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.
Eunice
I love any kind of homemade chocolate chip cookies! Don’t even mention the “Chips AWHAT” cookie! (They are not even tempting to me)
Sam
I bet you will ADORE these then, Eunice! Thanks for commenting!! 🙂
Elaine @ Dishes Delish
That was a great blog post! I love the angle you used!
Sam
Thanks Elaine! Just exposing these cookies for what they really are! 🙂
Denise Hank
Salted or Unsalted Butter?
Sam
Unsalted. If you only have salted you can use that, though, just reduce the salt to 1/2 tsp
Liz
I am a CCC hater. I always hope that will change with the right recipe. I am on a never ending hunt for “the perfect recipe”. I was truly hoping I had found it this time. While I absolutely love the flavor, my cookies just didn’t turn out. I followed the directions exactly. And my cookies were flat and crunchy. I made them again this time trying more flour, nope same result. I read all these comments about them turning out perfect and am a little baffled why mine aren’t. Any thoughts? Butter sitting 5 min or longer, yep. room temp eggs, yep. I even bought the fancy maple syrup.
Sam
Hi Liz! Hmm, I’m racking my brain right now trying to figure this out. I’ve made these cookies SO many times and they’re always soft and chewy, and they’re not the puffiest cookies but they’re certainly not flat.
Here are a couple of possibilities on where things may have gone wrong:
1) Bad/old baking powder or baking soda — If your baking powder is expired or ill-kept it could cause your cookies to totally flatten
2) Did you chill the dough for the full 30 minutes? If it’s not chilled, the cookies could spread more than they are supposed to. Also, when you shape the cookie dough, make the balls almost egg-shaped — taller than they are wide.
3) Did you use parchment paper? While these cookies *can* be made on just an ungreased cookie sheet sans parchment paper, if you happened to use a particularly dark pan it could bake the cookies too quickly and cause them to spread too thin and overbake (the same thing applies if you were to place your cookie dough on a too-warm cookie sheet that hasn’t had time to cool from the previous batch, but if this were the case for you I would expect at least your first batch to be soft and chewy).
4) Is your oven temperature reading correctly? I used to have an oven that ran 25 degrees higher than it said it was! This could cause cookie dough to spread too much, resulting in flat crispy cookies. I recommend keeping an oven thermometer in your oven to make sure the temperature is accurate, if possible.
5) This recipe makes fairly large cookies. If you made your cookies smaller than the indicated 2-3 Tbsp, try reducing the baking time. When the cookies are done, they’ll appear to still be a bit underbaked, and they’ll finish baking completely on the pan as they cool.
Sorry for such a long response, but I really hope these help. These cookies are seriously my favorite and I make them all the time, so I hope they turn out nice and soft for you, if you decide to try them again!
Dari
Have read through the comments & noticed one thing that might be making a difference in how these cookies spread & whether they’re puffy or flat… Aunt Jemima’s maple syrup & “fancy” maple syrup. Real maple syrup is quite runny compared to Aunt Jemima’s, which usually has a significant amount of corn syrup… A friend made these for her 3 boys & said they were great & already, I’m contemplating making them this afternoon (instead of tackling my long list of usual weekend “to-dos” like laundry, dusting, menu-planning, organizing, etc.) & have of course, wasted too much time here on my computer…I’ve enjoyed reading the comments but haven’t had time to read them all, so apologies if someone already pointed out the maple syrup theory… 🙂
Tricia
I’ve been looking for the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe for a while, and this is it. These are fantastic 🙂 Just curious – what made you want to use maple syrup in them? It’s an interesting addition.
Sam
I’m so glad you liked them, Tricia! I’d been working on creating the *perfect* chocolate chip recipe for a long time, but everything seemed to fall short of perfection. A few months prior, though, I had made brown sugar/maple cookies, and I remembered loving the texture and flavor that the maple syrup added, so I decided to try it here, and it worked beautifully! 🙂 Thanks for commenting!
Rhonda Tuzzio
Your writing skills are killer! Thanks for the laugh, and I’m sure in advance for the recipe!
Sam
🙂 thank you so much, Rhonda! I’m glad you enjoyed the post!
Lindsi
It says kayro syrup. Do you use light or dark or does it matter?
Sam
Hi Lindsi, just regular maple syrup (pancake syrup, such as aunt Jemima). I haven’t tried it with Kayro syrup.
Shay
I wanted to wait to rate until I actually made them. The write up and pictures were so good I made them that night. 🙂 These are the bomb cookies! The whole family loved them and at work they were a hit too! Go get your comfy pants on and make these cookies!!!!
Sam
Awesome, I’m so glad that you loved them, Shay! Thanks for coming back and commenting!! 🙂
Dee
Ok so every time I make chocolate chip cookies they always puff up and can never get them nice and flat. What am I doing wrong? Any suggestions?
Sam
Hmm, so you made these cookies and they were puffy? That is strange… are you measuring the flour correctly (use a spoon to transfer it to the measuring cup and then level it off… if you are scooping it you may end up with more flour than you should be using)? That is the only thing I can think of that would make these cookies puffy if all other instructions are followed. Good luck!
Jasmine
Mine turned out so puffy and cake like as well 🙁 I can’t figure out what I did wrong. I’m wondering if it has to do with over mixing the butter and sugar?? I used a wooden spoon but had to mix quite a bit because the brown sugar kept clumping up. P.S. They were still delicious, I’m just a sucker for flat,chewy cookies!
Sam
That’s so strange, mine always flatten. If your butter was melted I don’t think it would be from overmixing the butter/sugar. Strange!
Victoria
mine puffed up too! although they were still delicious, next time I am going to opt for less flour and see what happens!
I would be happy to make them again as they were a hit with my family! thanks for sharing the worst cookies ever haha
Emma
i’ve made these four times and the third time they puffed up. the only thing i did differently the third time was add a little bit less syrup than it calls for because i ran out. made them today with enough syrup and they are flat and delicious. not sure if that’s what did it though so don’t take my word for it!
Katie
Okay…so let me start by saying that my little guy (not quite 2 years old) and I have taken it upon ourselves to go on the hunt for our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. It’s a daunting, tough task but we decided we were up for the challenge ? My little guy loves using the “round round” (mixer) and is the designated chocolate chip dumper. Now…on to these cookies! As an avid baker myself, I’ve tried countless recipes over the years and have read and analyzed probably hundreds more. When I came across yours, I was drawn in initially by the name, then the photography, and most importantly…the maple syrup. That totally had me intrigued so it moved to the top of my “to bake” list and we tackled them yesterday. I do believe they are our new family favorite!!!!! The slight crunch on the outside, chewy chocolatey goodness on the inside, and an extra hint of caramel thanks to the maple syrup and brown sugar. The only change I made was to sprinkle the tops with some Maldon salt since I’m a sucker for the sweet/salty combo. I also had a little trouble with them spreading more than I would have liked, but that was likely my fault for not chilling the dough longer.
Sam
I’m so glad that these cookies made it onto your list to try!! And even happier (and so honored!) that you and your family consider them a favorite!! The addition of Maldon salt on top sounds absolutely incredible (I’m a sweet/salty fan, myself) and I’m going to have to try that myself. Thanks so much for commenting and letting me know how the recipe turned out, Katie!
PS.
The fact that your son calls the mixer a “round round” just completely made my day, that is just too cute! 🙂
C
This is probably the most unsuccessful recipe I have ever seen lol
heyitsrids
These look awful. Terrible. Dare I say, horrible.
So, uh…if someone were living alone and wanted to make a smaller batch, could they halve the amounts of the recipe? Just…asking for a friend…with no concept of good taste…you know…
Sam
And if you think they look bad, just wait til you taste then… Absolutely dreadful.
You can definitely halve the recipe! I’ve done it many times (and then I always seem to make another half-batch, totally defeating the purpose).
Kelly
I wanted to let you know these cookies were a big hit at work. Several said it was the best chocolate chip cookie they ever had and wanted the recipe. I told them to search for the “worst” chocolate chip cookie recipe on pinterest. They thought I was crazy.
Sam
Haha at least the name makes it easy to find! 😉
I’m so glad that you and your coworkers enjoyed these, Kelly! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
Dani
My son and I made these yesterday morning. He and my husband both love chocolate, me…not so much. That being said, it’s a very good thing this recipe yields so many cookies. Holy cow. They’re out of this world. This morning, I put three cookies in with my husband’s lunch. At 11:00 AM he text and said the cookies didn’t make it til the lunch hour. Ha! I cannot wait til we go home for the holidays and I can wow the rest of our family with this recipe. Thank you so, so much for sharing.
Sam
This makes me so happy to hear (or… read)! I’m so so glad that you and your family loved them and that you’ll be making the recipe again for the holidays! Thank you SO much for commenting and letting me know how you liked them, Dani! 🙂
Kelly
Just made these tonight to bring to work tomorrow. I was worried because I’ve never actually made chocolate chip cookies before but was very intrigued by your hilarious post. They are AMAZING!! I will definitely stick with the “worst” recipe. These might not make it to my job. ?
Sam
I am SO glad that you loved them, Kelly (not to mention so honored that this was the first chocolate chip cookie recipe that you made!)! I totally don’t blame you if you eat the whole batch before you get to work, either 😉
Thank you so much for commenting!!