Ever make a batch of chocolate chip cookies and wonder what went wrong? Well I’ve chatted with a few friends to find out how to make the perfect chocolate chip cookies and am so excited I did. Because now I know all of the secrets passed down from grandmothers, friends, and neighbors. And you will too!
Some of these tips are so simple you’ll wonder why you didn’t think of it first, and some of them take a little more work. But in the end it’s all worth it for the perfect chocolate chip cookies.
How to Make the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
1. Get That Scale Out!
Scales aren’t just for weighing yourself every morning. Having a kitchen scale handy while baking is a great way to make sure that you are adding the right measurements into the mix. Being off on one or two ingredients can completely change a recipe while baking and plays a huge roll in chocolate chip cookies.
Brandie of Home Cooking Memories has the perfect post in just how to measure out your ingredients for your favorite cookie recipe. The best part? There are pictures in her step-by-step tutorial. And? She links to a great recipe and some other great articles to read for tips!
2. Don’t Skimp on the Cheaper Chocolate
While it may be tempting, sometimes the cheaper chocolate just doesn’t taste as good in the end product as a few higher end chocolate chips do. Our family’s favorite? Hands down… Guittard! Sure we’re spending about $5 for a bag of chocolate chips if we don’t wait for the sales. But we do wait for sales! And then we stock up.
We may be a bit obsessed about our chocolate but in the end, when we’re biting into a warm, gooey, delicious chocolate chip cookie straight out of the oven it’s all worth it! And if you want to get really crazy use milk chocolate chips instead of semi-sweet like Rita of Mom with a Dot Com.
3. Soften the Butter
The key to a great chocolate chip cookie base is soft butter. Allowing your butter to get to room temperature is ideal and makes it easier to work with. It also makes a tastier, puffier cookie.
Forgot to take it out of the fridge before you started making the cookies?Simply nuke a stick of butter in the microwave for 15-20 seconds. Every 5 seconds turn the butter onto another side. By time time it’s done it should be soft enough to whip into the sugar.
Don’t let the butter get too soft, Sarah of East 9th Street warns. Unless you want chocolate chip pancakes!
4. Whip the Sugar and Butter
I totally agree with Liza of Views from the Ville. Her advice? Start with room temperature butter and then really whip the butter and sugar together. When you think it’s been enough (2-3 minutes) give it another 30 seconds. That has made all the difference between flat and big, puffy cookies.
Want another great secret? Instead of using regular sugar and vanilla, try using homemade vanilla sugar! Emily of Naptime is My Time has a great recipe here. She also advises to invest in real vanilla instead of imitation vanilla if you’re going to stick with the basics.
5. Wait 5 Minutes before Eating
Yes, I know it’s hard and oh so tempting! But waiting and allowing the cookies to sit on the pan for 5 minutes after they come out of the oven allows them enough time to set up and form a delicious crust-like texture on the bottom of the cookies.
An added bonus? You won’t burn your mouth half as bad if you wait. And waiting another 5 minutes after transferring the cookies to a cooling rack will make your cookies even tastier to eat. But I won’t stop you from eating one or two while you’re transferring them. As long as you have a big glass of milk!
Done with the tips and ready for some recipes? Well I won’t disappoint.
Here are a few great chocolate chip cookie recipes to try out:
For the Big Cookie Lover –
Better Than Panera Chocolate Chip Cookies
For the Perfectionist –
Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies via Growing Up Gabel
For the Adventurous –
Hard Boiled Egg Chocolate Chip Cookies via Tailor Made Momma
For the Paleo Diet Follower –
Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars via This Flourishing Life
For the Chewy Chocolate Chip Lover –
Soft & Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies via Chic N Savvy Reviews
For the Brown Sugar Lover –
Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies via Smart Savvy Living
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Cheap chocolate is the WORST thing you can do to chocolate chip cookies! Great tips and now you make me want to make some chocolate chip cookies!
Totally agree that having butter too soft will produce waffle type cookies. They still taste good but you loose out on the chewy texture. I may have to make some tonight!
Super awesome tips. I really need to try and not be so intimidated when it comes to baking. I want to try baking more. Thanks again for the great tips.
OMG, now I want to bake cookies!! I think I might. We often use ghirardelli chocolate, but I’ll try the one you suggested if I see it- don’t think I’ve seen that brand before.
I often let my butter get too soft, put it back in the refrigerator and forget about it and realize it’s now too hard. That cycle repeats itself at least 3 times before I just whip the frozen cookie dough out of the freezer and eat it. Raw.
We love chocolate cookies. They are our go to cookies.
As someone on Jenny Craig I say, thanks a lot! I want these! My issue is I am greedy. I want 75% choc chips in my cookies, 25% dough! But those never cook right! Not that I have tried or anything!
Mitch
Your cookies look soooooo good! I have to admit that I usually buy whatever chocolate chips are on sale even if they are cheaper ones, but I want to try some fancy ones!
I totally agree with you that a good quality chocolate chip makes a lot of difference.
Great tips! I totally agree with the use of high quality chocolate chips. The wait 5 minutes one will be really hard to follow! =)
mmmmm, chocolate! My chocolate chip cookies are never consistent. Thank you for the tips… maybe I’ll finally be able to master this one 🙂
Wow, yours really do look perfect! I’ll definitely try these tips, we make cc cookies all the time!
I also eyeball ingredients! Chocolate chip cookies are my favorite! I LOVE them!
I’m getting better at measuring out ingredients to make my kitchen creations. I do need a scale though. Baking truly is chemistry where things need to be exact…and one day I will remember that 🙂
I have a habit of eyeballing the ingredients instead of measuring precisely. My mom used to do this and everything came out perfectly, I’m afraid I don’t have that same skill. Ha!