The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies
Have you been searching for the best chocolate chip cookie recipe? One that will give you soft, melt-in-the-mouth cookies with a crisp outer and a chewy inner? Full of lovely caramel undertones and rammed with pockets of gooey milk chocolate? Well, look no further! This will become your go-to recipe because, quite simply, cookies do not get any better than this!
WARNING: You will honestly NOT be able to stop eating these cookies once baked! They are absolutely addictive! As you can see from the photo, out of 14 cookies, only 9 remained to pose for pictures! (Edit: I had to make a second batch for more photos...!).
Stopping at just having one of these cookies is just impossible!
So this is one of those recipes I use every time. It is a failsafe. It can be used as the base recipe for any cookie you want to make. See below for alternatives. It works every time and produces the best cookies ever.
If you would like to try some of my other cookies, these Apple and Oat Cookies have been really popular and the aroma they give while baking is amazing.
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Why is this the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe???I hear you ask. Well...
Browned butter, for caramel flavour and chewy texture ✔️
No need to refrigerate the browned butter ✔️
Creamed butter for a fluffy cookie texture ✔️
Cornflour for extra chewiness ✔️
A mix of brown and white sugars for caramel flavour ✔️
Ingredients and Substitutions
See the Recipe card below for the exact quantities
- Unsalted butter -some of the butter is browned, which adds caramel flavour to your cookies. This is then poured the remaining butter and creamed, so you get the best of both worlds in these cookies: browned butter for flavour and creamed butter for fluffiness.
- Plain flour (all-purpose flour) - rather than self-raising flour, as it contains too much baking powder.
- Baking powder - just a smidge to prevent the cookies from flattening out during baking.
- Bicarbonate of soda(baking soda) - helps the chocolate chip cookies have a light texture.
- Cornflour (cornstarch) - this ingredient is optional, but cornflour is added to make the cookie texture a bit chewier. Cornfour also helps to prevent these chocolate chip cookies from spreading when baking by restricting gluten development in the flour. That said, your cookies will not really be harmed by leaving the cornflour out, as only a little is added.
- Fine salt - necessary to help bring out flavours
- Caster sugar (superfine sugar) - rather than granulated sugar, caster sugar is added because the smaller grains melt quickly when baking and give the cookies a lighter texture.
- Light brown sugar (or dark brown sugar, or a mix of both) - brown sugar gives the cookies a caramel flavour and chewy texture. Too much white sugar and you would lose flavour.
- Eggs - they help bind the cookies together, and provide flavour from the fats in the yolks.
- Milk chocolate drops - this chocolate chip cookie recipe also works with dark or white chocolate drops. Alternatively, you can chop some chocolate up into small squares or use M&Ms or Smarties.
Instructions
See Recipe card for exact instructions.
Sift your flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, cornflour and salt together and set aside.
Add your butter for melting to a small pan and melt it gently on a medium-low heat. Once melted, turn the heat up and bring it to a gentle simmer. It will soon start to froth on the top.
Tip: Do not simmer your butter on a high heat, as a lot of it will evaporate.
Stir the butter regularly. The froth will continue to grow, and you will notice small flecks of brown appear on the base as the milk solids cook.
Shortly after this, the melted butter will turn a deep golden colour and have a nutty aroma. The whole process, from the start of simmering to browned, takes about 4 minutes.
Remove your browned butter immediately from the heat and measure out 60 grams of it in a heatproof bowl.
Pour the browned butter over the butter in your mixer bowl and immediately set it to beat for 2 minutes. If a few lumps of cold butter remain, that is fine.
Then add your sugars and beat for 2 minutes on a medium-high setting.
Next, add your egg and a dessertspoonful of your flour mixture and beat until all of the egg has been incorporated.
Then add your sugars and beat for 2 minutes on a medium-high setting.
Next, add your egg and a dessertspoonful of your flour mixture and beat until all of the egg has been incorporated.
Dump in all of your flour and beat it on a low setting just briefly until it starts to clump together. Tip in your chocolate drops and beat a few times to just start to mix them in.
Tip - Overbeating your flour will affect the texture of your cookies
Remove your mixer bowl and gently pull the dough together with your hands.
Weigh out equal clumps of the cookie mixture; mine come in at about 67 grams each. Roll into balls and then refridgerate for at least 6 hours.
Tip: Always refrigerate your cookie dough. It improves the texture and flavour of your baked cookies.
Heat your oven and line your baking tray with greaseproof paper. Place your cookie balls about 3 inches apart.
Bake your cookies immediately while they are still very cold. They should take about 13-15 minutes to bake in the centre of your pre-heated oven. They will still look slightly underdone in the middle when ready.
Leave the cookies on the baking tray for 10 minutes, they will continue to cook in the middle and set. Then remove them from the tray and onto a cooling rack.
Storage
Keep your Chocolate Chip Cookies in an airtight container. They will be good for at least 3-4 days.
You can freeze the dough in balls and bake from frozen. They will take another 5 minutes to bake.
Top tips for perfect chewy chocolate chip cookies
So there are a few key things we do when making these truly wonderful cookies....
Brown the butter
Browning butter is truly really easy, and it makes ALL of the difference to both the texture and flavour of your chocolate chip cookies.
How to know when your butter has properly browned:
- Little flecks of brown sit at the base of your pan; these are milk solids, and these bad boys give your cookies lots and lots of caramel flavour
- The butter has a frothy top all over, and you have to move it aside to see the base of the pan
- The butter has turned a deep golden brown
- It gives off a gorgeous nutty aroma
Top Tip: If you are unsure if your butter has sufficiently browned, don't worry too much, even if just lightly golden it will still give bags of flavour. If it burns, though, discard it and start again.
Refridgerate your cookie dough for at least 6 hours (preferably overnight)
This is a game-changer and absolutely vital. It allows the gluten in the flour to relax and the flavours to develop.
After all, all good things come to those who wait! Or rather, perfect cookies do!
Do not overbeat the flour
To be honest, this applies to most bakes, whether chocolate chip cookies, cakes, pastry, etc. Flour starts to develop strength very easily, the more you move it around. This is why it is kneaded for bread to develop that strength and elasticity, but that is certainly not what we want when baking cakes or cookies.
Alternatives
The beauty of this cookie dough recipe is that you can use it for all manner of other cookies.
Simply change the milk chocolate drops for the same weight in whatever additions you want to make.
You can also use this recipe for Cookie Pies.
Loaded Cookies
These are all the rage these days.
You can use this chocolate chip cookie recipe for loaded cookies.
How to make Loaded Cookies
- Weigh out 120 grams balls of cookie dough
- Roll them into a ball and then flatten them out into a circle, about the size of your palm
- Place your filling in the middle (for example, Biscoff, chocolate spread, hazelnut chocolate spread). About a tablespoon is all that is needed
- Fold the sides of the cookie circle over the filling so that it is hidden in the centre
- Refridgerate the cookie balls for at least 6 hours
- Bake at 170℃ Fan/190℃/375℉/Gas mark 5 for approximately 20 minutes, the cookies should be lightly browned but still a little gooey.
- Leave to cool on the tray for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack
Tip: freeze your filling in small tablespoon-measured balls before inserting them into your loaded cookies; it will help prevent the filling from merging with the cookie as they bake.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
📖 Recipe
The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies!
Here's what you'll need...
- Small saucepan
- Stand mixer with paddle attachment or hand mixer with beaters fitted
- Baking sheet - a good thick heavy duty one preferably
- Greaseproof paper (parchment paper)
Ingredients you'll need...
- 275 g Plain flour (2¼ Cups of all purpose flour)
- 1 teaspoon Cornflour (cornstarch)
- 1 teaspoon Bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
- ½ teaspoon Baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon Fine salt
- 100 g Unsalted butter (cut into small pieces) must be cold (7 tablespoons)
- 85 g Unsalted butter (cut into small pieces) (⅓ Cup), you should have 60 grams (¼ Cup) of left once browned
- 125 g Caster sugar (10 tablespoons of superfine sugar)
- 165 g Light brown sugar (¾ Cup , loosely packed)
- 1 Large egg without the shell it needs to weigh 60 grams, must be at room temperature
- 1 Egg yolk at room temperature
- 180 g Milk Chocolate Chips (1 Cup and 2 tablespoons)
Here's what we do...
- Sift your plain flour, cornflour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt together and set aside.
- Place your 100 grams of cold butter into your mixing bowl and fit the paddle attachment (or beaters if using a hand mixer).
- Over a medium-low heat, gently melt your 85 grams of butter in your small saucepan.
- Turn up the heat to medium-high. The butter will soon start to simmer. Keep stirring and scraping the bits off the base. The butter will soon become frothy, and then brown flecks of milk solids will settle on the base of the pan. Soon after, the butter will develop a nutty aroma and turn a deep golden brown. It usually takes about 4 minutes from when the butter started simmering until when it has browned.
- Once browned, remove the pan from the heat and immediately weigh out 60 grams (¼ Cup). Make sure you scrape the brown bits from the base and include them as they are full of flavour.
- Pour the 60 grams of your browned butter over the butter waiting in your mixing bowl and then immediately beat the butters together for 2 minutes on a medium high setting. If there are a few lumps of butter remaining, that is fine.
- Tip both sugars over your butter and beat for a minute on low setting, then turn up to a medium high setting and beat for another minute. Wipe the bowl down with your spatula midway to be sure everything mixes evenly. The mixture is ready when it is soft and creamy, light brown in colour and sticking to the edges of the bowl, not the paddle or beaters.
- Beat your eggs together and then tip them into the butter mixture, along with a dessert spoonful of the sifted flour mixture. Beat on a low speed until all of the egg has been incorporated. This takes about 10 seconds. Then beat on high for 10 seconds until creamy.
- Dump in all of the remaining flour mixture and beat it in for 10 seconds on a low setting.
- Add your chocolate drops and again beat in very briefly, for only about 5 seconds, just to disperse them.
- Gently bring the cookie dough together into a ball by hand.
- Roll the cookie dough into equal balls. Mine weigh about 67-68 grams each.
- Set your cookies on a baking tray or plate and then cover them with cling film (plastic wrap) and refridgerate them for at least 6 hours. Overnight is even better.
- When you are ready to bake your cookies, heat your oven to 170℃ Fan/190℃/375℉/Gas mark 5.
- Line your large baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
- Place your cookie balls about 3 inches apart from each other. You will likely need two trays or need to bake in 2 batches.
- After 13-15 minutes your cookies should be just golden around the outside but look a bit undone in the middle. That is perfect. Remove the tray from the oven and leave them on the tray to continue to cook for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes remove the now set cookies from the trays onto a cooling rack to fully cool.
- Enjoy! They are irresistible!
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