For those of you who have been asking, here is my classic, no-secret-ingredient-required chocolate chip cookie recipe! It is soft, chewy, with slightly crisped edges, buttery, loaded with chocolate chips and tweaked to be superior in texture and flavor to every chocolate chip cookie out there (except one…)!
I originally shared this recipe for perfect chocolate chip cookies over on Spend with Pennies!
Well here I am again with another confusingly named chocolate chip cookie recipe. The second-best? Who wants to make the second-best cookie?
If you’ve tried my “Worst” Chocolate Chip Cookies, you already know that cookies don’t get better than that one. There’s a reason my video for that recipe has been viewed over 8 million times and I get dozens of e-mails and comments a day about it.
There’s simply no substitute for the worst, and since there’s not a cookie out there better (worse? I’m starting to confuse myself here) than that one, I never thought I’d share another chocolate chip cookie recipe here.
But I get a lot of e-mails from those of you who don’t have maple syrup on hand, those of you who want to leave it out for one reason or another (oh, please don’t!) and I finally decided that instead of sending people off to Google different chocolate chip cookies or stick to the back of the Tollhouse bag, I’d offer an alternative.
This is that alternative, and while every time I make a batch of these chocolate chip cookies they are devoured and they will definitely be a fast favorite and beloved by everyone who tries them, Im going to be honest and tell you that I still prefer the Worst Cookies.
But if you can’t make them, why not go for the second-best, right? I promise that these are a worthy substitute.
Tips for Making These Chocolate Chip Cookies:
- Melt the butter. As with the “Worst”, these cookies use melted butter. A lot of people (people who had not yet tried the recipe) have since argued with me that you *shouldn’t* use melted butter in cookies and I so strongly disagree. It gives these cookies a great buttery flavor throughout. It makes them nice and chewy. Melt the butter 😉
- But, let it cool, too. Let your butter cool for at least 10 minutes. If your butter is scorching hot, it will melt your sugars and you’ll end up with a soupy mess rather than cookie dough.
- Chill the dough. Because of the melted butter and the general consistency of the dough, the cookie dough will need to chill for at least 30 minutes before baking.
Can I Freeze this Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough to Bake Later?
- Yes. You will still want to chill the dough for 30 minutes to make it easier to portion, first. I recommend scooping the dough, wrapping each dough-ball in cling wrap, and then placing all wrapped dough portions in a large Ziploc bag and freezing. The cookies can be baked from frozen, they may just need an additional minute or two of baking.
So that’s how to make these “second-best” chocolate chip cookies. Don’t get me wrong with the label, these cookies are definitely worth your time and I wouldn’t be sharing them if I didn’t think you would absolutely love them (just check out the rave reviews they’ve received over on Spend with Pennies website!! — link just below the first photo)
They’ll still shrink your jeans. They’ll still consume your thoughts. They probably won’t steal your boyfriend but they will definitely flirt with him, like a lot.
Enjoy!
Treat yourself to a FREE E-BOOK!
The Second-Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter melted and cooled at least 10 minutes (226g)
- 1 ¼ cup brown sugar tightly packed (250g)
- ½ cup sugar (100g)
- 1 large egg + 1 yolks room temperature preferred*
- 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour (350g)
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips plus additional for tops, optional (300g + additional)
Instructions
- Combine melted butter and sugars in a large bowl. Stir very well.
- Add egg and egg yolk, stir well.
- Stir in vanilla extract. Set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt.
- Gradually add flour mixture to wet ingredients — stir well so that all the flour is absorbed.
- Stir in chocolate chips.
- Place dough in refrigerator and chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350F (177C) and prepare cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper.
- Scoop dough by rounded 1 ½ Tablespoon onto prepared cookie sheets, placing at least 2″ apart.
- Bake on 350F (177C) for 11 minutes — cookies may still seem slightly soft in the centers, that is OK, they will cook completely on the cookie sheets. Don’t over-bake or your cookies will be too hard.
- If desired, gently press additional chocolate chips into the tops of the warm cookies.
- Allow to cool completely on cookie sheets.
Lesa
How many days do they last in the fridge and freezer?
Sam
Hi Lesa! I don’t recommend refrigerating them. They will keep for at least a week in an air tight container at room temperature. They will keep in the freezer for several months. If you want to refrigerate the dough it will last about a week in the refrigerator and again several months in the freezer. 🙂
Evita
Do these cookies turnout EXACTLY like the picture?
Sam
They should look pretty close to the picture when they come out. Make sure to roll nice smooth round balls. When they come out of the oven if they aren’t perfectly round I like to take 2 spoons and push the edges in to round the cookies. I also add just a few extra chips on top within a minute or two of them coming out of the oven. 🙂
Michelle
Hi Sam, I am a perfectionist and your pictures of your cookies look so good. But I really like the aesthetic look of when the recipes have the pictures like that. I end up making the cookies and they don’t look like the pictures. Do these actually come out and look the same as your pictures. Thank you!!!! Hopefully you see this and can respond quickly I wanna try these tonight!!!!
Sam
Hi Michelle! They should look pretty close to the picture when they come out. Make sure to roll nice smooth round balls. When they come out of the oven if they aren’t perfectly round I like to take 2 spoons and push the edges in to round the cookies. I also add just a few extra chips on top within a minute or two of them coming out of the oven. 🙂
Mary
Baked these cookies today and they are delicious !!!!$😊
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Mary!! Thank you for letting me know how they turned out for you, I appreciate it! ☺️
Lori
Absolutely delicious!! I have made your worst chocolate chip cookies a couple of times too : I always go to your website first now for baking.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them, Lori! I’m happy to be your go to website for recipes. 🙂
Kimberly
Made these today and they are delicious! Thanks!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Kimberly!
Debra
I want to try the worst chocolate chip cookie and the second best chocolate chip cookie I live in an elevation of 5000 ft are there any changes??
Sam
Hi Debra! Unfortunately I am not familiar with high altitude baking so I’m not sure if you need to change anything here. I hope you love them! 🙂
Vidula
My cookie spread very less forming a mound instead. I was looking for a flat cookie. I measured everything on a weighing scale and followed the recipe to the T. Don’t know what happened.
Sam
I’m so sorry this happened, Vidula! This is really bizarre. This is typically caused by too much flour. Did you change anything else in the recipe?
Vidula
No i did not. I was looking fr a flatter cookie for a specific reason. But that apart these cookies were absolutely delicious and i dont mind the shape one bit if they are to be eaten as it is.
Sam
Well I’m glad you still enjoyed them. 🙂
Laura
I have tried your recipe and the cookies turned out with a great flavor. I would like these cookies to be thicker not flat, What do I need to do? I love your recipes. I’m glad I found you.
Sam
Hi Laura! These are a flatter cookie. There isn’t really a good way to make them thick without really drying them out. 🙁
Julie Ruch
I have a question about flour weight. The brand I use is 120 grams per cup. It looks like yours is around 128 grams per cup. On your recipes, should I match the weight or the volume?
By the way, these cookies are delicious!
Sam
Hi Julie! I highly recommend using the weights I have listed if possible, all of the weights listed are exactly what I use myself (I don’t use any auto-converters or anything) so the weights are always the most accurate way to make any of my recipes. I hope that helps, and am so glad you enjoyed the cookies!! 🙂
Alondra
Hi! Im a beginner at baking food and the cookies tasted great although they didn’t look that good. My dough was crumbly (it feel apart) but I still rolled it into a balls and put it in the oven. The cookies didn’t flatten they just rised a little and were cracked. Im pretty sure I used correct measurements and I melted/cooled the butter. Do you know what went wrong?
Sam
Hi Alondra! I am so sorry this happened. It sounds like the dough had too much flour if it was crumbly and then they didn’t flatten. Did you weigh the flour when you measured it out? If you don’t have a kitchen scale, I would recommend reading my post for how to measure flour to make sure you didn’t accidentally add too much flour. 🙂
Alondra
Thankyou! That probably was what happened because I scooped the flour directly with the measuring cup. (exactly what you said not to do, oops) I don’t have a scale but I will follow those directions next time. I’m definitely still going to use your recipes, thanks for the help.
Sam
I’m glad I could help! It’s an easy mistake to make. Hopefully they turn out better next time. 🙂
Marie
Hi Sam!
Can I chill the cookie dough overnight before I bake them? Can’t wait to try this recipe! ♥️
Thank you!!
Sam
Absolutely! Keep it covered in the fridge and you might need to let the dough sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes to make it easier to scoop if you find you’re struggling with the dough being too firm. Enjoy!
Jody Friedman
These are absolutely delicious. So much better than Toll House. Love all your recipes. You are now my go to recipe person. Thank you for all your recipes and explanations. It’s interesting to learn the science behind the baking, and better to do the tasting!
Sam
Thank you so much, Jody! I am so glad you enjoyed them so much. 🙂
Grace
I’ve made the worst chocolate chip cookie recipe and the 2nd best chocolate chip cookie recipe (this one) and I think this is the best! It’s absolutely delicious! I added an extra cup of flour because it was runny then it was perfect! thanks for sharing this recipe!
-Grace
Sam
I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed, Grace! Thank you so much for commenting, I appreciate it! 🙂
Emily
Soft and delicious! If I hadn’t tried your “worst chocolate chip cookie” recipe, I’d say these are the best I’ve made! These will be my go to recipe when I’m out of maple syrup;) Thanks for another great recipe!
Sugar Spun Run
Thank you so much, Emily! I am so glad that you enjoyed them and that you have another go-to recipe. 🙂