My Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

Lightly salted cookie dough surrounds puddles of dark chocolate, before being finished up with a heavy dose of flaky sea salt. These cookies utilise three different types of sugar - white, dark brown or muscovado, and turbinado sugar for a little crunch. They are easy to make and I show you how to get the best chocolate puddles in the recipe!

I know that there are a lot of Chocolate Chip Cookie recipes out there on the internet. Trust me, I spent the weekend reading about them, reading about the science, and making what felt like 12 million cookies. I know there's already so many. But I just wanted to add my own in there too. Because I think you're gonna like it.

I've been making this cookie recipe for the last few years - friends and family have adopted it as their own, and it's always served us well. At the time of making, I hadn't really made too many cookies, we found one we loved, and stuck with it. However over the years, particularly recently as the cookie 'greats' have put their version of Chocolate Chip Cookies on the internet - Becky, Alison, Thalia, Tara, and Sarah to name a few, I came to realise that my go-to recipe, although great, wasn't my fave. I love crispy edges and a slightly thicker centre, and instead of blobs of chocolate, I prefer puddles. I want the dough to be buttery but not greasy. And I love the crunch of the raw sugar (a trick borrowed from Ashley's recipe).

So, I spent the weekend reading up on Stella's article on the science of sugar, and doing some serious recipe testing. I had an idea in my mind, and so I started with the recipe I had been using, and just kept tweaking it until I was happy with it. I increased the chocolate, decreased and altered the leavening agent, switched up the sugar ratios, changed up the flour amounts, changed the sort of chocolate I used, and changed the butter. Essentially I just came up with something that was perfect to me. Six batches later I had it. It's my idea of perfect. So here I have, to add to all the other recipes on the internet : My idea of a perfect chocolate chip cookie. I hope that you love it as much as I do.

Note: Recipe originally posted May 2018, updated May 2020 with photos and method tips!

A few wee tips:

• I found that, like most baking recipes, it is hard to make these consistently with volume measurements. I tested the recipe in grams, and so I've posted here my exact recipe. I don't think that it's right to convert to volume when I tested in grams - so if you don't have a scale already, they are the best kitchen investment. I am currently using an escali and it is amazing.

• If you want big puddles on the top of your cookies, you flatten a ball of dough, press some extra chocolate onto the top side, then continue as usual and roll it into a ball, which then gives you even chocolate distribution as the cookie bakes. This is optional - I like to chop up a little extra chocolate and keep it in a bowl next to me to do this step while I am assembling. I am a sucker for a good chocolate puddle.

• Either dark brown sugar (or light brown works great too) or muscovado sugar is amazing here. Muscovado gives a bit more depth of flavour, but if you can’t find it then no worries at all, just work with what you have!

• If Raw sugar is hard to get hold of, use extra brown sugar.

• You don’t have to bake these all at once. I often make the dough, scoop it out, and then keep it in the fridge until I am ready to bake, up to 24 hours. If we are going somewhere and I’ve offered to take dessert, I will often make the dough, scoop it out and chill it, then take the chilled dough with me and bake it there so that we have warm, fresh cookies. I often pick up a tub of ice cream on the way too - it’s the best dessert ever, and you can leave your host with some freezer balls of dough too to bake off whenever they like!

• A cookie scoop is a great investment. I have a bunch of sizes, but the 2 Tbsp one is the one I reach for the most!

• Use the best chocolate that you can in these. There's a lot in there and so it makes sense to use high quality. I used a block of Valrhona, but any good quality (70% or more cacao) dark chocolate will do. When I chop it I like to do a range of pieces - some larger, some medium, and some chopped really finely. The shards disperse through the cookie and are just the best. I find that a bar of chocolate chopped works best, but chocolate chunks or wafers are amazing too - just run your knife through some of them first so you don’t miss out on the shards!

• Get yourself some flaky finishing salt. It's just the best thing ever. I like Maldon, but there's a bunch out there.

• If you don't want to bake all of these all at once, the dough can be scooped and rolled and then frozen on a sheet pan, then transferred and stored in a ziploc bag, so that you always have cookies on hand. Adjust the baking time slightly to account for the frozen dough.

• I prefer to bake one tray at a time, but if you think your oven can manage, you can do two at once - rotate the trays halfway through the process. You may need to adjust cooking time slightly.

• Note: Photos updated in May 2020 to reflect new and improved cookie technique - the cookie scoot!

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My Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie

★★★★★ 5 from 1 reviews

• Author: Erin
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes plus an hour chilling time
• Yield: 28 cookies 1x

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Description

Lightly salted cookie dough surrounds puddles of dark chocolate, before being finished up with a heavy dose of flaky sea salt. These cookies utilise three different types of sugar - white, dark brown or muscovado, and turbinado sugar for a little crunch. They are easy to make and I show you how to get the best chocolate puddles in the recipe!

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 225g Unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 170g Dark Brown or Muscovado Sugar
• 100g Granulated / White Sugar
• 50g Raw / Turbinado Sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
• 300g All-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 350g good quality dark chocolate, roughly chopped, plus a little extra for chocolate puddles (see notes)
  Flaky Sea Salt such as Maldon for finishing

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Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugars on high speed for 5 minutes, until pale, and light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla, and mix to combine, scraping down the bowl when necessary.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add to the mixing bowl, and mix on low to just combine (you still want a few streaks of flour remaining that will get mixed in when you add the chocolate).
3. Add the chopped chocolate and mix until just incorporated. Remove the bowl from the mixer and give a few mixes by hand using a flexible spatula, to ensure even incorporation of the chocolate.
4. Using a 2 Tbsp Cookie scoop, scoop out balls of dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (you can place them close together). If you want big puddles on the top of your cookies, you flatten a ball of dough, press the chocolate onto the top side, then continue as usual and roll it into a ball, which then gives you even chocolate distribution as the cookie bakes.
5. If you are not adding additional chocolate, there is no need to re-shape into a ball - you can bake right from the scooped shape. Cover the sheet pan with plastic wrap and chill the dough balls for an hour in the fridge (if you want to freeze some, now is the time, see notes)
6. Toward the end of the chilling process, preheat the oven to 350°f / 180°c. Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper (you can bake these in batches)
7. Arrange 6 cookie dough balls on a baking sheet, leaving room for spreading. Leave the remainder of the dough balls in the fridge.
8. Bake for 13-14 minutes, or until lightly golden and beginning to set. Baking time depends on personal preference - if you like them quite soft, bake for 13 mins, if you like them a tiny bit crispy then bake for 14. Remove from the oven, and if desired, use a round cookie cutter slightly larger than the cookie to scoot them into a perfectly round shape.
9. Sprinkle liberally with flaky sea salt. Allow to cool on the pan - the cookies will deflate slightly as they cool. Repeat the baking process with the remaining cookies.
10. Store leftovers in an airtight container.

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Keywords: cookies, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate puddles, chocolate chunk cookies, muscovado sugar