Go no further! While many have called these the best chocolate chip cookies, I assure you they are actually the worst, and this recipe might actually ruin your life.
Consider yourself warned.
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies are the Worst
I can only assume that something must have gone horribly wrong to bring you here today.
Amidst a cherry-picked Pinterest Sea of “perfect chocolate chip cookies”, a Google Forest of the “best chocolate chip cookies”, and dog-eared cookbooks of “award winning” and your family favorites, you have somehow found yourself here, face-to-cookie with the actual worst chocolate chip cookie recipe.
Oh, I know what you’re thinking: It’s just a cookie, right?
I mean, sure, they look innocent enough. Golden with melty chocolate chips, crinkled edges and chewy, melt-in-your-mouth interiors… but one bite and you’re positively ruined for life.
These cookies will consume your life, shrink your jeans, and steal your boyfriend (I wouldn’t put it past them, anyway).
They even contain a secret ingredient.
A Secret Ingredient You’ll Wish You Never Discovered
How obnoxiously cliche, and, even more obnoxiously, intriguing.
I won’t drag it out. The secret ingredient is maple syrup. And sure, pure maple syrup (priced per ounce nearly the same as gold) would work just wonderfully here. But, if you have a sticky bottle of Aunt Jemima in your cabinet (as I happened to when I set out on the unholy quest for a secret ingredient for the worst-but-should-be best chocolate chip cookies), that will work just fine, too.
What kind of self-respecting cookie doesn’t demand purity and quality?
Only the worst kind.
Ingredients (& Secret Ingredients)
I credit (or, rather, blame) this “secret ingredient” for being the greatest offender in this positively worst chocolate chip cookie recipe. It gives the cookies a subtle, caramelized flavor as well as long-lasting chewiness and softness (these cookies stay soft for days, and the cornstarch helps with that as well), and the flavor is other-worldly.
And, while anyone who takes a bite will be able to detect the extra richness of flavor, not a single taste-tester was able to identify exactly what the secret ingredient actually is. Just that they were enjoying “really, really good cookies”.
OK, so what’s so bad about really good chocolate chip cookies?
How about the fact that they will consume you as you consume them? I’m not kidding about them wrecking your relationships.
Mom’s favorite chocolate chip cookie? Ditch it. You will snub your nose at every “favorite” cookie (chocolate chip or not) of the past and struggle to hold back scornful laughs at anyone who comments on their own personal best chocolate chip cookies. Nobody likes a cookie snob, and yet here you are.
Here comes that girl again, the one who’s too good for Chips Ahoy.
A Cookie Recipe for Ruining Your Life
Be prepared for weight gain. It creeps up slowly, the cookies gently embracing you at first, then clinging to your thighs, your stomach, tighter and tighter until yoga pants are your only way out of the house. If you’re worried about your significant other noticing, don’t bother. They don’t notice anything anymore, only whether or not there are more chocolate chip cookies readily available for consumption.
Perhaps worst of all is that this recipe can be made so easily. There’s no stand mixer or even an electric hand-held one required. They can be stirred by hand, dirtying only two bowls.
They do need to chill for at least 30 minutes, which would only serve as a deterrent if 25 of those minutes weren’t spent sneaking copious chunks of cookie dough from the refrigerator.
If you’ve made it this far, I fear it may already be too late for you.
It’s too late for me, sadly, and I’ve made these cookies nearly a dozen times in the past two weeks. I’m swapping gym time for cookie time to keep my refrigerator well-stocked with dough, and the photo shoot for this post took three times as long as it should have because I kept eating the subjects.
If you can, stick to the “best” chocolate chip cookies. Stick to Grandma’s chocolate chip cookie recipe and the old family favorites. Those cookies are safe, your friends, made to be consumed by you.
These cookies will consume you, instead.
Good luck out there. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did you run into cookies that spread all over the baking sheet in the oven? Here are your most likely culprits:
The butter was too hot when you added your sugar, causing the sugar to melt and creating a greasy cookie dough that never stood a chance.
You didn’t add enough flour. If the flour was under-measured, your cookies could spread when baking.
Your baking powder/baking soda was bad. These need to be stored properly and often will expire after 6 months, if yours is old, that could be the problem.
The dough didn’t chill long enough. If your dough is still very sticky after 30 minutes, let it chill longer.
You put your cookie dough on a hot cookie sheet. It actually starts to melt before it can even begin baking.
If your cookies are spreading too much, you can try stirring in a bit more flour or just chilling them (covered) for longer.
It could be that your flour was over-measured. Never scoop your flour directly into your measuring cup, it packs the flour into the cup and you end up with way more than the recipe actually calls for. Instead, use a scale (this is the scale that I use) or use a spoon to pour the flour into your measuring cup and then level off the top with a straightedge (like the back of a knife).
Honey or light or dark corn syrup would work instead of the syrup, just note that the flavor will be slightly different.
Easily one of the most-asked questions that I get, I suspect those who ask this question were merely so distracted by the siren call of these cookies that they were unable to read the blog post. Just know that they would be the best chocolate chip cookies… if they didn’t turn you into a cookie obsessed monster at first bite.
If you’re looking for something a little tamer but still delicious, check out my best chocolate chip cookie recipe, instead.
Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my email list to be notified of all my newest recipes and find my video tutorials on YouTube.
The WORST Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter melted and then cooled until no longer warm to the touch (see note)
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) light brown sugar firmly packed
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (60 ml) maple syrup²
- 3 ⅓ cups (415 g) all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups (340 g) chocolate chips I used half regular semisweet chips and half mini semisweet chips
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- In a large bowl, stir together melted butter and sugars.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 ½ cups (300 g) light brown sugar, ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- Add eggs, one at a time, stirring until combined.2 large eggs
- Stir in vanilla extract and maple syrup.1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ¼ cup (60 ml) maple syrup²
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.3 ⅓ cups (415 g) all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons cornstarch, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon salt
- Gradually add flour mixture to wet ingredients, stirring until completely combined.
- Stir in chocolate chips.2 cups (340 g) chocolate chips
- Cover bowl with clear wrap and allow to chill for at least 30 minutes (chilling!? I told you, this recipe is the worst) and up to 3 days (the cookies look and taste even better after a longer chill. Note the dough will be harder to scoop after a longer chill time, just let it sit at room temperature a bit until it's scoopable)
- While the dough is chilling, preheat oven to 350F (175C) and prepare cookie sheets by lining with parchment paper (if you don’t have parchment paper, you can bake directly on an ungreased cookie sheet).
- Scoop about 2 Tablespoons of cookie dough and roll into balls, making them slightly taller than they are wide. Place them at least 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake about 13 minutes (cookies will appear to be a bit underdone, but edges should be just beginning to turn golden brown).
- Allow cookies to cool completely on cookie sheet. If desired, gently press a few chocolate chips on top of the warm cookies.
- Keep unbaked cookie dough in fridge while waiting to put the next batch in the oven, and do not place cookie dough on a hot cookie sheet.
Notes
¹Butter
You do not want your butter to be too hot or it may melt the sugar and you’ll have a very runny dough. Best practice would be to cut the butter into about Tablespoon-sized pieces, microwave in 10-second increments (stirring after each) until it is just completely melted, and then allow it to sit for 5 minutes. If your butter is too hot it could make your cookie dough or resulting cookies greasy.²Maple Syrup
I don’t recommend leaving out the maple syrup, it is critical to the flavor and is what makes these truly the “worst” chocolate chip cookies. In a pinch, honey or even corn syrup or golden syrup will work as a substitute to give you the same texture, but the flavor will not be the same. Pure maple syrup and imitation “pancake syrup” both work just fine here, the former lends itself to slightly flatter cookies and the latter to slightly thicker ones.Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week. Cookie dough may be chilled, scooped, individually wrapped in plastic wrap and then frozen in an airtight container for up to 6 months.Gluten Free
A number of readers have commented that this recipe works well when substituting the flour 1:1 with Cup4Cup Gluten Free Flour, but I have not tested this myself.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Related Cookie Recipes That are Also Pretty Terrible But Not As Bad:
I originally published my chocolate chip cookie recipe on 3/21/16. I have since updated it to include new photos and a video, but the recipe has remained unchanged.
Deandre Whitestone
I made these cookies and they were great. They were sweet and chewy. These are a game changer. Will definitely make again 🍪💯
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Deandre! 🙂
Katie
Amazing cookie recipe! This will be our new go-to.
TreatsbyArielle
Hi Sam, how do you recommend freezing the dough for later? Should I freeze in balls and bake, or can I freeze the dough and roll the cookies after letting the dough warm up a little?
Sam
I would roll the dough balls, wrap them individually, then store in a freezer bag. You can bake them from frozen, it will just take an extra minute or two. 🙂
Heidi Thompson
DELICIOUS!
Tammy
I made these for Christmas and they turned out great but spread more than I thought they would. First batch cookies touched but next batches looked great. Thank you for the recipe.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Tammy! 🙂
Chaz Judy
I made these with GF flour and they turned out delightfully terrible😜 nice job, I’ll add these to my Cookie folder.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them! Thank you for your feedback using GF flour. 🙂
Gingerbread House
Hi Sam! I made this recipe yesterday and my cookies were round didn’t even look like the pictures and we’re oval shapes! I followed the recipe exactly! They also had cracks on them????
Gingerbread House
My cookies were not round***
Sam
I’m not sure what you mean here? Did the cookies not spread at all? If that’s the case there may have been too much flour in the dough. If you aren’t using weights make sure to check out my post on how to measure flour to avoid this in the future. 🙂
Tziporah Lichtenstein
These are really the WORST!!!
a few questions: can I easily double this recipe? (I’m trying to stock up…and disappears!)
In general, how do you measure brown sugar, packed?
Also what would happen if I use dark brown sugar in place of light brown? can I swap? (easier to find dark brown sugar in my country)
Thank you! you are my go-to site for cookies, I stopped looking anywhere else:)
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much! Yes this recipe can easily be doubled, I’ve done it many many times. I typically weigh my ingredients, but if I do use cups for the brown sugar, the cups are packed not loose. You can use dark brown sugar. It will make the cookies a little bit richer. 🙂
Carmín
Hi Sam I made these cookies and when I did the taller shape of the cookies when rolling them. I baked them and the had cracks in them and where weird shapes. How do I prevent them from cracking and shaping in an oval shape? The cookies didn’t really have a taste to them either? They were alright! Thanks though! I will definitely try your second best chocolate chip cookies recipe!
Sam
Hmmm if they didn’t spread, cracked and had little flavor it sounds like there was probably too much flour in the dough. Did you weigh your ingredients? If not I would recommend checking out my post on how to measure flour to avoid this in the future. 🙂
Jess
Hi Sam! I see the recipe calls for semi sweet chocolate chips can I use milk chocolate chips instead? Would milk chocolate chips also work in your second best chocolate chip cookies recipe? Thanks!
Sam
Hi Jess! The milk chocolate will work. They are just going to be a bit sweeter. 🙂
Bryan
You’re right it was the worst
Megan
Hi! How much flour would you add if you lived at a higher elevation?
Also for the maple syrup does it matter if it is the kind that doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup in it?
Thanks!
Sam
Hi Megan! I am not sure how to alter the recipe for high altitude. The maple syrup is for taste so high fructose corn syrup shouldn’t make much of a difference here. 🙂
Jada Hall
Hi, I made your worst chocolate chip cookies yesterday and they were the best not the worst. For some reason my dough was very sticky after I chill the dough in the refrigerator for more than an 1hr. And it has been on my mind. What did I do wrong to have sticky dough ? I will love to try the recipe again today.
Thankyou
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them so much, Jada! You may have just needed a little bit more flour in the dough. 🙂
CC
I haven’t made these yet but I am planning to make them tonight for new Year’s eve and they look amazingly delicious! I was wondering since I love all of your recipes, do you have any or at least one cookbook that is sold or that I could buy? thanks!
Sam
I am so glad you have enjoyed everything so much! I don’t have a cookbook at this time. It’s something I am considering. I do have a free e-book you could download by joining my email list. 🙂
Cecilia
Hi! Does the maple syrup need to be room temperature? Thanks!
Sam
Hi Cecilia! For best results I would use room temperature maple syrup 🙂