The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
I am so excited to be sharing this recipe with you today. If teleportation was a thing – these chocolate chip cookies would be on their way to you right now.
Until science catches up, here is the recipe for the BEST chocolate chip cookies you have ever eaten, let alone pulled out of your own oven!
This recipe was hard-won. I spent three months during my undergraduate tweaking and perfecting every last aspect of these cookies, except one ingredient that fell into place years later.
This chocolate chip cookie recipe yields a perfectly textured, just-enough-chewy, just-enough-crispy cookie with a blend of cinnamon, caramel, and milk chocolate notes. I sometimes love to add a sprinkle of sea salt on top before baking, which just sends these over the top.
I didn’t think these chocolate chip cookies could get any better when I served them to my friend at a playdate three years ago. When I told her that one of the secrets was using browned butter, she immediately asked if it was Joy the Baker’s recipe.
I had never heard of Joy, and was a bit deflated — this was my chocolate chip cookie recipe, one that I had spent precious undergraduate hours and dollars perfecting… but once I checked out Joy’s site, I found a kindred spirit.
If you’ve never heard of her, make these chocolate chip cookies, pour a glass of milk or cup of coffee, and head over for some indulgence. I especially love her Sunday links.
We had a couple of similarities, but there was one provocative difference between our recipes — her addition of a teaspoon of molasses. I immediately knew that the molasses would take the caramel taste to a new level (combined with the brown butter and brown sugar) and added it the next time I whipped up a batch. A teaspoon wasn’t nearly enough for my tastes, so I increased the increment to 1 Tablespoon. Thank you, Joy!
How to Make Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
Now, onto the recipe.
First, gather your ingredients:
- 1/2 cup brown butter (see instructions below)
- 4 Tablespoons shortening
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 T molasses
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt (plus extra for sprinkling on top, optional)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1-2 Tablespoons cinnamon
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
Brown butter is simply “browned butter.” Melt your butter in a saucepan until the milk solids start to darken and turn a caramel brown, and take it off of the heat. I like to cool mine before incorporating it into this chocolate chip cookie recipe, so brown the butter first!
I use an even blend of white and brown sugar to increase the caramel taste, without having the cookie become too crispy. Cream the sugars with the slightly cooled butter, and then whip in shortening before adding the molasses, vanilla, and eggs.
I always add eggs last in the liquids as the sugar will actually start to chemically cook the eggs and adding them earlier can affect your final product. I also use non-hydrogenated shortening to achieve a great balance between the chewy inside and crispy outside.
The cinnamon, vanilla, and molasses are purely there for flavour, and I prefer Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips — I actually have to hide them from Ella and myself, we’ll just sit and eat half a bag given the chance!
I’ve been meaning to experiment with using half cake flour to half regular flour with this recipe, and I’ll update this post when I do. If you needed to use a gluten-free flour, I’d go with a whole spelt.
I hope you give these a try and find these to be the BEST chocolate chip cookies that you have ever made. Please let me know if you run into any snags in the baking process — I’m here to help.
(And make sure to pin this chocolate chip cookie recipe for later… although I really think you should drop everything and start whipping up a batch now!)
The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup brown butter
- 4 Tablespoons shortening
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1-2 T molasses
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt (plus extra for sprinkling on top, optional)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1-2 Tablespoons cinnamon
- 1 cup milk chocolate chips
Instructions
- Melt the butter in a pan, but take it just past "melted" so that some of the milk solids start to turn brown. Take off the heat and cool as you prepare your other ingredients.
- I use an even blend of white and brown sugar to increase the caramel taste, without having the cookie become too crispy. Cream the sugars with the slightly cooled butter, and then whip in shortening before adding the molasses, vanilla, and eggs.
- In a separate bowl, mix all of the dry ingredients together, and then add half to the wet ingredients. Incorporate fully before adding the second half of dry ingredients.
- Add the chocolate chips -- feel free to add more than one cup if you want LOTS of chocolate.
- Use a cookie scoop or tablespoon to measure out your cookies onto a lined baking tray.
- Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes until just slightly golden and remove to a cooling rack.
Check out our other delicious Cookie Recipes:
Since my husband was actually requested chocolate chip cookies this week, I will have to try your recipe. With the time and love that you have put into perfecting this, I know it will be outstanding!
Thanks, Kris – I hope you both like it!
I am always in search of the BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe, and I love what I am reading about this one! I can’t wait to try it – maybe I will today! Thanks for all your hard work to perfect this!! (Oh, and I found Joy the Baker a while ago, and love her website too!)
Let me know if you give it a try — I hope you like it! (She’s fab!)
I need to these with the brown butter!
Yes you do! 🙂
I have never tried browned butter in cookies, but I have heard many people rave about it. I’ll have to give this a try especially with the pinch of sea salt on top.
Oh it’s good on SO MANY THINGS. I also love it on pasta 😉
There is no teleportation, but there is mail! You can mail some of these to me anytime! I have heard of Joy the Baker but have not check her out yet. I think I will need to after seeing these cookies! Thanks so much for being a part of the Fill The Cookie Jar group! I love to see what you are up to in the kitchen!
LOL if a batch of these ever lasts the car ride to the post office 😉
I’ve never browned the butter for a recipe, but suddenly I’m seeing it all over the place. I made cookies yesterday, but next time I’ll have to try that.
Oh you definitely should! Let me know how you like it!
Mmm, they look soft and gooey just the way i like them! Thank you so much for linking up with Thursday Favorite Things this week!
Thank you for hosting, Anja!
Oh my goodness, brown butter?! Yum! I would never have thought to do that technique with chocolate chip cookies. Thanks for this recipe! 🙂
Thanks, Jennie! I hope you like it 🙂
I feel like baking a cookies now!! 🙂 ps. love the fact that you used brown butter!
Thanks – they are AMAZING!
These look great… I make a LOT of cookies around here and we also have a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe… but I do like the idea of browned butter, so may experiment w/ that also. I am pinning this… thank you . 🙂
Oh thanks for stopping by — I hope you like them!
Molasses! Who would have thought! These sound absolutely divine. I’ve put these on my to-make-right-now-if-not-sooner list. Thanks so much for sharing at Grandma Ideas Sharing Time link up. I hope you’ll continue to share in the future.
All the best,
Nina
Thanks – I’ll be back!
I’ll be sure to try this recipe. The caramel flavour sounds yummy. I am adding this to my 9th blog round-up that will be posted in a couple of weeks!
Thank you, Aimee — looking forward to seeing the other selections!