If you’re looking for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe in the whole world…I have it right here!
I have made Nestle Tollhouse, Cook’s Illustrated, Paula Deen’s and many other chocolate chip cookie recipes in my life. And while they have all added to my weight gain over the years (ahem), none of them were the absolute perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. Some came darn close – but never 100% perfect.
But I finally have found it.
The Master Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe.
The recipe that out-does all other chocolate chip cookie recipes. The chocolate chip cookie recipe that meets all my tests, one that turns out perfectly for me every time. One that I can freeze into balls and that would bake up just as good as if you baked them without freezing since I love freezer cooking.
As I have been getting more into cooking more from scratch, finding a recipe that used real butter instead of shortening was a must. But it was hard to get a cookie that didn’t fall flat, or turn out nice and soft in the middle using butter. That was until now. These real ingredient chocolate chip cookies are soft in the middle and a little chewy and crispy on the outside.
Basically the perfect cookie.
This one tops them all. Seriously, my search is over! It’s FINALLY over.
My criteria for the perfect chocolate chip cookie was:
- Must use “real” butter, not shortening
- Must use “real” vanilla, not imitation
- Must taste amazing. Even the next day.
- Needed to be soft and not flat
- Needed to use quality chocolate chips (I love milk chocolate Ghirardelli)
- Needed to be able to be frozen, baked later and turn out perfectly since I am a huge freezer meal gal.
This recipe met all these tests 100% perfectly.
In fact, I will let the pictures show you how good these are.
You can see how beautiful this cookie looks on the inside – a perfect blend of chewy and soft melty goodness.
My personal secret: make sure your cookies are a nice big size. I usually roll mine into 1/4 cup or 4 Tablespoon sized balls. In fact, I use this cookie scoop which is the perfect size.
If you want that gooey center with a bit of chewy outside…make them big.
I love that this chocolate chip cookie recipe is not too flat, and the flavor is to die for. I was given this recipe by a friend who got it from hereistherecipe.com.
If you want to freeze this cookie dough, just form into balls and freeze individually. Then place into a ziploc freezer bag until you are ready to bake. Add a few extra minutes to your baking time and enjoy.
These cookies are pretty much the best thing ever, especially after a big freezer meal cooking marathon…. ……totally hits the spot.
Here is the Master Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe that you can print out!
Master Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cups real unsalted butter
- 1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
- 1 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 12 oz Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips or other quality chocolate chips, 11.5 .
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix to combine and set aside.
- Using paddle attachment on mixer, cream butter and sugars together just until blended.
- Add eggs, one a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Add the vanilla.
- Put mixer on low speed, and add in dry ingredients.
- Mix until just combined. Do not overmix.
- Stir in chocolate chips by hand gently.
- It's best to make bigger cookies for the right texture - so I would recommend using a 4 Tablespoon size scoop to form your cookies.
- Place on cookie sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes. I like mine to look a little undercooked in the middle, then let them finish cooking on the cookie sheet for a few minutes while they cool. Then move them to a cookie rack or plate to keep cooling.
- If you are freezing these cookies: Form into balls, and freeze on a cookie sheet. After frozen remove and add to a Ziploc freezer bag. They will last for about a month in the freezer. To bake just take out and bake as directed, adding a few extra minutes of baking time.
Nutrition
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Come back to this post and give me your honest opinions. I think it’s the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever and I hope you do, too.
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Comments & Reviews
Angie says
I bake a lot. These are perfection. The balance is just right, and I love that they freeze.
Chrissy says
I just finished making these and my gosh they’re so good!! They look perfect and have just the right amount of soft and crunch to them. This is now my go to recipe for cookies! Thanks for sharing! The only thing I changed was I put coffee extract in with the vanilla. Tasted so good. I think I’m going to try the almond extract next time like some one else suggested. Yum!!
Happy.MoneySaver says
Glad you liked them! 🙂
Letitia A says
I saw the almond extract comment and subbed 1tsp almond extract for 1tsp of vanilla, and the flavor is AMAZING! Followed the recipe as written otherwise, and they came out perfect! Mine only needed 12 minutes, but every oven is different and I think my cookies were a little smaller.. I made about 36 with my larger cookie scoop. 30 cookie dough balls are chilling for my dad’s father’s day surprise. Amazing recipe!
Letitia A. says
My dad absolutely loved the cookies! He specifically requested another batch next year. Thank you again!
Janelle says
Sooooo good! I did find that my cookies needed a little less time in the oven, though. Love the idea of being able to pull a few out of the freezer whenever a cookie craving hits! THANK YOU!!
Kim says
BEST CHOCOALTE CHIP COOKIES I have ever put in my mouth!!!
Happy.MoneySaver says
YEAH! I am so, so happy you like them!
Barbarainnc says
I made these today with light brown sugar, and they turned out so delicious. I used a scoop and made 39 cookies. My hubby loved them!!!! This recipe is a keeper!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Barbarainnc says
I haven’t tried the recipe out yet, but plan to. 🙂 🙂 LOVE CC Cookies.
Everybody measures flour out differently, so that could be a reason for the cookies being flat.??
I like to weigh out my flour when baking. I have a chart posted on my refig. to look at.
1 c all purpose flour, unsifted is 5 oz.
So 3 1/2 c = to 17.5 oz.
Libby says
These are awesome! I was skeptical but now I’m a believer. I’m done with my toll house recipe and have switched to this one, thanks!
Angie says
I love this recipe! Took me 15 years to fine a good chocolate chip recipe thank you so much for sharing
Sara says
I have four young, very particular palates and they all agree this is the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe! It’s so delicious, I can only make one cookie per person or they’ll eat themselves sick! The cookies aren’t too sweet, aren’t too “dough-y”. The recipe makes the perfect blend of chocolate chip cookie goodness. I substituted Heath pieces for chocolate chips in one batch for a more sophisticated palate here at la maison de Wallace. Thank you for sharing!
langour says
Cookies are perfect.
added 1 cup nuts.
I do freezer cookies…best recipe ever.
Emily says
Simply put…you have changed my life.
Mattie says
Just made these for my boyfriend’s birthday. Of course I had to try one before I gave them to him. I love them! Hope he loves them too…I don’t know how he wouldn’t! It’s awesome that they’re freezable…saved a little for myself!
Lynne says
Hi, this is my second comment. I made this twice and the cookies turned out flat, even after freezing the dough. I was so inspired by the lady who made these cookies(hers looked AMAZING) that I decided to try again. I live at 5300 ft. and I had to decrease the butter to 1 cup, add an extra egg yolk, and decrease the baking soda to 1 tsp and the baking powder to 1 and 1/4 tsp. The cookies came out perfect-thick, chewy, and crisp on the outside!!! I hope this helps all high altitude people.
Happy.MoneySaver says
Thanks for sharing!
KimE says
I stumbled upon your website when I was trying to find easy meals to make pre baby arrival (38 weeks!). I made the lasagna, and the alfredo chicken, and when I saw these I knew I had to try them – any chocolate chip cookie recipe that claims to be the best has to be scrutinized. Because usually they are not. I made these (freezing all but three – thank god), and THEY ARE SO GOOD. They are absolutely perfect, doughy on the inside, crispy on the outside. If I didn’t have a 7lb child in my belly it would be filled with cookies. I literally drove to my husbands work and insisted he try them straight out of the oven. I am at high altitude in Colorado, and sometimes that really messes with even the most basic recipes – I followed your instructions exactly (except I used a little less Vanilla). My cookie scoop is a little bigger (probably closer to a 1/3 cup), and they were perfectly done at 15 minutes. I also chilled them overnight and plopped them in the oven in the morning.
Wow! Thank you SO MUCH. THESE ARE THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES.
I don’t even know if they’ll make it two more weeks. And I definitely know I will not be sharing with the nurses in the baby unit. I don’t even know if i’ll share with my husband. Can’t wait to scan through the rest of your recipes!
Happy.MoneySaver says
So glad you liked them!!
Jasmine Heberlig says
Mine came out flatter than pancakes. Any advice?
Happy.MoneySaver says
Some kitchens are quite warm especially in the summer. Try popping it in the fridge so that when the oven hits the dough it doesn’t immediately spread out. The other thing it could be is old baking soda or powder. It’s amazing how one little ingredient can flatten a cookie! The good part is you will have fun figuring it out! YUM!
Amy says
These cookies were absolutely DELICIOUS and so perfect! My search for the best CC Cookie is now officially over (yay!).
I made these a couple months ago, and just yesterday I decided to make them again, this time decreasing the baking soda 1/4 tsp and adding 1 tsp cornstarch. Then I halved the salt since I sprinkled on sea salt before sticking them in the oven. And for my cookie size, I made them 2 tablespoons large (I also made them this size the first time I made these and they turned out perfectly). For some reason they turned out cakey, not the same consistency as the first time I made these cookies without the slight changes. I didn’t think that adding 1 tsp of cornstarch would make a big difference. Do you know why my cookies turned out cakey? Do you think it was the cornstarch? I’m not sure if it could also be over beating the eggs in the recipe – I always beat them into the butter sugar until they get thick and the same consistency as when the butter and sugar were beaten.
I would really appreciate if anyone can help me out? 🙂 thank you so much.
Karrie says
I wish I knew, but as you know cookies can be a fickle business. I say stick to the tried and true version… 🙂 It always works for me!
Megan says
Unlike cooking baking is more of a science and ingredients are not as interchangeable. Cornstarch and baking soda are quite different chemically and the cornstarch will absorb a significant amount of moisture leading to a chewy more cake like cookie
Lisa g. says
It was the cornstarch that made the cookies cakey. Ideally, cornstarch has no reason to be in cookie recipes unless you want thick, tender cookies. This is the main reason bloggers use cornstarch. Also, you are beating your eggs too long. Only beat in each egg, one at a time until it’s JUST mixed in and then stop mixing. It does not need to be the consistency of your butter & sugar creaming method. Hope this helps.
Chezkat says
Wow, truly amazing chocolate chip cookies! Definitely the best cookie I’ve ever made.
Eva says
Hi!
I’ve been thinking about cookies like these for about 24 hours now, and out of the blue I found your link. I can’t wait to try these out!!! These really do seem like a perfect cookie for my taste!
Thank you for sharing 🙂
Happy.MoneySaver says
You’re welcome! Hope you like them as much as we do!
Karen C. says
Think I could do a cookie cake with this recipe? My daughter graduates from PreK-4 on Wed and has requested a cookie cake. Anyone tried that with this recipe? How would I change it? Any advice/ tips are appreciated…
Happy.MoneySaver says
I haven’t tried doing the cookie cake with this recipe yet but it sounds divine! Try it out and let me know what you think!
Heather says
Wow! Just tried these..so yummy! Best choc chip recipe ever! Thanks for sharing 🙂