Thick, soft, bakery-style chocolate chip cookies with lightly golden edges, chewy centres, and melty semi-sweet chocolate in every bite. The dough is simple pantry baking at its best, and a short chill in the fridge is the secret to cookies that bake up thick and tender.
Ingredients
1 cup (16 Tbsp) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature; 1/2 cup granulated sugar; 1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed; 2 large eggs, at room temperature; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 3 cups all-purpose flour, measured correctly; 1 tsp baking soda, sifted; 1 tsp salt; 12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips (2 1/4 cups), divided, with 1/4 cup reserved for the tops; makes 24 cookies.
Method
Heat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner. In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter with the brown sugar and granulated sugar on medium-high for 1–2 minutes until creamy and combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, then beat in the vanilla. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda, then add the dry mixture to the butter mixture in thirds, mixing just until incorporated and taking care not to overmix. Reserve 1/4 cup of the chocolate chips and fold the rest into the dough with a spatula. Scoop the dough into even balls of about 3 Tbsp (55 g) each, roll them lightly with your hands, and place them on the lined sheet. Refrigerate the dough balls for 30–60 minutes, or overnight, for thicker, chewier cookies with a deeper flavour — they can be baked straight away, but the chill really helps. Bake one sheet at a time for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are barely golden and the tops still look slightly underbaked, keeping the remaining dough refrigerated until its turn. As soon as the cookies come out, press the reserved chocolate chips into the tops, leave them to cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move them to a wire rack.
Tips
Do not over-soften the butter — it should indent under a fingertip but still hold its shape, or the cookies will spread too much; spoon and level the flour or use a scale, because too much flour makes dry cookies that will not spread properly; mix the flour in only until incorporated to keep the crumb tender; take the cookies out while the centres still look slightly underdone and they will finish setting on the hot sheet; dough keeps covered in the fridge for up to 3 days and dough balls freeze well for baking from frozen with a few extra minutes; store baked cookies airtight for up to 5 days with a slice of sandwich bread to keep them soft, and warm them for 8–10 seconds in the microwave before eating.
