Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate chip cookies made with softened butter and equal amounts of white and brown sugar. Scoop the dough evenly and bake in batches.
- Original yieldYield
- 24 cookies24 cookies
- PrepPrep time
- CookCook time
- TotalTotal time
Cooking time is 10 minutes per batch. Total time includes baking and cooling multiple batches.
Published Updated
Original recipe: 24 cookies
The story behind the recipe
A tray of chocolate chip cookies has a surprisingly efficient way of occupying every clear surface in the kitchen. One batch is in the oven, another is waiting, and the rack is filling with cookies still too soft to stack. These use softened butter, equal amounts of white and brown sugar, and ready-made chocolate chips: familiar ingredients with most of the attention reserved for portioning and baking.
When the chocolate came in a bar
Ruth Wakefield's 1940 Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookie recipe called for chocolate cut into pea-sized pieces, plus chopped nuts. The Library of Congress reproduces that printed recipe, including its equal amounts of white and brown sugar and its hundred-cookie yield.
That's a lot of small mounds of dough. The larger scoops here make a different batch, with ready-made chips and no nuts. The comparison puts the old recipe within reach: the biggest changes are things you can see on the tray, from the chocolate pieces to the size of the finished cookie.
Read more about this recipe
Butter sets the starting texture
Softened butter can be beaten with the sugars until creamy. Melted butter behaves differently, so a warm liquid pool isn't the same shortcut as giving a cold stick time to soften. This dough begins with creaming, and the butter needs to be ready for it.
Brown sugar brings its own deeper flavor alongside the white sugar. Vanilla seasons the dough around the chips, so there's something to enjoy even in a bite without chocolate. Once the flour and chips are incorporated, stop mixing.
The scoop is mostly about even baking. Similar mounds on a tray have a better chance of reaching the golden-brown cue together. A very large cookie among small ones makes the timer less helpful, because the small ones may finish while the big one still needs attention.
Give the tray its room
Space between the portions looks generous before baking, but the dough needs somewhere to spread. Filling every gap can leave the cookies joined at their edges. More trays or another round in the oven is preferable to squeezing the whole batch onto one sheet.
The baking interval is for each tray. Cooling overlaps with the next round, which explains why the overall job takes longer than ten minutes. Let the cookies spend their five minutes on the sheet before lifting them to the rack; that short pause is particularly welcome when the centers are still delicate.
Wait until they're fully cool before packing the extras. Warm cookies stacked in a closed container lose the dry surface you've just made, and soft chocolate can attach one cookie firmly to the next.
Make it your wayOriginal: 24 servings · Makes 24 cookies
Original recipe: 24 cookies
Ingredients
For 24 cookies. Quantities are shown as written.
Source measurement convention: US customary. Explicit unit definitions take precedence; unconfirmed measures must be checked before conversion.
Original quantities for 24 cookies.
- All-purpose flour2 1/4 cups
- Baking soda1 tsp
- Salt1 tsp
- Softened butter1 cup
- White sugar3/4 cup
- Brown sugar3/4 cup
- Vanilla extract1 tsp
- Large eggs2
- Chocolate chips2 cups
Measurement notes
- all-purpose flour, softened butter, white sugar, brown sugar, chocolate chips: US cup: 1 = 236.5882 ml (rounded).
- baking soda, salt, vanilla extract: US tsp: 1 = 4.9289 ml (rounded).
Measurement notes
Original ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flourUS cup: 1 = 236.5882 ml (rounded).
- 1 tsp baking sodaUS tsp: 1 = 4.9289 ml (rounded).
- 1 tsp saltUS tsp: 1 = 4.9289 ml (rounded).
- 1 cup softened butterUS cup: 1 = 236.5882 ml (rounded).
- 3/4 cup white sugarUS cup: 1 = 236.5882 ml (rounded).
- 3/4 cup brown sugarUS cup: 1 = 236.5882 ml (rounded).
- 1 tsp vanilla extractUS tsp: 1 = 4.9289 ml (rounded).
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups chocolate chipsUS cup: 1 = 236.5882 ml (rounded).
Equipment
Baking sheets
Electric mixer
2-tablespoon cookie scoop
Wire cooling rack
Instructions
Preheat the oven
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Whisk the dry ingredients
In a small bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt.
Cream butter and sugars
In a large bowl, beat the softened butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract until smooth and creamy.
Beat in the eggs
Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Add flour mixture
Gradually blend in the flour mixture.
Stir in chocolate chips
Stir in the chocolate chips.
Scoop the dough
Using a 2-tablespoon cookie scoop, drop rounded mounds of dough onto ungreased baking sheets, spacing them about 2 inches apart.
Bake each batch
Bake for 9 to 11 minutes per batch, or until golden brown.
Cool on the sheet and rack
Let them cool on the baking sheet for exactly 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.
Estimated calories 240 kcal
Nutrition portion: 1/24 of recipe · Original yield: 24 cookies
Source & assumptions
Ingredient-based estimate using CoFID 2021, USDA SR Legacy (2018), representative labels for Nestlé Toll House semisweet morsels. About 240 kcal per nutrition portion (1/24 of the recipe). Uses 340 g semisweet chocolate chips for the two cups and a packed brown-sugar cup measure. Includes the small amount of vanilla extract before baking. Actual ingredients and preparation affect the estimate.
Recipe notes
When adjusting quantities
Keep the scoop size and spacing the same when changing quantities. A larger batch needs more tray space or more rounds of baking, not a proportionally longer bake for each tray.
Original recipe notes
These notes describe the original recipe. Quantities mentioned here do not change when you adjust servings.
Use softened butter, not melted butter. The method starts by creaming it with both sugars.
The 9 to 11 minutes is for each batch. The overall yield and elapsed time depend on scoop size and how many cookies fit on your trays.
Storage
Let the cookies cool completely before putting them in an airtight container.
Read the scaling guide. Times, temperatures and equipment need their own consideration. Open the recipe tool to review and correct individual amounts.
Recipe details
- Cuisine
- American
- Cooking method
- Oven
- Main ingredient
- Chocolate
- Browse category
- Baking & Desserts