you enjoyed them!!!
Wow. I’m drooling! Can’t wait to make these for my parents!
I’m sure you will all LOVE them!
These needed significantly more than 10 minutes in my oven- I like them gooey but they were still dough. Hoping they turn out okay after letting them cool partway & putting them back in.
Hey Katherine! Be super careful not to overbake. As I stated in the post they will not look done when they really are! They bake a little further while cooling on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. That being said, every oven is different so baking time can change based on your oven. However, I have never baked these for more than 11 minutes!
OH….. MY….. GOODNESS!!!! I just got done making these and THEY ARE AMAZING!! I will NEVER buy cookies from the store again! These are SO easy to make and they’re oh so good!! If I could give this recipe 1,000 stars, I would!
My one and ONLY complaint is that my waist size is gonna grow!