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Token Food Blog Post: Chocolate Chip Cookies

The chocolate chip cookie is truly an American classic and a staple in just about any food or baking blog. For most recipes I usually look for similar recipes on other blogs, but for this recipe, what’s the point?

One of my favorite geology professors, Gerry Weber, liked to say, “All food is good, some is better”. He was also once overheard saying, “Don’t ever give cookies to stoners. They don’t appreciate them, they just eat ’em.” Are all cookies good?

To the contrary: when you think of all the home made chocolate chip cookies you have had in your life, you realize that some people can really screw them up. In the last 30 years of making cookies I have probably made this recipe more than any other cookie, but I actually believe that the chocolate chip cookie is one of the more challenging cookies I have on my site.

For years I made this with a Sunbeam Mixmaster with no issues. Then, 12 years ago, my wife bought me my dream machine: a limited edition 5 quart KitchenAid mixer. I eagerly cranked out a batch of chocolate chip cookies, toll house recipe, and they turned out horrible. Very thin, crispy things full of holes that I could barely coax off the cookie sheets. I made them again and the same thing happened. Was it the mixer, me, or the new house I had just moved into with a different oven?

Few cookies are as sensitive to the quality of ingredients, mixing method, cookie sheet, oven and chef. Discouraged with a couple batches in the trash, I tried some of my other cookie recipes and fortunately they turned out great. After a little experimenting I found that if I increased the amount of flour that the cookies were better. The moral of the story: just because it is baking doesn’t mean you can’t adjust things a little to suit your needs, tastes or environments. Seems obvious now, but remember that there were no food blogs in 1994.

For this chocolate chip cookie recipe there isn’t much I have done to the original toll house recipe except: double the vanilla, increase the flour by 1/4 cup, substitute dark brown sugar for light brown, and use dark chocolate chips. I’m currently favoring Ghirardelli 60% bittersweet chocolate chips because they taste great and are a little wider than regular chips.

Ingredients for making Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Add 2 eggs to 1 cup of salted butter and mix.

After adding 3/4 cups of granulated and 3/4 cups of dark brown sugars, add 2 teaspoons of vanilla.

Mix together 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon baking soda and 2 1/2 cups of unbleached flour together.

Slowly add the dry ingredients a little at a time while mixing on low.

Mix in dark chocolate chips by hand to prevent breaking them in mixer.

Roll dough into 1 1/4 inch balls.

Space rolled dough evenly on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake cookies for 11-13 minutes in 375° F oven.

The recipe pictured above, with detailed instructions and complete photo gallery can be found on the Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe page.

  • Just a beautiful classic chocolate chip cookie. I knew you would make an awesome one.

  • It’s my first time visiting your site and I like it 🙂 I’ll be back for more.

  • Hi Cheryl! Thanks so much for the kind words!

    Maryann: glad you like the site. Thanks so much for stopping by. Those semilina chocoalte chip cookies you make sound interesting. 18 minutes of baking–how big are those things?!

  • I made these cookies this last Sunday and they worked! I have always been traumatized by failed recipes, but your instructions are great. I don’t have the chocolate chips here but I use a bar and cut it in little pieces. My only problem now is to find the correct oven temp so my cookies are as beautiful as yours.
    I also have yet to make your ice cream recipes… I will get there eventually.

  • Hi Denise–no chocolate chips where you are!? I’m glad you had some success with the recipe. You’ll love making ice cream, it is super easy and everyone loves it.

  • Oh my God, Brian, where have you been all my life? I LOVE your website and how your personality shines through. In some regards, you are me in a male body. Don’t worry, I’m not a crazed chocolate stalker, just love everything I am finding here. It looks like I have a lot of archived reading to catch up on. Keep it up!

  • Hi Sherrill, I’m speechless! Don’t want to provoke or discourage 😉 but I’m thrilled you like the site!