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Slightly crisp edges lead to a soft and chewy interior. Plus, no mixer required!
It’s amazing how much people love a classic chocolate chip cookie. If you look through the comments on either of those posts, you’ll see that nearly everyone has their own way they love their chocolate chip cookies.
Do you like yours soft and chewy?
Thick?
Thin?
Puffy?
Do you like them hard and crunchy (<– my husband)?
Do you like them somewhere in between super soft and crunchy?
I’m an in-between-er. I love my chocolate chip cookies a little but crunchy on the edges and soft and chewy on the inside.
This stems from my high school days. Our cafeteria served amazingggg cookies (STHS’ers, amiright?), and every single day after I finished lunch, I would get 2 of them: one sugar and one chocolate chip (oh, to have THAT metabolism again).
Both of them were baked so perfectly every time that there was an ever so slight crunch to the outside that led to a soft, chewy interior. The best of both texture worlds.
Chocolate chip cookies have been studied by foodies all over the world for a long time. The science behind what makes them crunchy or chewy or puffy or cakey or however in the world you prefer them to be… Is incredible.
I’ve read up on the science A LOT, and if you care to see the resources that I love and have read multiple times (true story), here is the lengthy version and here is a short one.
I am such a science geek, so I really love the long version. If you’re not as big of a science geek as me or just prefer a concise version, check out the shorter one.
If you would prefer to read the reasons why I chose my ingredients from my standpoint (gee, I’m so flattered!), I’ll tell you why. If all you care about is getting chocolate chip cookies in your mouth, go ahead and scroll down to the recipe.
I’ve said before, the Nestlé Tollhouse recipe is a winner. It’s a classic. It’s a go-to. It’s a no-fail. I use it as the base for my chocolate chip cookie dough bites, leaving out the eggs and leavening agents.
But in order to create my absolute favorite texture in my chocolate chip cookies, there are a few things I like to change.
ADD SOME CORNSTARCH
Just the same way I add a little cornstarch to my red velvet donuts to give them a softer, cakey texture, I add some cornstarch to my classic chocolate chip cookies to help increase the chew factor but not so much that we start talking “cakey” cookies.
ADD AN EGG YOLK
Eggs, as a whole, add structure to baked goods and help them rise. Egg whites bring a large quantity of the moisture to a cookie, and yolks create a source of fat. With fat, we find a great vehicle for flavor.
For my cookies, I remove one egg white (we’ll add in more moisture in a second) and leave the yolk. Doing so brings a large source of fat to the cookie and helps keep the cookies fudgy (like brownies) and dense (less pockets of air).
Denser cookies will cook from the outside faster (think flatter) creating crunchy edges and leaving the inside chewy.
DECREASE THE AMOUNT OF BUTTER AND MELT IT
Butter, while imperative to the flavor of cookies, can cause cookies to spread a lot in the oven. Furthermore, using softened butter and creaming it with sugar incorporates air into cookie batter, bringing lift to cookies while they bake.
You would do this if you wanted your result to be a puffier cookie.
Classic Nestlé Tollhouse cookies call for 3 sticks of softened butter, which they direct you to cream with your sugars.
I like to melt my butter because it helps keep the cookies chewy and dense, so I remove one stick of butter to prevent the cookies from ending up too greasy.
Plus, one less stick of butter = healthy. Right?
INCREASE BROWN SUGAR
I’ve said it before (and before aaaand before) and I’ll say it again– brown sugar brings super chew to baked goods. Brown sugar is white (granulated) sugar with molasses in it, so it automatically brings moisture with it when it’s added to cookies (remember, we took some moisture out by removing that egg white).
Plus, it caramelizes faster, so the toffee/butterscotch flavors in the cookie are unparalleled vs a cookie made with all or mostly granulated sugar.
CHILL THE DOUGH
There is much debate over this in the chocolate chip cookie world, but I have made a lot of chocolate chip cookies in my life, and I am here to tell you…
Chilled cookie dough > non-chilled cookie dough.
For one, since we are using melted butter in the dough, we need some time for the butter to solidify again so that our cookies don’t end up as cookie puddles (although I’m sure those are delicious).
Secondly, the longer your cookie dough sits, the longer the flour has to absorb moisture from the butter, eggs, and brown sugar which leads to chewiness.
Lastly… Marriage of flavors. You can’t argue with that one.
Because I use melted butter in these cookies, you don’t need your mixer (yay!).
Dry ingredients, wet ingredients, and then some chocolate chips.
My frugal maternal grandmother always doubled the cookie recipe but kept the amount of chocolate chips the same. That equaled like 2 chocolate chips per cookie. A TRAVESTY!
I like to use a mixture of mini chips and regular chips, and also milk chocolate and semi-sweet chips.
The size and flavor of your chips is totally up to you… This is just the way I prefer mine and I love the variety it brings to each bite.
Once your dough is chilled (at least 2 hours and up to 3 days), you’ll roll it into balls that are 1 ounce in size (about 1 Tablespoon). Bake for 10-11 minutes, remove from the oven when they juuuuust start to turn brown, and then allow them to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes.
Leaving them in the oven until they just start to brown will ensure you have a bit of crispiness to your edges. Allowing them to cool on the sheet continues to bake the bottoms and parts of the edges, caramelizing the sugars further and bringing more toffee/butterscotch notes to the overall flavor.
I told you… Chocolate chip cookie science is real.
I know it may seem like a lot to put into just simple chocolate chip cookies, but trust me, the work is worth the result.
And if you need another reason to make these cookies, taste testers have often related them to those cafeteria chocolate chip cookies I spoke about, so if that elicits any kind of nostalgic elementary/middle/high school memories for you and you’d like to recreate them in your own kitchen… This is your chocolate chip cookie recipe, my friend!
Fill them with chocolate chips, mini-m&m’s, butterscotch chips, peanut butter chips… Whatever kind of chips you love!
A classic chocolate chip cookie recipe is something every baker should have in their repertoire.
If you’re into strictly chewy or carefully crunchy, I’ll get to you one day, I promise.
For now, crunchy-edged-soft-centered-cookie lovers unite.
Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 and ¼ cups (270g) all-purpose flour be sure to measure accurately
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup (226g) unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup (200g) firmly packed brown sugar
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk room temperature*
- 1 and ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 and ½ cups (255g) chocolate chips I prefer 1 cup milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips and ½ cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- In a large bowl, toss together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the melted butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar. When sugar clumps disappear, whisk in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. Fold in the chocolate chips. Cover dough and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, or up to 3 days.
- When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set aside.
- Roll the chilled dough into balls– 1 ounce (approximately 1 Tablespoon) of dough each– and place 8 balls of dough per cookie sheet. If you like, you can press a few more chocolate chips on top/sides of the dough balls for aesthetic purposes. Keep dough you are not rolling or baking in the refrigerator.
- Bake the cookies for 10-11 minutes or until edges just start to turn brown. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 7 days. Baked cookies may be frozen up to 3 months. You may also freeze rolled cookie dough up to 3 months. Bake frozen for 11-12 minutes.
Notes
If you l-o-v-e chocolate chip cookies, but like to eat the batter more than the cookie, then these Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bites are for you!
See all cookie recipes.
And of course, if you’re into it… One biiiiiig chocolate chip cookie will do the trick at your next celebration! Check out my chocolate chip cookie cake with chocolate FUDGE frosting!
Amy says
It’s here! It’s here! The FAF Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe! I cannot wait to try this with my gluten free flour blend! Melted butter – check (and one less stick means it is totally healthy), brown sugar – double check (I’m all about that caramel), and lots o’chunks o’chocolate (I’m a chocolate chunk person, rather than the chips).
I just want to eat all the cookies, because Cookie Monster is my spirit animal, and the creature I am most likely to be reincarnated as 🙂
Amazing, as always Lynn! A classic for all to love 🙂
Lynn says
Haha! It’s funny, the ONLY reason these cookies feature chips and not chunks is because the grocery store was ALL OUT of chunks!! Matt called me and said that there weren’t any chunks and I nearly fainted. NO CHUNKS?! But, but but… I’m supposing everyone bought out of the chunks to make cookies for their Valentine. At least I hope that’s the reason, because chunks > chips. HOWEVER, now that I’ve established the classic, I can just make variations from here on out. Chocolate CHUNK cookies with some other kind of fun thing are in my future, I’m sure of it 🙂
Karissa says
totally trying these right now but I don’t have corn starch, will that totally ruin them? should I add another tbsp of flour?
Lynn says
Hi, Karissa! You most certainly will not ruin them. Your texture will be altered a little bit, and may come out a bit crunchier, but definitely not ruined. I would just omit the cornstarch and add 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon more flour.
bambi says
Only have salted butter…is this okay?
Lynn says
Absolutely! Just reduce added salt to 1/2 teaspoon instead of 1 whole teaspoon. Enjoy!
Rani says
Hi! I love to browse your site and look for delicious recipes. This recipe seemed perfect to me since I was looking for chocolate chip cookies with soft center and crispy edges. However they turned uit flat as a pancake, not chewy at all and very greasy when I tried them.. Putting them less longer in the oven didn’t work either. Do you think I used too much butter or the butter was too hot? I’m just a beginner so I would love to hear your tips!
Lynn says
Hi, Rani! If soft centered, crispy edged cookies is what you were looking for, these are definitely it. I’m sorry the recipe seemed not to work out for you. It’s possible anything could have gone wrong, but it does sound like either your butter was too warm, you didn’t chill your dough, or you missed something in the recipe completely. I also know readers have reported flat cookies with an oven that runs hot or putting the dough directly on the sheet, which I never recommend. I hope you try again, because I make these often so I can attest to their ease and outcome!
Shannon A. says
These cookies are one of my favorite recipes of yours! I didn’t have enough chocolate chips so I subbed 1/3 milk chocolate chips, 1/3 white chocolate chips, and 1/3 dark chocolate chips. SO GOOD! After chilling them, they turn into perfect circles! Soft & gooey on the inside and crunchy on the outside.
Lynn says
Ohhh, good combo!! Thank you so much 🙂
Laura says
This recipe is the tops when it comes to chocolate chip cookies! Best classic recipe I’ve used. I can attest to certain things not turning my way in the recipe, as some other comments noted, but simple corrections have helped me avoid that with each time I make these (I make them a lot throughout the year-they’re a big request!!). Letting the melted butter cool a bit before tossing it in is a big one. Chilling is always a must! Also, checking the expiration dates on things like baking powder (I know that it’s not in this recipe, but thought I’d throw it in here), baking soda (THAT’S in here) and other similar ingredients can make a difference, too! If you’re searching for that perfect chocolate chip cookie to make again and again, you can stop with this one! <3
Lynn says
Thanks so much for your detailed review, Laura! I’m so glad you love these cookies as much as we do.
Kim says
Amazing! This is how I like my cookies! These will definitely be a favorite in our family and my husband and I can’t wait to try different add-ins\chips!
Lynn says
SO glad you liked them!!
Carol says
These were DELICIOUS! I’ve been trying to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe forever and this is honestly it. I made cookie boxes for Christmas and everyone called me saying these chocolate chip cookies were not only their favorite in the box, but the best they’ve ever had. Huge hit! I followed the recipe exactly and didn’t have any issues.
Lynn says
Thank you so much for this, Carol! I am so pleased to hear this 🙂