Hands down, these are the best and most perfect chocolate chip cookies! Big, soft-baked centers with buttery and chewy edges. Studded with milk chocolate chips. The secret is in how you shape the dough balls before baking. You MUST TRY this recipe for perfect chocolate chip cookies.
I know people may roll their eyes when they see a recipe labeled ‘perfect’, but I promise you that these chocolate chip cookies really are so incredibly perfect. They are big cookies (1/4 cup of cookie dough each!), they have soft-baked centers and they have buttery chewy, slightly crispy edges.
Plus….. the best part is that they are thick cookies with lots of texture and studded with milk chocolate chips. My mouth is seriously watering as I write this post. I am also really regretting sending ALL of these cookies to my kids’ elementary school bake sale.
What in the world was I thinking?!?
I have made these cookies for a few years now and I’ve perfected the recipe over the years with only a couple minor changes to the original recipe. To say my family loves these cookies would be an understatement.
When I told my daughter that I sent all of these cookies to the bake sale, she was mad at me. Like really, really mad at me that I would just give them all away and not save some. I told her we could just buy one at the bake sale…… yea, that did not work out as planned.
The cookies were gone! It was only about 15 minutes from when I dropped them off to when my daughter went over to the bake sale to buy one. I am pretty sure a batch of these are in my near future again. Yay! No complaining here.
————-This tip on shaping the dough is super important! Must read!————
The secret to these cookies is how you shape the dough balls before baking. It’s really easy and yields a super thick cookie with the soft centers and chewy, slightly crispy edges.
Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup and scoop out the dough. You will have enough dough to get about 14 large cookies. Once you have the 1/4 cup of cookie dough roll it into a ball and then with your hands on both sides of the dough ball, break the dough in half by pulling it apart.
You will end up with two smaller dough pieces with a smooth round side and a rougher side where you pulled it apart. Take one dough piece and put on the cookie sheet with the rough side down. Take the other piece and place on top of the other dough ball with the rough side up. I included a picture above to show what it should look like.
Your dough balls will be taller than normal and that is exactly what you want.
Please try these! If your first time making these is not perfect then keep trying. I remember the first time I made these I was not in love with them. I thought they were too sweet & rich and I could not master the technique to shaping them. But over the years I’ve reduced the brown sugar and vanilla extract and that’s made all the difference. I have also found that after stacking the dough pieces on top of each other, you gently press the dough together where they meet in the middle. This way the top dough piece does not fall over while baking.
The other key is to use really good quality milk chocolate chips. DON’T use semi-sweet because I promise the cookies will not taste the same. The milk chocolate chips are a must! No exceptions 🙂 I love to use the Ghiradelli or Guittard brand of chocolate chips. They are big chips that have a real and pure rich chocolate taste.
If it wasn’t midnight and I didn’t just run on the treadmill…… then I would totally run up to the kitchen and make a batch of these! I’m dying over these pictures and I really want a chocolate chip cookie now 🙂
Try these and let me know what you think. Please let me know if there are any questions about this recipe because these cookies are so good and I want them to be perfect for everyone.
Yields 13 big cookies
Hands down, these are the best and most perfect chocolate chip cookies! Big, soft-baked centers with buttery and chewy edges. Studded with milk chocolate chips. The secret is in how you shape the dough balls before baking. You MUST TRY this recipe for perfect chocolate chip cookies.
10 minPrep Time
15 minCook Time
25 minTotal Time
Save Recipe5 based on 2 review(s)
Ingredients
- 12 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour + 2 tablespoons
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips, plus more for top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare 2 cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper or a silpat liner.
- In a large mixing bowl, add melted and cooled butter and sugars. Beat with a handheld mixer until combined, creamy, and light in color. About 2 minutes.
- Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Beat together until combined.
- Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix together, on low speed, just until combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Take 1/4 cup of dough and shape into a ball. Pull each ball into two pieces using your hands. Place one half, rough side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Then place the other half, rough side up, on top of the first half. Use your fingers to gently press the dough balls together where they touch in the middle. This way the top dough ball does not fall over while baking.
- Bake 12-16 minutes. Edges will be very lightly browned while the middle will still be somewhat soft and pale.
- Immediately after baking, press a few additional chocolate chips into the cookies. This is just for looks so you don't have to do it. But it does look pretty.
- Let cool on the baking sheet for about 15 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool completely, or eat them warm!
Notes
Use good quality milk chocolate chips. I love the Guittard or ghiradelli brand.
To make melting and cooling the butter easy. Place the butter into a microwaveable safe bowl and melt for about 30 seconds. Half the butter should be melted while the other half will still be in a soft butter stick form. Take the bowl out and stir the butter with a fork until it's all melted completely. This way the butter is cooler because it did not melt all the way.
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11 Comments
Crystal Balzer
October 22, 2017 at 2:48 pm Hi there, these look amazing! I can’t wait to try them. Just a quick question...is this recipe the result of your reducing brown sugar and vanilla or do I need to reduce this myself? I ask because my husband thinks my current recipe of chocolate chip cookies is too sweet and I’d love to find one he likes!Together As Family
October 23, 2017 at 2:16 pm Hey there. It's a recipe I found years ago and I have tweaked it over the years. The recipe as written is the one I use all the time now. I think the original recipe called for 1 cup of brown sugar and I've found that 3/4 cup works best. I also lowered the amount of vanilla extract as that can be really sweet. If you scroll down to the recipe, that is exactly the one that I use all the time now. I hope that answers your question :) I hope you love these!Crystal Balzer
October 27, 2017 at 10:53 pm Thank you so much for your reply! We will be making the, this weekend 😊Christine Purfield
November 8, 2017 at 1:33 pm Can I just make them normal sized with the same results?Together As Family
November 13, 2017 at 12:06 pm Yes. Just watch the cooking time because they probably will take 3 to 4 minutes less time, maybe even five. I've never made them smaller so I don't know for sure on the cooking time.Mallory Lazar
November 23, 2017 at 12:09 am HI, I am obsessed with these cookies. This recipe is amazing. Do you have any advice on how to cook these at high altitude (7000 elevation). I made them, but my sister needs help in Flagstaff.Together As Family
November 23, 2017 at 12:08 pm So happy to hear you love these! I was not a huge fan of chocolate chip cookies until this recipe! 😃 I'm in Maryland (so like almost zero elevation) and I make the recipe as stated. I know cookies take longer to bake and spread more at high elevations. So I would maybe watch the cooking time, and keep in mind that they may have to bake 1 to 2 minutes longer. I would also have her add 1 to 2 tablespoons extra flour (start at 1 tb and see) to prevent too much spreading. I hope that helps. Enjoy!Carrie
January 29, 2018 at 2:09 am Great cookie recipe. I been making them for years too. I found the original recipe in America's Test Kitchen 2001-2011 edition. I too reduced the brown sugar to 3/4 cup because the 1 cup the recipe calls for is too sweet. I love love love this cookie recipe!Together As Family
January 29, 2018 at 4:43 pm It really is so good, huh? It makes sense that it's so good if the original recipe came from the test kitchen! I had no idea 😊Joshua Gray
November 5, 2018 at 1:23 pm Great recipe. I wrote one very similar to this one .. Very happy to find one so similar that is produced due to someone’s love of a soft gooey cookies. My recipe’s differences; 3/4 cup of crisco butter flavor and 2 tablespoons of browned butter that’s cooled to room temp, Slightly more flour, and I use a combination of baking powder and baking soda.Christina
December 4, 2018 at 6:56 pm Have you ever made this dough the night before? Thinking about trying it!