Dreamy Chocolate Chip Cookies

The ONLY chocolate chip cookie recipe you will ever need. Soft, luscious, and loaded with tons of chocolate...these cookies are comforting and cheerful. Soft, but not cakey. Thick, but not huge. You just HAVE to make them!

Tips, Tricks, & Shortcuts (hit the arrow to expand/collapse)

I almost always make a double or triple batch of this recipe and keep cookie dough balls in my freezer for…umm…emergencies.

To freeze cookie dough balls that are easy to bake as needed, follow these steps:

1) Use a cookie scoop to scoop balls of cookie dough onto a tray or baking sheet lined with parchment paper

2) Cover the tray with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 3 hours - this is a form of flash freezing that can easily be done at home. Taking this step will ensure your individual cookie dough balls don’t freeze together as one big clump in the next step.

3) Place the flash-frozen cookie dough balls into a sturdy gallon freezer bag, press out as much air as you can, and seal. Don’t forget to write the date on the front of the bag so you know when they were frozen. Freeze for up to 3 months.

4) To bake frozen cookie dough, allow cookie dough balls to thaw to room temperature for 30 minutes to an hour or in the fridge overnight. (Don’t let them sit too long at room temperature - they were made with raw eggs and raw flour.) Bake as directed.

I am leading a low-sugar lifestyle, so I love to substitute the sugars in this recipe for Swerve sweetener. Substitute the granulated sugar for Swerve granular sweetener, and substitute the brown sugar for Swerve brown sugar replacement.

Feel free to add in other mix-ins like walnuts! If I am adding nuts to a batch of cookies, I decrease the chocolate chips slightly: 2 cups chocolate chips and ½ cup chopped walnuts. Add the walnuts at the same time you add the chocolate chips, taking care not to overmix the batter.

This recipe makes 30 cookies using a 2-Tbsp. cookie scoop. If you don’t have a cookie scoop, each cookie dough ball should weigh about 30-35 grams.

Ingredients

1 ½ cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour

½ tsp table salt

1 tsp baking soda

½ cup (8 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, room temperature

⅓ cup (67 grams) granulated sugar

½ cup (100 grams) firmly packed brown sugar

1 large egg

2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste

8 oz. Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips

8 oz. Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F*

*If your oven runs hot or you have a gas oven, turn the temperature down by at least 15 degrees to avoid baking the cookies too quickly

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda

3. In a separate bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until smooth and lighter in color

4. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and mix on medium-high for two minutes or until smooth and well combined

5. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until well incorporated, approximately 1 minute

6. To your wet mixture, slowly add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until almost incorporated

7. Add the chocolate chips and gently mix until just combined - you don’t want to see streaks of flour, but do not overmix! I usually switch to a spatula for the last few stirs to avoid mixing too much.

8. Using a table spoon or a cookie scoop, form dough balls and place them on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper (not foil) or an unlined cookie sheet if you do not have parchment paper

9. If your kitchen is hot and your dough gets too soft while mixing, go ahead and pop the cookie dough balls into the fridge for 15 minutes before baking

10. Bake dough balls in preheated oven for 10-11 minutes, or until just the edges are set and golden (the middle should remain soft and light in color)

11. Allow to cool on pan for at least 10 minutes to set up; the centers will continue to cook slightly during this time, leading to the perfect soft and chewy texture

Suggested Products*

Cookie dough scoop

Ziploc gallon freezer bags

Kitchen scale

My favorite spatula

Stand mixer

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