You know something sweet is coming out of the kitchen when you hear the humming of the stand mixer creaming butter and sugar. You unwrap the softened butter, turn up the speed of the mixer, and slowly add your brown and white sugars to get that airy, creamy blend. It’s the beginning of countless recipes, but let’s talk about what is arguably the most popular of them all: chocolate chip cookies. Over the years, we have made hundreds of chocolate chip cookies, tested dozens of recipes, and crafted what we deem to be the perfect one. For us, what separates the good ones from the best comes down to a few key components. Let’s break it down by what we love in a cookie and what makes these the best chocolate chip cookie.
What makes these the best chocolate chip cookie?
- Texture: This is what makes the biggest difference to most die hard chocolate chip cookie fans. Crispy? Soft? Chewy? We want it all. We are looking for soft, chewy, and crispy all in one bite. That’s what makes the perfect cookie.
- Flavor: We are looking to pair classic flavors, vanilla, brown sugar, and butter, with the dark chocolate pieces.
- Chocolate: Dark chocolate pairs perfectly with the brown sugar, vanilla-scented dough, making this our go-to combination. For a classic chocolate chip cookie, we prefer larger chunks of chocolate to get those chocolate puddles throughout the cookie. Valrhona feves (70%) or Ghiradelli bittersweet chocolate chips (60%) are our preference since they have a higher % chocolate and are larger in size than the standard chocolate chip. If you are not a dark chocolate fan, just use your favorite!
- Finishes: We sprinkle flaky sea salt at the end for a balanced cookie. In this case, fleur de sel or Maldon flakes are our preference to get those visible, light flakes of sea salt for a balanced finish.
Yes, these have it all, which is why these cookies are the recipe we are reaching for time and time again. These are truly the perfect chocolate chip cookie. They are sprinkled with chocolate puddles, are chewy yet crisp, and have a vanilla, brown sugar taste that will leave you wanting more with each bite.
What makes these the best chocolate chip cookie?
- Flours: this recipe calls for both bread and cake flours as opposed to your standard all purpose flour. The reason is the flours have different protein contents, one adding more chew due to the higher protein (bread flour) and the other (cake flour) maintaining a lightness due to the lower protein content. That being said, when combined, the protein content of the mixture (both cake and bread flour) is almost exactly the same protein % as all purpose flour. If you don’t have a use for cake and bread flour in your kitchen, use all purpose. We’ve made them both ways and still opt for the combination of flours as our ‘go to’ but promise they are still delicious with all purpose!
- Chilling the dough: this is the step you get to in the recipe and your heart sinks… do you really have to wait 24 hours just to bake the cookies? What does chilling the dough do anyway? Chilling the dough does a couple things that will make your cookie the best you’ve ever had. 1. It allows the gluten in the dough to relax. When you mix cookies (or anything with flour really) the gluten strands get longer and stronger making a tougher dough. Since higher protein flours have higher gluten content, it gets even longer and stronger. This process is what is used to get that chew we all know and love in sourdough or other bread. That being said, it’s not exactly something we look for in a cookie, so minimally mixing the dough after adding the flour and chilling the dough gives it time to rest so you have the right amount of chew but no tough cookies! 2. It allows the flavors to marry together. We have made this dough with and without chilling. When it’s chilled, the flavors are slightly more cohesive and enhanced. The caramel-y, brown sugar profile becomes more pronounced when you give the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla time to rest together in the fridge. That being said, we know sometimes you just want a cookie… and although we prefer them after 24 hours in the fridge, they will still taste great if you need to pop a ‘tester’ or two to bake the day of making the dough 😉 We get it, we’ve been there. In that case, we still strongly encourage ~30 minutes in the fridge for the scooped balls to firm up before baking.
- Sea salt finish: Don’t have flaked sea salt on hand? Don’t sweat it, this step is optional. We think it adds a lot to the bite of the cookie. The salt provides a balanced, savory note with each bite, so we strongly recommend it. If you don’t have any on hand, don’t add table salt on the top of the cookies; just leave it off, they’ll still be delicious.
- Freezing: Can you freeze these? Yes! These are great frozen after they’ve baked, or even better, freeze the dough after you have scooped it into balls. Then you can have a warm chocolate cookie anytime. To do this, after the dough has chilled and firmed for ~30 minutes, place the scooped, chilled dough into a ziploc and pop them into the freezer. Just add a few minutes to the cook time, and you can have a warm chocolate chip cookie anytime! It’s our favorite thing to have on hand for an after dinner treat or when company comes over and you don’t have a chance to make something new. We always have a bag or two of the dough stashed in our freezer for moments like these. Make the full recipe and keep some extra on hand! We promise you’ll be glad you did.
Recipe
Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Servings 20
Ingredients
- 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour 8 1/2 ounces*
- 1 ⅔ cups bread flour 8 1/2 ounces*
- 1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt
- 1 ¼ cups unsalted butter 2 1/2 sticks
- 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar 10 ounces
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar 8 ounces
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
- 1 ¼ pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves at least 60 percent cacao content (see chocolate notes above)
- Flaky sea salt
- 1/2 cup heath toffee bits optional
Instructions
- Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
- Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or a hand held mixer) cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes.
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add in the vanilla.
- Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds.
- Add in the chocolate pieces (and toffee if adding) and gently incorporate to prevent breaking them.
- Scoop 3 1/2-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto a baking sheet.
- Cover the dough by pressing plastic wrap against the surface of the dough and refrigerate 24 to 36 hours. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours or frozen at this stage.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
- Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes.
- Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough.
Notes
*we prefer bread and cake flour but all purpose can be used instead of bread and cake (use 17 ounces AP)
adapted from Jacques Torres
Entertainer’s Note:
We love having these on hand for unexpected guests or the perfect late night treat. Pop the scooped dough balls into the freezer and just add a couple minutes to the cook time for a warm, melty chocolate chip cookie anytime!
