Ultimately, the term “best” is highly subjective when applied to a recipe. Everyone has their own palate for flavors, textures, temperatures, and more. I like a chocolate chip cookie with chewy innards and a slightly crisp edge, buttery crumbs, complex flavors, and lots of chocolate chips. With those standards, this is the recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies. I adapted this recipe from the classic New York Times recipe, including my own exacting standards for cookie craftsmanship and using milk chocolate instead, because it’s my favorite.

The Secret to the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe has a few key components that make it precise. Two kinds of flour with different levels of gluten give the perfect texture. Two kinds of sugar give the right amount of sweetness with depth of flavor. A sprinkling of flaky salt right before the cookies go in the oven give the cookies a bright kick. But in my opinion, a robust cookie preparation method makes all the difference.

Handling Your Ingredients

This recipe includes a few extra steps that make cookie preparation crucial. None of them are strictly necessary; for adequate cookies, you can lump all ingredients together in a mixing bowl until combined. But many of these steps contribute to a better cookie.

First of all, whisking together dry ingredients before sifting them in ensures they’re evenly mixed, and therefore leavening agents (that cause cookies to rise) are evenly distributed. Sifting them into the creamed butter and sugar keeps some extra air in the dough, ensuring the cookies don’t become too dense. Finally, measuring the weight of your cookies before baking ensures even cookie sizes for precise cooking times and easily sharable portions.

Chill That Dough!

Beginner bakers often overlook the importance of temperature in baking. Sure, you may check the temperature of the oven, but it goes beyond that. Softened butter suffuses the dough most easily. Chilling the dough for a significant period of time ensures that the butter reconstitutes itself, suffusing through the dough at large and creating the best chocolate chip cookie texture. Don’t skip this step, no matter how tempted you may be!

How to Make the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

I like a chocolate chip cookie with chewy innards and a slightly crisp edge, buttery crumbs, complex flavors, and lots of chocolate chips. With those standards, this is the recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Chilling Time1 day d

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cookies

Servings: 20

Calories: 210kcal

Author: Blair Carpenter

Equipment

• electric mixer
• 2 mixing bowls
• whisk
• Flour sifter
• rubber spatula
• Airtight wrap such as plastic wrap
• Kitchen scale
• 2 baking sheets
• silicone baking mats or parchment paper
• spatula
• cooling rack

Ingredients

• 2 c minus 2 tbsp cake flour
• 1 ⅔ c bread flour
• 1 ¼ tsp baking soda
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp coarse salt
• 1 ¼ c butter softened
• 1 ¼ c light brown sugar lightly packed
• 1 c plus 2 tbsp white sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 11 oz milk chocolate chips I like Guittard
• Flaky salt

Instructions

• In one mixing bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients except the sugars and the flaky salt (cake flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder, and coarse salt) until combined.
• In a bowl fitted to an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
• Beat in the eggs one at a time, then beat in the vanilla.
• Add the flour in 3-4 batches, stirring well and scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula between each addition.
• Mix in the chocolate chips.
• Wrap the dough in airtight wrap (such as plastic wrap) and allow to chill for at least 24 hours (up to 72 hours).
• When the dough has chilled, weigh it in grams on a kitchen scale, and divide your total by 20 (that’s how many cookies we’re making). If there is any remainder, discard it or bake it into a small cookie.
• Preheat your oven to 350F.
• Divide your dough into 20 even balls and space them out on your cookie sheets. They should be about the size of golf balls. Do not press them flatter; they will spread significantly.
• Sprinkle each cookie with a bit of flaky salt. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Allow cookies to cool for about 2 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack and cool an additional 10 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 210kcal

Did you make this recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies? Tell me what you thought!