Make Chocolate Chip Cookies

The perfect chocolate chip cookie is within your grasp. Once you've mastered the art of the chocolate chip cookie from scratch, there'll be no going back for the commercial variety! This article offers a few ways to make chocolate chip cookies––give yourself the luxury of trying out all of them to work out which is your favorite. Have fun and enjoy your fresh baked cookies.

Ingredients

Basic Super Chocolately Chip Cookies

Servings: 5 dozen (60) small cookies

  • 2 1/4 cups ({{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}}) flour
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} salt
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} baking soda
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} butter, softened but not melted (2 standard American sticks/250 grams)
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} packed brown sugar (165 grams)
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} granulated sugar (150 grams)
  • 2 large eggs
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} vanilla extract
  • 5 to 7 cups of chocolate chips (168 to 336 grams)

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Servings: Approximately 5 dozen medium sized cookies

  • 2 cups white sugar
  • 2 cups brown sugar
  • A pinch pinch salt
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 cups (4 sticks) of butter (softened)
  • 6 cups of self-rising flour (adapt this for elevation and humidity as needed, make sure the cups are level
  • 2 tsp of vanilla
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 4 cups of chocolate chips

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Servings: 40 cookies

  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} flour
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} salt
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} baking soda
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} margarine
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} brown sugar
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} vegan sugar
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} vanilla extract (essence)
  • Egg replacer equivalent of 2 eggs (Ener-G Egg Replacer works best, but you can also mix together 2 tsp. cornstarch and 1/4 cup water)
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} semi-sweet chocolate chips

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

' Servings: Makes 18 cookies '

  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} (315g) all-purpose flour
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} baking powder
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} salt
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} baking soda
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} (100g) white sugar
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} (110g) brown sugar
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} (150g) butter, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} vanilla extract (essence)
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} bananas, mashed
  • {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} (335g) semisweet chocolate chips

Steps

Basic Chocolate Chip Cookies

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F/190°C.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. To reduce clumpiness, sift through a sifter or sieve. Gently mix these together, then set the bowl aside.
  3. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugars together, then beat in eggs and vanilla extract, vanilla essence . The coarseness of the sugar granules will help break the butter down, so be sure to do this first. Then add the eggs and vanilla and mix again until completely combined.
  4. Gradually a cup at a time add the dry ingredients from the medium bowl to the wet ingredients in the large bowl, then add chocolate chips. Pour a cup of the dry ingredients, stir, and repeat until the dry and wet ingredients are totally combined. Fold the chocolate chips in until fully incorporated. At this point you should have a moderately thick cookie dough.
    • Do not over-stir the dough. While the dry ingredients should be added gradually, don’t do so little at a time that your dough turns to brick. Aim for adding the dry ingredients in four or five batches.
  5. Drop spoonfuls of cookie dough onto a pre-greased or a lined baking sheet. Leave at least an inch of space between the cookies because they'll spread out when they bake. You can usually fit 12 cookies on a full-sized cookie sheet at a time.
  6. Bake for about 10 minutes or until barley golden brown around the edges. Do not over bake; if you do the cookies will be dark brown and burnt. Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies rest on the pan for 10 minutes.(this will cook the cookie thoroughly while they will remain chewy)
  7. Let cool for about 5-7 minutes. Using a spatula, lift cookies off and place onto wax paper, a plate, or a cooling rack.
  8. Go ahead and eat! Eat when hot and steamy or cooled and slightly crisp. If you like you can pipe a small swirl of icing or whipping cream on top and add some sprinkles to make it look fancy.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

  1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF/180ºC.
  2. Add the vanilla, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and butter.
    • Use coarser sugar for thicker, chewier cookies. When sugar dissolves, it acts as a tenderizer that interferes with dough structure. This increases spreading because finer sugar dissolves more easily than coarser sugar. So if you want your cookies to remain thick and chewy, use coarse sugar (or use fine sugar for the opposite effect). If you decide to use powdered sugar for extra crispiness, make sure it doesn't have corn starch in it, or you'll get unexpected results.[1]
    • Mix these ingredients until creamy.
  3. Add the flour, salt, and baking soda/powder.
  4. Mix until fully blended; add the milk to achieve a smoothly blended dough. After blending the mixture, add the chocolate chips.
  5. Apply cooking spray to the pan so that the cookies won't stick to the baking pan. Alternatively, line the pan with baking paper.
  6. Roll a small ball for each cookie.
  7. Place the cookie balls on the baking pan.
  8. Flatten each cookie with a fork. This will leave distinct ridges and flatten the cookie neatly.
  9. Put cookies in the oven for about 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown. Don't overdo the cooking, as they'll continue to cook after you remove them from the oven.
  10. Take the cookies out of the oven and let them sit on a wire cooling rack for about 15 minutes to cool. Be careful not to burn yourself on the melted chips when transferring the cookies to the rack - use a spatula. The cookies are ready to eat when the chocolate chips solidify again.
  11. Store in an airtight container, or eat the cookies once they've cooled.

Vegan (Dairy- and Egg-Free) Chocolate Chip Cookies

  1. Lightly oil your cookie sheet as you preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C).
  2. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
  3. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, brown sugar, sugar, vanilla and egg replacer mixture.
  4. Stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and mix until the ingredients are well combined.
  5. Add the chocolate chips and mix them into the batter.
  6. Drop the dough by spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet and bake them for 8 to 10 minutes.
  7. Once you take them out of the oven, cool the vegan chocolate chip cookies on a wire rack.
  8. Serve warm or put them in your cookie jar once they've cooled for later.

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

  1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF/200ºC.
  2. Sift and combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda together in a medium bowl.
  3. Use a mixer to cream the sugars and butter together in a large bowl.
  4. Thoroughly combine the eggs, vanilla, and mashed bananas in the butter mixture.
  5. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon and add the chocolate chips in last.
  6. Place spoonfuls of the dough on a pre-greased or Parchment paper layered cookie sheet.
  7. Bake the cookies for 12 to 15 minutes.
  8. Cool completely on a cooling rack.


Troubleshooting Problems: Trying to Fix Your Cookies

  • My cookies turned out dry and burnt... Chocolate chip cookies turn out dry for lots of reasons. Sometimes you over-mix the dough too much and they start to dry and harden. Avoid mixing the dough too much for better effects. Adding a little water or butter prevents the dough from getting dry or burnt as well. You may also need to reduce your heat on the oven, all ovens are different and vary. One more note: Because of the heat and temperature in your house, cookies continue to bake, even after you take them out of the oven. Try under-baking cookies for better results.
  • My cookie dough is crumbly... Remember the temperature of your ingredients is important when making cookies. The butter must be at room temperature and should be soft. When adding the flour, mix slowly and never over-mix, even a little. This always ruins cookies and makes them crumbly. Another thing, follow each requested ingredient that this recipe is asking for. If it says use granulated sugar, use it. Don't go and switch to caster sugar, this ruins the cookie dough.
  • The bottom of my cookies are burnt... Be careful of rolling your cookies too large. The time it takes to cook the larger cookie will burn the bottom. You might also want to see the cookie tray you used. Dark non-stick trays make cookies bake faster so this could be the case. Another problem could be the rack in your oven. If it's too low, the heat on the bottom gathers into the cookies and bakes faster as well.
  • My cookies are raw but the edges are brown... Your oven is too hot! Cookie dough takes time to bake but the edges usually are quick since they catch the most heat. Take the cookies out of the oven and lower the temperature on your oven. Have the cookies sit on top of the oven, they'll still bake outside of the oven but without getting the edges burnt. Another tip: Try freezing the dough before you bake them so the colder dough won't spread and bake as fast
  • My cookies won't get off the tray... First, have the cookies cool before trying to tackle them. Next, use a spatula and slowly pick them up. If the cookies break mix it with ice cream. In the future, spread non-stick greasing spray or butter/margarine on the cookie tray before using it. Parchment paper can work as well.

Tips

  • Sift the flour to prevent clumps.
  • Add your own Add Oatmeal to Chocolate Chip Cookies to be creative.
  • Instead of chocolate chips, you can try something different like milk chocolate pieces!
  • Don't place the cookies too close together, otherwise they will run and join together.
  • If you don't have chocolate chips, a good alternative would be a bar of chocolate (such as Hershey's milk chocolate) snapped into pieces. This would create bigger bits of chocolate than just chocolate chips, and would make the cookies chunkier and more tasteful.
  • If you don't have any vanilla, adding a little bit of honey will make your cookies taste sweeter too.
  • Always keep an eye on your cookies so they don't burn.
  • Do a few test cookies to see the outcome. If they come out strange, adapt the recipe.
  • When you are using sugar and vanilla extract don't put to much sugar in otherwise it will be to sweet as vanilla extract already contains sugar and is very sweet.
  • Measure it with care.
  • Stir the cookie dough with a wooden spoon, this helps it keep more air bubbles, and be more airy.
  • The more butter your cookies contain, the more they will spread.
  • Use parchment paper or silpat sheets to prevent sticking.
  • The mixture for the basic chocolate chip cookies is very buttery, so don't be surprised if they leak butter when placed on the hot pan.

Warnings

  • Always wear oven mitts when taking something out of an oven.

Things You'll Need

Basic chocolate chip cookies:

  • Medium bowl
  • Large bowl
  • Mixing spoon
  • Measuring cups and spoons
  • Cookie or baking sheet
  • Spatula
  • Wax paper (optional)
  • Cooling rack (optional)
  • Mixer or whisk
  • Oven mitts or gloves "(optional)"

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies:

  • Mixing bowl
  • Mixing spoon
  • Anti-stick cooking spray or parchment paper (baking paper)
  • Baking pan (baking tray)
  • Fork
  • Wire cooling rack
  • Spatula
  • Airtight container for storage

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies:

  • Cookie sheet (or baking rack)
  • Medium bowl
  • Large bowl
  • Spoon
  • Wire cooling rack (or baking pot)

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies:

  • Large bowl
  • Medium bowl
  • Wooden spoon
  • Parchment paper
  • Cookie sheet
  • Hand mixer (Or you can use a blender)

Related Articles

Sources and Citations