Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted by David Leite

Updated Jan. 21, 2025

Chocolate Chip Cookies — Ryan Liebe for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Barrett Washburne.

Total Time: 45 minutes, plus chilling
Rating: 5(17,864)
Comments: Read 1,451 comments

You may have memorized the foolproof gem on the back of the Toll House bag, given to the world by Ruth Graves Wakefield in the 1930s. But this may become your new favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. It’s a little more complicated, and you’ll have to plan ahead: After assembling the dough, you must chill it for at least 24 hours before baking it, and preferably up to 36. This allows the dry ingredients time to soak up the wet ones, which results in a firmer dough. It leads to a marvelously chewy, chocolate-rich cookie. Don’t skimp on good chocolate, and the sea salt is not an option — it’s the beacon at the top of this gorgeous treat. (You can certainly put this recipe together by hand, but a stand mixer makes it easy work. If you’re in the market for one, our colleagues at The Wirecutter have tested quite a few, and they've put together an excellent guide to the best.) —David Leite

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Ingredients

Yield:1½ dozen 5-inch cookies

2cups minus 2 tablespoons cake flour (8½ ounces)
1⅔cups bread flour (8½ ounces)
1¼teaspoons baking soda
1½teaspoons baking powder
1½teaspoons coarse sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
1¼cups unsalted butter (2½ sticks)
1¼cups light brown sugar (10 ounces)
1cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (8 ounces)
2large eggs
2teaspoons natural vanilla extract
1¼pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

Make the recipe with us

Step 1
Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.
Step 2
Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
Step 3
When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.
Step 4
Scoop 6 3½-ounce mounds of dough (the size of generous golf balls) onto baking sheet, making sure to turn horizontally any chocolate pieces that are poking up; it will make for a more attractive cookie. Sprinkle lightly with salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. Repeat with remaining dough, or reserve dough, refrigerated, for baking remaining batches the next day. Eat warm, with a big napkin.

Tip

Disks are sold at Jacques Torres Chocolate; Valrhona fèves, oval-shaped chocolate pieces, are at Whole Foods.

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Ratings

5 out of 5

17,864 user ratings

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Comments

William Wroblicka7 years ago

I think this recipe is unnecessarily fussy. The difference between the two kinds of flours is their protein content -- bread flour has 12.7% (per King Arthur Flour's website), cake flour has 9.4%, and all-purpose flour has 11.7%. The amounts of flour called for in the recipe are equal by weight, so the protein content of the combined bread and cake flours is 11.05%, which is practically the same as all-purpose flour. So I just used plain, old AP flour and the cookies turned out fine.

Emma7 years ago

Metric Measurements

241 grams / cake flour
241 grams / bread flour
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons coarse salt
284 grams / unsalted butter
284 grams / light brown sugar
227 grams / granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract
680 grams / bittersweet chocolate disks (at least 60%)
Sea salt

Cwarriner7 years ago

I learned a trick from Cooks Illustrsted that I have used for several recipes, including CC cookies. Use cold butter. Place about 2/3 of butter in a skillet, melt and then lightly brown the butter. Pour browned butter over cold butter in mixing bowl and mix until cold butter is melted. Mix in sugars (1/2 Lt brown and 1/2 Dk brown), salt, eggs and vanilla. Mix thoroughly, then allow to sit for 3 minutes. Mix 30 seconds, then repeat twice. Then continue with recipe. Sugars develop beautifully!

Casey Decker1 week ago

How are you supposed to sift coarse sea salt?

Mahalia2 weeks ago

Entirely too sweet.

yaaay kaavya3 weeks ago

used chocolate chips bittersweet instead worked out well

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