The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies I’ve ever made! These cookies are soft and chewy, very slightly crisp on the outer edges, have TONS of chocolate, and use a couple other special ingredients that make things even more interesting. They are super easy!
My daughter Valentine is about a year and a half old and has been talking more and more. Her first word was Mama (thankyouverymuch.) Then Dada, then ‘thank you.’ One day we were talking about Cookie Sunday, and she stood up and screamed “COOKIE???” 4th word of her life. Perfect pronunciation.
Cookie Sunday happens every Sunday at our house. It’s not complicated. Every Sunday, we make and eat cookies. The end. I really don’t feel like I need to explain this any further. Cookies forever!!!! And today I have a new favorite to share with you.
I know, I know. You’re thinking to yourself, everyone and their mom claims to have the best chocolate chip cookies recipe, who does this lady think she is?
But guyyyys. Hear me out. I was in Australia for my cousin’s wedding a few weeks ago, and my other cousin Alice gave me the recipe for her chocolate chip cookie that she’s been working on. I was so excited to try it that I made them within 3 hours of arriving home, jet lag and all. (I was starved for decent baked goods. Sorry, Australia. My cookies are better than yours.)
How to make the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
This recipe completely blew me away. There are 3 special things about it: we swap some of the white sugar for raw sugar to add a bit of crunch, we use MINI chocolate chips (which I never thought I would like but I’m telling you the chocolate distribution in these cookies is PERFECTION), and finally, we add a teensy bit of maple extract.
What? Maple?? Do these cookies taste like pancakes?? NO! Stay with me folks. I promise if you feed these cookies to someone who didn’t make them, they will not be able to guess there’s maple in it. It just adds another level of flavor and makes the sweetness of the cookie a little more interesting. Kind of like the way browned butter enhances the flavor of these Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies without tasting like browned butter. It just tastes like an amazingly flavorful and buttery cookie.
Adding the maple to this recipe has the same effect, but it’s a whole lot easier than browning butter. Both recipes are wonderful, but today’s version will be my new go-to I think. Here’s the recipe for My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies, published in 2012, which were my go-to cookies until I made these Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies in 2016, which were my new go to cookies until today’s recipe.
I like today’s recipe because they are fewer steps, they are a little bit chewier, and they stay even softer for a longer time because there is cornstarch in the dough, which acts as a natural preservative.
The maple that you can’t taste in this recipe reminds me of a famous story in my family about my brother’s friend Dave. They were roommates in college, and one day a bunch of them were sitting around eating Cheez-Its. Suddenly Dave said, there’s something weird about these Cheez-Its. Something’s missing. It’s the paprika. These Cheez-Its need more paprika.
Sure enough, they checked the box, paprika was one of the last less-that-2%-ingredients.
I fully expect that if Dave ate one of these cookies he would be able to tell immediately that there was maple extract in it, but that’s because he has an animal-like sense of smell. Your average joe will just think, mmmmmmm. These are the best chocolate chip cookies ever!!
(Side note, I was trying to think of animals that have a good sense of taste and was coming up blank, so I looked it up and do you know what animal has the best tasting ability? Catfish!!?? What? I guess they have tastebuds all over their entire bodies?? And they live in muddy rivers. I’m so glad I’m human and don’t have tastebuds on my feet or hands. Can you imagine???)
The holy trifecta of sugars up there. Trust me on this. The CRUUUUNCH. It’s amazing and not overwhelming. It’s just a little bit. You don’t bite into it and think, WHOA. You are a few bites in when you realize, oh, hey, there are delightful little crunchies in here, what is that? If you think you won’t be into the added texture, swap the raw sugar for white sugar. But try it at least once!
I hope you guys don’t start having trust issues with my claim of best chocolate chip cookies! But I do feel entitled to changing flavors and preferences and moods for chocolate chip cookies. Am I wrong here?? Are there ever too many recipes for the best chocolate chip cookies?? I say no. That’s what makes cooking and baking so fun, I think. Everyone has different tastes, so it’s never over and you’re never done! It’s so fun! Chocolate chip cookies, forever and ever amen!
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The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies I've Ever Made
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened (2 sticks)
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1/3 cup raw sugar, also called turbinado or demerara
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon maple extract
- 3 & 1/4 cups all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 (10-oz) bag MINI semisweet chocolate chips
- more mini chocolate chips, to top cookies (buy 2 bags)
- more raw sugar, to top cookies
Instructions
- In a large bowl or stand mixer, add the butter and beat until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Remember to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- Add the 3 sugars: brown sugar, white sugar, and raw sugar. Beat until fluffy, 1 minute.
- Add the eggs, vanilla bean paste (or extract) and the maple extract. Beat until combined, then stop.
- Add the flour but don't mix it in yet. Make sure you spoon and level the flour. That means don't scoop the flour, instead spoon the flour into the measuring cup and then scrape off the top so that it's level.
- Add the cornstarch, baking soda, and salt to the top of the flour and use a small spoon to stir it in.
- Beat on low speed until the flour is just barely incorporated. When there are still white streaks, stop the mixer. Remember to always scrape the bottom and sides of your bowl with a spatula in between mixes.
- Add a 10 ounce bag of mini chocolate chips (that's about 1 and 3/4 cup). Mix until combined and then stop.
- Cover the dough and chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours, or up to 24 hours. If you want them to chill faster, shape the dough right away and chill on a plate (or, if you have room in your fridge, directly on a lined sheet pan.) Be sure to cover the dough with plastic wrap.
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
- (If you have chilled the dough in the bowl, you will want to let it soften on the counter for about 15 minutes) Use a two-inch cookie scoop to shape the dough. Or you can use your hands to form balls of dough about two inches across.
- Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat. Place the cookies on the sheet about 2 inches away from each other.
- Sprinkle the top of each cookie with a bit of raw sugar.
- Bake at 350 for about 11-12 minutes. DO NOT OVER BAKE. They should still be pale and only very slightly golden brown on the edges. They may have a tiny bit of shine on the top, but only a little bit.
- Immediately after taking them out of the oven, top each cookie with a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips. They will melt almost on contact, so there's no need to push them in or anything.
- Let them cool on the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.*
- Eat right away!! With lots of milk!
- You can store the shaped dough in a ziplock bag in the freezer for up to 1 month. I do not thaw before baking, I just put them on a lined pan and bake at 350 for a couple minutes longer than the recipe calls for.
Notes
I got this recipe from my cousin Alice! She's an amazing baker! Thanks girl!Alice says that even though it goes against every instinct you have, don't cover these cookies on the first day. It makes the raw sugar less crunchy. These cookies are BEST on the first day, but still really good on the second day. Maybe second best :) If you are waiting longer than a few hours to serve them, cover them so they don't dry out.
Nutrition
More cookies you will love!
Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies << these used to be my favorite. I still love them, but today’s recipe has knocked them to second place.
Texas Cowboy Cookies << these are a top visited recipe on The Food Charlatan, with good reason!
Marshmallow Creme Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies << you read that right.
More chocolate chip cookie recipes! There are never enough, right?
Chocolate Chip Cookies from The Vanilla Bean Baking Cookbook from A Farmgirl’s Dabbles
Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies from Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts
Big Chocolate Chip Cookies from Comfortably Domestic
Big Buttery Chocolate Chip Cookies from Love from the Oven
Hi! I’ve made these several times true to recipe (and they really are the best ever) but I don’t usually buy salted butter, I only buy it when I make these (lol). So I wanted to know, if I ever need to use unsalted butter in a cookie emergency, how much salt would I need to add? Also, thank you for this delicious recipe!
Hi Zosia! Usually you can add about 1/4 teaspoon salt per stick of butter. But that depends on the brand of butter. start there and add more to taste!
I made these today and even though the taste was delicious, the cookies never flattened out. I’m not a baker, so I’m sure I made a mistake. I scooped the flour, and for some reason I feel that’s it. Did I use too much flour?
Hi Vinnie! Yes, if you scooped the flour straight from the flour bin, you will get too much and it will make your cookies not flatten. Next time, use a spoon to fill a measuring cup with flour, then add to the recipe. Hope this helps!
Please weigh your ingredients! One person’s scoop and level will yield more than another!
Here’s how much I needed to bake these- I had them all mixed up and baked before breakfast- that may be a first! I gave some to my friends at the cemetery- wait, that sounds odd- anyway, they loved them! Janet even noticed there was a mystery ingredient :) It was hard to make myself take them out of the oven when they were still pale, but they were so moist- yum!
I’ve made them twice, once true to recipe, the other not because I didn’t have maple extract yet. I thought they were good! I’m surprised other reviewers had any problems, tbh. I will say I saw it more as a different cookie recipe than chocolate chip. It’s not the exact “traditional” choc chip flavor I’m used to, but they were so good. The maple oddly enough almost adds like a caramely flavor? Really yummy. Oh, another possibility they didn’t turn out for others is that one time I over baked a bit and they did turn out dry, When you pull them out of the oven they have to look slightly underbaked. If you wait til they look all the way done, they’ll be overcooked by the time they cool. Mine didn’t flatten as much as in the pictures but it wasn’t a problem. You can still sprinkle the mini chips on top, nbd. Those are my experiences, anyway. If you’re debating, GO FOR IT! Just be careful about not overcooking and you’ll be fine. Oh, one last thing to note, I used this recipe as a base for some cookies I made for a lemonade stand and this was the flavor that sold out first. People loved them.
Yes, caramel-y flavor is a good description! Thanks for all the notes and details Laura! That’s awesome that these sold out at the lemonade stand. Were they the pecan oatmeal ones you mentioned? Because that is SO HAPPENING. Pecan pie cookies here I come!!!
No, that was later. Lol. I just made the pecan pie ones yesterday, so I guess technically I’ve made it three times? I just changed it up enough I didn’t really think of it as making this recipe anymore. The ones for the lemonade stand I did some mini chips in the middle (don’t know, didn’t measure) and a whole bag of heath toffee bits. Then did the sugar and mini chips on top like in the original. Sooo yummy. The toffee pieces go with the caramely flavor of the dough really well.
Heath toffee!!! YASSSSSSSS oh my gosh Laura it’s such a shame you don’t have your own blog, because I would follow you religiously. Can I just steal all your ideas instead? ;) PS folks this is my sister I’M ALLOWED TO STEAL HER STUFF.
These turned out PERFECT. Not only did my house smell like a Hogwarts feast while I was baking them but they were a great, tender, soft, flavorful cookie. The maple is really subtle but it does add that something extra. I’ll definitely make these again! (The dough is toooo good, I could not stop eating it and nor could my four kids!)
“House smelled like a Hogwarts feast” hahaha!! I mean, #goals, right? So glad you loved them Sarah yay!!
Ahhh, these are seriously sooo good! They are absolutely the best, and I won’t make any other chocolate chip cookie ever. Period. I have tried so many recipes and these stand out every time. The very best time to eat them is right out of the oven. I do like to freeze them and eat them from the freezer because the middle is almost like eating cookie dough. Yum! I made these last week and froze them for a trip to the Stillwater River, I live in Montana. We have had great feedback on these with our Australian guests! If you don’t want them extra chewy, cook them a little longer. But about 8 minutes is perfect. Thanks for the greatest cookie recipe ever!!!
Wait how are you thanking me?? It’s your recipe!!! haha! Thanks so much for sharing your genius with us Alice! I still need to try the freezing trick, that sounds amazing!! I just made these again last week (they really are my go-to now!) and I’m just in love. Maple forever!!! :)
Oh. My. Gosh. You are right! These are the best chocolate chip cookies ever. Somehow I thought my regular recipe was the best but everyone at my house said these were better. I guess I’ve got a new recipe!
That’s exactly what happened over here Linda! I thought I had a favorite, but these cookies win. Yay! Thanks for commenting!! You are the best!
So these came out looking amazing but the taste was very flat and dry..almost too much flour…and I spooned not scooped. The only thing i didn’t have was the mini chips but i used 10oz of semi sweet reg size. The cookie itself to me was bland however the kids did eat them (who could resist hot cookies). Disappointment to purchase the special sugar and maple flavoring to end up with a bland base.
I’m so sorry you didn’t love them Debbie! I’m totally confused how they cookies came out bland. This is a very basic chocolate chip cookie recipe, just with the addition of maple. Did you possibly over bake them? Did you use real butter?
Hello! They look amazing! I was wondering what could I use instead of eggs,because of an egg allergy. I’ve heard apple sauce works. Any ideas?
Hey Judith! I’m not an expert with egg replacements unfortunately. I think that applesauce is usually used in baking recipes to replace oil, not eggs. I have heard of people using a flaxseed mixture to replace eggs, you could try googling that and see what you come up with. Let me know how it goes!
Mine didnt spread either and they taste/feel like shortbread cookies. I am so frustrated, I followed the recipe to a T and let them chill for 12 hours they still turned out like junk.
Hey Badger, I’m so sorry they didn’t turn out. Did you spoon and level the flour? It sounds like the dough is too dry. Are you baking at a higher elevation?
For some reason these were not spreading in the oven, so halfway through the bake i took a cup and flattened them all. Wondering if that’s because of the corn starch. Not sure where i went wrong.
I like the crunchy/ chewy combo, but they were ok for me. Maybe if i got the recipe right they would taste better :)
Hey Merna! I’m sorry they didn’t turn out how you wanted! Next time don’t flatten them, they will flatten as they finish cooking in the oven! :)
If I don’t have maple extract, could I use maple syrup? If so, how much?
Hey Kimberly! If you don’t have the extract I would just skip it. You would have to use a lot of maple syrup to get any flavor to come through at all (even the light flavor we’re going for) and you don’t want to add more sweetness by doing that. These will still be fabulous cookies if you leave it out! Let me know how it goes!
Oh my… these look fantastic. I need to make these soon. I’ve already have your Brown Sugar Yellow Cake waiting to be made. I might have to make these cookies first. Thank you for the recipes.
SO many desserts, so little time! My personal heaven would be baking and eating every day with no consequences on my midsection :) wouldn’t that be nice? haha! Hope you get to try them both eventually! Let me know how it goes!
I already have three chocolate chip cookie recipes I love. Will that stop me from making these? No way!
bahaha yay I’m not the only one!!! lol!! hope you love them Courtney! I’m going to go look up the ones you’ve blogged now. Never enough!