María’s Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are my personal idea of Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies. I tweeted about it a couple of months ago, after trying yet another bakery’s ‘famous’ chocolate chip cookies and being disappointed – to no fault of the bakery… I don’t like chocolate! 🤦🏽‍♀️

Overall I’m more of a sweet than a savory person, but when something is sweet it should be sweet. I’m not down with bitter, in general, so “real” chocolate is one of my least favorite things to taste, and even if it’s milk chocolate, I need almonds or something involved because I don’t enjoy it alone. But I love a warm chocolate chip cookie! Weird, I know, but after chatting with y’all on Instagram about it last week, I’m not alone (I really love my community omg)!

Anyway, this recipe is for people like me: that like chocolate chip cookies even though they don’t really care for chocolate. There is a hearty amount of chocolate chips, but a variety of ’em, with semi-sweet being the most chocolatey of them all. The actual cookie part is sweet, but not cloyingly so. The texture is also my idea of perfection: crispy, almost crunchy edges, but buttery, chewy centers that you can reheat to turn soft and gooey.

Ingredients You’ll Need to Make María’s Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Feel free to jump to the full recipe, but here are useful notes about the ingredients you will need to make my Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe:

• All-purpose flour: I like White Lily for these. I tried a couple different kinds. If you can’t find White Lily I’d suggest King Arthur instead.
• Browned butter: Salted butter! I brown it the day before usually. Browned butter will harden again if you chill it, but we want it room temperature – like all of the other ingredients – before we start making our cookies, and at room temperature it’ll likely turn very soft or back into liquid. That’s fine. Keep an eye on my Tiktok for a video demonstrating how I brown butter tomorrow!
• Granulated sugar, light brown sugar: I originally put dark brown sugar in these, but the caramel notes were a bit too strong for my taste, and overpowered the vanilla. It also made them less chewy, more tough.
• Semisweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips: In my tweet I listed using white and milk chocolate chips with mini-m&m’s but that was doing too much. They were soooo sweet, but I didn’t want to adjust the sugars in the dough. So, I added in semi-sweet chips instead of m&ms and decreased the amount of white chocolate. The kind I used specifially was Guittard: their Super Cookie Chips, which are semi-sweet, slightly larger than regular chocolate chips and kind of oddly shaped, along with their Milk Chocolate Chips, and Choc-Au-Lait (white) baking chips.
• Large eggs: Again, it’s important all the ingredients are at room temperature. Especially these!
• Vanilla extract: Warm and cozy, what’s a chocolate chip cookie without vanilla extract to hug the chocolate and sugar??
• Baking soda, cream of tartar: These are very important for the spread and texture of the cookie. Measure them correctly. If you’d like for the cookies to spread a bit more, omit the cream of tartar. A larger portion of the cookie will become crispy edges, but other than that it’ll remain the same.
• Flaky salt: I usually use Maldon, but Fleur de sel is a great option, too. I sprinkle a tiny bit on the cookies before baking, and another small pinch after baking.
• Equipment: Here’s everything I use to make these. Check the ingredients section below for more details.

How to Make María’s Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies 

Full instructions are included in the recipe below, but here is a basic overview of what you’ll need to do, along with some important tidbits to help you make the most of my Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe:

• Mise En Place. Well, not really, but you’ll want to decide on all your equipment before you get started. First things first: are you using a hand mixer or a stand mixer? You’ll need one or the other. I opted for the stand mixer, which is easiest. You’ll need the beater attachment and the paddle one, too. If using a stand mixer grab a wooden spoon to add the flour and chocolate chips. You’ll also need large baking sheets, preferably half-sheet size, as well as silicone liners or parchment paper. You could also use nonstick foil, or just grease the sheet pan with baking spray or pan grease. You’ll also need a cookie scoop, a slim spatula for lifting the cookies, and wire cooling racks.
• Get to mixin’. About an hour before you’re ready to make the dough, pull the eggs and butter and let it rest on the counter: you want them room temperature. This is very important. If your home is cooler, it might take longer than an hour. To your large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, add the browned butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat everything on medium speed until it comes together, then increase the speed to high and continue beating for 3 more minutes or so. The butter is browned, so it won’t cream like regular butter, but the mixture will become aerated and look slightly puffy. Very slightly.
• A few more additions. Turn the speed back down to medium and add the vanilla extract, baking soda, and cream of tartar to the bowl. Next, beat the eggs in, one at a time. Make sure you see no streaks of egg before you add the second. Increase the speed to high and beat for 2-3 more minutes until well combined and the mixture has become almost completely in appearance (it’ll look a bit grainy from the brown sugar).
• Form the dough. Switch to your stand mixer‘s paddle attachment, or grab a wooden spoon if you’re using hand mixer. Add half of the flour to the bowl and mix until mostly incorporated, then mix in the other half. Once a dough has formed without any large streaks of flour mix in the chocolate chips. Stir until the chips are well combined in the dough, and no streaks of flour remain. Press the dough down into a mound (we don’t want the top to dry out) and cover the bowl tightly with a wrap or a lid. Place in the refrigerator overnight, or for 8 hours to allow the flavors time to develop and the dough to chill and set up. Don’t skip this step! I know it’s hard, but do it anyway!
• Prepare to bake. About an hour before you’re ready to bake, pull the cookie dough from the refrigerator. It’s going to be rock hard, and you’ll need to let it come up in temperature to scoop it. Preheat your oven to 350°F and place two racks in the top half, then line two large baking sheets with silicone liners or parchment paper.
• Make the cookies. Use a 2 tbsp cookie scoop to portion out cookies about 2 1/2” apart. You can use 1 tbsp cookie scoop if you like, and the baking time will be the same: just put them 1 1/2″-2″ apart. Sprinkle a pinch of flaky salt over the top of each mound, and dot the tops with leftover chocolate chips, if you like (for appearances).
• Bake ’em. Bake the cookies on the top two racks for 12 minutes, or until the edges are browned and starting to look a bit dry. Check them at around 7 minutes: if they seem to be baking faster on one side than the other, rotate the pan 180 degrees and continue baking.
• Cool them (properly). Remove the cookies when there is an obvious light golden brown color to the majority of the cookie, the edges touching the pan are starting to look crisp, and the center is still puffy and light, seeming slightly underbaked. Cool on a sheet pan for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Or eat them if you can’t wait. Keep in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Dassit! 

Instead of María’s Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

Don’t care for chocolate to an extreme? Feel free to swap out the chocolate chips with any other dry mix-ins of your choice: nuts, dried cranberries, whatever floats your boat. That, other than what I’ve listed in the ingredients section, is the only adaptation to these cookies I suggest making. Everything else I’ve developed to work hand in hand, and unless you’re a cookie baking pro already, leave it be.

As mentioned above I’m currently working on an Anti-Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe after the conversation we had on Instagram about these cookies, so stay tuned for that if these Chocolate Chip Cookies aren’t your idea of perfect so stay tuned!

In the meantime, check out these other dessert options:

Oreo Cheesecake Bites

December 18, 2020

Fried Oreos

December 7, 2020

White Chocolate Oatmeal Scotchies

March 25, 2020

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María’s Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

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• Author: María
• Total Time: 9 hours 12 minutes
• Yield: 24 cookies 1x

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If you plan to make any changes to this recipe please read the post above.

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Ingredients

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• 3 C all-purpose flour (360 grams)
• 1 C salted butter, browned
• 1 C granulated sugar
• 1 C light brown sugar, packed
• 1 1/2 C milk chocolate chips
• 1 C semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 C white chocolate chips
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp flaky sea salt, to taste

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Instructions

1. You’ll need a hand or stand mixer for this recipe. To a large mixing bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer, add the browned butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat on medium until it comes together, then increase the speed to high and continue beating for 3 minutes. The butter is browned, so it likely won’t cream, but the mixture will become aerated and look slightly puffy. 
2. Turn the beater back down to medium and work in the vanilla extract, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Next, beat the eggs in, one at a time. Make sure you see no streaks of egg before you add the second. Beat until well combined and the mixture has become smoother in appearance. 
3. Switch to your stand mixer’s paddle attachment, or grab a wooden spoon if you’re using hand mixer. Add half of the flour to the bowl and mix until mostly incorporated, then mix in the other half. Once a dough has formed without any large streaks of flour, and mix in the chocolate chips. Stir until the chips are well combined in the dough, and no streaks of flour remain. Press the dough down into a mound (we don’t want the top to dry out) and cover the bowl tightly with a wrap or a lid. Place in the refrigerator overnight, or for 8 hours to allow the flavors time to develop. Don’t skip this step!  
4. About an hour before you’re ready to bake, pull the cookie dough from the refrigerator. It’s going to be rock hard, and you’ll need to let it come up in temperature to scoop it. Preheat your oven to 350°F and place two racks in the top half, then line two large baking sheets with silicone liners or parchment paper.
5. Use a 2 tbsp cookie scoop to portion out cookies about 2 1/2” apart. Sprinkle a pinch of flaky salt over the top of each mound, and dot the tops with leftover chocolate chips, if you like (for appearances).
6. Bake the cookies on the top two racks for 12 minutes, or until the edges are browned and starting to look a bit dry. Check them at around 7 minutes: if they seem to be baking faster on one side than the other, rotate the pan 180 degrees and continue baking.
7. Remove the cookies when there is an obvious light golden brown color to the majority of the cookie, the edges touching the pan are starting to look crisp, and the center is still puffy and light, seeming slightly underbaked. Cool on a sheet pan for 3 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Or eat them. 
8. These cookies will keep in an air-tight container for about 4 days if they last that long. OK, dassit! 

Notes

• Adapted from Nestlé Toll House.
• I don’t recommend adapting this recipe unless you’re already a pretty solid baker. Read the post above the recipe for tips on substitutions and how they might affect the final texture. 

• Prep Time: 9 hours
• Cook Time: 12 minutes

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