Honestly there’s nothing better than a classic chocolate chip cookie! This is one of my most made recipes, and there’s usually a few kicking around in my freezer at all times. They are so easy to whip up, and I love keeping some unbaked and frozen, so that I can have a freshly baked cookie whenever I want! These cookies have crispy outsides, chewy insides, and taste like my childhood.

Tips for freezing cookies: use a cookie scoop to scoop the cookie dough onto a cookie sheet lined with a silicone baking mat, or parchment. Arrange the cookies close together, but not touching each other so that they won’t freeze together. Place the entire cookie sheet into the freezer, and allow to chill until frozen. Transfer frozen cookie balls into an airtight container. *Freezing them on the cookie sheet prevents them from all freezing together, and is an important step! When you’re ready to bake, simply place a frozen cookie onto a cookie sheet, and bake as usual, adding on 1 or 2 minutes to the baking time to account for it being frozen.

A note on chocolate: I usually use a mix of semi-sweet chocolate chips, and dark chocolate chunks. It’s a bit more cost effective, especially for such an every day dessert. But you can use whatever you’d like! If you’re looking to get those dreamy chocolate puddles on the top, make sure that a chunk of dark chocolate gets pressed into the top of the unbaked cookies. If you’re finding that they aren’t melting properly, it likely means that the chocolate isn’t of a high enough quality. Low quality wafers often won’t work well for this, and I try to stick with something like Callebaut, or high quality wafers from somewhere like Gourmet Warehouse (located in Vancouver for you locals!)

Salt. The finishing touch. I love love love a salty sweet combo, and truly believe that a sprinkling of flaked salt takes your cookies to the next level. The saltiness brings out flavour, and is the perfect complement to the sweet chocolate

classic chocolate chip cookies

recipe: Kelsey Siemens

yields: ~2 dozen cookies (dependent on size of cookie scoop)

edit: updated with grams and clarifications on April 4, 2021

ingredients

1 cup salted butter (227 g) - room temperature

1 cup (200 g) brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup (50 g) granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 cup (313 g) All Purpose flour (spooned & leveled)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (or chunks of chopped, chocolate - I often do a few chunks of bittersweet chocolate pressed into the top of the cookie)

flaked salt (optional) - I use Maldon!

directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper, and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the softened butter and sugar for 3-5 minutes on medium-high speed, until it has lightened in colour and is quite fluffy. Add in the egg and mix on medium speed until fully incorporated. Add in the vanilla extract, baking soda, and salt, and mix on low until incorporated.

Next, mix in flour on low, until the dough just comes together. Use a spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Stir in chocolate on low.

(Note: If you don’t use a scale to measure the flour, you may over measure a little which will result in a cookie that doesn’t spread enough! Bake a test cookie, and if this happens, simply add teaspoon or two of water and try again.)

Use a cookie scoop or a spoon to form balls of cookie dough, and place onto a cookie sheet. I usually make my cookies about 60-65 g (if you make them much smaller or larger than this, you’ll need to adjust the baking time.)

Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees F, remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with flakey salt so that it will stick to the cookies if desired.

Notes:

• I always recommend doing 1 or 2 test cookies, to figure out your exact desired cookie consistency.

• Bake time will vary depending on the colour (dark vs light) and thickness of your baking sheet, as well as your oven! I prefer for my cookies to almost look underbaked when you remove them from the oven, to ensure that the middle is nice and soft when they cool.

• If you prefer a flatter, crispier cookie, squish the tops down before placing into the oven, and add a minute or two of cook time.

• Are your cookies too flat for your preference? Pop them in the freezer for a 5-10 minute chill, or try adding 1/4 cup more flour. This is why test cookies are important!

• Cookies too thick and don’t spread? It may be due to too much flour! Simply add a teaspoon or two of water, and try another test cookie.

• Salt - always add the flakey salt to the tops of the cookies right out of the oven, or even within the last minute of baking so that it sticks. I think salt really elevates a cookie into something special, as it really brings out the flavours and complements the sweetness so well.

• Chocolate - I use normal chocolate chips cookies most of the time simply due to cost. If I’m splurging a bit, I love a high quality belgian bittersweet chocolate, or simply a chocolate bar that I’ll chop up…but this is completely up to your own taste! Chocolate chunks may give a “prettier” more bakery style looking cookie - but chocolate chips are way more economical!! Use whatever chocolate you prefer and is accessible to you!

• Pools of chocolate on top - if you’re looking to get those amazing, melty pools of chocolate on top, you’ll want to press a chunk of chocolate into the top of each cookie before they go into the oven. I find that higher quality chocolate results in better pools of chocolate, as cheaper chocolate sometimes doesn’t actually lose its shape. Sometimes I’ll even use the back of a spoon to wiggle each chocolate pool when it comes out of the oven to help it settle into a pool - this will make sense once you’ve tried it!

• P.S. I’ll usually use chocolate chips in the cookies, and reserve the more expensive chocolate to do a chocolate pool on top! Saves money but they still look cute! :P

• Want fresh cookies all the time? Shape all the dough into balls, and freeze on a cookie sheet - make sure the cookies aren’t touching each other or they’ll freeze together. Once they’re frozen (after an hour or two) simply transfer them all into an airtight container. Pull one or two cookies out whenever you want to bake a fresh one! You’ll want to add 1 or 2 minutes of baking time if baking straight from the freezer.

Happy Cookie Baking!