Cook’s Illustrated Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cook’s Illustrated Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies are large, bakery-style cookies made with browned butter and dark brown sugar for a toffee-like flavor and soft texture.
Can we talk chocolate chip cookies today?
I feel like I have been to the moon and back when it comes to how many chocolate chip cookie recipes I’ve tried over the ten year span since I started this site. I’ve done the back-of-the-Nestle-bag thing, the pudding chocolate chip cookies, the thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies, the copycat soft batch chocolate chip cookies, the New York Times chocolate chip cookies, Alton Brown’s “The Chewy” chocolate chip cookies, and I’ve created my own versions of some of those, too.
For the longest time, the Cook’s Illustrated/America’s Test Kitchen thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies were my go-to cookie. Then I made the New York Times chocolate chip cookie recipe (from Jaques Torres) and my world was turned upside down. Enormous cookies, super thick and chewy, dark chocolate, flaky sea salt… they were a dream! But they also involved planning ahead, which isn’t always possible when you want cookies RIGHT NOW (or at least in the next two hours). So, I sort of made my own version of that (as well as a peanut butter cup version that is like whoa).
As you can see, I’m a tad bit, shall we say, non-committal when it comes to my chocolate chip cookies… always looking for the next best thing. But, life’s too short to miss out on the opportunity to uncover the most amazing, PERFECT chocolate chip cookie ever, right?
Last weekend, I returned to this Cook’s Illustrated perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe that I had tried multiple times nearly five years ago. I had been underwhelmed with it at the time, but perhaps time heals all wounds because as far as I’m concerned, they turned out absolutely perfectly this time around.
What Makes a Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie?
Admittedly, this is totally subjective and you and I may not see eye-to-eye on it. Heck, my husband and I have VASTLY differing opinions on what makes a chocolate chip cookie perfect, so when I can create a cookie that we both REALLY LIKE, it’s a huge win.
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This is what I need from my perfect chocolate chip cookies:
- Soft, thick and chewy – this is a must! I refuse to waste calories on thin cookies or crunchy cookies. Unless you’re giving me a biscotti, pizzelle, or some other cookie that is inherently crunchy, it needs to be soft and chewy. End of story.
- It needs to be EASY. Chocolate chip cookies are the ultimate “throw them in the oven for an afternoon snack” type of cookie. Sure, there is room for the fancy, chill-the-dough-for-days type, but my perfect cookie needs to be low maintenance.
- There needs to be enough chocolate chips. This should go without saying, but if I can take a normal-size bite and manage to not get even one chip, then the amount of chocolate chips is seriously lacking.
These Cook’s Illustrated perfect chocolate chip cookies check off all of my requirements above, AND it’s a cookie that my husband and I both loved. Total home run here!
What Makes These Cookies Different?
There are a few different aspects to these cookies that makes the “perfect” moniker worthy:
- While the thick and chewy chocolate chip cookies use melted butter, this recipe takes it a step further and actually browns the butter. Using browned butter really ups the complexity of the flavor; nothing bad has ever come from browned butter, that’s for sure!
- Most soft and chewy cookies use more light brown sugar than granulated sugar to keep that soft texture, but this one uses dark brown sugar that, along with the browned butter, gives these cookies a hint of butterscotch and toffee flavor.
- A little less flour and the addition of an egg yolk adds to the soft texture.
The Verdict?
Perfect! Seriously, the Cook’s Illustrated Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies are utterly fantastic cookies. They can be whipped up quickly, they have great flavor, and the perfect texture – golden brown, wrinkly edges and soft and puffy centers.
My only regret is not making a double batch of these!
One year ago: Tortellini in Parmesan Cream Sauce with Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Six years ago: Waldorf Salad
Cook's Illustrated Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1¾ cups (218.75 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking soda
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- ¾ cup (165 g) dark brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- 1¼ cups (225 g) semisweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 large (18x12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper.
- 2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside.
- 3. Heat 10 tablespoons of the butter in a 10-inch stainless steel or cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling the pan constantly until the butter is dark golden brown and has a nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and transfer the browned butter to a large heatproof bowl. Stir the remaining 4 tablespoons butter into the hot browned butter until completely melted. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.
- 4. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to the bowl with the butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add the egg and egg yolk and whisk until the mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let the mixture stand for 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat the process of resting and whisking 2 more times until the mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in the flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in the chocolate chips and give the dough a final stir to ensure there are no hidden flour pockets.
- 5. Scoop the dough into 16 even portions, each about 3 tablespoons, and arrange them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet.
- 6. Bake the cookies 1 tray at a time until the cookies are golden brown but still puffy, and the edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer the baking sheet to wire rack and allow cookies to cool completely before serving. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
- It is recommended that you use weight measurements for the best results.
- You can use light brown sugar instead of dark, but the characteristic butterscotch/toffee flavor will be less pronounced.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
The weight of the flour is off. ATC uses 5 oz as weight of one cup flour. That would be 248g. This recipe used 120 g per cup of flour.
Amazing flavor! Best chocolate chip cookies ever.
Still turned out okay but the gram measurements of the ingredients do not match the cooks illustrated recipe amounts. The
Friendly advice: I’ve been making chocolate chip cookies for a long time and I discovered some time ago that refrigerating your cookie dough overnight is crucial. I haven’t found a cookie recipe yet that hasn’t benefited.
For some reason, if I bake a recipe while the dough is fresh, the tops of the cookies crack and look very unappealing. The same thing happened with these. I think it could be the temperature of the butter.
So, I only made half the batch right away and refrigerated the other half. The second batch was way better.
My specific method that works with every recipe is to place the refrigerated cookie balls on a baking sheet and sit it on top of the stove while it preheats. I set a timer for 30 minutes. This gets the dough just right. It feels close to room temp at this point but the dough is still denser than it would have been fresh. I don’t know exactly what happens when the dough is cooled overnight, but it actually changes the physical properties.
Also, I recommend using a kitchen scale. Weigh each cookie out to 58g and don’t roll them into perfect balls. Just lightly form them into a rough ball shape but try to keep them chunky and lumpy. Not smooth. When they finish baking, they’ll look much more picturesque.
This has been my go to recipe for a while now. I always add int he toasted pecans. Makes it so yummy.
i tripled the recipe (not sure if this was okay) but my cookies turned out completely flat. so disappointing. my oven is calibrated so i know it wasn’t the temp. can’t figure what i did wrong, help!! looking for thick chewy cookies
Hi Fran! Not sure if this tip will help you but my first batch was completely flat and oily too. For my second batch I decided to let the completed cookie dough rest in the fridge to fully cool before baking them and then they actually had fluff and weight, perfect! Maybe you can try resting the dough in the fridge too
I keep the portioned (using a small ice cream scoop) dough in my freezer at all times for when a warm chocolate chip cookie craving happens. I just pull out a few, bake at 375 for 10 or 11 minutes, and impatiently wait for them to cool. Perfect, indeed!
Thanks for recipe.
Hi Michelle, Can these be baked as bars, and could I add cocoa powder to make them chocolate chocolate chip bars?
Hi Mike. I just made them as bars and they turned very nice. Put the dough in a 15×10 sheet pan and baked for 20 minutes at 375.
Hope this helps
I love this recipe! They are the best chocolate chip cookie for sure.
In the cookbook it doesn’t say to let the butter cool to room temp before adding flour?
After you brown the 10 TBS of butter (not the entire amount in recipe) you pour that in a bowl and then add the remaining 4 tablespoons of cold butter to melt that in the hot brown butter. Then you add the sugars, vanilla, eggs, etc and do the 30 second, 3 minute rests that the recipe says to do and your mixture will be completely cooled after all of that, before adding the flour/soda mixture.
Always my go-to chocolate chip cookie. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Very “grown-up” cookie, I think. I had the magazine but can’t find it lately, so it’s been helpful you’ve post this one. Thank you!
I made these EXACTLY to recipe, and they were perfection. Thank you!
I want the recipe for the perfect chocolate chip cookie
This is my go to for a cookie recipe! Every where I’ve brought them people rave about them. I’ve even had people pay me to make them! I let them sit in the fridge over night then come to room temp before baking the next dat. This hydrates the dough and allows for the cookies to be perfectly chewy for a lot longer in storage!! Also I use a mix of milk chocolate, semi sweet and dark chocolate chips, oh my yum!
I just baked these. While I know it’s “forbidden,” I tasted the raw dough and the toffee flavor was very present. It was mostly gone in the baked version. The overall texture is perfect and these are very good cookies but was hoping for a lot more toffee flavor in the end. My husband loves them.
I know my response is well after the fact, but just to let you know: raw cookie dough is perfectly safe. Don’t worry about the little bit of egg in there. There’s a reason ppl have been eating raw dough for forever: it’s yummy! So enjoy and no worries!
Thats actually not true at all Moe. It’s not the raw egg people need to worry about, it’s the bacteria in raw flour that leads to illness. While most people won’t get sick from eating raw cookie dough (w/untreated flour), some will. Therefore, it’s best to err on the side of caution, esp if one is very young, very old, or immunocompromised. It’s best not to give advice if you don’t know what you’re talking about.
Love these but need the butter measurements in grams if possible – It’s too hard to spoon it out of the fridge…
Hi Cheryl, It would be 142 grams to start with (that you brown), then the remaining 57 grams that you stir in at the end. Hope that helps!
Hi, I get so confused with using browned butter. So in this recipe, you start out by measuring 142 grams, then you brown it. After it’s browned, pour into a container and add 57 grams of butter that hasn’t been browned.
Should I use grams only because sometimes butter doesn’t come in sticks, but in blocks, so you are unable to cut off individual tablespoons.
Can you tell me if this is correct.
So the total weight of the butter (browned and unbrowned) is 199 grams?
Can someone please help.
Thanks.
This cookie is amazing but if you choose to brown the butter add 1/2 teaspoon salt instead of 1 teaspoon salt. If you don’t have time and simply melt the butter in the microwave, the 1 tsp of salt works great.
I’ve made these and had them come out perfectly…in Kansas….but flat and greasy in Colorado. What adjustments should I make in Colorado at 5,000′?
Hi Larry, I have tons of altitude baking tips in this post that might help: https://www.browneyedbaker.com/high-altitude-baking-tips/
I have made these cookies over 24 times. After the 4th time, I did start changing up the methods and they did indeed come out different ways. My overall impression is that melting/browning the butter rids the cookies of far too much moisture which is why the cookies are dense, cracked on the top. You have to understand that the recipe was made by someone who was not a baker. Most cooks on ATK are not bakers and while I love the show very much and never miss it. There’s a lot that can be gleaned from French bakeries and professional bakers whose Youtube channels I frequent.
Bakers weigh. Companies weigh because they have to maintain consistency. You save so much time, it’s amazing. I learned how to out of necessity (I develop recipes for companies and my own in my free time) and the reason why so many American (relax, I’m American lol) home cooks have problems is because they do not weigh.
The last batch of these cookies sealed it for me. Dry, dense, cracked on top, wrinkly (because of the melted butter method) They’re good, but they can be better and if we’re going to take the time to make cookies, shouldn’t they be the most amazing!?
-This recipe has far too much flour which is why they have you add an egg yolk. Adding an egg yolk actually changes the butter flour ratio which in essence changes the entire recipe which is the reason they appear dry and cracked and wrinkly.
-If you do brown the butter, make sure to add some moisture back into the recipe. Like in Alton Brown’s recipe, he adds 2 tbsp. of milk. I tried that once and it was very good, very delicious.
-Truthfully, if you want a great cookie, the ATK gluten-free chocolate chip cookie is far better. In a blind taste test, all of my customers preferred it over this recipe. I wasn’t surprised as that recipe was worked on be several testers.
-The brown sugar to white sugar ratio of this recipe is fantastic. I’d keep it going forward. However, the method of whisking for 3o seconds, resting for three is really counterintuitive and doesn’t “work”. You’re talking about an extra ten minutes there!? What were they thinking?
What I would keep is the 3 tbsp. portion, the 370 temperature (though I think that 365 is best), NOT chilling the dough and reduce the chips portion as chocolate chips ingredients vary too much. Avoid Tasty’s recipe. Yuck. Very sweet. Too sweet, and two small.
My husband requested these for the Thanksgiving potluck at work.
Best cookie recipe that I’ve found & made.
I first found the recipe in 2011 & was unimpressed at first.
The next few times making the cookies from the chocolate chip bag resulting in thin & flat was it. I threw all those recipes out & put 5 stars on this recipe!
No baking powder needed?
I love this recipe, and want to make it for my wedding. If I made it a few weeks ahead and put it in the freezer, do you know how it affects the leavening? Would you pre-shape the cookies and bake from frozen or in a big puck, tha and then bake? Thanks for your help!
I would pre-shape before you freeze.
This cookie comes out like the “ideal” chocolate chip cookie – chewy but slightly crisp exterior. Really great!! Only change I made was adding extra 1/2 tsp baking soda. I like my cookies puffy.
Best cookies I’ve ever made, including the Jacques Torres recipe. And I could have eaten ALL the dough. YUM! THANK YOU!
I couldn’t get enough of these cookies. Glad they were for a party and I had to shut the lid or I would’ve eaten more.!
Batter was very thin. Measured by weight. Got 10 cookies. Called for 149 grams dark brown sugar. About 3/4 cup. My scale says 149 is about 1/4 cup. Flour looked to be a bit light by weight as well.
So, where did I or you miss here? My scale is accurate.
Mine was a lil soft to buf it wasnt bad you should be fine in the end if necessary just measure by cup and not by weight i did by cup for years its just a lil more crispy