The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

4.98 from 49 votes

Hands down, these are the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies!! They take some time to make, but trust me 100% worth it! They make roughly 3 dozen cookies so at 3 cookies per person, it feeds 12 people!

Prep Time3 15

Cook Time15

Total Time3 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: cookies

Author: Gaby Dalkin

Equipment

Ingredients

8 ounces cake flour
9 ounces bread flour
1 ¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
1 ½ teaspoon Maldon salt plus more for sprinkling
10 ounces unsalted butter softened
12 ounces dark brown sugar
6 ounces white sugar
2 large eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
1 cup dark chocolate chips or discs
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips or discs

Instructions

Combine the cake flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir to combine and set aside.
In a large mixer add the butter and sugars and mix for 5 minutes until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl in between. Add the vanilla and combine.
Add the dry ingredients a little at a time and mix until just combined. Add the chocolate chips and fold them into the batter. Cover the dough and refrigerate for up to 72 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Scoop ¼ cup sized cookie dough balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet, 6 cookies per sheet. Bake the cookies for 16-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. If the cookies are a little puffy, bang the pan on the counter to release any excess air pockets. Or use a spatula to flatten the cookies to make more dense. Sprinkle the tops with maldon sea salt and let cool slightly before serving.

Notes

I first came across this chocolate chip cookie recipe in the NY Times and I've been hooked ever since. I've made a few small changes over the years but it's pretty perfect as is.

Weigh out your ingredients. Weighing rather than scooping your flour ensures a precise measurement. Scooping flour can pack in more or less flour than needed, altering how the cookies turn out.
Let the butter and eggs come to room temperature. Cold butter does not cream as well with the sugars and will produce less aeration. This impacts the density of your cookies. Cold eggs will cause the butter to seize, inhibiting it from evenly combining into the batter.
Chill the dough. Chilling the cookie dough allows the dry ingredients to absorb the moisture from the wet ingredients, hydrating the cookie dough and intensifying the flavors in the process. Chilling also prevents your cookies from spreading as much while baking, yielding chewier, thicker, and more golden chocolate chip cookies.
Use an oven thermometer. All ovens run at slightly different temperatures. I'd recommend an internal oven thermometer to ensure your oven is properly heated. They cost about $4 and are an essential tool when baking!
Bang the pan on the counter. If the cookies are too puffy, bang the pan on the counter to release any excess air pockets. Or use a spatula to flatten the cookies to make them more dense.

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