Active Time
20 minutes
Total Time
40 minutes
Food director Chris Morocco spent months (truly) developing this chocolate chip cookie recipe—he made nearly 30 batches, plus 10 more in the cross-testing phase—to ensure they were the absolute best. What makes this recipe deliver on that promise? Crispy edges, a buttery chew, and plenty of chocolate chunks in every bite—all without a stand mixer.
The cookies are rooted in classic Toll House flavor, but browning the butter amps up the toasty notes and is key in developing the balance of crisp edges, while a high ratio of brown sugar to white sugar ensures chewy chocolate chip cookie centers. The amount of flour and the quality of the pure vanilla extract is important here; Chris recommends Heilala or Nielsen-Massey, which have enough heft to stand up to bitter dark chocolate. We highly recommend weighing your flour with a scale; if you don’t have one, use a spoon to scoop the flour into a measuring cup until overflowing, and a straight edge (such as the back of a butter knife) to level it off.
We understand cookie preferences aren’t uniform—some prefer soft cookies or a chewier finish. Others require a sprinkling of flaky sea salt on top. If your perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe includes nutty, crunchy bits, try our Anytime Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookie recipe. Heightened caramelly crunch? Head off to these Brown-Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies With Toffee. If you’re gluten-free (and even if not), try this version with milk, dark, and white chocolate. And if you’re a cookie ice cream sandwich lover, use two of these to sandwich a scoop of premium vanilla.
All products featured on Bon Appétit are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through the retail links below, we earn an affiliate commission.
What you’ll need
Guittard 70% Bittersweet Cocoa Baking Bars
$28 $25 At Amazon
Medium #40 Cookie Scoop
$17 At Amazon
Get It Right Spatula
$13 At Amazon
Rimmed Baking Sheet
$26 At Amazon
Ladle
$8 At Amazon
Ladle
$27 At Amazon
Ingredients
Makes 16
1½
1¼
¾
¾
1
¼
1
2
2
6
Preparation
Step 1
Place racks in upper and lower thirds of oven; preheat to 375°. Whisk 1½ cups plus 1 Tbsp. (200 g) all-purpose flour, 1¼ tsp. (4 g) Diamond Crystal or ¾ tsp. (4 g) Morton kosher salt, and ¾ tsp. (4 g) baking soda in a small bowl; set flour mixture aside.
Step 2
Cook ½ cup (1 stick; 113 g) unsalted butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, swirling often and scraping bottom of pan with a heatproof rubber spatula, until butter foams, then browns, about 4 minutes. Scrape melted butter and any brown bits to a large heatproof mixing bowl and let cool 1 minute. Cut remaining ¼ cup (½ stick; 56 g) unsalted butter into small pieces and add to brown butter (it should start to melt but not foam and sizzle, so test with one piece before adding the rest).
Step 3
Once butter is melted, add 1 cup (200 g) (packed) dark brown sugar and ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar and whisk, breaking up any clumps, until sugar is incorporated and no lumps remain. Add 1 large egg and 2 large egg yolks and whisk until sugar dissolves and mixture is smooth, about 30 seconds. Whisk in 2 tsp. vanilla extract. Using rubber spatula, fold reserved dry ingredients into butter mixture just until no dry spots remain, then fold in 6 oz. (170 g) bittersweet chocolate (60%–70% cacao), coarsely chopped, or semisweet chocolate chips (the cookie dough will be soft but should hold its shape once scooped; if it slumps or oozes after being scooped, stir dough back together several times and let rest 5–10 minutes until scoops hold their shape as the flour hydrates).
Step 4
Using a 1½-oz. scoop (3 Tbsp.), portion out 16 balls of dough and divide between 2 parchment-paper-lined rimmed baking sheets. Bake cookies, rotating sheets if cookies are browning very unevenly (otherwise, just leave them alone), until deep golden brown and firm around the edges, 8–10 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets.
Do ahead: Dough balls can be portioned 3 months ahead; freeze on cookie sheets and then transfer to a resealable plastic bag. Bake from frozen, adding 1–2 minutes on to the cook time. Cookies can be baked 3 days ahead. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Editor’s note: This recipe was originally published in April 2019. Head this way for more of our favorite easy cookie recipes →
How would you rate BA’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies?
Leave a Review
Reviews (1415)
Back to TopDelicious
Shane
Eagle, ID
9/5/2023
I've made these cookies several times, and each time, they still wonderful. I used white chocolate as well and they were still wonderful.
Anonymous
Los Angeles CA
8/27/2023
Fantastic flavor! However, I do wish they were a little bit thicker and a little bit less greasy. I suppose this could be achieved by a bit of reduction in the butter content and a brief chill as many other reviews are saying. A solid recipe, just not super my taste. If you're into thinner, richer cookies, then this one is for you.
Lindsay
Nashville, TN
7/17/2023
yeah it’s not an exaggeration that these are the best chocolate chip cookies. the browned butter absolutely adds that extra umph the recipe needs to push it over the line. like everyone else before me said, the dough needs to be refrigerated a bit before but other than that, i’ve never had the need to change anything else. everyone i’ve ever made these for are obsessed with them; friends, family, coworkers, literally everyone loves them. my coworkers ask me practically once a month to bring them in and they’re not hard to make so i oblige.
amelia
augusta, ga
6/11/2023
These are the most delicious CC cookies I have ever made. They are thin, crispy, buttery and cooking the 1/2 stick of butter to brown creates a slight caramel taste. I did learn after my first try to spread them further apart on the sheet because they do thin out since the dough is thinner than tradition CC cookie recipes. I don't think I will ever go back to anything now that I have this recipe. They remind me of Tate's cookies but even better because they are freshly made.
Stacy A
Rome, NY
6/4/2023
Made the following changes and they came out lovely, great reviews at the office Bake-off: 1. chilled dough for 15 minutes 2. reduced oven temp to 180 degrees Celsius Thanks Chris!
Gopika K
London, UK
5/15/2023
This is the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe ever! It is my go to recipe and everyone always raves about them. One note however is the dough definitely should be chilled at least fifteen minutes before starting to bake. They hold together better. Love it!
Sam W
Lakeland, FL
4/30/2023
The first time I made this recipe these cookie turned into one big cookie. The next time i learned the crucial step that I needed to take was the second mix of the batter and letting the flour rehydrate and rest. That step made all the difference! I will note that pulling them out while the center looks under done is scary, but letting the cookies cool on the pan does the trick.
Anonymous
New jersey
4/8/2023
Love this recipe. The cookies spread out a lot, so make sure you space them out!!! I fit 8 onto a cookie sheet, using a 3oz scoop. Could even go with a smaller scoop. I will try letting them firm up in the freezer a little bit next time, although I like a large, flat cookie. It seems bigger!
SameRaina
Los Angeles, CA
4/7/2023
I wish there was a no star option. Worst cooking flop ever from a BA recipe. Followed the recipe perfectly and weighed everything. They ended about 1/8” thick, all baked into a single cookie that was unbelievably greasy. Don’t waste your time.
Anne M
Wilmington, NC
4/1/2023
The best cookie I've ever made. The only cookie my family requests now. Note - follow the recipe! Once, I used light brown sugar instead of dark brown sugar. NOT THE SAME COOKIE. Also - I had to get used to pulling them out of the oven while they looked underdone in the middle, even though they were brown on the edges.
BettyRocker
Los Angeles, CA
3/29/2023
Better than gourmet. Transcendent. Will make them again and again. Rich, warm, toffee notes. For the love of God, brown the butter. Prefer them baked straight out of the freezer. Thank you Chris & BA.
Anonymous
Vancouver, BC, Canada
3/26/2023
These did NOT turn out like the picture! These cookies flattened out very quickly in the oven and had zero height. While the flavor is good, I will not be making this recipe again.
Lesli
Seattle,Wa
3/20/2023
I just made these. They are in the oven. I’m scared because I only made 15 cookies and the recipe calls for 16. Did I eat too much batter? Make them too big? I’ll report back.
Amanda
Brooklyn
2/28/2023
Hi, I'm another Colorado baker, at 5280 ft. elevation. I generally don't adjust for altitude with any baked goods. I also don't adjust for altitude when baking in Wyoming (at 7,400 ft. elevation) except to increase the baking temp sometimes. This recipe failed horribly. These cookies have ZERO height and spread completely flat in the oven. I allowed the flour to hydrate for about 10 minutes as suggested in the recipe, to make them more scoop-able. They spread out into flat disks which are totally not an enjoyable chocolate chip cookie experience. If I ever try this recipe again I may try increasing the oven temp by 15 degrees, HOWEVER I suspect the real issue is the FLOUR TYPE which BA used compared to what I used. All purpose flour in different brands does NOT make the same cookie. This is well a known fact and BA needs to make a better effort to tell readers WHICH BRAND of flour to use in their recipes. This has been a continual issue with my baking experiences from BA as compared to America's Test Kitchen baking recipes. ATK specifies the brand of flour because different brands have different protein amounts and thus create totally different cookies. King Arthur all purpose flour would probably have yielded better results that are closer to the picture of the cookie on the recipe with a little height. I measured all ingredients using a kitchen scale so it was not a fault of flour being mis-measured with a cup.
Anonymous
Denver, CO
2/26/2023