The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe for chocolate chip cookies, posted by The New York Times in 2009, has taken many food blogs by storm. Not a traditional chocolate chip cookie at all, the recipe uses a combination of bread and cake flours to achieve a chewy, yet delicate texture. The dough is packed full of dark chocolate (no semisweet chips here!) and then is left to chill in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours (talk about a practice in patience!). Once you’re ready to bake these babies, a whopping 3½ ounces of dough is rolled into a ball for each cookie, and then sprinkled with sea salt. These huge, gorgeous cookies look like they walked straight out of a high-end bakery, and taste even better!
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The New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 cups (250 g) minus 2 tablespoons cake flour, (8½ ounces)
- 1 ⅔ cups (208.33 g) bread flour, (8½ ounces)
- 1¼ teaspoons (1.25 teaspoons) baking soda
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) baking powder
- 1½ teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons) kosher salt
- 1¼ cups (283.75 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature, (10 ounces )
- 1¼ cups (275 g) light brown sugar, (10 ounces )
- 1 cup (200 g) plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, (8 ounces)
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 ⅓ cups (600 g) dark chocolate chips, at least 60% cacao content, (20 ounces)
- Sea salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- Sift together the cake flour, bread flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl and set aside.
- Cream together the butter and sugars on medium speed until very light, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition, then add the vanilla. Reduce the mixer speed to low, gradually add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the chocolate chips.
- Press plastic wrap against the dough and refrigerate for at least 24 hours, up to 72 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat.
- Scoop 3 1/2-ounces of dough, roll into a rough ball (it should be the size of a large golf ball) and place on the baking sheet. Repeat until you have six mounds of dough on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer the parchment or silicone sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then transfer the cookies onto another cooling rack to cool a bit more, until just warm or at room temperature. Repeat with remaining dough (or keep some of the dough refrigerated for up to 3 days, and bake cookies at a later time). Store leftover cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Try this. Scoop the dough into the balls then refrigerate.
Hi, if I use margarine or salted butter, should I minimize the salt (or not use it at all)? it’s hard to find unsalted butter here and our margarine is quite salty. Please help :)
Hi Yena, I would recommend using the salted butter and omitting the kosher salt in the recipe (still sprinkle them with the sea salt).
Thank you, Michelle. Will try that! :D
um, one more… what can I use to substitute the brown sugar? is palm sugar okay?
Hi Yena, That’s a tough one, as I’m not sure what you have available to you. The brown sugar is important, as it gives the cookies the soft and chewy texture. Substitute whatever sugar you use that has some sort of molasses content.
I substituted the brown sugar with white sugar and add some honey because… I live in a village where brown sugars are not known. when I asked for molasses, they tought I speak alien, lol. it turned out soooo delicious. maybe next time if I have a chance to find that brown sugar (or molasses), I will use it. thank you for sharing this recipe :D
Thanks for sharing. I tried this recipe out and the cookies were fantastic! :) I also put my own twist on them (stuffed cookies, anyone?).
Hi, I just realized I too misread the butter. I have already mixed all the ingredients and put it in the fridge. It will be in the fridge for about 18 hours when I get home…is it too late to add the other stick? Basically, I added 1 stick and a half instead of two sticks and a half. I really hope I don’t need to start all over again! Help!
Hmm, you would probably need to let the dough come to room temperature before incorporated the rest of the butter, but since all of the other ingredients have already been added, I’m not sure how the final cookies will come out.
Thank you so much for responding. That’s exactly what I did….I let the dough come back to room temperature (couple hours) and then incorporated the butter. The dough looked a littl greasy. I put it back in the fridge and will attempt to bake them tonight. Let’s see!
Well they came out pretty good, a little tough and greasy but overall this pretty amazing! Thanks for sharing the recipe and the advice!
These turned out so delicious and well worth the wait. I am going to be making this recipe my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe.
I measured out the flour using measuring cups and then weighed it on my OXO scale. There was a huge discrepancy because the cake flour, for example, came to only 7 oz. What’s up with that? I’d appreciate your comment on this. I did make the cookies using the measuring cups, and they are delicious. I just wondered if they would have been chewier with all that extra flour!
Hi Marianne, You should always go by weight if you have a scale available to you. A lot of measuring cups vary in size, and the way ingredients are scooped and measured can make a difference in how a cup is filled.
Thanks for getting back to me. I will be trying these again with different measurements of flour to see what the differences are. On the Internet there are varying weights for 1 cup of bread flour and 1 cup of cake flour. I’ll let you know what I think. I appreciate very much your input!
Thanks for your reply Michelle. I only have mini chocolate chips right now. Also, I couldn’t find the kind you used for this recipe in the stores over here. Would it be alright if I make it into normal-sized cookies and use the mini choc chips?
Hi Dianne, Sure, just realize that the flavor and texture may not be exactly the same.
Hi, can i use Hershey’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Minis) for this recipe?
Hi Dianne, I definitely would not use mini chocolate chips for this recipe. Use regular size chips (and dark if you can!)
can i use self rising cake flour? or will it affect the consistency of the cookies?
Hi Nikki, No, you should never use self rising flour unless a recipe specifically calls for it because it contains leavening agents. Most recipes use an all-purpose flour and baking powder and/or soda for leavening.
During the last month I’ve been trying to find the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. Thankfully, about two weeks ago, I discovered your fantastic blog and I fell in love with your recipes and your photos (and trust me I’ve tested many blogs the last 2 years). As it turns out this cookie recipe was exactly what I was looking for. The combination of flours gives the cookies an amazing texture, and a professional-like taste. Thanks a lot for sharing this recipe! Me and my family are looking forward to trying more of your amazing recipes :)
I don’t have Kosher salt, but sea salt. Should I use a different measurement? Thanks!!
If it’s coarse sea salt, then yes.
Hello. I have tried this recipe and came out perfectly.
Second time, I divided recipe in to 1/3.
Cookies were all spread to flat & burnt.
I thought this recipe is one of those recipe that doesn’t do well when you divide it to smaller.
And today.I made dough yesterday, full amount.
I follow the recipe, nothing changed.
Cookies came out as same flat spread mess !
Last time was perfect. Today big mess again.
I have never experienced any recipe that gives different result every time.
Have I missed something ? Too much or too less of something ?
Its big amount of dough to have, it’s such a waste.
Do you have any idea what have I done wrong ?
And is this unbaked dough savabke of adding something ?
Help me please. Thank you.
Hi Toco, If they turned out fine the first time, but you had an issue the second couple of times but didn’t change any ingredients or methods, your oven might be running a little hot. I would recommend an oven thermometer to be sure it’s the correct temperature.
Hello. Thank you for your response.
This is not an oven issue.
I “think” I followed recipe as directed and measured propery.
For some reason cookies sometimes doesn’t come out right.
It’s always to Anxicious to open the oven when cookies are done.
Because dough it self looks,feel, taste always same.
I noticed that cookies comes out differentry after 24 h resting, 48 h resting.
More it sit longer cookies are flatter.
I like thick look, so I dont really want to keep them in fridge longer.
But sometimes just don’t have enough time to prepare dough when I want to.
What if I freeze the dough after 24h. Then when I bake them,
Do I just need to bring them to fridge & bake as usual?
Are they going to come out same as 24 rested stage ?
Thank you.
If you freeze them, I would shape the dough into balls before you freeze them. You can bake them straight from the freezer, but will need to add a few minutes to the baking time. I am not sure if they will taste the same, as I have not frozen this dough before.
I have exactly the same problem. My cookies flattened out all the way and totally burned and I have no idea why. I already did the “Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Cookies” two days before and they came out great but these, gosh, they just won’t work out. :-( I’d say I followed the receipt to a capital T, measuring all ingredients with a scale. I did one thing different. I substituted the cake flour by Michelle’s advice with “1 cup cake flour = ¾ cup sifted all-purpose flour + 2 tablespoons cornstarch”. We don’t have cake flour on my continent so that’s the only way to follow the receipt at least to the small t. :-) Any advice? I also tried it with 275°F. At first it looked good but then it also totally flattened out. :-( Any advice than doing it over again? As we don’t have chocolate chips it took me 1,5h to crack down chocolate bars into small pieces. What a pity to throw it away as the raw dough tastes so wonderful.
amazing recipe ,, the best i’ve tried so far .. Thanks for sharing !!
Hi! This is my favorite cookie recipe of all time! I shared this post on my blog. You can check it out here: http://littlebitsofeverythingqce.blogspot.com/2013/05/pinned-it-friday-rachel-edition.html
Thank you and have a great weekend!
~Rachel at Little Bits of Everything
Hello, I was wondering if these absolutely have to be refridgerated for 24 hours. I have a fairly full fridge and a family that loves to grab something simple at all times and it would be a bit troublesome to leave them in for such a prlonged amount of time. Will they be okay of we don’t refridgerate them at all of even simply for just a few hours?
Hi Anna, These really are best if you refrigerate them to allow the flavors to develop. If you can’t do 24 hours, I would do at least a few hours, or as long as you can.
Thanks! I left them in for 12 hours and cooked a dozen and tried cooking a dozen more after they had been in the fridge for a full 24 hours. Personally, I couldn’t tell much difference in taste (I’m not much of a cook or flavor connoisseur) , both ways are absolutely scrumptious! Wonderful recipe! Thank you for posting them on your website.
I made the dough yesterday. Then this afternoon I scooped and weighed out 6 cookies, 3.5 ounces each and baked them 18 minutes @ 350 degrees. My, my, my! My wife and I each sat down with a tall glass of ice cold milk and now we only have 3 cookies left. Yes, I’m really good at math word problems. These are, without a doubt, everything I have pictured in my little mind that a perfect cookie should be. Bold statement I know but that’s just the way it is. Buttery, carameley, chocolatey, salty symphony of flavors; ever so slight crisp edge with a soft chewy center; and a nice ‘handful’ of cookie goodness.
Made the recipe as-is, no changes! I weighed my ingredients. Sifted all dry ingredients. Used Plugra butter….oh my yes! Used Ghiardelli 60% Cacao Chocolate Chips — huge chips! Allowed the dough to rest 24 hours. I can see this becoming one of my most popular baked goodies! Make these, you won’t regret it!
Love your blog!!!
Quick Question: Would it be okay if I stuck the dough in the freezer for a lesser amount of time than in the refrigerator for 24+ hours?
Hi Amrita, I would not freeze the dough – you don’t want it frozen, just chilled.
Thank you for weighing all the ingredients. When you are used to using a scale when cooking, it is so much faster, easier and more accurate. Excellent cookies!
Everyone loved these! I personally thought they were too chocolatey but I’m weird! Loved the salt and the fact that they were huge cookies. I will definitely make these again.
I just took the dough out of the refrigerator after 48 hrs. I followed the recipe to a T. I stored dough in a plastic container with an airight lid. The dough is a brick. Is that usual?
Hi Gail, Yes, it’s very hard when it comes out of the refrigerator. I usually use a knife to chop off sections to weigh, then squish together into a ball with my hands.
I used this recipe, but instead of 2 tsp vanilla – used 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tsp almond extract. Talk about delicious!
This is by far the best cookie I’ve ever cooked my husband is a Cookie Monster and he loves this one the most! I also wanted to say I use a lot of the recipes that you post and most come out great for me I want to send you my greatest appreciation for all the help you’ve given me in the kitchen!
hey! this looks super extra delicious! I have a question though… what kind of bread flour do I need to get?? Does it have to have yiest on it? or why is it different than regular flour? thanks!!!
Hi Daniela, A lot of flour brands sell bread flour, including Pillsbury, Gold Medal and King Arthur Flour, all of which are available at local grocery stores. It’s different than all-purpose because it has a higher protein content, which makes the cookie chewier and gives it a sturdier texture.
Would it be okay if I used semisweet chocolate chips? I am not a fan of dark chocolate…Just wondering if it would compromise the taste if I made this substitution.
Hi Mariam, You could use semisweet chocolate chips. I like dark chocolate, so I think it goes wonderfully with the sea salt, but I think you would still be okay with the semisweet.
I agree the dark chocolate and salt set each other off perfect.
WOW!
I made these with white whole wheat flour, adding gluten to make bread flour and a drop of cornstarch to make cake flour, then weighing each according to the recipe. I also used margarine as these cookies needed to be dairy-free.
I made my cookies slightly smaller and baked them for 12-14 minutes.
These. Are. Amazing.
I think I may make a double batch on Sunday and just freeze them! (Or do you think I can freeze the dough in 2-4-serving packages?)
I think you could save the dough. You could always scoop out the portioned dough and then freeze the dough balls, that way you can make only as many as you want at one time.
These cookies are amazziiinnnggg! I made a batch for the school staff room and half were fine before the first bell went. They are better than Subway cookies!
Mine were way too flaky and crumbly:(. I made them smaller and adjusted the cooking time, but I don’t think that was the problem. So bummed.
Laurie, looks like you might have added 10 tbs. of butter instead of 10 Oz. That may be why they were crumbly.
This is the third time I’ve made these (another batch is sitting in the fridge now!) and I’m reading everyone’s comments and just want to say that–I KNOW it’s a lot of dough– but seriously, weigh it and do the 3.5 oz per cookie. The first time I made 24 “large golf balls” and the second and third times I’ve done/will be doing “small baseballs.” Considering the cooking time, my “large golf balls” were chocolatey hockey pucks after 18 minutes. With the larger ball of dough, the cooking time is more realistic. However, the second time I did this recipe, I made the dough Friday and baked one half on Saturday and the second half of the dough Sunday. On Saturday I baked them for 18 minutes and on Sunday for 15 minutes. My family is a bunch of soft cookie fanatics so the 15 minutes was perfect for the 3.5 oz of dough. They were tan, but not overcooked. I got mixed reviews about the sea salt on top (I do have the correct kind, fancy fleur de sel from williams-sonoma) and my brother-in-law and my mom were picking it off the top of the cookies. Oh well, can’t please everyone! My husband liked the salt and so did I. I’m the same way that you are and didn’t like the idea of waiting for the dough to sit for 24 hours, but honestly I don’t think I’ll ever use my old cookie recipe again. As much as I and everyone else loved my old cookies, there is simply no comparison to these… they’re huge and gorgeous and so incredibly good. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe and the throw-down! I believe I have my “forever cookie” now, finally! :)
Best choc chip cookie recipe EVER! YUM YUM
Just an afternote: I baked these in two separate batches. The one I baked after the dough was refrigerated 4 days was just as wonderful as the ones I baked after the dough chilled for 24 hours. No discernible difference at all. I got 24 monster-size cookies, with one dozen baked at 24 hours, the next dozen at 4 days. That gentle soupcon of saltiness seems to appeal to men. Drives ’em wild.