How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies

Guide Note

Nothing is more comforting than warm, homemade chocolate chip cookies. If you've never baked them yourself before, good news; it's easy! If you follow these instructions, you'll soon be sitting down with a fresh cookie and a cool glass of milk.

Table of Contents

Chocolate Chip Cookies Tips

  1. Preheat your oven before making the cookie dough.
  2. Use fresh ingredients when possible.
  3. Do not overmix your cookie batter.
  4. Do not grease cookie sheets.
  5. You can freeze cookie dough.
    • Freezing pre-shaped balls of dough lets you move directly from freezer to oven to bake.

Introduction

  • If you like chocolate chip cookies, you owe it to yourself to learn how to make them from scratch. A fresh, homemade cookie with chocolate chips that are still soft and gooey is one of the best simple pleasures you could ask for! Making chocolate chip cookies at home is fairly simple, and entirely worth the effort.

What You'll Need

Chocolate Chip Cookies. (Creative Commons photo by James)
Chocolate Chip Cookies. (Creative Commons photo by James)

Ingredients

Equipment

Making Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • This recipe makes about 60 cookies.
  1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
  2. If using both, combine the butter and shortening in a large mixing bowl and beat on medium speed for one minute.
  3. Add the sugar and brown sugar.
  4. Beat all ingredients until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally.
  5. Now add the eggs and vanilla.
    • Breaking the eggs into a separate bowl guarantees that you don't end up with eggshell in your cookies.
  6. Beat until these are combined.
  7. Combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a separate bowl.
  8. Next, slowly add the flour mixture, beating in as much as you can with the mixer and then stirring in any remaining flour with a spoon.
  9. Add the chocolate chips, gently stirring with a spoon until they’re evenly mixed throughout the batter.
  10. Drop the dough in rounded, teaspoon-sized balls, 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
    • Optional: line the sheet with parchment paper.
  11. Bake at 375 degree for eight to ten minutes.
  12. Watch the cookies closely! They're done when:
    • Their edges are golden brown or
    • A toothpick can be cleanly removed from the center.
  13. Remove from oven and let cool on their sheet for a few minutes.
  14. Then move the cookies to cool on a wire rack for five minutes.
  15. Enjoy!

WARNING: No matter how delicious, remember that eating dough containing raw eggs can put you at risk of salmonella.

Crisp vs. Cake-like Cookies

Mixing the Cookie Dough. (Creative Commons photo by Phil Romans)
Mixing the Cookie Dough. (Creative Commons photo by Phil Romans)
  • Some people like a more cake-like cookie, while others enjoy a flatter, crisper treat. Here are some suggestions and tips for getting the perfect cookie for you:
  1. Chill the dough if you don't want flat, spread-out cookies.
  2. A ¼ cup more flour can produce a cakier cookie.
  3. Add 1 to 1 and ½ teaspoons baking powder for a puffed-up cookie.
  4. Baking for the minimum time will give you a chewier cookie.
  5. For cakier cookies, add an extra egg yolk to your batter.
  6. Using ½ cup less chocolate chips means the dough will spread less while baking.
  7. Using hot water to dissolve baking soda before adding it to your batter should give you a chewier middle.
  8. Baking room-temperature dough will produce a flatter cookie.
  9. Adding another 2-4 tablespoons of butter to the recipe will produce a crisper, more buttery cookie.

Butter vs. Shortening

  • Try different combinations in your chocolate cookie recipe to get the best flavor and consistency.
  1. Using shortening should produce a chewier cookie.
  2. The temperature of the butter or shortening you use will make a difference in your final product. Chilled butter will produce a fluffier cookie than room-temperature butter.

Tips and Tricks for Making Great Chocolate Chip Cookies

Don't overcook!

  1. The type of cookie sheet or baking pan you use will affect the cooking and texture of your cookies.
    • Shiny, thicker metal pans help prevent over-browning.
  2. When baking, place your cookies sheets on the center oven rack, since top or bottom racks are more likely to burn the cookies.
  3. Rotating the cookie sheets midway through baking will ensure both ends cook evenly.
  4. Cool your baking sheets in between batches, so dough doesn't start cooking on a still-warm sheet.

Chocolate Chip Tricks

  1. More isn't always better: about half of people surveyed by Nestle preferred having six to ten chocolate chips per cookie.
  2. Add chocolate chips to the batter at room temperature.
    • If the chips are warmer than that, they will be soft and may combine with the batter.
    • If the chips are chilled, they can cause spots of uneven baking.

Different Sweeteners

  1. Use more brown sugar in place of regular sugar; its molasses content produces more caramel taste, which many people appreciate.
  2. You can experiment with other combinations of white and brown sugar (either light or dark) until you find your favorite taste.
  3. Honey is yet another sweetening option, which will give you moister cookies.

TIP: Use real (not imitation) vanilla extract in your cookies. You really can taste the difference!

Variations

Cookies and Milk. (Creative Commons photo by LD Cross)
Cookies and Milk. (Creative Commons photo by LD Cross)
  • Once you've mastered the basic chocolate chip cookie, have fun experimenting by adding or substituting ingredients, or enjoy different variations.

Popular Add-Ins and Substitutions

  1. Add 1 cup chopped almonds, walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts.
  2. Add 1/2 cup rolled oats.
  3. Add 1 cup soft raisins or currants.
    • You might also plump raisins in wine or sherry (drain well and pat dry before using).
  4. Add 1/4 cup cocoa or espresso powder to the batter.
  5. Replace chocolate chips with any of the following:

Sizes and Shapes

  • There's more than one way to make (and eat) a chocolate chip cookie!
  1. Spread your dough in a greased jelly-roll pan for chocolate chip cookie bars.
  2. Use these instructions (and an ice cream scoop) to make giant chocolate chip cookies.
  3. Follow this recipe for biscotti-style chocolate chip "dunkers."
  4. Martha Stewart has instructions to make a chocolate chip cookie tart.

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