Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

I tested five chocolate chip cookie recipes to bring you what I consider to be far and away the best chocolate chip cookie recipe in existence. 

In an exhaustive search to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie - the sole recipe I will use from now on and pass down through the generations -  I made sure to test out the most popular recipes I could find.  Candidates for tastiest chocolate chipper included:

•  Nestle Toll House Cookie Recipe
•  NYTimes Chocolate Chip Cookies
•  David Lebovitz's Chocolate Chip Cookies
•  Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies from Cook's Illustrated
•  Allrecipe's Award Winning Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies

The winning cookies taste like they came from a high-end bakery, I'm not even kidding you. But you can make them yourself - it's easy!

I tell you this, Instructables fans, I hesitated to share the results of this experiment with you. It is now one of the most potent tools in my recipe belt, and I have secretly entertained fantasies of launching my own bakery, based on the inspiration provided by this recipe alone. But alas, I already have an awesome job here at Instructables HQ, and it would be criminal of me to keep this secret to myself.

If you follow this recipe, you'll soon be known wide and far for your amazing chocolate chip cookie skills, and will be called upon to provide them at every function. I recommend making up a huge batch and storing them in the freezer. What could be better than surprising your guests with freshly-baked, bakery-quality chocolate chip cookies in fifteen minutes?

Nothing. That's what.

Step 1 Ingredients

If you have a scale, the whole recipe is made easier by measuring the weights of your ingredients.  If you don't have a scale, you should get one!  :)

And here I present to you, David Lebovitz's recipe, the winningest cookie in the world (or at least my kitchen):

• 2 1/2 cups (350 g) all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (8 ounces/225 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup (215 g) packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups (about 225 g) nuts, toasted and chopped
• 14 ounces (400 g) bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
• Sea salt for sprinkling on top (what??)

Comments

[djost007]

Just tried this, and OMG!!!!! These are, by far, the BEST Chocolate Chip cookies I have ever made (in 30 years of baking cookies), and perhaps ever tasted. Well done!

[djost007]

Still thinking about how GOOD these cookies were. Luckily, I snapped some pics to remind me of them...OK..., I can't take it anymore! I'm going to be starting another batch tomorrow.

BTW, I have noticed that some folks have had a few challenges making this recipe. Persevere! They ARE worth it!!

Cheers,

DJ

[lola9724]

I did EXACTLY as you said and did a tester batch before waiting 36 hours just to try how it would taste like but the cookies were really really reallly sweet.. i don't understand as i followed 1 cup (215 g) packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar but it still was ridiculously sweet. Are the cookies supposed to be like this? :O

[valkgurl]

I haven't tried these yet but they are on my "Over the Weekend" list---but an amazing addition to ANY Choc Chip Cookie recipe is 1/4 CUP of PURE MAPLE SYRUP.

Not the ":Mrs. Butterworths" fakey stuff but the REAL DEAL. I got this from an old Yankee Magazine recipe which is still very very good but have stolen the idea for other recipes.

Add this to the softened butter and eggs mixture---it may make the mix look funky or curdled but that is OK. It may also look a bit "seperated"--that is ALSO OK. Leftover syrup from Sunday breakfast or other meal is fine---if you don't want to pour your syrup back into the jug save it for this. If it is a bit shy of 1/4 cup that is OK too.

This will help with the liquid absorbtion in the fridge storage stage and also help get the crispy outside but gooey melty inside and add a subtle but delish flavor all it's own. You will NOT get the full-on maple taste you get from say poaching something in syrup; just a note of Mmmmmmmm.....What WAS that in there?

If you don't do the fridge step you should add a bit more flour to sop up some of the liquid you added with the syrup. Maybe a 1/2 cup say.

[Kringlur]

I made these and had a problem. The cookies barely spread at all. I followed all of the instructions, tried 1/4ths of the batch without refrigerating and the rest normally. They also didn't get the crackle texture like in other people's photos.

The only difference is I used plain, white wheat flour instead of "all-purpose flour" (and I don't know the difference between them) and I didn't have enough chocolate and nuts so there were less of those.

[danstax]

Wow, I tried to make these, and what a disappointment. I did everything like the recipe with the following exceptions. I didn't have enough all-purpose flour, so I mixed cake flour (no gluten) and bread flour (lots of gluten). I didn't have baking soda, but baking powder is pretty close, isn't it? I had a packet of salt from Wendy's, must be about 1/8 tsp. I was low on butter, so I used olive oil and lard, mixed. Had dark brown sugar, so I mixed it with some Splenda to lighten it up. Granulated sugar? No, but some really old confectioner's sugar that was grainy. The vanilla extract was dried up, but I had some Kroger brand "Very Vanilla Ice Cream" that looked good. The eggs I had must have been in a warm room, or they might have been lightly boiled once. They seemed semi-solid. I was surprise to find I did have some nuts I didn't remember buying. They were in a bottom drawer for some reason in a bed of little newspaper pieces and what looked like little licorice sprinkles. They cleaned up okay. I really didn't want to spend a lot of money on fancy chocolate, so I chopped some chocolate bunnies I had left over from Easter. (minus the ears, of course). I didn't have any sea salt, either, but I had bath salts, and salt is salt, and they both got something to do with water, right? I mixed it just like you said, only I don't have a stand mixer, so I threw it all in a blender on puree for 20 minutes. You were right, I couldn't wait 24 hours, so I stuck it in the freezer for 2.4 hours. I feel that ratio is just about correct. I didn't want a bunch of little cookies, I wanted a big one like from the mall, so I put the dough in a frying pan, and since it was so big, I figured it needed more heat to bake evenly, so I set the oven at 450. After 5 minutes, I turned the frying pan around, just like you said. After 10 minutes, I took my giant cookie out of the oven. This was a nasty, gooey, yet burned, soapy tasting mess!!! What I want to know, is, would using parchment paper have made a difference?

Okay, truth is I made them according to directions, they are wonderful, and everyone who has tried them has loved them. The sea salt is da bomb! Thanks for the recipe.

[schumi23]

hehe at the beginning, i didn't notice you were joking, and i figured the reason it was bad was cause you used baking powder instead of soda :) hehe, but then i read the comments, and then i read that last sentence, and then i read the entire paragraph :) great laugh :) o, and great recipe, I'm about to try it out :)

[cooknmom]

OMG My eyes kept getting bigger as I was reading on & finally when I read you used bath salts I was really wondering how you lived,but caught onto the joke & thanks for the laugh..it was very funny!!!

[SuzanneDevlin]

Best laugh I've had in a long time. Reminds me of the time I had company for dinner back in the 70's and made stuffed (twice baked) potatoes. I use chedder cheese, sour cream, chopped green chile, chopped onions, parsley, salt and pepper and refill the potatoes and pile high then top with more grated cheese and a bit of paprika for color. My friend went crazy about them and asked for the recipe. Months later she invited us over for dinner and served "my potatoes".....or so she said. They were flat and butt ugly. She complained that they didn't taste as good as mine. I asked her how she made them. Well she said, "I left out the sour cream and green chile because I don't like sour cream and used milk instead and I didn't have any green chile."

If you love what was served to you, why would you change the recipe? Makes no sense. You shouldn't even post here unless you've already tried the original recipe.........then........improved on it.

The note above is hysterical and reminds me of my dear old friend, Lorene, the tranplante Texan. Other wise, she was a great cook.

[danstax]

Thanks, this (the original) recipe is great, definitely worth making a big batch, everyone loves them!

[smodawell]

I think this is the funniest thing I have read in a long time.... sad thing is... I know people like this! LOL

[grue]

bath salt? i don't think it's NaCl

[scoochmaroo]

Your problem was obviously the parchment.

[ithompson3]

can i make this with semi-sweet chocolate?

[jimbom]

I wondered this myself as I was shopping for ingredients and could only find semi-sweet chocolate chips where I was shopping. I used those instead and I think they turned out pretty well.

According to what I am reading on the internet, the difference between semi-sweet and bittersweet is the cacao content (with semi-sweet being the sweeter of the two). I would guess that bittersweet would probably have made for an even more intense chocolate taste, but again, as I said, I used semi-sweet and it turned out fine for me.

[jimbom]

Great recipe! I'm not the best cook in the world, but these cookies seem to have turned out really good. The sea salt was an excellent suggestion.

As I have been making these cookies, I just figured out that the cookies will be fairly soft when they come out, and then as they cool on a wire rack they get a little firmer. I didn't realize that and left my first cookies in for 15 mins instead of 10 trying to firm them up. Although the cookies were still good, they are definitely crunchier than the later batches where I stayed closer to 10 mins.

[sherlocksbumstead]

BEST chocolate chip cookies I have ever made, AND the best I've ever tasted! I was short on resources so I used 2t baking powder instead of 3/4 t baking soda, only 12oz of chips, no nuts, topped w/ regular table salt, and 3/4 C canola oil instead of a stick of butter. I can't wait to make them again with the actual ingredients. I can't even imagine a better cookie right now. 8min. @ 350 had them at the perfect softness! Totally worth the hassle of making them in a cramped dorm room with no power appliances and then biking a mile in freezing weather to use the oven at my friend's apartment! warning: takes 30+ minutes to eat per cookie including savor time. I NEED MORE MILK!!!! I'm freaking out. these are brilliant. i'm gonna have to try making them over a fire sometime (i have a habit of doing that)

[inferno1111]

inject some chocolate pudding or vanilla pudding in it when you have them in logs its like the best thing ever

[mloggins]

this really IS the best recipe! one might even consider subbing some (1 cup or so) of the flour with blended oats... bit of a different flavor, really yummy.

[mikeltv1]

I tried this recipe but without the chocolate or nuts because we didn't have any unfortunately, but they were good!

[TinaFerrari]

I live in Italy and really have been missing chocolate chip cookies. It's hard to find the U.S. type of baking soda or powder here, and brown sugar is totally different. So, after a trip back to the States and a return to Italy with baking soda and brown sugar, I looked for a good recipe for chocolate chip cookies and found this one. I must say, I have always liked the Nestle Tollhouse recipe but wanted to try something new.
These were certainly delicious and the sea salt worked out well! The only problem is that butter here in Europe is more creamy and fatty than it is in the United States, so these cookies were more flat and chewy than if I had made them with American butter (though crunchy on the edges and oh so yummy!!!). I may add just a tad more flour, or less butter, or refrigerate them the whole 36 hours and see what happens.
In any event, my Italian SO is not complaining and took some to work with him this morning. :-)

[vbhika]

Ok made a batch and put in the fridge and trying to not think about it lol. I substituted baking soda with baking powder cos I hate that baking soda after taste. Oh I also add 50 g of cocoa powder and I used only brown sugar. Will let u know how they came out

[katiramom]

What kind of cookie sheet did you use? Airbake? nonstick? Does it matter?

Thanks!

[scoochmaroo]

I find that as long as I use parchment or a silicone baking liner, it really doesn't matter.

[jsmith204]

I followed the recipe almost exactly, used chocolate I had on hand (4 oz unsweet, 8 oz dark and a few semisweet chips to make up the difference) and Eagle Mills white/Ultragrain flour. I guess that's the reason they didn't spread. This is the flour I always use for everything and never had it affect the results like that, I'll need to adjust, probably use less flour (and I will try adding oats). However, the cookies were great and it sure is convenient to be able to mix the batter a day before I bake them. I forgot to salt the first batch, but sprinkled the second with sea salt from the grinder, wow, delicious! Thanks for the recipe!

[donvil]

Based on my past cookie-baking experience, I thought 2 1/2 cups of flour wasn't enough. I used 3 cups, and it seemed just about right. Maybe some of those whose dough didn't set up and had the cookies spread out too much would do well to add a bit more flour.

I made the cookies before reading all the instructions so didn't wait 24 hours, and I omitted the nuts (grands' preference) and had only milk chocolate chips, but they were very good anyway. I'm looking forward to making the recipe exactly as stated, but with the extra flour.

[stingle]

You won't need the extra flour if you refrigerate them.

[donvil]

Thanks - will try that.

[stingle]

I've made these twice - first time I waited 24 hours and they were great. This time I waited just over 36 hours and they are excellent! I followed the recipe exactly as stated (ok with the exception of using Nestle Tollhouse choc chips - next time I'll buy a block of good chocolate). The raw dough seemed a bit wet to me and if I hadn't planned on refrigerating it I would've felt the need to add more flour. However the refrigeration solidifies the dough and it's not a problem in the least.
I agree they are the perfect chocolate chip cookie! Last tray is in the oven baking as we speak - the house smells soooo good.......

- Sandra

[lmasry]

Hi - I have a daughter with a nut allergy - what would be the best way to adjust these do you think? Another 200g of chocolate? Or do you ahve another great recipe without nuts???

[digitalbella]

I have made these cookies exactly as instructed many, many times. I don't always put the sea salt on top, simply because I sometimes forget to get it. I don't have a preference either way, with or without they still taste awesome. I have also made them right away and let them sit in the fridge as long as 4 days. I have found 2 days seems to have the best flavor, but that's just my preference. I am a pretty experienced cook so this was an easy thing for me to make. One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone either looks at a recipe and says "Oh you're not doing it right you need this or that" or they make the recipe and don't exactly follow the directions and then say "Oh these were ok or this taste crappy". If you don't do it right, then you can't say it didn't turn out right!!! I always say make it like the recipe once, then change what you want the next time. But don't fault the author for doing something wrong when you didn't do it right in the first place. I, like the author, have tried many a recipe and these are by far the best. Everyone who has tasted them tells me they are the best they've had and I should open a shop! So A+ in my book!

[barbian7]

Can't wait to try these. Love the sea salt idea.

[jasoncattnz]

So I take it that the Nestle Toll House recipe is the winner? I tried this recipe last week and saved half the dough till the next day. Unfortunately I raided the fridge during the evening and scoffed a third of the remaining log before it ever saw the oven. Luckily, common sense prevailed and the final results were indeed way better than the first batch. Great instructable, great cookies...

[scoochmaroo]

No, it's the David Lebowitz recipe for the win!
Glad you like them :D

[rtanner]

I agree! The Nestle Toll House recipe sucks. :( Baked them multiple times now, between myself, hubby, and mother-in-law. I give up on their recipe and am giving these bad boys a try! Super excited!

[spazzhero]

So I made them tonight for the first time. I am attempting the experiment portion Tonight I made a batch and baked just half of one of the rolled up dough logs. I let all sit for about an hour in the fridge then baked the first batch tonight.

Results, they were good, but nothing phenomenal. I will wait to see what happens tomorrow night after 24 hours in the fridge.

[spazzhero]

Okay, so I just made another batch after letting them sit for 24 hours and my final thoughts.

Good, but not amazing. From reading these reviews I was expecting something near mind-blowing, and sadly was disappointed. I followed the steps as perfectly as I could, I had all of the right ingredients, the only thing was maybe, maybe the butter wasn't room temperature. But it's not like they were puled straight from the fridge.

That and maybe the chocolate broke up in the mixer a little too much because my cookies looked like chocolate, chocolate chip cookies. Not golden brown chocolate chip cookies. On top of that I noticed none, zero change in the overall flavor from leaving the cookie dough to sit for 24 hours versus baking them straight away.

Despite this, I doubt that the flavor of these cookies can be increased by tweaking these two, possible little flavor influences to take what are in my opinion, perfectly good cookies, to the nirvana I was expecting.

Overall I was looking for a score of between 9-10. I would give these cookies a 7 or 8. If anyone has any idea if I may have made a major mistake elsewhere please feel free to let me know. I will make these again in attempt to perfect the baking process, but I am not expecting much change to the overall taste.

[Sappho]

What's the best way to mix the ingredients if you don't have an electric mixer? Just use a fork? I imagine it'd be too thick to use a whisk, right?

[spazzhero]

imho...your hands. Nothing will be using your hands to mix dough like this, unless you have a powerful mixer such as a KitchenAid.

[Mauigerbil]

I have no pecans... Would peanuts work?