It’s a shame that I’ve been blogging for years and have never shared with you the recipe for the best chocolate chip cookie you will ever eat. I’ve been tinkering with this recipe for quite a while now and let me tell you… it’ll knock your socks off. I served it at a baby shower a few weeks ago and literally had ladies begging me with money in hand to sell them the recipe. I promised I would post the recipe soon (for free!) and then promptly forgot. Story of my life.
What makes these cookies the best? It really comes down to so many things. First, the chocolate. Don’t use chocolate chips. Use a bar of bittersweet chocolate chopped into chunks. I prefer to use Trader Joe’s Bittersweet Pound Plus Bar. Microwave it for a few seconds if it’s too hard to chop and it will soften just enough to allow a blade to cut into it. Texture is another important element to any chocolate chip cookie. These are crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside. Perfection. The original cookie recipe on which this cookie is based came from some anonymous source on-line that my mom emailed to me years ago. I’d love to give credit where credit is due, but unfortunately I cannot. The baking techniques are from Pam Anderson’s book The Perfect Recipe. This is one of the few cookbooks and refer to often. The sprinkle of flaked sea salt on top was my own idea, albeit borrowed from hundreds of other such cookie recipes on the web. Altogether, this cookie is phenomenal. And the other great thing about this recipe? You can cook exactly as many cookies as you want to eat that day so you will never have to eat a stale cookie again!
These are the best chocolate chip cookies you'll ever eat. I promise.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Sift the flour, table salt, and baking soda together and set aside.
- Mix the sugars and butter just until blended. Add the egg, yolk and vanilla and stir until creamy. Add the sifted ingredients and mix just until blended. Stir in the chocolate chunks.
- Drop the dough 1/4 cup at a time on a wax paper lined plate and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes (I leave mine in for weeks sometimes!).
- Preheat the oven to 400.
- Place as many cookies as you will be eating today on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. Without opening the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350. Bake an additional 7-9 minutes or until the edges look golden brown.
- Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with sea salt flakes. Let rest on pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. As tempted as you may be to eat these immediately, they are best after they cool enough so that the chocolate inside is not just a melted mess. But if you must eat them immediately, I will understand. Serve with a tall glass of milk.
23 responses so far ↓
1 Sally @ Spontaneous Hausfrau // Dec 6, 2011 at 5:04 am
Wow, these look so perfectly round and plump and delicious that I so wish I could snatch one through the screen. I always do milk chocolate chips but you have me convinced that I need to try the bittersweet bar.
2 Amy // Dec 6, 2011 at 10:17 pm
They look heavenly! Are these cookies chewy or cripsy?
3 Paula // Dec 6, 2011 at 10:21 pm
Amy – crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. Best possible combo, in my humble opinion.
4 lina @ a little chef // Dec 6, 2011 at 10:42 pm
Yes, yes, yes. Chocolate chunks are awesome in cookies; they have this unique home-bred and well-loved appearance that chips can’t really achieve.
5 Best Pudding // Dec 6, 2011 at 11:11 pm
I admire the valuable information you offer in your articles. I will bookmark your blog and I am quite sure they will learn lots of new stuff here than anybody else!
6 Leigh // Dec 7, 2011 at 7:14 am
Beautiful cookie! That recipe is almost exactly like the Thick and Chewy CCC’s from Cooks Illustrated, which are my absolute FAVE (and get raves all over the internet). The only thing your recipe is missing is 2 extra TBSP of flour.
7 Rachel @ Bakerita // Dec 8, 2011 at 5:17 pm
I’m definitely anti-chips in chocolate chip cookies…you gotta chop it yourself! Since my recipe calls for a pound of chocolate, I always use the pound-plus bars from TJ’s…and eat a little myself
Cook’s treat, right?!
8 Jean Champagne // Dec 10, 2011 at 12:29 pm
Any problem adding pecans?
9 Paula // Dec 10, 2011 at 7:38 pm
As a general rule, I hate pecans in my cookies, but if you want to, why not? You may need to replace some of the chocolate with the nuts in order to keep a dough that still comes together!
10 Doretta // Dec 12, 2011 at 10:54 am
I thought my old chocolate chip recipe was delicious but this one is out of this world!
Added chopped walnuts and my husband
ate three immediately.
11 lisa // Dec 12, 2011 at 10:27 pm
is it critical to actually sift the dry ingredients with a real sifter? Also do you truly need a mixer or can you do this by hand? Finally, I love oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, what if anything do you have to tweak if you use oatmeal?
12 Paula // Dec 13, 2011 at 1:35 pm
Lisa – I didn’t sift the flour this last time and they were fine.
Given that the butter is melted, I think mixing these by hand will be okay. But I like using the mixer anyway. 
I know nothing about adding oatmeal. My original guess? 3/4 cup oatmeal, 1 cup of flour to start and then add more flour or oatmeal if the batter looks “loose.” I hope that makes sense! 
13 Melanie Stallings // Dec 18, 2011 at 1:12 pm
Oh. My. Goodness. Gift worthy indeed. It will be one lucky person who ends up with this box of cookies at the party. And the fleur de sel finish is divine!
14 Julie // Dec 23, 2011 at 9:02 am
They look wonderful for a gift. Lucky winner!
15 Peggy // Dec 26, 2011 at 8:13 am
I made these to bring to family Christmas. I followed your instructions to the letter and they came out perfectly! They were the hit of the dessert line up! Great recipe and great blog. Thanks!
16 Jo // Jan 12, 2012 at 6:27 pm
best. ever.
17 Juhara // Feb 4, 2012 at 6:31 am
Amazing!!
18 Amy Alejandro // Apr 7, 2012 at 2:05 pm
Hands down the best chocolate chip cookie ever!
19 Shelby N. // Jun 18, 2012 at 6:56 pm
Best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever made. Thanks so much!!
20 Natalie // Mar 16, 2013 at 2:49 am
hi, what sort of chocolate did you use? Mine melted in the dough and it turned out quite messy. I wasnt sure whether or not I should cool down the dough first because of the melted butter.
21 Paula // Mar 16, 2013 at 12:27 pm
Natalie – sounds like your butter was a little more than melted.
Sounds like it was boiling. 
I’d let it cool a bit before adding it to the other ingredients. You don’t want it so hot that it cooks the eggs (or chocolate!) on impact. 
22 Kristy // Jan 12, 2014 at 1:24 pm
I’ve been making these since I found your recipe pretty close to when you first posted it! Everyone loves them-they really are the best ever. I am planning to make some for friends but was thinking of making them smaller so they might go a little farther. Ever done that? Know how much the baking time might need to change if they are smaller?
23 Paula // Jan 17, 2014 at 2:25 pm
Kristy, I know I’ve changed the size a couple of times but it definitely changes the cooking time. I shave a few minutes off each temperature setting and then just watch them for the “right” color. Tough to tell sometimes, and different butters brown differently so that makes it extra challenging. I would love to hear how yours turn out and if you stumble upon any secrets!