Chocolate chip cookies
Brown sugar and butter cookies with crisp edges, chewy middles and plenty of chocolate chips. The Toll House method, with a rest in the fridge.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 50 min
- Rest
- 1 hr
- Total
- 2 hr 10 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- No chilli
- Cost
- Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
The American chocolate chip cookie is a butter-and-sugar dough, heavier on brown sugar than white for chew and a toffee note, with eggs, vanilla, flour, baking soda, salt and as much chocolate as it will hold. This version creams the butter and sugars until pale, mixes the flour in just until it disappears, then rests the dough in the fridge for at least an hour. The rest lets the flour hydrate, so the cookies spread less and brown more evenly, and it deepens the flavour. Bake them until the edges are golden and the centres still look underdone. They finish setting on the tray.
What you'll need
9 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
Ingredients
- Butter, unsalted, soft225 g
- Brown sugar, light, packed200 g
- Sugar100 g
- Egg, at room temperature2
- Vanilla, extract9.9 ml
- Wheat flour300 g
- Baking soda4.9 ml
- Salt4.9 ml
- Chocolate chips, semi-sweet, or a dark chocolate bar chopped340 g
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Beat the butter with both sugars for about three minutes, with an electric mixer or a wooden spoon and some effort, until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then the vanilla.
5 min
Step 2
Whisk the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl. Add them to the butter mixture and stir slowly just until no dry flour shows, then fold in the chocolate.
3 min
Step 3
Cover the bowl and chill the dough for at least an hour, or up to three days. The longer rest gives a deeper, more caramel flavour.
60 min
Step 4
Heat the oven to 180°C and line two baking trays with baking paper. Scoop the dough into balls of about 45 g, two heaped tablespoons, and set them 6 cm apart, eight to a tray.
8 min180°C
Step 5
Bake one tray at a time for 10 to 12 minutes, turning it halfway, until the edges are golden and the centres are still pale and puffy.
12 min180°C
Watch: They look underdone when they are right. Another two minutes makes a crisp cookie, not a chewy one.
Step 6
Leave the cookies on the tray for five minutes to set, then move them to a rack. Carry on with the rest of the dough on cooled trays. Makes about 30.
5 min
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 144 kcal
- Protein
- 1.8 g
- Carbs
- 18.8 g
- Fat
- 6.9 g
- Saturated fat
- 4 g
- Fibre
- 0.4 g
- Sugar
- 10.1 g
- Sodium
- 75 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Wheat
- Milk
- Eggs
- Vegetarian
- Nut-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 12 November.
Substitutions
Chocolate chips → A chopped dark chocolate bar
Closer to the 1938 original. The shards and dust melt into streaks and pools.
Brown sugar to white sugar ratio → Equal amounts of each
Thinner, crisper cookies with less chew.
Tips
- Drop the tray flat on the counter once as it comes out of the oven for flatter cookies with rippled edges.
- Freeze scooped balls of dough and bake them from frozen, adding two minutes. Warm cookies whenever you want them.
- A pinch of flaky salt on each ball before baking sharpens the chocolate. For the original's nuts, fold in 100 g chopped walnuts or pecans with the chocolate.
History & culture
Chocolate chip cookies are the default American home bake: lunchbox cookies, bake sale cookies, the batch made on a wet Sunday and eaten warm with a glass of cold milk. Massachusetts made it the official state cookie in 1997. People argue about chewy versus crisp, and plenty of the dough gets eaten before it reaches the oven.
Ruth Wakefield ran the Toll House Inn in Whitman, Massachusetts, and printed her chocolate crunch cookie, made with a chopped Nestlé chocolate bar, in her 1938 cookbook. Legend says she ran out of baker's chocolate and expected the pieces to melt; she said it was deliberate. Nestlé soon began selling chocolate morsels and printed her recipe on the bag, in exchange, the story goes, for a lifetime supply of chocolate.
Traditional — The 1938 Toll House recipe used a chopped chocolate bar and chopped nuts. The recipe on the chocolate chip packet bakes the dough straight away; resting it, as here, is a common refinement. Skip the rest and the cookies spread thinner and crisper.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Chocolate chip cookies take?
2 hr 10 min all in — 20 min prep, 50 min cook, 1 hr rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 30 cookies. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Easy.
How spicy is it?
No chilli.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Wheat, Milk, Eggs. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian, Nut-free.
9 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Mixing bowl, Baking tray, Oven, Kitchen scale.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1 tsp.
How much brown sugar?
200 g (light, packed) of Brown sugar.
How much sugar?
100 g of Sugar.
What can I use instead?
Chocolate chips → A chopped dark chocolate bar. Closer to the 1938 original. The shards and dust melt into streaks and pools. Brown sugar to white sugar ratio → Equal amounts of each. Thinner, crisper cookies with less chew.
What should I watch for?
They look underdone when they are right. Another two minutes makes a crisp cookie, not a chewy one.
Any tips from this recipe?
Drop the tray flat on the counter once as it comes out of the oven for flatter cookies with rippled edges. Freeze scooped balls of dough and bake them from frozen, adding two minutes. Warm cookies whenever you want them. A pinch of flaky salt on each ball before baking sharpens the chocolate. For the original's nuts, fold in 100 g chopped walnuts or pecans with the chocolate.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
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