My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies, Ever

So, here’s the thing about chocolate chip cookies: most recipes are fine. Perfectly serviceable. They make cookies. They’re just as good as the one that comes on the back of the package of chocolate chips.

But if you want the cookie that stops conversation, the one that makes people forget they were supposed to just have one, the one that makes other moms stop and ask you for the recipe, this is it.

These cookies are worth every single one of the 24 hours their dough will spend in your fridge (Yes, 24 hours. No, you can’t skip it. Trust me on this one).

The magic is in the texture: you get three distinct experiences in one cookie. Deep, undeniably excellent crunchy edges. Chewy and/or gooey everywhere else. And pools of bittersweet chocolate that you’ll be thinking about the next morning.

Credit where it’s due

This recipe is adapted from The Consummate Chocolate Chip Cookie, Revisited by Deb Perelman at Smitten Kitchen, which was itself adapted from David Leite via The New York Times. Deb’s version simplified the flour mix (switching from a bread flour/cake flour combination to all-purpose) and corrected some weight measurements, and that’s the version that became my go-to. The 24-hour rest and the large size are the keys to what makes these cookies truly exceptional.

Snapshot

• Implements: hand or stand mixer; mixing bowl; rubber spatula; plastic wrap; large baking sheets; parchment paper or nonstick baking mats; cooling rack
• Oven setting: 350°F (175°C) for 12–17 minutes per batch
• Batch size: 18 large (5-inch) cookies
• Notes: Requires 24-hour minimum rest in fridge before baking

Ingredients

• 2½ sticks (1¼ Cups / 280 g) butter, at room temperature
• 1¼ Cups (240 g) light brown sugar
• 1 Cup plus 2 Tbsp (225 g) granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tsp vanilla extract
• 1¼ Tsp baking soda
• 1½ Tsp baking powder
• ¾ Tsp coarse or kosher salt
• 3½ Cups plus 2 Tsp (445 g) all-purpose flour
• 1¼ lb (565 g) chocolate chips, at least 60% cacao. I do a mix of semisweet and 70% dark from Guittard.

Method

1. Cream the butter and sugars

   With a hand or stand mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until light, fluffy, and then some, about 3 to 4 minutes. This step matters: you want the mixture to be noticeably paler and airy. Don’t rush this.

2. Add eggs and vanilla

   Add the eggs one at a time, mixing to combine after each addition. Add vanilla and mix briefly. Scrape down the bowl to make sure everything is incorporated.

3. Add dry ingredients

   Sprinkle baking soda, baking powder, and salt over the dough and mix until fully combined. Add flour all at once and mix in short bursts until it almost completely disappears, but no longer. You don’t want to overmix it. Stop as soon as the flour is incorporated.

4. Add chocolate

   Add chocolate chips and mix them in gently until evenly distributed.

5. Chill

   Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 24 hours and up to 72 hours. I’ve left it in there up to 5 days and everything was fine. The rest time allows the flour to hydrate and the flavors to deepen. Don’t skip this step.

6. Form and bake

   Heat oven to 350°F (175°C) and line a couple large baking sheets with parchment paper or nonstick baking mats.

   Form dough into 3½-ounce (100 g) balls, which will seem completely absurd (they’re larger than golf balls, closer to skeeballs) but don’t fight it. This is the size that gives you those perfect textures.

   Arrange balls very far apart on sheets (these cookies will spread to up to 5 inches wide once baked).

7. Bake

   Bake cookies for 12 to 17 minutes, until golden all over. This is a large range because they vary in how much they spread depending on how cold your dough is and how your oven runs. Checking in early on your first batch is safest.

8. Cool

   Cool cookies on trays for 10 minutes, then transfer them to racks. They’ll continue to set as they cool.

Notes, swaps, and guardrails

Why the 24-hour rest matters

The rest time isn’t optional. It allows the flour to fully hydrate, which improves the texture. It also gives the sugars and salt time to dissolve and meld, creating that deeper, more complex flavor that makes these cookies taste like more than just “sweet dough plus chocolate.”

If you absolutely cannot wait 24 hours, at minimum give it 12 hours. But really, just wait the full day. Make the dough tonight, bake them tomorrow. Your future self will thank you.

Chocolate choices

The original recipe calls for bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60% cacao. They create beautiful pools of chocolate. If you want that vibe, definitely use disks, or you can chop high-quality chocolate bars into chunks about the same size.

I like to mix different types of chocolate (bittersweet, semisweet, maybe a tiny bit of milk chocolate). If you do this, make sure at least 60% of your chocolate is bittersweet or darker, or the cookies will skew too sweet.

Flour note

The recipe calls for 3½ Cups plus 2 Tsp of flour. Yes, really. That extra 2 Tsp is intentional. If you’re measuring by weight (445 g), you’re covered. If you’re measuring by volume, don’t skip those 2 Tsp.

Finish with sea salt

The original recipe calls for sea salt on top. This can cut through the sweetness and makes the chocolate flavor pop. Use flaky sea salt (like Maldon) if you have it. A few flecks per cookie is enough. I personally don’t like this vibe, so I skip it.

Storage

These cookies are best the day they’re baked, but they’ll keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2–3 days. The texture will change slightly (less crisp edges, more uniformly chewy), but they’re still very good.

You can also freeze the unbaked dough balls and bake from frozen. Add 1–2 minutes to the baking time.