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!
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.
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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.