Chocolate Chip Cookies

baking cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are the best cookies. So if we can make the best version of chocolate chip cookies, then we can make the best cookies. Simple!

Making cookies is mostly a science. Once you get the scientific part down, a little bit of practice makes perfect. These cookies are so good they were tested experimentally as a replacement for stop signs.

Prep

Follow the directions, make yummy cookies, and share them with your friends.

  1. Get out all the ingredients (so you don’t forget any!).
  2. Preheat oven to 325°F.

Overview

Here is what we’ll be doing:

  • Melt butter (it makes better cookies, I promise).
  • Measure flour, add salt and baking soda.
  • Mix butter + sugars.
  • Add eggs and vanilla.
  • Taste to make sure its yummy.
  • Add chocolate chips and bake!
  • Eat.
  • Eat more later.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups AP Flour[1]
  • 1⁄2 tsp Sea Salt
  • 1⁄2 tsp Baking Soda
  • 1 c Dark Brown Sugar
  • 1⁄2 cup White Sugar
  • 3⁄4 cup Butter
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tbsp vanilla

Tools

  • Saucepan
  • Two mixing bowls
  • Cup + spoon measuring devices
  • Kitchen Scale (optional, but highly recommended)
  • Oven
  • Baking Sheet
  • Silicon Baking Mat (optional)

Directions

Start by getting all of your ingredients out in one place. That way you will not forget anything. Put things away after each step and make cleaning so much easier!

  1. Melt butter in saucepan[2].
    Tip: I recommend browning the butter, it adds a great nutty flavor. To brown the butter, cook it at a medium-low temperature for 5-10 minutes until darker in color (golden-brown). Stir regularly and make sure to not burn.
  • 3⁄4 cup Butter
  1. Mix flour, salt, baking soda in bowl, set aside.
    Tip: I highly recommend weighing the flour. It’ll give you much more consistent cookies across flours. Sift too if you want!
  • 2 cups AP Flour
  • 1⁄2 tsp Sea Salt
  • 1⁄2 tsp Baking Soda
  1. Mix sugars and butter in new bowl.
  • 1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
  • 1⁄2 cup White Sugar
  • 3⁄4 cup Melted Butter from Step 1
  1. Add eggs and vanilla to sugar + butter and mix well.
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tbsp vanilla

  1. Add chocolate chips (about 1 cup but really a personal preference here).

  2. Place on cookie sheet. Use about 1⁄3 dough for each ball. Add a bit of flake salt to the top.

  3. Bake at 325°F for 12ish minutes, until edges are browned.

  4. Remove from oven and let sit on cookie sheets for 5 minutes.

  5. Move to wire cooling rack for 5 more minutes.

  6. Eat!!!

Ever since I can remember I made Chocolate Chip Cookies. In high school I discovered a recipe I really liked, memorized it, and spent the next ten years experimenting on slight variations.

After college I really wanted to start a business making cookies. My plan was to strap a little oven on a bike trailer and go to the people. Who doesn’t want a cookie that was freshed baked in front of them? Unfortunately, I got a real job.

Advanced Notes

Want extra yummy cookies? Follow some or all of these advanced tips to get better cookies.

While Making

  • Use a kitchen scale to weigh the flour.
  • Sift the flour with salt, baking soda before adding to sugar/butter.
  • Let sugar and melted butter sit in fridge for ~30 minutes after mixing.

Dough

  • The cookies are better if you wait a day or two to bake them! Let all the yummy sugar and fat work its magic.
  • Put the dough wrapped in plastic or tightly covered for 24-48hrs. I unusually do this with at least half the dough whenever I make cookies.
  • Freezing the dough works too! Let thaw in fridge overnight before baking.
  • Take it out of the fridge 30 min before you plan on baking the cookies.

Baking

  • Good cookie sheets are worth it.
  • Get a silicon baking mat to bake on.

Post Bake

  • They are good to eat after 5 min of cooling on a wire rack!
  • They are also still very good later! If you are storing them overnight, be sure to put them in a sealed bag or Tupperware.

About Those Chocolate Chips

  • This is really a personal preference, both in quantity and quality. As long as you do not go overboard with too many chips, the cookies will turn out good.
  • I like the larger bittersweet type chocolate chips. There used to be a brand I liked the most but I forgot. It’s probably in my experiment notebook somewhere.

Good luck and enjoy the cookies! Let me know how they turn out.

-Joe

No cookies were harmed in the making of this website.

  1. Weight may vary by flour. The nutrition label should have the weight by volume on it. ↩︎

  2. Melted butter does change consistency a bit, and makes it harder to handle and bake right away. But its much easier to properly mix. ↩︎