Description
This is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe that delivers soft, chewy, and perfectly golden cookies every time. Made with simple ingredients like butter, sugars, vanilla, eggs, flour, leavening agents, sea salt, and plenty of chocolate chips, these cookies are easy to make and ideal for baking novices and seasoned bakers alike. The recipe includes tips on freezing cookie dough, ingredient substitutions, and guidance on baking frozen dough for maximum convenience and flavor.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Wet Ingredients
- 1 cup salted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
Dry Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Add-ins
- 2 cups chocolate chips (12 oz)
Instructions
- Preheat Oven and Prepare Baking Sheets: Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C). Line three baking sheets with parchment paper to prevent sticking and set aside.
- Mix Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, and sea salt. Stir well and set aside.
- Cream Butter and Sugars: In a separate large bowl, cream together the softened salted butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar until the mixture is smooth and combined.
- Add Eggs and Vanilla: Beat in the eggs and pure vanilla extract until the mixture becomes light and fluffy, approximately 1 minute.
- Incorporate Dry Ingredients: Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined. Avoid overmixing to ensure a tender cookie.
- Add Chocolate Chips: Fold in the chocolate chips thoroughly so they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
- Form Cookie Dough Balls: Roll 2-3 tablespoons of dough at a time into balls, depending on your preferred cookie size. Place them evenly spaced on the prepared baking sheets to allow room for spreading.
- Bake the Cookies: Bake in the preheated oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove the cookies when they just begin to turn golden brown around the edges but look slightly doughy in the center; this ensures softness.
- Cool on Baking Pan: Let the baked cookies sit on the baking pan for 5 minutes to firm up before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Recipe yields approximately 36 cookies using 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie.
- Metric measurements have been updated to be exact for best results.
- Do not overbake. Cookies will appear slightly underbaked when removed from the oven, which is key to their chewy texture.
- If using a convection oven, reduce baking temperature by 25°F.
- Ingredient substitutions: Butter can be swapped for unsalted butter, coconut oil, vegan butter, or browned butter. For a vegan version, use the dedicated vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe.
- Egg alternatives are possible—refer to an eggless chocolate chip cookie guide for options.
- Granulated sugar may be replaced with organic cane sugar.
- Dark brown sugar can be used instead of light brown sugar but will give a stronger molasses flavor.
- Unbleached all-purpose flour is preferred; gluten-free all-purpose flour can be used for gluten-free cookies.
- Use fine sea salt rather than iodized table salt for optimal flavor.
- Chocolate chips, chunks, or chopped chocolate are acceptable; use your favorite variety (milk, semisweet, dark).
- Freezing tip: Portion dough into balls and freeze in a single layer inside an airtight container for up to 2 months.
- Storage: Store baked cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 5 days or freeze up to 2 months.
- To bake frozen dough, either thaw at room temperature for 1 hour and bake at 375°F or bake directly from frozen by placing dough on parchment-lined sheet, preheating oven to 350°F while dough is inside, and baking for 15 minutes.
- For a chocolate chip cookie cake, refer to the homemade chocolate chip cookie cake recipe.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 183 kcal
- Sugar: 18 g
- Sodium: 153 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 26 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 2 g
- Cholesterol: 27 mg