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Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies

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By Betty Crocker Kitchens
Updated Nov 12, 2024
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Chocolate chip cookies are one of those classic treats you reach for around the holidays but also year-round—and this recipe is the best of the best. Slightly crispy on the outside and perfectly chewy in the middle, these homemade chocolate chip cookies are sure to impress cookie connoisseurs everywhere. Ready to bake up a batch or two of deliciousness?

Betty has fine-tuned this chocolate chip cookies recipe to perfection over more than 50 years. That’s how you know it’s really, really good. The best part? It only takes 15 minutes to prep! This is one recipe you’ll be reaching for just about every time you need an easy dessert that’s perfect for sharing. It’s no wonder these cookies are top-rated by hundreds of satisfied home bakers. Serve your chocolate chip cookies alongside other festive Christmas cookies or bake a batch whenever you’re craving a sweet treat.

Origin of the Chocolate Chip Cookie

Wondering who invented chocolate chip cookies? This tasty treat was actually an accidental invention! (How lucky are we?) The first chocolate chip cookie was baked by Ruth Wakefield in the late 1930s. As the story goes, Wakefield, who ran the popular Toll House Inn, was experimenting with different cookie recipes and decided to add broken pieces of semi-sweet chocolate into her cookie dough. That makes sense to us, since everything is better with chocolate! She expected the chocolate to melt fully and create a chocolate cookie, but the bits of chocolate kept their shape—and thus, chocolate chip cookies were born!

Wakefield originally called her creation the Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie and published it in a cookbook. The rest is tasty history, with the cookie gaining popularity worldwide and becoming a beloved treat. We’re endlessly thankful for this iconic sweet and all the delicious variations that have been developed since!

How to Make Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies

This easy chocolate chip cookie recipe comes together in a flash with the help of some pantry staples like flour and baking soda. Let’s take a quick look at how to make this classic treat. Once you see how easy it is, we think you’ll agree that this is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe around! The full recipe and ingredients list can be found below.

Make Your Dough

First, you’ll combine a few dry ingredients—flour, baking soda and salt—in one bowl. In another bowl, cream the granulated and brown sugars into softened butter for a fluffy mixture. Beat in an egg and vanilla, then stir in your flour mixture until just blended to form a stiff dough. In baking, you’ll typically always mix dry ingredients into wet ones for even distribution and mixing. Stir in the chocolate chips (an absolute necessity) and nuts (optional), and you’re almost ready to bake some delicious homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Shape Cookies

Drop rounded tablespoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. You can do this with a spoon, but a scoop makes things extra easy!

Bake and Enjoy

Place your cookie sheet in the oven and bake until cookies are a beautiful light golden brown at the edges. Let them cool on a wire cooling rack. Once fully cooled, serve and enjoy.

How to Store Chocolate Chip Cookies so They Last Longer

Nobody likes a stale cookie. So how long are chocolate chip cookies good for, and how do you keep them soft and fresh? If you end up with leftovers after making this recipe, the baked and cooled cookies can easily be stored in a sealed container or food-storage bag at room temperature or in the freezer to be enjoyed later. Homemade chocolate chip cookies will last for a few days when stored properly on the counter and will last even longer when kept in the freezer. When frozen, they can last up to 2 months! Find freezing instructions below.

When you run out of leftovers, take a peek at our full collection of chocolate chip cookie recipes to discover a new favorite! Whether you’re craving fudgy brownie cookies or that perfect chocolate-peanut butter combo, we’ve got just the thing.

Try Popular Variations of This Recipe

Can’t get enough of these homemade chocolate chip cookies? We don’t blame you! There are plenty more delicious treats where this recipe came from. Keep the cookie sheets out and get baking with some of these ultra tasty variations. And if you’re feeling extra adventurous, we’ve got even more cookie recipes for you to browse!

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies: Double the decadence with a batch of double chocolate chip cookies! These from-scratch beauties come together in just 30 minutes for a quick sweet treat.

Chocolate Chip-Oatmeal Shortbread Cookies: Enjoy that classic light, buttery shortbread taste with the added deliciousness and texture of chocolate chips and oats.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies: Need a gluten-free dessert option? These gluten-free chocolate chip cookies made with the help of Bisquick™ will hit the spot!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies: Our vegan chocolate chip cookies recipe makes a sweet, chewy cookie that’s just as tasty as the original!

More About This Recipe

  • There are times when a store-bought or bakery cookie is fine, but homemade chocolate chip cookies are the right choice for lazy summer afternoons, unexpected snow days or that holiday party that just wouldn’t be the same without these beauties on the cookie tray. If there’s anything we’re willing to experiment with, it’s finding just the right kind of chocolate chip cookie that suits our tastes. After baking, testing and tasting over and over again, we landed on this recipe for the best chocolate chip cookies ever. Even better, this recipe is reliable enough that you can use it as a base for a little experimentation—try different kinds of chips and nuts for easy flavor twists. You’ll find more creative ideas in this chocolate chip cookie recipe collection.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why Are My Chocolate Chip Cookies Flat?

Sometimes things don’t quite go according to the recipe in the kitchen—that’s how we learn and get even better at baking! If you’re wondering why your chocolate chip cookies came out flat, here are a few potential reasons.

Too Little Flour: Measuring accurately is a key part of baking! Not using enough flour in your cookie dough can result in flat cookies that lack that picture-perfect look. For an easy way to measure, spoon flour into a dry measuring cup and level off the top using a flat-edged utensil, such as a knife or metal spatula.

Warm Butter: It might be tempting to take a shortcut and quickly melt the butter needed for this recipe, but that can lead to flat cookies! If your butter is too warm, it won’t cream properly when mixed with the sugar. Ensure that your butter is softened before baking, not melted or overly warm.

Hot Cookie Sheet: Make sure your cookie sheet isn’t warm or hot when you drop your dough balls onto it! This is particularly important if you’re baking cookies in batches and are reusing the same tray.

How Long Do You Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies For?

Not sure how long to bake chocolate chip cookies? Let’s talk baking times and temps. Homemade chocolate chip cookies made with our recipe should be baked at 375°F for 8 to 10 minutes. This creates a cookie that’s perfectly crispy on the outside and soft and chewy on the inside—what we’d call the perfect combination. To tell whether your chocolate chip cookies are done, look for a light brown color around the edges. The centers of the cookies should still look soft when you take your cookie sheet out of the oven, but they’ll firm up a bit as they cool.

Can You Freeze Chocolate Chip Cookies?

It’s always a good idea to have a homemade treat on hand to satisfy a sweet tooth. That makes freezing your leftover cookies a great option!

How to Freeze Chocolate Chip Cookies: To freeze your chocolate chip cookies, be sure they’re cooled completely. Then stack them in between layers of wax paper, place in a covered freezer container or plastic freezer bag and store in the freezer. They’ll last for up to 2 months. To thaw your cookies, keep them covered at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours.

What about freezing the dough itself? Can you freeze chocolate chip cookie dough to bake later? The answer is yes! Simply follow this recipe to make the perfect dough, then freeze it for later baking.

How to Freeze Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough: Freeze individual unbaked dough balls on cookie sheets. Once the dough balls are frozen, place them in plastic freezer bags and freeze for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to bake your cookies, take the frozen cookie dough balls from the freezer and place them on a cookie sheet. Let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes as you heat the oven. Just make sure to keep an eye on your cookies as they bake—the bake time might need to be adjusted slightly to ensure they come out crispy on the outside and deliciously soft on the inside.

Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies

  • Prep Time 15 min
  • Total 1 hr 30 min
  • Servings 48
  • Ingredients 10
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Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cups Gold Medal™ All Purpose Flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup coarsely chopped nuts, if desired
Make With
Gold Medal Flour

Instructions

  • Step 
    1
    Heat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, mix flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
  • Step 
    2
    In large bowl, beat softened butter and sugars with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon about 1 minute or until fluffy, scraping side of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth.
  • Step 
    3
    Stir in flour mixture just until blended (dough will be stiff). Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.
  • Step 
    4
    Onto ungreased or parchment-lined cookie sheets, drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart.
  • Step 
    5
    Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft). Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes. Store covered in airtight container.

Nutrition

120 Calories
6g Total Fat
1g Protein
16g Total Carbohydrate
10g Sugars

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 Cookie
Calories
120
Calories from Fat
60
Total Fat
6g
9%
Saturated Fat
3 1/2g
19%
Trans Fat
0g
Cholesterol
15mg
5%
Sodium
85mg
4%
Potassium
40mg
1%
Total Carbohydrate
16g
5%
Dietary Fiber
0g
0%
Sugars
10g
Protein
1g
% Daily Value*:
Vitamin A
2%
2%
Vitamin C
0%
0%
Calcium
0%
0%
Iron
2%
2%
Exchanges:
1/2 Starch; 0 Fruit; 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Skim Milk; 0 Low-Fat Milk; 0 Milk; 0 Vegetable; 0 Very Lean Meat; 0 Lean Meat; 0 High-Fat Meat; 1 Fat;
Carbohydrate Choice
1
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.

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