Though I’m usually the person that says there can never be too much chocolate, my favorite cookie is not a chocolate sandwich cookie, nor a double chocolate cookie, not a chocolate crinkle cookie. My favorite cookie is the classic, tried and true chocolate chip cookie – a basic cookie dough with chips (or better yet, chunks) of chocolate throughout. Despite this cookie being the classic, most popular cookie around there is not one single version of the cookie. Some versions are cake-y, some are dense and chewy, some are brittle and crispy. I harbor no ill will to any of these varieties of chocolate chip cookie, but my choice (if given a choice, which to choose amongst chocolate chip cookies might be my own version of Sophie’s Choice) is for a dense cookie that has a slight crisp to the edges, but a chewy center.
If you understand the ingredients of the cookie and what it does for the final result, you can customize how you make your cookies and hopefully make it the same way every time. For consistency, the first tip is to measure your ingredients properly. Weighing ingredients is the most accurate method and ensures you will add the same amount every time. If you don’t have a weigh scale, you can spoon your flour and sugar into a volume measure and then level it off with a butter knife – don’t scoop the flour because you’ll compress the flour and end up adding more than you need to. Flour forms the structure of your cookie, so it’s important to measure it correctly. Weigh your ingredients and you’ll be on your way to consistent results.
Butter is another really important ingredient in your cookie and how you treat that butter has a direct effect on the results. Butter adds tenderness and flavor, but if you cream the butter you’ll end up with “cakier” cookies. If you melt the butter, on the other hand, you’ll end up with more a dense cookie. I’ve given you the instructions for both methods below.
Sugar obviously makes the cookie sweet, but it also adds moisture because sugar is hygroscopic (loves and absorbs water). White sugar and brown sugar have different flavors, and adding a little of both gives you the best of both worlds.
The eggs are important to the cookie because they also add moisture and tenderness, but they also help to leaven the cookie. By beating the eggs well, air is incorporated into the structure of the eggs and that air expands when it bakes and helps to leaven and lighten the cookie. What is important is to beat the eggs before you add flour to the cookie dough. Once the flour is incorporated into the mix, only mix the dough enough to get the ingredients together. Try not to over-mix.
Now of course, chocolate is possibly the most important ingredient in the cookie (if you’re me!). Choose really good chocolate chips (or chunks) because these will make or break your cookies.
You’ll notice that this cookie recipe tells you to make the dough today, but bake the cookies tomorrow. That is because letting the dough rest overnight really enhances the flavor because with time the starch in the flour breaks down.
With all this knowledge of the ingredients, it doesn’t take much to see how changing them around or treating them differently will have various effects on the outcome. The good news is that it’s tough to make a “bad” chocolate chip cookie, but with a little knowledge you can probably make your favorite.
Best chocolate chip recipe I have ever made. I did the melted butter method and they turned out great. Thanks Meredith!
Excellent chocolate chip cookie! I also melted the butter and followed your instructions! Great results and lots of compliments including a teenager! Making another batch this week! Thank you!
The BEST chocolate chip cookie. Thanks again !
very good recipe…these are a hit every time people eat them…i used the first method of creaming the butter and they turn out great everytime…thanks
Had a lot of fun making your chocolate chip cookies. Melted the butter and the dough was excellent to work with. Used dark chocolate chips. Will try creaming the butter next time, now that you showed me the best way to do it. Thank you for all your help in the kitchen. I really appreciate it. Now off to devour some cookies.
The melted nutter ones are the best.
These were wonderful! I went on a cookie baking spree and decided to try a couple of your recipes. These were the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve made in a while. I also made the chocolate crinkle cookie and they turned out delicious. I made the thumbprint cookies with the cream cheese and raspberry. They were really good but so different.
I also melted the butter, excellent cookie!
I would of never tried melting the butter to make chocolate chip cookies, but wow! This is now my new best ever chocolate chip cookie recipe ever thank you Blue Jean Chef!!
Hi Meredith, I love your cookies and have made them often. I do the melted butter version. They are delicious! My family loves them and the brownies!
Question- do you bake on one of the oven racks or do you move from one to another halfway thru baking.. Just wondered. Thank you!
Hi Christine. I usually bake cookies on one big tray on one oven rack at a time, rather than doubling up the racks and rotating halfway through, but it all depends on how many cookies you need to bake.
The best, I love them and my friends loved them as well.
My best friend’s husband said they are outstanding and that made my day.
Thank you Meredith for sharing this recipe.
I also used the melted butter version. It definitely makes a difference when incorporating everything. Much easier. I used to have a problem with the butter not getting creamy enough the old way. I have been making chocolate chip cookies since my teens and always had a problem with creaming the butter. ( I am now approaching 80 years old) So that’s a long time. I have been using it this way for a while now and everyone just loves them. Thanks for the tip Meredith. I enjoy following you on FB.
I followed the instructions for the melted butter recipe and they really spread, even though I chilled the dough. Thoughts? Taste is good. I used semi-sweet chunks instead of dark.
You do have to make sure the melted butter has cooled down before mixing the dough together. With the melted butter method, you do get denser, chewy cookies that do come out on the flatter side. If they spread out too much, try baking them on parchment paper and make sure your baking soda hasn’t expired. You can also try putting the dough in the freezer for about 15 minutes.