10 Secrets for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Spend a little more on high-quality ingredients

Your chocolate chip cookies will be as good as your ingredients! That’s why you should get the best possible ingredients within your budget. We’re not saying you should break the bank, but if you can manage to spend a little more on butter instead of margarine, pure vanilla extract, and high-quality chocolate chips, you will 100% taste the difference.

Combine milk and dark chocolate chips

While the traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe often calls for semisweet chips or a specific percentage of dark chocolate, a simple way to elevate your cookies is to combine milk and dark chocolate chips. It’s a twist that adds depth to the flavor and you can find the proportions that work best for you. Whether that’s 30% milk chocolate and 70% dark chocolate, 50% milk chocolate and 50% dark chocolate, or any other ratio you’d like to try.

Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature

While preparations like pie dough require cold butter for a flakier result, your chocolate chip cookies will turn out better if your ingredients are at room temperature. An hour before you get cooking, put the butter and eggs on the counter and just let them sit there. Once you start making your cookies, the butter and eggs will be much easier to mix together.

Be precise with the ingredient quantities

This may seem too obvious to be a secret, but if we’re honest with ourselves, we don’t always take the time to be precise when we’re measuring things. A lot of people also eyeball their ingredients, which leaves some room for error. If you want your recipe to turn out well, you need to make sure you get all the ingredient measurements correct to get the results you want. Take your time when preparing the ingredients, there’s no rush. The more accurate your measurements are, the better your cookies will be.

Consider browning your butter

Another thing you can do to bring your chocolate chip cookies to the next level is to brown your butter. Browned butter will add a layer of depth to the flavor of the cookies, making them a bit more nutty and delicious. Browned butter is caramelized butter, so it’s a process that takes a bit of time, but it’s worth the extra effort.

Mix everything well but don’t overdo it

One of the most essential steps to making sure your chocolate chip cookies turn out perfectly is creaming the butter and sugar together. Make sure you mix and mix until you have a light and fluffy texture. Why? Because you want the dough to have a lot of air. It will make the cookie nice and tender so it melts in your mouth. However, you don’t want to overdo the mixing when you start adding the dry ingredients. This can make your cookies as tough as rocks, so make sure to stop mixing as soon as the flower disappears into the dough.

Let the dough chill in the fridge

After mixing your dough, let it chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes before you start scooping the cookies into your baking tray. Chilling the dough allows the flavors to get to know each other more intimately. Moreover, it prevents the cookies from spreading too thin in the oven while they’re cooking. If you want your cookies to taste even better, you can scoop them into your tray and let the dough rest like that in the fridge overnight. The flavor will be even better that way!

Top them with flaky salt

When you’re ready to get your cookies into the oven, top them with some flaky sea salt before they go into the oven. If you’ve never tried salt with your cookies, this will seem strange, but trust that it will enhance the flavor. It will make the cookies pop a little more and you will notice the difference. Once you use flaky salt, you’ll never go back!

Let your oven get nice and hot

Make sure to take the time to preheat your oven and bake the cookies at the correct temperature. Too hot, and the cookies will burn; too low, and they won't spread properly. Aim for a temperature around 350°F (175°C) or whatever your recipe tells you. Just make sure the temperature is just right! Once again, precision will help you ensure your cookies are as great as they can be.

Take the cookies out of the oven a bit before they’re done

One of the most important things you need to do is keep an eye on your cookies as they bake. When you see that the edges are golden brown and the center is still soft, that’s the time to take them out. Yes, you will be taking them out before they’re done, but they will continue to cook a bit while they’re on the tray. This is the best way to ensure that you have crispy edges and a nice, gooey center. Of course, if you prefer your cookies fully crispy, you can skip this little tip. Just make sure you don’t let them burn!

Once the cookies are done, all you have to do is get your favorite drink and enjoy.