Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

Since 2010, this has been The Anthony Kitchen's most requested recipe. And, for good reason -- it is simply the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie in the world. If you like a buttery, sweet Chocolate Chip Cookie that's moist and chewy on the inside and fully loaded with chocolate chips, this is the only recipe you'll need...for the rest of your life.

It's a tried and true Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe and they bake up beautifully every single time, just like the ones you see at bakeries and specialty shops. In fact, it is so good, it should receive gourmet status, yet so easy, a child could bake them to perfection. It's a seriously delicious, straight-forward cookie made without any extra, crazy ingredients and zero chill time. 

Perfect for after school snacks, parties, gift-giving, and everything in between! Know someone who loves white chocolate? Add these soft and chewy White Chocolate Chip Cookies to your baking lineup!

WHO INVENTED CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES?

Ruth Graves Wakefield and her husband ran an inn called the Toll House Inn. Mrs. Wakefield was in charge of food preparations for the inn and was well known for her desserts. It was in the middle of preparing a popular colonial recipe for chocolate cookies that she realized she was out of baker's chocolate. She did, however, have a block of Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate on hand, given to her by Andrew Nestlé himself. 

She fully expected the Nestlé chocolate and the dough to become one, but to her surprise, the chopped Nestlé chocolate held its own in the cookie, becoming the world's first Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe!

Nestlé began printing the recipe for Toll House cookies on the back of chocolate chip bags in 1939, and since, Mrs. Wakefield's recipe serves as the basic building block for all chocolate chip cookie recipes...including this one.

HOW TO BAKE PERFECT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

The perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe comes down to a combination of multiple factors: bake time, temperature, the quantity of each ingredient, and the way those ingredients interact with one another.

If you want to bake thick, soft, and chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies you'll need to be sure of three things.

1. Make sure you are using the correct ingredients and measure them carefully. This means you have the type of flour, the specific leavener, sugar, etc... called for in the recipe.
2. Follow the recipe method and pay close attention not to skip over any instructions.
3. Pull the cookies before they look "done" and let them finish cooking on the baking sheet outside of the oven. As soon as the edges are tinging a golden-brown, it's time to take them out of the oven.

TIPS FOR SOFT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

• Dark baking sheets cause more browning than lighter ones, which will result in a harder, crispier cookie. For soft cookies, use lighter-colored baking sheets, such as gold or light silver.
• Too much flour will make a cookie hard and overly dense.
• Overmixing the dough will overdevelop the gluten, which in turn makes for a hard cookie. For a soft chocolate chip cookie, make sure you take an especially light hand to the cookie dough when mixing in the dry ingredients and the chocolate chips.
• Your cookies will continue to cook outside of the oven, on the baking sheet. If you pull them from the oven when they look just right, they'll likely be crispier than you'd prefer by the time they're cooled. 

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES INGREDIENTS

• Flour - Use unbleached all-purpose flour for this Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe and take care to measure it out. 
• Baking Soda - Baking soda and baking powder are not interchangeable ingredients, so be sure to use baking soda!
• Salt - We use fine sea salt in all of baking recipes.
• Sugar - You'll want to have both granulated and light brown sugar on hand to make the all-time best Chocolate Chip Cookies! The combination of the two sugars creates a dreamy texture for a soft and chewy cookie!
• Butter - Butter adds richness and flavor to cookies, and melting the butter also makes for a delectably chewy cookie. Unsalted butter should always be used in baking unless otherwise specified.
• Chocolate Chips - We used Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips, and highly recommend you do too! Milk chocolate chips may cause your cookie to taste overly sweet.
• Large Eggs - Eggs serve many purposes when it comes to baking. They are both binders and leaveners, adding both richness and structure to cookie recipes. 
• Pure Vanilla Extract - Where there is chocolate in a cookie recipe, there should also be vanilla. Vanilla provides balance to chocolate and adds extra flavor to any dessert it's added to.

Love this recipe? You'll definitely want to check out our Chocolate Chip Sandwich Cookies as well!

HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES FROM SCRATCH

TROUBLESHOOTING | WHY ARE MY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES FLAT?

• Expired Leaveners - Baking powder and baking soda are both chemical leaveners that help cookies to rise throughout the baking process. If your leavener is expired, it can't do its job and your Chocolate Chip Cookies will fall flat.
• Baking At The Wrong Temperature - The higher the oven temperature, the faster the cookie will set. If you bake your cookies at a lower temperature than called for (or if your oven is not reaching the right temperature altogether -- a much bigger problem), your cookies will be more likely to spread.
• Eggs Not Properly Mixed - If you've ever had a batch of cookies come out of the oven with wonky spreading in various spots, this is an indication you did not mix in your eggs properly.

TIPS | HOW DO YOU KEEP CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES FROM SPREADING?

• Make sure your oven is preheated and set to bake at the right temperature.
• If you want a tall and especially fluffy cookie, you could consider chilling the dough before baking. Although not necessary for this particular Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe, any chilled dough will spread slower than a dough baked at room temperature.
• Don't add hot butter to the batter! You'll end up with a sticky dough that's likely to spread.
• Make sure the eggs are fully incorporated before adding the dry ingredients. 
• Double-check your ingredients to make they've all been added to the batter. It's best to do this before you combine the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients.
• Use parchment paper or silicone baking mats instead of greasing the pan.
• The baking sheet should be cool when you add the dough.

HOW DO YOU KEEP CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES SOFT?

• Don't Overcook Them - Remember, when it comes to bake time, if you want a truly soft cookie, you’re going to need to pull it from the oven…even if the batch looks slightly underdone. Heat molecules are still moving and working even after food comes out of the oven, so your cookies will actually continue to cook as they cool. 
• Contain Your Cookies - The longer the cookies sit out uncovered, the more likely they are to end up stale. To keep your Chocolate Chip Cookies soft, transfer them to a snug airtight container as soon as they have completely cooled.
• Use This Reheating Hack! - If your cookies have become a little stale and you'd like to add some moisture back into them, place them in the microwave, covered by a damp paper towel and reheat on high for about 20 seconds. 

CAN YOU FREEZE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE COOKIES?

Baked Chocolate Chip Cookies freeze beautifully, and all you need to do is allow them to cool to room temperature, then transfer them to an airtight, freezer-safe container or a freezer-safe zip-top, gallon-sized bag and seal.

You can freeze your baked cookies for up to 3 months without compromising flavor.

HOW TO FREEZE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH

To freeze Chocolate Chip Cookie dough, roll into balls and transfer them into rows in a snug, airtight, freezer-safe container. Separate each layer of cookie dough with a sheet of wax paper, seal tightly and freeze for up to 3 months.

Add 2-3 minutes to the total bake time if the dough balls are going into the oven frozen.

5 MORE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPES YOU’LL LOVE

• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies are easy to make, feed a crowd, and satisfy every single one of your chocolatey, peanut butter cravings!
• Chocolate Chip Cookies with Pudding and Oats are made with old-fashioned oats, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and instant vanilla pudding to keep them soft and chewy! A crowd-pleasing cookie guaranteed to be an absolute hit!
• Cowboy Cookies are addictively yummy with a perfectly moist, thick and chewy center, loaded with extras like coconut, pecans, and old-fashioned oats.
• Chocolate Drop Cookies are chock full of chocolate, soft, gooey, and easy to make. This recipe is guaranteed to deliver in every which way.
• Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies are a 3-for-1 cookie recipe with a winning combination of creamy peanut butter, old-fashioned oats, and chocolate chips!

Sources: Good Housekeeping | Troubleshooting Your Cookies, Fine Cooking | The Science Behind Perfect Cookies, Business Insider | The Chocolate Chip Cookie Was Invented By Accident