Looking for the best chocolate chip cookies EVER? you’re in the right place. These cookies are BIG, soft, chewy, and totally divine.
Chocolate chip cookies are my weakness. If I were ever stranded on a deserted island, I could be happy with a steady supply of homemade chocolate chip cookies.
I swiped this recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies from my mom, and now I want to share it with all of you. You don’t want to keep going through life not knowing what’s in the best chocolate chip cookies EVER, do you?
Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
Well, these wonderful homemade cookies are loaded with some incredible ingredients.
Butter, sugar, vanilla and semisweet chocolate chips are among the usual suspects.
But this isn’t your average chocolate chip cookies recipe! Y’all, this recipe produces some pretty perfect cookies.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Mix together the flour, baking soda, and the salt
- In a separate bowl, beat together the butter, sugars, vanilla extract, and the vinegar until smooth.
- Beat in the egg just until combined.
- Mix the flour mixture into the wet mixture just until combined. Stir in the chips.
- Drop cookies 2 inches apart onto your prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake and enjoy!
TIP: In the recipe, I make a note about “barely melted” butter. You want to melt it, but not over melt it, and be sure to let it COOL a bit before putting in with the other ingredients.
Here’s a picture of what your butter should look like!
Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies
The debate on soft vs. crispy chocolate chip cookies is a no-brainer in my book.
I do favor soft and chewy, but these cookies give you the best of both worlds.
The middle of the cookie is nice and soft, and the outer edge has a little crispiness.
And that sea salt on top? Just, wow.
How to Store Chocolate Chip Cookies
A wonderful tip that I picked up a few years ago was to store cookies in an airtight container with one slice of white bread.
The cookies utilize the moisture in the bread and it helps prevent them from drying out. Give it a try, you’ll love the results.
How to Freeze Cookie Dough
People always ask me if they can freeze my cookie recipes. In this case, yes, you can definitely freeze this chocolate chip cookie dough. Here’s how to do it.
- Make the cookie dough as instructed below.
- Scoop and place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Just make sure the sheet will fit in your freezer.
- Freeze the balls until solid. Usually, 1-2 hours will suffice.
- Remove the cookie balls to a large ziptop bag and carefully labeled with the date and baking instructions.
- Freeze up to 6 weeks.
How to Bake Frozen Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
To bake your amazing cookies, you can allow the dough to defrost overnight in the refrigerator or a couple hours at room temperature, then just bake as usual.
If you want to bake them from frozen, just let them sit out on a parchment-lined baking sheet while your oven preheats, and then bake as usual adding 1-3 minutes to the baking time.
You’ll just need to keep an eye on your oven to make sure you don’t let them go too long over the original bake time.
Don’t forget, as my instructions note below you don’t want to overbake these cookies. They will look a little underdone in the center but they will continue to cook once you take them out of the oven as you allow them to cool on the baking sheet an additional 10 minutes.
I think you’ll agree that these truly are the BEST chocolate chip cookies!
More Great Desserts
- Pumpkin Cookies
- Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- Raspberry Almond Shortbread Cookies
- Monster Cookies
- Fantasy Fudge
- 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter barely melted but not too hot (see photo above)
- ¾ cup light brown sugar packed
- ⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips I used half chips and half chunks, but either is fine
- Coarse sea salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl mix together the flour, baking soda and the salt: Set aside.
- In a large bowl beat together the butter, sugars, vanilla extract and the vinegar until smooth. Beat in the egg just until combined.
- Mix the flour mixture into the wet mixture just until combined. Stir in the chips.
- Using a large cookie scoop (about 2 rounded tablespoons) drop about 3 inches apart onto cookie sheet.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, they will look light brown around the edges and will look underdone in the center. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle each cookie with a little sea salt. Allow to sit on the sheet for 10 minutes before moving to a rack to cool.
Notes
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Hi😊
I haven’t made this recipe yet, but can’t wait to try.
I’m curious as to why you would mostly melt the butter & then cool it? Why not just use softened butter?
I’m an avid at-home baker & I’ve been baking cookies since childhood. I have played around with different recipes & methods over the years & have found that melting the butter tends to make the cookies too crispy & oily. I would assume that’s the reason behind allowing the butter to cool before adding to the dough. But what is the difference between doing this method (melting & then cooling) vs. just using softened butter?? Does it really make a BIG difference?
Just curious. Happy Baking ya’ll!
-Jessie
I brought the butter to room temp then put it in the microwave for 10 seconds. This didn’t melt the butter at all but made it extra soft. The cookies came out great. I too find melting butter makes the cookies oily
Yes! I prefer to use room temp butter instead of melted butter for this reason as well😊
Amazing. My only problem is I can’t stop eating the dough as I form the cookies 😋
Jessie, I’ve wondered this myself and I have no idea what the answer is, but this is what I think. When you cream the butter and sugar together, it takes quite a bit of creaming to get the sugar to completely dissolve (with no obvious graininess). Overcreaming is what can happen if you go beyond that sweet spot. Have you ever had your mixer creaming that butter and sugar while you’re running around mixing your dry ingredients, then you check to see if the creamed mixture is ready for eggs, and it looks so smooth and shiny and white, almost like buttercream frosting? Yep, overcreamed. That makes for not-so-great cookies. If you cream your sugar(s) with just melted (a few lumps still remaining) butter, the sugar will dissolve easier and you won’t run the risk of over creaming. Now, all of that being said, if you do not chill your cookie dough before baking, there is a good chance you will get chocolate chip puddles because the cookies will just spread too darn much. When a recipe calls for melted butter, I JUST melt it, proceed with the recipe, scoop out dough balls, and refrigerate for several hours, overnight if I can hold myself back. This gives the butter a chance to re-solidify and the flavors to meld. I’m not a pro, but this is my experience. Happy Baking!
That is quite interesting. I’ve actually never had that problem (overmixing/over creaming the butter & sugar) I’ve never come accoss a chocolate chip cookie recipe that specifically tells you to cream the butter & sugar together until the sugar is dissolved. Usually, I just use room temperature butter (or just a bit softer than room temp) & cream the butter & sugar together until it is well combined, but still a little grainy. To me, there is no reason to fully melt the butter, let it cool, then cream it with sugar. Also, when the butter is melted, even when cooled, many recipes will then want you to refrigerate the dough before baking. I never have to do this step if I just use room temperature butter & my cookies pretty much come out perfect every time! And let me tell you, I’ve been baking since childhood & tried many different ways to make chocolate chip cookies & from my experience, softened butter has always been best vs melted butter. I was just wondering what the benefit was & if there really was any because I haven’t had any luck with melting butter in my cookies. I’m glad it works for you! 😊
Tried this recipe today, they are AMAZING!!!!!! Thankyou for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe!
I love it when people share great recipes! And I appreciate you for doing so! These cookies are just like I love them! Super easy to make, almost infallible, but more importantly DELICIOUS! Thanks for sharing your recipe. This will definitely be my go to ccc from this day forward.
I hate baking. Like hate with a passion. However I love these cookies soooo much I don’t mind haha. I’ve given them to people and they always ask for the recipe. Salty & satisfying. The ingredients just blend so well together. Best chocolate chip cookies EVER!!
There are many recipes that label themselves as “the best”. This is the only one I’ve found that is telling the truth. Crisp edges. Soft middle. Sea salt sprinkle? Yum! I will not make any other chocolate chip cookie ever again. I’ve offered them to friends who scoff when I say they’re the best…but after tasting a cookie they agree! I always make them with a mix of chips (semi, milk, white, etc). Delicious!
I have made these many times now and it’s my new favourite. My son told me I’m not allowed to make any other chocolate chip cookies recipe ever! Lol. The best cookies I’ve ever made.
So delicious! I did 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup butterscotch chips and they are divine!
These are AMAZING! I always make tollhouse recipe but decided to switch it up and these were amazing!! Definitely making these more!
These are by far our absolute favourite chocolate chip cookies. My only recommendation would be to cut back on the chips and do a combo of semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips.
PS… The dough freezes incredibly well. It’s the only to stop us from eating them all in one sitting.
Fabulous cookies!
The absolute BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe ever!! I discovered this recipe in Jan 2020 and it is the only chocolate chip cookie recipe I will ever use. I even printed off a copy to tape inside of my cabinets!! There is a choc. chip cookie recipe that has been floating around in my family for decades, but this recipe blows that one out of the water! (I’ve even convinced some family members to use this recipe instead of our family recipe). I can get around 3dz cookies using a smaller scoop. The cookies don’t last more than 3 days with my family of 5!! If you haven’t made these yet, you are missing out! I do not add the extra salt on top out of preference. Otherwise, as long as you follow this recipe to a T, you’ll experience the best cookies you’ve ever had in your life!!
I used red wine vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar! Worked perfectly and tastes great. I guess most vinegars would work if you want to play with the flavor?