the best soft chocolate chip cookies

All the good cookie eaters of the world!

We were made for such a time as this.

These cookies are soft, thick, bricks of chocolate chunks and buttery dough baked into a heavy, milk-loving cookie that is my most favorite chocolate chip cookie of all time. ♡

Wait, though. They are singing a love song to you: BAKE ME.

BAKE ME IN YOUR OVEN RIGHT NOW.

I feel like a good chocolate chip cookie recipe is one that everyone should have in their recipe box.  I’ve had several requests for a full batch chocolate chip cookie recipe over the last couple months.  So I decided it was time to roll up my sleeves and get to work on perfecting a recipe.

And let me tell you, these cookies are good.  In fact, I made these cookies for a party and every single one of them were gone by the end of the night.  That’s when you know you have a good recipe for chocolate chip cookies.

A few years ago, when we were living in the Philippines, I accidentally discovered my new favorite way to make cookies. The recipe is now two years old, but if you like to creep, they can be located here.

And let me just take a moment to acknowledge that seriously without fail – everything good that I make is always inspired by haphazard accidents, including but not limited to broken refrigerators and lacking ingredients and my really strong tendency towards laziness. Everything including these cookies and all their iterations.

So let’s talk about what makes a good chocolate chip cookie.  To start, you’ll be using some simple dry ingredients like all-purpose flour, baking soda, and salt.  One important thing with the flour is to make sure to measure it correctly by spooning it into the cup and leveling it off with the back of a knife.  You don’t want to scoop the flour out of the container with your measuring cup because the flour can become packed inside of the cup.  I have a full post about how to measure flour with the spoon and level method here.

You’ll also be using one cup of unsalted butter in this recipe.  Have you ever wondered why some recipes specifically call for unsalted butter?  It’s because the amount of salt in salted butter can vary quite a bit between brands.  By using unsalted butter in a recipe, you can control the amount of salt in it.  You can use salted butter in this recipe if you like, but I suggest reducing the amount of salt to about 1/2 teaspoon if you do.

So in 90 bajillion degree Cebu, Philippines, back in fateful 2012, yes I WAS trying to bake chocolate chip cookies. In true Pinch of Yum must-have-the-food-now style, it made 0% rational sense. I had butter that was literally melted from sitting out on the counter for, like, three seconds, I had NO brown sugar, and I added a little too much extra flour. I proceeded to bake the accidental cookies in my oven which I had to start by lighting a FIRE with a MATCH inside of it and which had NO TEMPERATURE MARKINGS other than the numbers 1-5. Sage and I are laughing out loud over here – howwww did I do anything?

Related – I now laugh out loud with my dog.

Goodbye, normalcy.

So long.

Seeeeee uuuu laaaaater!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (4 oz | 125 g) stick butter, melted (not spreadable)
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granulated white sugar (or a granulated sweetener that measures 1:1 with sugar)
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup (or coconut syrup, agave, rice malt syrup, maple syrup or honey may be substituted)
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose or plain flour (add more as needed -- only up to 1/4 cup extra)*
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup chocolate chips , divided

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C). Microwave the butter for about 30 seconds to just barely melt it (half soft and half melted).
2. Beat the butter with the brown and white sugar/s until creamy and pale in colour and sugar has dissolved. Pour in the syrup, vanilla and the egg, and lightly beat until just mixed through.
3. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt, mixing until combined. If needed, add in one tablespoon of the 'extra' flour at a time until the dough is still soft but easy to handle and firm enough to form one large ball (the dough should not be dry. I only needed 3 tablespoons of the extra flour). 
4. Fold in half of the chocolate chips with your hands.
5. Scoop out 18-20 balls and arrange them on a lined baking sheet with parchment paper. Press the remaining chocolate chips onto the tops of each cookie.
6. Bake for about 10-11 minutes. The cookies will look pale and puffed up, but should be golden around the edges. DO NOT OVER BAKE or your cookies will become hard once they have cooled.
7. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 30 minutes.