Rachel’s Excellent Chocolate Chip Cookies

We love heat, do-it-yourself chocolate chip cookies straight from the oven. Severely, what might be higher? That is our basic, fool-proof chocolate chip cookie recipe that ensures completely smooth and buttery cookies each time. We promise, you’ll love these cookies as a lot as we do!

For extra do-it-yourself cookie goodness, attempt our straightforward Air Fryer Chocolate Chip Cookies.

We have now been baking these chocolate chip cookies for the previous 25 years. It began within the fifth grade, decided to make cookies with out an grownup’s assist, the place as a substitute of 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 cup of baking soda was added! Whoops! They grew bigger and bigger within the oven till they coated the complete pan! This studying lesson started our love for cooking. Mastering the last word chocolate chip cookie was extraordinarily necessary, and we’re blissful to share that recipe with you in the present day.

Ingredient Notes

• Butter: Unsalted butter can be utilized, however add an additional pinch of salt to the dough. Be certain it’s softened for simple creaming.
• Brown Sugar: Gentle or darkish brown sugar works, however darkish brown sugar goes to provide you a deeper taste and a chewier cookie.
• Granulated Sugar: Balances the sweetness and helps the cookies obtain calmly crisp edges.
• Vanilla Extract: Pure vanilla extract provides the perfect taste, however imitation vanilla additionally works.
• Eggs: Use massive eggs at room temperature for greatest outcomes.
• All-Function Flour: Persist with common all-purpose flour for this one. Bread flour can even work.
• Baking Soda: Test the expiration date to make sure correct leavening.

Chocolate Chip Choices

The kind of chocolate chips you employ is a matter of non-public choice. There are not any flawed solutions right here! Each semi-sweet and milk chocolate chips will work, or you need to use a mixture of each.

Mini chips, chunks, and disks all work! You may even chop up a chocolate bar as a substitute of utilizing chips if you need these large, melty puddles of chocolate all through your cookies. Simply keep on with round 2 cups complete.

Parchment Paper vs. Nonstick Cooking Spray

I all the time advocate utilizing parchment paper or a silicone baking mat when baking cookies. It retains the cookies from sticking, and it does it with out including any additional grease.

Nonstick cooking spray is the better choice, however it could actually depart a barely greasy texture on the bottoms of your cookies. It additionally tends to brown them quicker, which isn’t all the time factor. With parchment or a silicone mat, you get extra even baking and a cleaner, crisper end.

The Science Behind the Excellent Cookie

There’s actual science behind what makes these cookies end up good each time. It’s not magic—it’s how the elements work collectively. This recipe is all concerning the stability that provides you smooth, chewy facilities with simply the correct quantity of crisp across the edges.

Butter creaming issues. Softened butter (not melted!) is creamed with the sugars for a strong 2 to three minutes on this recipe. Don’t skip on the time! This does a few crucial issues. First, it dissolves the sugars utterly within the butter. Second, it beats in quite a lot of air which can enable your leavening agent (the baking soda) to provide the cookies a bit extra raise.

Darkish brown sugar provides moisture. The excessive molasses content material in darkish brown sugar provides the cookies a deeper taste, however that additional moisture is what helps preserve the within of your cookies smooth and chewy for days. The granulated sugar is what provides crispiness across the edges.

No chill time wanted. However when you’ve got the time (or the persistence), a fast 30-minute chill will make the cookies puff up only a bit extra if that’s your factor.

Timing is the whole lot. Don’t you dare overbake! Baking for simply 10 to 12 minutes ensures the facilities keep smooth. Pull them out when the perimeters are golden however the facilities nonetheless look a little bit underdone. That’s the candy spot. They’ll end baking on the recent pan, providing you with these dreamy gooey facilities with out overcooking.

Troubleshooting

Even a tried-and-true cookie recipe can end up a little bit totally different relying in your elements, kitchen setup, and even the climate or your temper. We’ve all been there. In case your cookies didn’t end up fairly the way you hoped, listed here are a couple of fast fixes to get you again on observe.

Your cookies are spreading an excessive amount of. That butter was most likely a little bit too heat. Be certain it’s softened—not melted. In case your dough feels tremendous smooth, simply pop it within the fridge for 20 to half-hour earlier than baking. That’ll assist them maintain their form.

They’re not spreading in any respect. This often means there’s an excessive amount of flour. It’s a straightforward mistake to make as measuring flour is a bit inaccurate and not using a kitchen scale. Fluff, scoop, and sweep is the strategy I exploit.

Too cakey? That may occur in case you overmix the dough. Overmixing can incorporate an excessive amount of air into the dough or develop an excessive amount of gluten, each of which might result in a cakier texture. Combine simply till the flour disappears.

Burnt bottoms or crispy edges? This is likely to be your baking pan. Darkish pans warmth up extra within the oven and may brown the bottoms quicker. I like to recommend utilizing a light-colored sheet pan. When you solely have darkish ones, simply decrease your oven temp by 15 to 25 levels and preserve a detailed eye towards the top of the bake time.

Cookies are getting onerous after they cool. Take them out of the oven when the perimeters are set, however the facilities nonetheless look a little bit underbaked. They’ll preserve baking on the recent pan. As soon as they’re cool, retailer them in an hermetic container—whereas they’re nonetheless simply barely heat is even higher to assist lock in that softness.

Make Now, Bake Later

This recipe is ideal if you wish to rapidly make the dough and put it aside for baking both the subsequent morning or later down the street when your cookie craving hits!

Need just a bit deal with now and extra later? Make the total batch of dough and stash the remaining within the fridge. Cookie dough will keep good within the fridge for as much as 72 hours. While you’re prepared for extra, simply scoop and bake straight from the fridge—no must let it come to room temp.

This cookie dough can even simply be frozen. For greatest outcomes, form into balls and freeze on a baking sheet. As soon as frozen, switch to a resealable plastic freezer bag for long-term storage, as much as 3 months. When able to bake, place frozen cookie dough within the oven and bake for 12-Quarter-hour.