How to make the very best ever homemade chocolate chip cookies from scratch - This simple and easy recipe makes cookies that are crisp on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside.

a close up of the best chocolate chip cookies

Knowing I wouldn't be doing it this year since I'm on bedrest with my second pregnancy, Joe said he wanted to try baking with Christmas cookies with 3-year-old Grace this year.

I raised my eyebrows from the couch, but he didn't see.

It's probably best that way. After a busy Saturday (visiting Santa at Hershey's Chocolate World and at Bass Pro Shops, without ever actually talking to him), Joe and Grace spent Sunday baking.

Around noon on Sunday, I left the couch to take a nap in my bed. Life is all about variety, right?

When I awoke (around 4), I could hear Joe and Grace in the kitchen, measuring and mixing and baking cookies. They chatted and giggled, music to my ears.

Joe read the recipe and explained each step in detail. Grace asked questions, and he put things in terms she understood. I listened to the commotion with a happy heart.

Eventually, the two of them agreed that they needed my help to determine the right scoop to drop their cookies onto the cookie sheet. Grace was elected to wake me up and solicit my help.

After their cookies were baked, they brought me a sample on the couch in the living room. They were the best chocolate chip cookies I ever ate.

I spent the evening working on a scrapbook page and eating chocolate chip cookies.

This recipe uses only standard pantry ingredients. There's nothing weird or unusual here!

There is no chilling required in this recipe. A lot of recipes that claim to be the best require you to chill the dough for an hour up to overnight in order to bake the cookies. This recipe has none of that. Mix them up, drop them on the cookie sheet, and bake.

The centers of the cookies stay soft, moist, and delicious. These aren't crunchy cookies! The centers are soft even when fully cooked. (Unless you overbake them. If you cook them too long, they will get hard, but that will happen to any recipe.)

a close up of the very best ever chocolate chip cookies

What you'll need to make the best ever chocolate chip cookies

EQUIPMENT

Stand mixer - This is not strictly necessary. You could use a handheld mixer, but it is more difficult to get the consistency just right.
Cookie scoop - Can you make these cookies by dropping teaspoonfuls onto a cookie sheet? Yes, you can. However, if the cookies are not all exactly the same, they will not cook at the same rate. The ones that are a little bigger will be too doughy while the ones that are a little bit smaller will get too crunchy. In order to have perfect cookies, they need to be all the same size. It's easier to achieve that with a cookie scoop.

INGREDIENTS

See printable recipe card at the bottom of the page for all measurements and nutritional information.

Unsalted butter, softened but not melted - This is very important. You will need to cream the butter and sugar together, and if the butter is too hard, it will not blend with the sugar. However, if it is too soft, it will make a liquid and not a paste. It is best to let the butter sit out of the fridge for two to three hours before making the cookies. You can't microwave hard butter because that will make it melt. You just have to wait for it to warm up and soften.
white sugar - This is plain old granulated sugar. There is no suitable substitute for this recipe.
Packed brown sugar - You need both white and brown sugar to get the taste and consistency you are looking for in these cookies.
eggs
vanilla extract - Alternately, you can use an equal amount of vanilla bean paste. When I wrote this recipe, I was using vanilla extract, but I have since switched over to using exclusively vanilla bean paste. A chef friend turned me onto the paste which is thick like molasses. It is made from crushed up vanilla beans, whereas vanilla extract is made by soaking vanilla beans in alcohol and then removing the beans. Vanilla bean paste has actual vanilla beans in it. Extract does not.
all-purpose flour - I have never tried to make this recipe with gluten-free flour, so I don't know how that would work.
baking soda
hot water
salt - I know it is strange to see salt in a cookie recipe, but the salt acts as a leavening agent and helps the cookies to puff up a bit and stay soft in the middle.
semisweet chocolate chips - I use semisweet because they hold up best when cooking. However, if you prefer, you can use milk or dark chocolate chips.
chopped pecans or walnuts - I think the chopped nuts make this cookie recipe sing, but if you have an allergy or prefer to leave them out, you can make the cookies without.

How to make the best ever homemade chocolate chip cookies

Preheat oven to 350º.
Cream together the softened butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla.
Dissolve baking soda into hot water. Add to batter with salt.
Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and nuts.
Drop by spoonfuls 2-inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake for 10 minutes or until edges are just beginning to brown.
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5-7 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.

Chef's tips for the best chocolate chip cookies

Make sure you measure the flour correctly. If you use too much flour, the cookies will be dry. To measure correctly, use a spoon to fluff the flour in the canister, then spoon it into a measuring cup made for dry ingredients (not the pour spout liquid kind). Scrape off the excess flour with a knife so that the top of the flour is smooth and even with the top of the measuring cup. Then pour the flour into the bowl.

Feel free to throw in an extra handful of chocolate chips. I'm sure there is some point at which you have too many, but I haven't come across it yet.

Use a cookie scoop to measure out the dough. As I mentioned above, you can use two teaspoons, but it's pretty hard to get them all the same size using that method. The bigger ones will be doughy and the smaller ones will be crunchy. The same thing can happen with a scoop if you're not careful, but if you level off the scoop with a knife each time, your cookies will be perfectly uniform.

Take the cookies out of the oven before they look done! Trust me on this. If you want soft cookies, you can't overcook them. If they look done, they will be crunchy. Take them out of the oven while they're still soft.

How do you make gooey chocolate chip cookies?

The secret to gooey chocolate chip cookies is not to cook them too long. Remove them from the oven when the edges are just beginning to brown. If you wait until they are golden brown, they will be crunchy.

Also, use lots and lots of chocolate chips.

Why did my cookies get flat?

There are several reasons that cookies go flat in the oven.

Expired leavening agent - If your baking soda is expired, the cookies won't rise. To test your baking soda, combine ½ cup of water with ¼ teaspoon of vinegar. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon of baking soda into the water. It should instantly fizz and bubble. If it doesn't, the baking soda is too old.
Over-mixing - If you work the dough too much, the cookies will either be flat or tough or possibly both. Don't mix too much after adding the dry ingredients to the wet.
The ingredients were too warm - If your dough feels warm (possibly because of over-mixing), you should stick it in the fridge for fifteen or twenty minutes, until it is back to room temperature. You don't need the dough to be cold, but you don't want it to be warm either.
Incorrect oven temperature - If you don't already have one, I recommend a cheap oven thermometer. They are inexpensive and will verify that your oven's temperature is accurate. (I also recommend replacing that thermometer every year or two because the thermometers do wear out.)

Storing leftover chocolate chip cookies

You should store these cookies at room temperature in an airtight container or zippered plastic bag.

You can also freeze them for up to 2 months. To do so, place the room temperature cookies on a baking sheet in the freezer for an hour, then remove them and place into a freezer bag or container. If you just stick the room temperature cookies in the bag or container and put them in the freezer without first flash freezing, they will make one big frozen mass and you won't be able to get them apart without defrosting the entire block. Flash freezing them first ensures that you'll be able to take just a couple out of the bag at a time.