BEST EVER Chocolate Chip Cookies

And my top three tips for taking your chocolate chip cookies (CCCs) to the next level.

If I had to pick one dessert for the rest of my life. The classic chocolate chip cookie is the hands down winner. There’s nothing quite like a warm one fresh from the oven. My mom wasn’t quite as obsessed with baking as I am, but I have the BEST memories of helping her make chocolate chip cookies – so they’re just a special treat that I will never ever tire of.

Over the years I have made SO. MANY. BATCHES. of chocolate chip cookies. I’ve tried countless recipes and learned LOTS of tricks to make them better than ever. Lucky for you – I did all the legwork testing them (I know – It’s a tough job, but ummm I’ll do it!) and all you have to do is follow along and make these like ASAP. Let’s do it!

Take Your CCCs to The Next Level

Ok, in all of my cookie escapades over the years, there are three things that I’ve learned to do when I reeeeally want to impress people with my CCCs.

1. Brown that butter. Guys. Browned butter is amazing. Making chocolate chip cookies with browned butter is BEYOND. And while we’re talking about butter – cream it with the sugar for a long time. At least 5 minutes. Just a little bonus tip for ya.
2. Add an extra yolk. If you love a chewy CCC, an extra yolk is your new best friend. If you’ve been following my recipes, you’ll notice that I use this trick in A LOT of my recipes. It’s a good one! If you ever make a batch of cookies from a recipe and the dough seems to crumbly and then doesn’t hardly spread in the oven – try adding an extra yolk into that same recipe next time and just watch the magic.
3. Use a variety of high quality chocolate. Do you ever stare at the recipe photo and wonder how they got those beautiful pools of chocolate, but your chocolate chips look exactly the same as when they went into the oven – barely melted at all? Welllllll hate to break it to you – but those Tollhouse chips aren’t going to get it done if melty pools are what you’re going for. Sure, it’s chocolate. It still tastes good. And I still use them ALL. THE. TIME. But we’re talking about taking your cookies to the next level, remember? For this – I use a semi-sweet Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Premium Baking Bar and chop it up – leaving some bigger chunks, and some really fine pieces. THEN, I also use some Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Chips. The variety of types (semi-sweet and dark) and textures (chocolate chips, and chopped chocolate) really makes these special!

How to Make the BEST EVER Chocolate Chip Cookies

Start melting the butter in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Once the butter is melted, reduce the heat to medium. The butter should be crackling slightly, but if it’s popping and splattering all over your stove top, the heat is too high. Stir often to prevent the browned bits from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning. Continue to heat until the butter is browned and smells amazing. Allow to cool slightly.

While the butter is cooling, add the sugars to a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Slowly pour the butter into the bowl and mix on medium high speed for 5 minutes. This will seem like overkill – but trust me. Beating the butter and sugar together for a long time makes for soft pillow-y cookies.

Measure out the dry ingredients (flour, bread flour, baking soda, and salt) and add them to a medium sized bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside. The butter should be cooled down by now, but to make sure it’s cool enough, feel the outside of the mixing bowl – it should be room temperature or a little warmer, not hot. **Bread flour is another little trick in getting extra chewy cookies, but if you don’t have any, just use 2 cups of All Purpose**

Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla to the mixer and combine. Add the dry ingredients, 1/2 at a time, and mix until just combined. Be very careful not to over mix. Once it is mostly combined with a few streaks of flour – you’re good. Chop the chocolate bar and add it to the mixer along with 1/2 cup of chocolate chips. Mix to combine.

Chill the dough for at least 30 minutes, up to overnight. I know – it’s super hard to have to wait for dough to chill, but it’s worth it. While the dough is chilling, go ahead and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Once it’s chilled, scoop it onto a parchment lined cookie sheet using a standard cookie scoop. Bake for 10 minutes, then allow the cookies to finish baking on the hot cookie sheet for an additional 2-3 minutes. Top with extra chocolate chips and a sprinkle of sea salt while the cookies are still warm. Transfer to a wire cooling rack.

TIP – if you chill the dough overnight, let it warm up a little on the counter while the oven is preheating before you try to scoop it.

Looking for more cookie recipes? Check out my Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies (regular softened butter here – no browning or dough chilling) and also my Peanut Butter Nutella Chocolate Chip Cookies – my Lila’s favorite.

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