These cookies have chewy corners with decadently soft centers. The only chocolate chip cookie recipe you’ll ever need. Ready to eat in 30 minutes. Makes 14 cookies.

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**This recipe is for the people who need a cookie right now.**

Whenever people ask me what my favorite thing to bake is, I always say cookies. I love how they (generally) come together with pretty simple ingredients, all of which I usually have on hand, and yet, they are endlessly variable and complex.

Chocolate chip cookies are also extremely subjective. Some people’s perfect cookie is soft baked with dark chocolate chips, while others prefer cookies that are flat and crunchy—caramelized to the edge of being burned and yet will perfectly melt in your mouth.

I believe this cookie is a crowd pleaser. It has chewy edges that you can tear away in large chunks while it is still warm, and a soft center that melts in your mouth. On my way to developing this recipe, I came up with quite a few recipes that tasted soulless, for lack of a better word. They were bland and unremarkable, and tasted nothing like the cookie I was trying to emulate: my mom’s own chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipe (a tease to mention this legendary cookie, since I have not shared it yet).

And then it hit me: If I want it to taste like that cookie, I should start with that recipe. Once I figured that out, I found the cookie I had been looking for, with a few small adjustments to the original recipe, but still easily achievable for the average home baker.

On my journey to find an easy + delicious ccc, I came across quite a few recipes that were also hailed as a favorite recipe. They were—admittedly—very good, but they either required ingredients I don’t always have (ie: bread flour), or took really long to make (like a 24 hour rest in the fridge), or weird techniques (like weighing the baking powder by grams), which is far too fussy for the mood I am typically in when I want a cookie. With this recipe, I wanted it all: easy, quick, simple, and delicious.

I believe I’ve found it, but let me know what you think!

Ingredients

2 sticks Butter, cold from the fridge: For flavor and texture
1/2 cup Sugar: For sweetness and texture
1 cup Brown sugar: For softer texture and caramel flavor
3 Egg yolks: Provides richness and helps bind everything
1 1/2 teaspoon Vanilla: For flavor
1 teaspoon Salt: To bring out the sweetness and balance flavors
1/2 teaspon Baking powder: A leavening agent
1/2 teaspoon Baking soda: A leavening agent, and helps with spread and crispy edges
2 1/2 cups (300 grams) All purpose flour: To act as a base for the dough
1 cup Semisweet or dark chocolate chips or chunks: Use your favorite baking chocolate
3/4 cup Milk chocolate chips or chunks: Use whatever you have on hand
2 tsp Flakey sea salt: This isn’t necessary, but a fun extra touch

Equipment you’ll need:

Electric stand mixer or hand mixer: To mix the dough

Measuring cups: To measure the sugar and chocolate chips

Kitchen scale: To measure the flour, for better accuracy

Measuring spoons: To measure the leavening agents and vanilla

Small bowl: For separating the yolks from the eggs

Baking pan or cookie sheet: For baking the cookies

Parchment paper: To line the cookie sheet for baking

Step by Step Recipe:

Preheat your oven to 375°F, and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Add cubed butter to mixer with sugars and mix on low until it starts to clump up, then turn mixer to medium & mix for five minutes. I like to set a timer and walk away, only coming back to scrape the bowl one or two times. When the butter and sugar are ready, they will have lightened in color considerably due to the air incorporated into the butter.

Scrape the sides bowl, & add the egg yolks one at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl to make sure it is thoroughly mixed. After you add the third yolk, add the vanilla and mix for about one minute. The batter will start to look fluffy and smell delicious.

Add the baking soda, baking powder, and salt, and mix for ten seconds. If you are measuring the flour with a measuring cup, this next step is very important to get the consistency right. First, thoroughly whisk the flour with a fork or a whisk. Then carefully scoop the flour into your measuring cup with a large spoon, once you have a little bit extra then level the flour with the flat side of a knife; do not shake to level.

If you measure without fluffing the flour, you’ll end up with a puffier cookie, which in my opinion is still delicious, but you’ll loose the caramelized edges you came to this recipe for.

Add the flour to the mixer and mix on low until almost no flour is visible, then turn off the mixer. Add the chocolate chips all at the same time.

Mix on low for about 10 seconds then finish the mixing by hand, making sure you’re scooping the dry bits up from the bottom

Using a 1/4 cup cookie scoop, put 5 dough balls evenly apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, rotating halfway through. Cookies are done when the edges are brown and they start to puff up in the center. They will sink as they cool. They will also have spread a bit which makes this next part even more important.

While the cookies are fresh from the oven (within the first 90 seconds), “scoot” with a 4” diameter round bowl by using the rim and gently nudging the cookie together into a smaller circle. This technique makes the cookies more dense and gooey.

Cool for 5 min to ten minutes before eating.

Can this recipe be doubled?

I have a large stand mixer, and this recipe barely fit in it. If you plan to double, make sure your mixing bowl is at least 7 quarts. A hand mixer would not be able to handle a double batch of this recipe.

Can this recipe be halved?

It would be tricky to half it since you’ll have to measure out half of an egg yolk, but you could if you needed to. I would recommend just freezing the other half of dough in an airtight container for another time.

Can I make this ahead of time?

Yes, you can make the dough and freeze in an airtight container or resealable bag for up to 2 months. I like to let the dough thaw on a cookie sheet while the oven preheats. If baking from frozen, reduce cooking temperature to 350 F and bake closer to 15 minutes. You can also mix and store covered in the fridge for up to 3 days and bake at 375, adding a couple more minutes to the bake time.

What are the “special techniques” you mentioned for this recipe?

There are three special techniques that are essential to this recipe:

1) Cutting the cold butter into cubes, which saves time by preventing you from having to wait for the butter to reach room temperature (a trick I learned from Tawnie at Kroll’s Korner)

2) Scooting the cookies when they are finished baking, but still hot from the oven. Cookie scooting is done by using a round item, like a cookie cutter or an upside down bowl to scoot a cookie that is spread too far. In the case of this recipe, it is essential and helps create a fudgey more dense center for the cookie. Scooting must be done while the cookie is still hot from the oven and before it starts to cool, otherwise the edges will have set.

3) Using egg yolks without the whites. Egg whites contain a lot of water which causes the cookies to spread and can dilute the flavor. Egg yolks help combine and emulsify the ingredients and create a rich gooey texture in the cookie.

Can this recipe be made gluten-free?

I have not made this recipe with a gluten-free flour blend, but I have had great success with King Arthur Flour Gluten Free Bread Flour* (affiliate link). However, this flour still contains wheat, and is not safe for people with wheat allergies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (ASAP)

**This recipe is for the people who need a cookie right now.**

Ingredients

Equipment you’ll need:

Step by Step Recipe: