The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the BEST chocolate chip cookies that are soft, gooey, and freezer-friendly! This chocolate chip cookie recipe combines the 5-star reviewed Joy Food Sunshine's chocolate chip cookie recipe (with a few tweaks) and delicious Ghirardelli chocolate chips. I have some slight modifications and tips for this perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe including freezer instructions (for future baking).

This cookie recipe is also the base for my chipwich recipe which is basically a chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich.

If you are a fan of chocolate chip cookie dough, try these 10-minute chocolate chip cookie dough date nut balls.

What I Love About This Recipe

I've made so many chocolate chip cookie recipes over the years, but this is the one that I keep coming back to. I like my cookies soft, delicious, not too sweet, made in big batches (so I can freeze the dough), and relatively simple for my little helper (my daughter Amina).

This Ghirardelli chocolate chip cookie recipe is exactly all of those things and more. The benefit of having freezer cookie dough on hand is that you can make 2 or 3 cookies at a time whenever you feel like it. Cookies taste the best freshly baked, so this is my hack for on-demand freshly baked cookies all of the time!

Ingredient Notes

• All-purpose flour: Any type of unbleaches all-purpose baking flour will work.
• Kerrygold salted butter: This is my favorite butter for all of my recipes, and it doesn't disappoint for these Ghirardelli chocolate chip cookies either. I recommend salted butter however unsalted butter is an appropriate substitute.
• Flaked salt: I really like Maldon's flaked sea salt however the flakes are slightly big. I crush the salt in between my fingers when adding the flaked salt to the dry ingredients.
• Dark brown sugar: Other chocolate chip cookie recipes use light brown sugar, however, I prefer the flavor of dark brown sugar.
• Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips: I recommend using regular size Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips. I successfully found Ghirardelli in the UAE, Egypt, and the US, so hopefully they are available where you are as well. Another option is chopping up a Ghirardelli dark chocolate bar. I don't recommend using milk chocolate or white chocolate for this recipe. If you can't find any Ghirardelli chocolate, go for Nestles or a dark Swiss chocolate. A good quality semi-sweet chocolate is imperative to delicious chocolate chip cookies.

See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for quantities.

How To Make The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Use a kitchen scale to weigh the flour. This is the most important step that prevents over-filling a measuring cup with too much flour. As you can see below, the left image is flour measured out by weight (3 cups worth or 360 grams). The right image is the weight of the flour if I used a measuring cup (weighing 402 grams). Make sure you measure out 360 grams of all-purpose flour for this recipe and nothing more!

In a bowl, add the all-purpose flour, flaked sea salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix the dry ingredients together. In a second bowl, add the white sugar, dark brown sugar, and softened salted butter together.

Pro Tip: If the butter is straight out of the fridge, just microwave it for 15 to 20 seconds to soften.

Cream together the butter and sugar really well using a standing mixer or handheld mixer. Add the eggs and vanilla extract. Combine the wet ingredients together without overmixing. Add the dry ingredients and mix together with a mixer. Measure out the Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips and mix together with a wooden spoon.

If freezing some of the cookie dough: Use a small cookie scoop to spoon out individual cookie dough pucks onto a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Put the cookie dough in the fridge to harden a bit (about 1 hour) before placing it in a freezer bag.

For baking the cookies: Place the cookie dough balls on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Heat the oven to 375℉ (190℃). Bake for 9 to 10 minutes until the cookies just start to change colors on the edge.

Pro Tip: The cookies will look a little undercooked, however, they will continue to firm up on the hot baking sheet once removed from the oven. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes.

Tips and Tricks

• Weigh the flour using a kitchen scale. I don't sift my flour, so my flour gets packed into the measuring cup. Cookies are a measurement of science, and the best way to measure the flour is by using a kitchen scale.
• Don't over-bake. Take the cookies out right when you start seeing parts of the cookie turn golden brown.
• Keep the cookies on the baking sheet. Once the baked chocolate chip cookies are pulled out of the oven, allow them to cool on the baking sheet. They will firm up a little bit.
• You don't need to chill the dough. A lot of bakers will stress the importance of chilling the cookie dough, however, it's not necessary for this recipe.
• Save half the dough for future baking. This is a large batch of chocolate chip cookie dough, so it's perfect for freezing.
• Use high-quality ingredients. The benefit of making homemade chocolate chip cookies is being able to use high-quality ingredients. I am a big fan of Kerrygold butter, organic free-range eggs, and high-quality semi-sweet chocolate.

Variations and Substitutions

You can use Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips, dark chocolate Swiss chocolate, or a Ghirardelli dark chocolate bar. High-quality chocolate is key here. If using a dark chocolate bar, chop the bar into similar-sized pieces as chocolate chips. I recommend using the regular-sized chocolate chips and not the mini chips nor the large chips.

Equipment

Prepare the cookie dough using two large bowls, a wooden spatula, and a hand mixer (or standing mixer). Now that I've invested in a small cookie scoop, I can't imagine life without one. I love how perfectly portioned these cookies are.

I recommend using a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet or silpat for easy cleanup. Use a freezer-friendly gallon-size bag to freeze any extra cookie dough.

How To Freeze Cookie Dough

Measure out the cookie dough pucks onto a plate and put them in the fridge to harden up a bit (for about an hour). Place the cookie dough pucks in a freezer-friendly storage bag for up to 6 months.

How To Bake Cookies From Frozen Cookie Dough

When you are ready to bake the frozen cookie dough, just remove the number of cookies you'd like to bake. Let the cookie dough pucks thaw for about 30 minutes at room temperature prior to baking.

Bake at 375℉ (190℃) for about 9 to 10 minutes. This cookie dough freezer method is perfect for those times you just want to bake 2 or 3 cookies or need a dessert recipe quickly.

Storage

Store the baked chocolate chip cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days. Prepare the cookie dough ahead of time and store it in the fridge for up to 2 days.

FAQs

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