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.
Karen B
You know your stuff girl! I won’t do any baking/dessert recipes from anyone else BUT you! Thank you for awesomeness! Indeed! These are the “Worst!”
Sam
Thank you so much, Karen! I’m so glad you enjoyed! ๐
Krista
I have been on the hunt for โthe one,โ and, hot da**, this may be it! I can already feel my the crumbling of my motivation for anything other than consuming these. HOME WRECKERS.
Truly though- wicked and delightfully crispy edges and a sensually chewy center with fantastic sweetness (not over the top! Also, they spread fantastically! Itโs my DREAM cookie texture.
Side note, I canโt take any reviewer seriously who blatantly alters a recipe in a large wayโฆ Sam obviously works tirelessly and with passion to create these miracles for which I am extremely grateful. If you make a huge change, you canโt expect the same results – baking is science, and gf flours are known to f*** s*** up.
I ended up here for the buttermilk pancake recipe (which I havenโt made yet), and I am SO GLAD I explored!
Thank you for all you do!
Sam
Thank you so much, Krista! I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much! I hope you love the pancakes just as much as you loved these cookies. ๐
Sarah Mullican
Iโm making it my lifeโs mission to find out if thereโs such a thing as too much vanilla for this recipeโsort of kidding but mostly serious. I know, I know, there IS such a thing as too much. (Please donโt hate me for modifying the recipe.) ๐คฃ๐คฃ For me, too much isnโt 1+ Tbs of vanilla. ๐ณ๐ณ๐ณ Iโve made these cookies for several years. I take them to parties and theyโre always a huge hit (as is every other recipe I use from this siteโwhich I use exclusively for desserts I make).
Last week, I made them and put over 1/2 tbs of vanilla in them (I just put whatever measuring spoon Iโm using over the mixing bowl and โaccidentallyโ make it overflow before putting the rest from the spoon in. In the past, Iโve done this with the teaspoon)โthey were incredible.
Yesterday, I decided to throw a batch together, and when it was time for vanilla, I got the 1/2 tbs spoon again. In my zest, I overflowed it once AND spilled some on the counter, so I thought I needed to make up for it and accidentally completely missed the spoon and put in a goodly amount straight from the bottle. ๐ณ๐ณ๐ณ I could smell the vanilla in the cookies from 10-15 feet away. Lol. They were amazing!!
I told my family about it, and my mom said, โAre you sure you arenโt making vanilla cookies with chopped chocolate?โ ๐คฃ๐คฃ๐ ๐
Sam
Haha, sounds like a fun experiment, Sarah! Thank you for sharing, and I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipe! ๐
Shelley
I so enjoyed reading this, Sarah!
Cynthia
These cookies are good, but instead of maple syrup use the same amount of molasses and they are much better.
Cocoa
These LOOK amazing!!!! I have been looking for a CCC recipe for a while and I can’t wait to try them!!!!!!
Jayne
Yes Worse cookies ever! You know when the raw dough is delicious the cookies are going to be good
Kathie
These were a disaster! They are so greasy that you have to wash your hands after picking one up. They spread out about as far and thin as they possibly can while still staying together. They are sicky sweet and sort of tough/chewy; they stick in your teeth. I didn’t even finish cooking all the dough and the finished cookies went into the trash — I don’t think I have EVER thrown away baked goods before! Full disclosure: I made them with Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Baking Flour, which has worked fine in every other recipe I’ve tried it in. And I am at 5,300 feet. I suspect that is part of the problem, because leavening often needs to be adjusted at altitude and I did not adjust it. But the greasiness and sweetness have nothing to do with altitude. And yes, I was very careful to fully cool the melted butter before adding sugar. These cookies are appropriately named. The WORST chocolate chip cookies ever.
Sam
Hi Kathie! Assuming you did not accidentally mis-measure an ingredient (which might would be my first guess — it happens to all of us!), it very well could be your altitude, or it could be the flour. I am neither a high altitude baker nor a gluten-free baker, nor do I claim to be one, but I do know that many recipes must be adjusted for high-altitude baking in order to turn out successfully. I’m sorry this recipe did not turn out for you this time, but I do stand by the recipe as-written. It sounds like the problems that you faced arose from your individual kitchen conditions, unfortunately.
Teri
Sorry Kathie had a bad experience. It happens! This is my go to choc chip recipe! Always delicious and comes out looking wonderful. Crispy around the edges and chewy centers. I like to mix my choc chips, both size and type. Topping them with a few chips after baking makes them look extra yummy. Hope Kathie gives this one a second chance!
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed, Teri! Thank you for your comment, I appreciate it! <3
Susan
So yummy!!! Cookies are not my strong suit…until now!!! So easy and totally worth the wait!!! ๐
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We appreciate you coming back to leave a review, Susan! Enjoy those cookies โค๏ธ
Kelly
I have made these cookies for over 5 years exclusively using Bobโs Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free flour and they always come out amazing. Iโm sorry yours did not come out well. If they are too sweet, Iโve made them in the past with a lessened the amount of brown sugar (merely because I was running low) and they tasted just as great. Iโm sorry this recipe did not work out for you.
Anshul
Iโve made these cookies many times with different ingredients all over the US and they have never failed me. I love them. Iโd bet any bad outcomes are a result of some sort of user error because THESE COOKIES ARE AMAZING.
Charlene
Hi, I made these cookies a couple of weeks ago, everyone loved them, and my 19 year old grandson who is a very picky eater and not really a cookie eater asked if I could make him some more, and that’s what I’m doing right now, I hope this batch turns out just as yummy ๐
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
That’s wonderful, Charlene! We hope they’re just as much of a hit this time too โค๏ธ
Winona
Could it have possibly been the oven temp.?
Roxanne
Not impressed. definitely like the regular toll house chocolate chip recipe much better. Nothing special hereโฆ.
Joanne
What an awful thing to say! ๐
Allison
This is my go-to, never-fail, absolutely perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe! It has even won our block party cookie bake-off – twice!!! I rarely leave reviews for things or recipes, but this one deserves the praise. Thank you!
Sarah
I bake a lot of cookies and have received many compliments over the years, but this recipe really is fabulous! Thank you!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We love receiving reviews like this, Sarah! So glad you enjoyed them โค๏ธ
Mandi Kamps
Can I add nuts to these
Sam
Sure thing! ๐
LeighAnn
Did I make mine too big? Mine definitely stayed poofy instead of like yours. What did I do wrong
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi LeighAnn! It sounds like there may have been too much flour in your dough. We talk about this in the FAQ section ๐
Lyndsey Pace
I LOVE this recipe! They are so delicious! I’m planning to make a batch this weekend. I plan to freeze about half of the scooped balls of dough for later. When I’m ready to bake the frozen cookies, should I thaw them in the fridge overnight or bake from frozen? If I can bake them from frozen, how should I adjust the cook time?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Lyndsey! No need to thaw from frozen–just bake for a minute or two longer. We have a post on how to freeze cookie dough that will be helpful for you ๐
Robin Wilkes
My daughter provided this recipe to me for her !! Haha!! I must say I was skeptical about the maple syrup and the corn starch, however Iโm a baker so I also understood. These are hands down the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever baked!!! YASSSSS!!
I actually baked them at the time suggested I prefer a little longer, for my daughter 13 mins is perfect. For myself itโs 14 1/2 mins!! Love these!! Thank you๐ช๐ช cookie love
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy you loved them, Robin! Thanks so much for leaving a review โค๏ธ
Jean
This is a delicious, outstanding recipe. Thanks for sharing it!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Thanks so much Jean! We’re happy you love it ๐
Natalye
After years and years and years of trying to make cookies and completely sucking at it, I came across a post last night in a cookie group and decided to make these today.
๏ฟผ All I can say is this is the absolute BEST cookie recipe I have ever come across that actually came out Amazing!
I made three separate batches, the first one was 13 minutes, the second and third I actually pulled back on the time and only did about 12 minutes.
I prefer them with less baking time.
I added crushed pretzels to six of them, and then I added snickers to six others. I also did an entire batch with Reese’s peanut butter cups!
Can’t wait to share these! (๏ฟผ but truthfully, I want to eat them all myself lol)
Wish I could give this 100 stars!
Thank you for sharing this recipe and the story behind it!! This is now my go to for cookies!
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We are SO happy you loved them, Natalye! All of your different versions sound so delicious โค๏ธ
Sarah Allen
Can I used a stand mixer?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Sarah! You can use a stand mixer, but the melted butter makes these really easy to do by hand. ๐
Tina
These look amazing! Any tips for an eggless version?
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Hi Tina! Give our eggless chocolate chip cookies a try ๐
Samantha Hoskins
I ran out of light brown sugar in the middle of mixing up the dough. Can I use dark brown sugar? Should I change the amount at all? Thanks!
Sam
Hi Samantha! Dark brown sugar will work. The cookies will be a bit richer. You’ll want to use the same amount. ๐
Tara
I’m wondering if using maple extract would give the same flavor but make them less sweet? Adding extra sweetness seems unnecessary, but I understand the flavor you’re wanting…