Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

Before you start

The classic chocolate chip cookie is a creamed butter dough with roughly equal amounts of brown and white sugar, a little baking soda and a lot of semisweet chocolate. White sugar spreads and crisps the edges; brown sugar holds moisture and gives the chewy center and caramel flavor. Change that balance and you change the cookie, which is why this version keeps it close to even.

A short chill is optional but worthwhile. Thirty minutes in the fridge firms the butter so the cookies spread less and bake thicker, and a longer rest of up to three days lets the flour absorb liquid and deepens the toffee flavor. Pull them from the oven while the centers still look a little underdone.

Ingredients

• 280 g (2¼ cups, spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp fine salt
• 225 g (1 cup) unsalted butter — softened to about 18°C (65°F)
• 150 g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
• 165 g (¾ cup packed) light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs — room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 340 g (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips

Method

1. Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.
2. Beat the butter with both sugars on medium speed for about 2 minutes, until creamy and slightly lighter. Do not whip it until very fluffy; extra air makes the cookies puff and then collapse.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla, scraping the bowl so no butter is stuck at the bottom.
4. Add the dry ingredients on low speed and mix until only a few streaks of flour remain. Add the chocolate chips and finish mixing by hand with a spatula.
5. Cover and refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 190°C (375°F) and line the sheets with parchment.
6. Scoop 42 g balls (about 3 tbsp) and set them 5 cm (2 in) apart, 12 to a sheet. Press a few extra chips into the tops if you like.
7. Bake one sheet at a time for 9 to 11 minutes, until the edges are golden and the centers look puffy and slightly glossy.
8. Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes so the centers set, then move the cookies to a rack. Let the sheet cool before loading the next batch.

Tips for success

• If your dough has rested in the fridge for more than a few hours, let the scooped balls sit for 10 minutes so they spread a little instead of baking as domes.
• Chopped bar chocolate melts into puddles and streaks; chips hold their shape. A mix of both gives the best of each.
• For uniform cookies, weigh the first few balls and then match the size by eye.

Substitutions

Light brown sugar

Dark brown sugar gives a deeper molasses flavor and a slightly softer, chewier cookie.

Semisweet chips

Use milk chocolate for a sweeter cookie or 60 to 70% chocolate for a more bitter one. Keep the total at about 340 g so the dough is not overloaded.

Unsalted butter

Salted butter works; reduce the added salt to ½ tsp. Margarine with high water content makes the cookies spread and taste flat.

Variations

Brown butter chocolate chip cookies

Brown 250 g butter, cool until it is soft and set, then use 225 g in place of the softened butter. Chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Salted chocolate chunk

Use chopped 70% chocolate and sprinkle each ball with a few flakes of sea salt before baking.

Troubleshooting

Cookies spread into thin, greasy discs

The butter was too soft or the dough was too warm. Use cool-softened butter, chill the dough and always load cool baking sheets.

Cookies are cakey and puffy

Too much flour or too much creaming. Weigh the flour and cream the butter and sugar for only 2 minutes.

Bottoms brown before the tops set

The sheet is dark or the rack is too low. Use a light-colored aluminum sheet on the middle rack, or double up two sheets.

Cookies are hard by the next day

They were baked until fully golden. Take them out while the centers look underdone, and store them airtight with a slice of bread to keep them soft.

Storage

Keep baked cookies airtight at room temperature for up to 4 days. Freeze baked cookies for up to 3 months. Freeze scooped dough balls on a tray, then bag them; bake from frozen at the same temperature for 1 to 2 minutes longer.

Safety notes

Do not eat raw cookie dough; it contains raw flour and raw egg, which can carry harmful bacteria. Contains wheat, egg, milk and soy (in most chocolate chips).