There is nothing better than a freshly baked cookie and the original Toll House Cookie recipe makes the easiest chocolate chip cookies with crisp edges and a chewy center!
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Why the Nestle Cookie Recipe is the ultimate American cookies recipe:
Most people I know were raised on Nestle’s Toll House Cookie recipe. And while I haven’t met any big fat chewy chocolate chip cookies that I haven’t liked, I have a particular soft spot for this recipe because put simply; I feel it’s the best.
Crispy, delicious edges with a soft and chewy center, this classic cookie recipe will blow even the best bakery style chocolate chip cookies out of the water. My family loves them so much that my mom adds them to our holiday cookie platter each year for Christmas (ps- check out some other great Christmas Cookie recipes). Here’s why this is my go-to recipe:
- Quick and easy to make
- Tons of options for variations
- Great to make ahead
- Freeze beautifully
- Excellent texture and flavor
- The perfect chocolate chip to cookie dough ratio
- Nostalgia (this one is personal, I get the same level of nostalgia as I do when I eat my Grandma Rose's Sour Cream Cookies)
Ingredient information and substitutions
- Butter- I like to soften my butter to room temperature (I shared all my tips for how to soften butter in the microwave). While this may go against typical baking rules, I prefer to use salted butter when baking because I feel that bit of extra salt vastly improves the flavor.
- Chocolate chips- The usual semi-sweet chocolate chips are just fine in this recipe, but you could always use mini chocolate chips for a slightly different texture or chocolate chunks for a richer, chocolatey bite. Both variations would be an even substitution of the same amount. I like to keep a few extra chocolate chips on the side to press into the dough balls before baking.
- Sugars- This recipe calls for a combination of granulated and brown sugar, which I think are an excellent combo. I typically use light brown sugar, but dark brown will also work if you want a slightly deeper flavor.
- Flour- Like most traditional baking recipes, this uses white flour. I have also made this with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour with great success. The only change I made for this as a gluten free chocolate chip cookie recipe is that I refrigerated the dough for an hour before baking.
- Leavening- Baking soda and 2 eggs provide the right amount of leavening for soft baked chocolate chip cookies. I encourage you to use large eggs for this.
- Flavoring- Be sure to use pure vanilla extract for the best flavor and don’t forget the salt!
How to make the quickest chocolate chip cookies
Step 1- Combine dry ingredients
Add the flour, baking soda and salt into a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside
Step 2- Cream together wet ingredients
Add butter, both sugars and vanilla to a large mixing bowl and cream together for 2 minutes until lighter in color and fluffy. Add eggs one-by-one, scraping sides in between.
Step 3- Add dry ingredients
Gradually add the flour mixture and mix until just combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl and bottom.
Step 4- Add chocolate chips
Stir in the chocolate chips until evenly distributed.
Step 5- Place dough balls on a sheet pan and bake
Place rounded tablespoons of cookie dough 2 inches apart on a lined sheet pan. Press a couple chocolate chips into the top of each dough ball (optional but definitely recommended). Bake at 375 degrees for 9-12 minutes. Keep an eye on the cookies and pull when they look almost perfectly done. As the cookies will keep baking as they cool.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! They freeze beautifully and you have 2 options:
1. Freeze the cookie dough- Scoop the rounded tablespoons of dough onto a lined sheet pan so that they are close but aren’t touching. Freeze the pan and once the dough is frozen place into an airtight container or plastic zipper bag for up to 3 months and bake directly from the freezer when you’re ready (this is great if you're looking to make a single serve chocolate chip cookie or a small batch at a time). I put the frozen cookies in while the oven is preheating- this will thaw them.
2. Freeze the baked cookies- Place into an airtight container or plastic zipper bag for up to 3 months and thaw when you’re ready to eat.
There are many variables when it comes to baking and chemistry plays a big part in this. It’s a smart idea to make a single test cookie before adding full pans into the oven. Then you can see how that dough is performing.
Here are some reasons you may have flat cookies:
1. Dough is not cold enough- while totally optional, if you have the time it doesn’t hurt to refrigerate the dough for an hour to overnight prior to baking.
2. Over-mixing- Be sure to only mix the dough until just combined to avoid this.
3. Expired baking soda- Yes, baking soda does expire, be sure to keep an eye on the date and change it out as needed.
4. Wrong oven temperature- every oven runs differently and keeping an oven thermometer in your oven will help prevent this.
If your test cookie spreads too much, you can add a tiny bit of flour to the dough and test again- start with ¼ cup and go from there.
Some of the reasons a cookie may not spread enough during baking are:
1. Too much flour- this is why you want to be as precise as possible with measuring your ingredients.
2. Dough is too cold- the opposite of the above question.
3. Wrong oven temperature- once again, an oven thermometer helps prevent this.
4. The sugars and butter weren’t creamed together long enough- don’t rush the creaming process- I will set a timer to prevent myself from rushing through it.
If the test cookie doesn’t spread enough, add a Tablespoon of water to the dough and test again.
I like to put a single slice of white bread (or whatever bread I have on hand) into whatever container I’m storing the cookies in. The bread absorbs any moisture in the air around the cookies and dries out, leaving the cookies soft and delicious. Change the bread slice out every day or two.
Tips for making Chocolate Chip Cookies:
- Respect the ratios- Baking is chemistry and ratios are everything. If you choose to make alterations, think about what items you're changing out and try to change them out with similar items.
- Keep in mind the size of your solid add-in's- It's fun to add different things like candy, nuts, dried fruit. The possibilities are endless! Make sure that you keep in mind the size of the add-in item with relation to the size of your cookies and change them as needed.
- Use a cookie scoop- this is one of my favorite baking tricks- the cookie scoop makes distributing the dough easier and provides uniform dough balls. For the same size cookies
- Make the tops of the cookies prettier- I like to press 2-3 chocolate chips into each cookie dough ball before baking- this makes for a much prettier presentation when the cookies are done and who doesn’t love more chocolate?
- Don’t put the dough balls too closely together on the pan- leave at least 2 inches between each dough ball so that they don’t spread into each other during baking.
- Hack for perfectly round cookies- to make your cookies perfectly round, take an appropriately sized drinking glass and immediately after you pull the pan out of the oven, place the opening of the glass around each cookie and carefully move the glass around the cookie on the pan to gently make the cookie more circular. This only works immediately when the cookies come out of the oven as then will be at their most soft and malleable texture.
- Have fun, be creative and don't stress if they don't turn out perfect- baking and cooking should be fun- relax and take any roadblocks that come up as learning experiences.
- Leftovers and Storage- These last up to a week in an airtight container at room temperature. Place a slice of bread in there and change it every couple days to keep the cookies moist.
Some other classic cookies to try
Love this recipe? Please leave a 5 star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below ⬇️ and/or a review in the comment section further down. Check out my Amazon Store for all my favorite tools, including those used in this recipe. And follow @thelifejolie on Instagram and TikTok!
Easiest Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- stand mixer
- Spatula
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- sheet pan
- cookie scoop
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup butter softened (2 sticks)
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- 1 cup chopped nuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line baking pans with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
- Whisk flour, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract for two minutes until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing in between each egg. Scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically.
- Gradually add the dry ingredients until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically.
- Stir in the chocolate chips (and nuts if you're adding them).
- Arrange rounded Tablespoons of dough two inches apart on the lined pans.
- Bake 9-11 minutes or until golden.
- After couple minutes out of the oven, transfer to cooling racks.
Video
Notes
- Respect the ratios- Baking is chemistry and ratios are everything. If you choose to make alterations, think about what items you're changing out and try to change them out with similar items.
- Keep in mind the size of your solid add-in's- It's fun to add different things like candy, nuts, dried fruit. The possibilities are endless! Make sure that you keep in mind the size of the add-in item with relation to the size of your cookies and change them as needed.
- Use a cookie scoop- this is one of my favorite baking tricks- the cookie scoop makes distributing the dough easier and provides uniform dough balls. For the same size cookies
- Make the tops of the cookies prettier- I like to press 2-3 chocolate chips into each cookie dough ball before baking- this makes for a much prettier presentation when the cookies are done and who doesn’t love more chocolate?
- Don’t put the dough balls too closely together on the pan- leave at least 2 inches between each dough ball so that they don’t spread into each other during baking.
- Hack for perfectly round cookies- to make your cookies perfectly round, take an appropriately sized drinking glass and immediately after you pull the pan out of the oven, place the opening of the glass around each cookie and carefully move the glass around the cookie on the pan to gently make the cookie more circular. This only works immediately when the cookies come out of the oven as then will be at their most soft and malleable texture.
- Have fun, be creative and don't stress if they don't turn out perfect- baking and cooking should be fun- relax and take any roadblocks that come up as learning experiences.
- Leftovers and Storage- These last up to a week in an airtight container at room temperature. Place a slice of bread in there and change it every couple days to keep the cookies moist.
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