Chocolate Chip Cookies
Author Notes: These cookies are deeply rooted in the Toll House tradition. But, over the years, the recipe has evolved into my own. I've made it thousands of times. I will never stop. —Phyllis Grant
Makes 24 cookies (2 ounces each)
- 2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups regular semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup large bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1 1/2 cups walnuts, finely chopped
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup light or dark brown sugar, tightly packed
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- Heat oven to 375° F.
- Sift flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Mix together chocolate chips and chopped nuts. Set aside.
- All medium speed unless otherwise noted: In a standing mixer, with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugars until well mixed and light. Scrape down the sides. Add one egg. Mix for 5 seconds. Scrape down the sides. Add second egg. Mix for 5 seconds. Scrape down the sides. Add vanilla. Mix for 5 seconds. Scrape down the sides.
- You're going to add the sifted flour mixture in 4 batches, stopping before adding the final batch. For the first 3 batches, mix at low speed just to combine, scraping down the sides between each addition. When you get to the final batch of flour, add the chocolate chip/nut mixture. They will get a bit crushed. That's okay. Mix until there's barely a trace of flour visible. Don't over-mix. Sometimes, it's better to be safe and do the final bit of mixing by hand.
- Set up a sheet pan with a silpat or parchment paper. Bake one tray at a time or they will all cook at different rates. Make them spherical, not flat. The cookie size is up to you. I find the bigger they are, the better ratio you have between gooey interior and crisp exterior. 2 ounces is about right for that.
- Leave a few inches between the raw cookies. Place sheet pan in the oven. They cook very fast at this temp. I never set a timer. I just hang around the oven and drink tea. They're done when they're brown and crispy on the outer border and raw in the very middle (8 to 10 minutes). Remove sheet pan. Allow to cool for a few minutes, then, with a spatula, transfer cookies to a cookie rack to cool. If you're not going to eat them right away, they should be frozen.
- If you're not baking them off right away, portion them out with an ice cream scoop, place them on a sheet pan, and freeze. Once firm, store them in a Ziploc bag. Works great to bake them off when they're frozen.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
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6 months ago BonniePHL
I subbed in some chunks of mint-chocolate Dove bar for part of the chocolate chips. Amazing cookies. Can't wait to experiment with different nuts and some of the variations here in the comments.
6 months ago Noelle
These cookies are delicious and easy and surprisingly elegant. I have 3 comments. First, the yield is very small. I made a double batch and did not make huge cookies and I got 30. Second, for the first batch I made I ground the almonds very fine. I recommend that. The second batch was chunkier and the cookies were way more liquidy and spread out more. Both tasted great, however. Third, I live in a part of the world where it's almost impossible to get lemons so I used lime zest and it was delicious. I think orange zest would be good too.
7 months ago Therese
A super easy basic recipe that my kids adore. I double the batch and freeze. This is delicious and an example that sometimes the unadorned and easiest recipes are the best.
11 months ago Stefanie Swartz
Hi Phyllis --
Such a great recipe. My favorite thing about cooking is being able to give someone an experience: to make them think, warm them on a cold day, comfort them when they are sick, delight them when they are least expecting it. For the 100th time since finding this recipe (at least), I remembered how grateful I am for something as simple as crunchy, chocolatey cookies. I just popped a few pre-portioned cookie dough balls in the oven for my fiancé. Perfect cookies again, as always. Thanks for sharing!
over 1 year ago Tara
Truly excellent chocolate chip cookies. I omitted the nuts, but they were a huge hit regardless. Love the combo of the chunks+chips. Makes for a very decadent cookie. My new go-to!
over 1 year ago Dre Gray
Hi!
Huge fan of this recipe! Always comes through for me :) My question is one of aesthetics: how do I get that "swirl" of chocolate atop the cookie like yours? I've thought maybe it's the chips I'm using or perhaps I should very lightly warm the chips before adding them to the mixer. In any event, thanks for the great work!
Andrea
over 1 year ago Phyllis Grant
So glad this recipe worked out for you. I use these enormous dark chocolate chips from Guittard. I think that might be the swirl that you are talking about?
over 1 year ago Dre Gray
Yes! I love the way the cookies look, whereas when I do it the chips maintain the bulk of their integrity even after baking. I'll try that brand!
Thank you :)
over 1 year ago Claire Swarthout
Guittard is absolutely fabulous, their super cookie chips & milk chocolate chips are by far my favorite to bake with!
over 1 year ago mia
When i first tried this recipe a year ago, I used pecan pieces instead of walnuts and whole wheat flour instead of AP flour. They turned out great and I never looked at any other chocolate chip cookie recipe ever again. These are seriously the best chocolate chip cookies ever!!!!! Occasionally I'll hear some people say that there is too much chocolate in this cookie, I simply stop talking to those individuals. If you don't like ridiculous amounts of chocolate in your cookie then we can't be friends ;)
over 1 year ago clare hurst
Phyllis, if I omit the nuts, will the consistency/ body of the resulting cookies be all right? Thanks!
over 1 year ago Phyllis Grant
so sorry i didn't get back to you. you can absolutely leave out the nuts.
over 1 year ago Stefanie Swartz
I absolutely love this recipe, but I will say the volume of chocolate chips seems to produce a cookie that has trouble holding together. I have to make sure that there isn't a big chocolate chip on the very bottom, so that they might hold together a bit better. Any help in that department would be appreciated. Otherwise, perfection.
almost 2 years ago OneLittleDetail
Finally made these with 1 cup milk chocolate chips and 1/2 cup toffee bits replacing the 1 1/2 cup semi-sweet chips; and 3/4 cup dark brown sugar (was low). No other substitutions.
PERFECT. DELIGHTFUL. SERIOUSLY WHERE HAVE THESE COOKIES BEEN ALL MY LIFE??
almost 2 years ago Shaniece Renella Peters
I have salted butter, can I just skip the salt?
almost 2 years ago Phyllis Grant
I think the salt is important. Maybe add 3/4 of a teaspoon instead.
almost 2 years ago Bre
I made these cookies and they taste awesome! The only thing is they don't look like yours (which look so beautiful), they kinda puffed up at the middle so I'm thinking maybe I overcooked? Not sure. Any suggestions?
almost 2 years ago Marian Bull
making these tomorrow can't fuckin wait
almost 2 years ago Phyllis Grant
yay, marian! i've been adding more salt to them. and really finely chopping the nuts. and adding different sized chocolate chips. and i do this crazy thing. i scoop huge balls and dough and halfway through the cooking time i take the tray out, whack the cookie tray hard on the counter a few times so the cookies spread out more, and then put them back in the oven. i have been undercooking the heck out of them too. gooey gooey.
almost 2 years ago Phyllis Grant
huge balls *of* dough. xoxo
almost 2 years ago Ann
What adjustments should be made for high altitude? We live at 6000 feet.
almost 2 years ago Karen
Ann, I've made these many times and I'm a mile high. I add a bit more flour, a bit less white sugar, chill dough prior to baking -- up oven temp to just under 400 and cut baking time by a couple minutes. Didn't adjust leavening. They turn out awesome every time!
almost 2 years ago Mlouise
Ow! Something had to be off....I make these all the time. I seem to vaguely remember a little confusion on measurements.
Do try again, they are worth it. This time pretend you are going to do a TV show and set everything out, already measured.
almost 2 years ago Brenda
Disaster!! I took this recipe and all the ingredients to a friend's house tonight. Everyone was really looking forward to eating these cookies, and I was excited to try them. But what a mess! I followed the directions carefully but the cookies spread out very thin and all ran together into one big mess, and in trying to get them off the cookie sheet they just scrunched up into messy blobs. I added more flour after seeing the result of the first cookie sheet's worth, but that only helped marginally. We couldn't even take any home as they were impossible to transport with any success.
almost 2 years ago Kris
It's better to try new recipes at home because it could be their oven. Maybe it was running under temperature. The cookies did spread for me too but that should've been expected since the mixture is very soft . But if it was runnny, then I think something went wrong. Next time you can also try scooping and freezing the dough and then baking. I did that as well once
almost 2 years ago Courtney C
This were very yummy! Just what I was craving. I'm not typically a chocolate chip cookie with nuts type of person, but these won me over. The texture was great! Thank you for the recipe (and for the giant tower of cookies I now have!)
about 2 years ago Morin
Can you use coconut oil instead of butter?
about 2 years ago Phyllis Grant
I have never baked with coconut oil. This might be a good question for the food52 hotline. Sorry I can't help!
about 2 years ago Jenni
This is my most favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. I have been making these for well over a year, and they always turn out perfectly. I have several friends and family members who have been diagnosed with Celiac Disease and/or dairy allergies, so I make them gluten and dairy free with a few simple substitutions. I use Bob's Red Mill 1to1 Gluten Free Baking Blend and Spectrum Non-Hydrogenated Organic Butter Flavor Shortening. Also make sure the chocolate chips are gluten and dairy free. Easy to make and oh so yummy!
about 2 years ago Jef
My daughter and I made these together... Wonderful. We didn't have brown sugar so used turbinado sugar and added a little molasses and barley malt syrup. It gave the cookies a wonderful extra layer of flavor. Thanks for a great recipe.
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