Food52 Pantry

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

by:
November  5, 2021
4.5
18 Ratings
Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
Photo by MJ Kroeger
  • Prep time 10 minutes
  • Cook time 12 minutes
  • makes 45 cookies
Author Notes

I've been making these for decades. If they look like Toll House Cookies, it’s because that recipe, the mother of so many chocolate-chippers, was my starting point. These spread more than Toll House cookies, and I like that about them. They’ve got a bit more salt and more vanilla too, and they’ve got chunks of real chocolate instead of chips. Of course, you can use chips, but chopping bar chocolate and including all the slivers, flyaway shards and dust makes the cookies look more interesting and certainly makes them taste more interesting—each bite has a different chocolate-to-dough balance.

Sometimes I add nuts and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes I add a little cinnamon or cardamom or allspice or instant espresso and sometimes I don’t. And yes, I’ve been known to stir in raisins or bits of dried apricot. And there are times when I toss in some toasted coconut. The sign of a true classic is its ability to accept change yet keep its character. This one can do that, so play away.

Excerpted from BAKING WITH DORIE: Sweet, Salty, & Simple © 2021 by Dorie Greenspan. Photography © 2021 by Mark Weinberg. Reproduced by permission of Mariner Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. —Dorie Greenspan

What You'll Need
Watch This Recipe
Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
  • 2 cups (272 grams) all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 sticks (8 ounces; 226 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1 cup (200 grams) sugar
  • 2/3 cup (133 grams) packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 12 ounces (340 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped (chip-size pieces), or 2 cups (340 grams) chocolate chips
  • 1 cup (120 grams) finely chopped walnuts or pecans, preferably toasted (optional)
Directions
  1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or baking mats.
  2. Whisk together the flour and baking soda. Working in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter, both sugars and the salt together until smooth, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla. One by one, add the eggs, beating for a minute after each egg goes in.
  3. Turn off the mixer, add the dry ingredients all at once and pulse the mixer to begin blending. When the risk of a flour shower has passed, work on low speed, mixing only until the dry ingredients are almost incorporated. Continuing with the mixer or working by hand with a sturdy spatula, stir in the chocolate and nuts. (The dough can be covered and refrigerated for up to 3 days.)
  4. Use a medium cookie scoop (one with a capacity of 1½ tablespoons) to shape the cookies and arrange on a lined baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between the mounds; or portion the dough out by slightly rounded tablespoonfuls. (You can freeze the scooped balls for up to 2 months.)
  5. Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, for 10 to 12 minutes, or until they are brown at the edges and golden in the center; they may still be a little soft in the middle, and that’s just fine. Let the cookies rest for a minute on the baking sheet, then carefully lift them onto racks to cool until they are just warm or have come to room temperature. Repeat with the remaining dough, always using a cool baking sheet.
  6. Storing: The cookies can be kept in an airtight container for about 4 days at room temperature or for up to 2 months in the freezer.
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Dorie Greenspan
With the publication her 14th book, Baking with Dorie, New York Times bestselling author Dorie Greenspan marks her thirtieth anniversary as a cookbook author. She has won five James Beard Awards for her cookbooks and journalism and was inducted into the Who’s Who of Food and Beverage in America. A columnist for the New York Times Magazine and the author of the xoxoDorie newsletter on Bulletin, Dorie was recently awarded an Order of Agricultural Merit from the French government for her outstanding writing on the foods of that country. She lives in New York City, Westbrook, Connecticut, and Paris. You can find Dorie on Instagram, Facebook, Bulletin and her website,

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14 Reviews

Ellen R.
Ellen R. September 13, 2023
I got tired of spending too much money on a higher end store-bought cookies that weren’t very good.

My daughter suggested I try Dorie’s recipe. I literally have not baked cookies in decades. This recipe was so easy. Followed it to the letter. The cookies are fabulous!

I love having a huge stash of them in the freezer now.
 
Crabby G.
Crabby G. January 18, 2023
These are by far my favorite chocolate chip cookie! I love cutting up the chocolate so much more than chocolate chips. They were a little crispy on the outside, and a little chewy on the inside. I like them better than Jacque Torres' chocolate chip cookies, and that is quite a compliment! Way to go Dorie!
 
GraceH
GraceH January 4, 2023
Followed recipe exactly except that I threw dough in fridge after I made it because I wanted to bake them just before we ate them. I think they were in the fridge for about 3 hours. Might have made the butter solidify again. Cookies came out beautifully.
 
iheartblueberries
iheartblueberries December 24, 2022
Made here last week and, hurray! My new perfect cookie (had no brown sugar, so just used white).

But! I made them today, and weird things happened: used brown sugar, and they came out so flat (of course I used the 3/4 t baking soda), cups/chewy like a Florentine cookie.

Any intel on what this kind of result could mean? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not mad at the cookie, it’s still delicious, I’m simply puzzled.
 
Stephanie P.
Stephanie P. December 24, 2022
Were you eggs cold or is your soda expired, and did you mix them to long! Only suggestions!
 
iheartblueberries
iheartblueberries December 24, 2022
Aha! Eggs were room temp, and soda good.

I did a little reading and, yes! I overmixed the butter which may have made it too warm (but was careful not to overmix the batter with flour), and it’s possible my scale was off and the flour was less. Also, I didn’t chill the batter (too warm).
 
Crabby G.
Crabby G. January 18, 2023
Sounds like your butter was too warm when you put them in the oven.
 
ovonlembcke
ovonlembcke November 11, 2022
These came out horrible- so I’m sure it was on my end and I’ll try it again 🥳
 
Stephanie P.
Stephanie P. August 6, 2022
These are very good, but I switched the sugars the second time I made them and for me they were better. But, they are very easy and I left out the nuts the second time and they were yummy either way! and I like crispy cookies and they were perfect at the max. cooking time!
 
Alex
Alex May 11, 2022
Wonderful cookies! Swapped the flour with a gluten-free blend (worked wonderfully) and added in orange-infused sugar and some Aleppo pepper for a twist.
 
trish
trish March 13, 2022
I made these with my grandsons today and they got a thumbs up all around... still warm with the great combo of crisp outside with some gooey choc in center. Joy and cheer in the kitchen. I made 2 adjustments based on what I had on hand. I used only 1 & 1/2 sticks of butter and didn't feel anything was lost by this reduction. I used half oat flour /half all purpose white. So nice, light but there's something about oat flour that I love. We'll make more of these soon! thank you!
 
MBV
MBV February 21, 2022
I made these cookies today and they turned out wonderfully! The recipe halves very nicely. I know the dough can be frozen but I would just eat them all and I'd rather not! I ended up with 14 cookies using a 1 1/4 ounce scooper. I used a combination of dark chocolate chunks and 55% dark chocolate chips. They were heavenly with a glass of milk! Will be making these again in the future!
 
Lora S.
Lora S. November 14, 2021
I've tweaked chocolate chip cookie recipes so many times...trying to get MY favorite version - a thin, crispy and nutty cookie. This recipe nails it (with one tiny personal exception). For me there's too much chocolate, but it's easily reduced. I'd never toasted the pecans before, now I'll always toast them.
 
erin
erin November 8, 2021
Just a note that you can cream the softened butter with the sugar by hand. Elbow grease required but absolutely achievable. I wish more recipes would acknowledge that almost every foodstuff in existence pre-dates our modern equipment, which is a (super!) convenience, but shouldn't be regarded as a barrier to having a go.