Chocolate Chip Cookies (Soft!) (2024)

• ▢ 1 3/4 cups plain / all purpose flour
• ▢ 1 tsp salt
• ▢ ½ tsp baking soda (bi carb soda)
• ▢ 175g / 12 tbsp unsalted butter , cut into 2 cm/ 4/5" cubes (1.5 US sticks / 6 oz)
• ▢ 1/2 cup brown sugar , packed (light or dark) (Note 1)
• ▢ 1/2 cup caster sugar (US: granulated sugar)
• ▢ 1 egg
• ▢ 1 egg yolk
• ▢ 2 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips , separated (US: semi sweet chocolate chips or chunks)

• Preheat oven to 180C / 350F (standard) or 160C/320F (fan / convection). Place oven shelf in the middle of the oven.

• Line 2 trays with baking / parchment paper.

• Whisk the flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl.

• Place the butter in a large heatproof bowl. Microwave until the butter is almost fully melted (25 sec for room temp butter, 40 sec for fridge cold butter on high).

• Whisk to finish melting the butter. (Note 2)

• Add brown and white sugar, whisk energetically for 15 seconds.

• Add egg, yolk and vanilla, whisk well for 15 seconds.

• Add flour mixture and mix until flour is almost fully incorporated.

• Add 1 cup chocolate chips, stir to disperse and flour is fully incorporated. Batter will be quite loose.

• Stand for 5 minutes for batter to firm up a bit so it is scoop-able into mounds. (Note 3)

• LARGE COOKIES: Scoop up a level ice cream scoop / 3 tbsp / 1/4 cup (Note 4) and place on baking trays 5cm / 2" apart - 13 balls. Top with remaining choc chips (these remain on surface once baked = prettier).

• SMALL COOKIES (26 - 30): Scoop up 1.5 tbsp (heaped tbsp measure) OR 1/2 an ice cream scoop (this works well). Place on baking trays 4cm / 1.75" apart, top with choc chops.

• Bake 1 tray at a time. LARGE COOKIES: Bake for 8 minutes, then rotate the tray and bake for 3 minutes (11 minutes in total). SMALL COOKIES: Bake 6 minutes, turn then bake 3 minutes (9 min total). The cookies should be just golden on the edges and pale golden on top. They will be slightly puffed up.

• Cool on the tray - they finish cooking. They will lose the puffiness while resting.Dig in and get your cookie fix!

1. I switch between light and dark brown sugar, I use whatever I have. If I had both, I probably use light over dark more often. The flavour difference is not noticeable to me. Light brown sugar will produce a slightly paler cookie which does suggest its softness.

2. If the butter is fully melted in the microwave so it's transparent when you take it out, the cookie is not quite as soft. Not a deal breaker, just a little tip that makes a difference!

3. FIRMING UP BATTER: While the butter is warm, the batter is quite loose (see video). Standing for just 5 minutes firms up the batter, turning it into a soft cookie dough so when you drop mounds onto the tray, they stay in a mound shape. If it is super hot where you are, you may need to refrigerate for a bit.

4. A standard ice cream scooper is 3 tablespoons. The ones with levers like what I use in the video are a terrific utensil that I use more frequently for things like cookies, pancakes and even meatballs more than I do ice cream!

You can also make smaller cookies and I will update this recipe with a guide for baking times for different size cookies in the near future - there are cookie baking plans for this weekend!

5. HIGH ALTITUDE BAKING - a reader at 7200 ft reported that this worked perfectly with the sugar reduced to 3/4 cup (total).

DIFFERENT COUNTRY CUPS: No need to do any calculations to adjust, this recipe will work no matter which country you are in with the exception of Japan, please use weights provided.

Background: Measuring cups and teaspoons can differ between some countries. For most recipes, the difference is not material enough to affect the recipe. However, for baking recipes, it does make a difference. I've tested this recipe with US cups, Aussie cups (which is very close to rest of world) and weights. No difference!

6. STORING: Keeps great for 3 days in an airtight container and they freeze well too. Dough keeps great in the fridge for 3 days - it will firm up so roll into balls and place on tray, then add 1 minutes to the bake time. Cooked cookies freeze great - defrost before serving.

7. HIGH ALTITUDE BAKING: I'm thrilled to sharethat a reader, Marg (4 June 2017) who lives at high altitude (985 m/3200 ft) made the following adjustments: reduced total sugar to 1/2 cup (1/4 each brown and white), increased oven to 170C/340F, and used 2 eggs (to avoid having left over egg white). She said the cookies spread a bit because she used 2 whole instead of 1 yolk + 1 egg per recipe, but they were not flat, were soft and she didn't miss the sugar. Would love to hear ifanyone at high altitude makes this using 1 whole + 1 yolk + Marg's other adjustments!

The Cooks' Illustrated recipe I adapted my recipe from doesn't prescribe exact adjustments,but provided a guideline which Marg based her adjustments on: "For High-Altitude Baking: Problem: Cookies spread too much in the oven. Solution: Use less sugar. Increase the oven temperature and decrease the baking time. Problem: Cookies are too dry. Solution: Add an extra egg or yolk."

8. This is adapted from a Cooks' Illustrated recipe. I reduced sweetness (plus this made it a touch softer), cut out a step to brown butter (which they do to add more flavour which I don't miss when I exclude) and I reduced the butter a touch which I find makes the dough slightly quicker to make and consistently yields a better scoop-able dough without affecting the butteriness of the cookie. So...erm, I did actually change it quite a bit over the years. This recipe is my idea of a perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie that happens to be very simple to make!

9. Yes, this makes 13 large cookies. It is so annoying because my trays fit 6 each! Nutrition is per giant cookie, halve it for small cookies.