Inside: These are the best chocolate chip cookies ever!—crisp on the outside and chewy and gooey on the inside. I’ve made these cookies for 40 years and counting. Included are two recipes: one if you live at sea level or close to sea level and one if you are living at a high altitude (4,000 feet and higher). If you do live at a high elevation, recipes need to be adjusted for the best result.
Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever!
These are the best chocolate chip cookies you will ever eat!
If your kids love to bake–this is a great recipe for them to make in the kitchen! And if they love to bake chocolate chip cookies–these are the “best chocolate chip cookies ever!”
For almost 40 years our family lived in Southern California. We were 10 minutes from the ocean. Because we were at sea level, everything we baked turned out looking like it came right out of a bakery. They were that perfect.
Then we moved 5000 feet up in the air. I’m now at a high elevation (5,000 ft) and everything I’ve baked for the last 2 years looks awful..flat and ugly. I’ve spent the last year trying all kinds of recipes for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever at high elevations with no luck. Who knows why!? I’ve followed the rules, the directions, and all the tips…still a lousy flat cookie.
When my kids and I bake, we want a cookie that is crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, plump, and oozing with melted chocolate.
So, after experimenting, failing, experimenting some more, and ignoring everything the “experts” of high altitude baking tell you to do, my kids and I have FINALLY come up with the “best chocolate chip cookie ever” recipe. Yes, it’s our own and we’re willing to share it (in some ways, it’s the opposite of what I’ve read about high altitude baking).
This first recipe is the one we used when we lived at sea level. The second recipe is the one for high altitudes. If you run into any problems, let me know.
IMPORTANT TIP: after you get the dough prepared, shape them into balls and then FREEZE the balls overnight before baking. Freezing will ensure that your cookies turn out nice and plump when you bake them whether you live at sea level or at high elevation.
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever (sea level)
These are the most delicious chocolate chip cookies. And they look amazing, too!
- 1 ½ Cups White Sugar
- 2 Cups Brown Sugar
- 1 lb. Butter (four sticks)
- 3 Eggs
- 2 Tablespoons Vanilla
- 6 Cups Flour (see notes below)
- 1 ¼ Tablespoons Salt
- 1 ¼ Tablespoons Baking Soda
- 2 12 oz. pkg. Chocolate Chips
- Optional: Chopped walnuts
- Mix together the white and brown sugars
- Add the butter and beat until light and fluffy (I've never understood what recipes mean when they say "light and fluffy" because beating together butter and sugar does not result in something fluffy)
- Blend in the eggs and vanilla.
- Mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda
- Add to the butter/sugar mixture
- Mix well but do not overbeat
- Add the chocolate chips and nuts
- Form into balls about the size of a large walnut
- Place on a un-greased cookie sheet
- Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes
Flour:
For flour, we use the brand, Wheat Montana. You can purchase it at Walmart or Amazon. The one I use is white flour and it comes in a blue bag. They have whole wheat and spring wheat flours, too. It’s an organic flour made from organic wheat. If you have any gluten issues or have celiac disease, you will LOVE this flour. Most gluten issues are caused by using GMO wheat (genetically modified organisms) which has 40x the amount of gluten.
Sugar:
If you live by a Costco, purchase their organic sugar. It’s a larger grain and it’s not pure white, but it’s better than ultra-processed sugars that will result in a slow, painful death (just kidding!)
Freezing:
You can roll the dough into balls about the size of a walnut or slightly larger. Put them in freezer bags and place them in the freezer. When you are ready to bake the cookies, do NOT defrost them, just heat the oven and bake on a cookie sheet as directed. In fact, I highly suggest that after you mix the cookies, shape them into balls, that you freeze them because the cookie tends to hold their shape in the oven. This trick works!
A Little History:
We’ve been making these cookies since 1978. They are by far, the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever tasted. There are variations that I’ve read, such as ones that use pudding in the mix, but I still like the texture and taste of these the best.
Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever (high altitude)
If you live at a high elevation, this recipe that I took over a year to develop, is the one for you! The cookies turn out plump, crisp on the outside, and soft and chocolaty on the inside.
- 1 Cup Butter—can be at room temperature
- ¾ Cup white granulated sugar
- ¾ Cup brown sugar (packed)
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 tsp water (see note below)
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt (this is more than most recipes call for, but it tastes right)
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda (I played around with the soda and this is the perfect amount)
- 3 Cups All Purpose Flour (use the brand, Wheat Montana (Walmart)—it’s organic)
- 2 cups Chocolate Chips
- Optional: 1 cup walnuts
- Mix together the white and brown sugars
- Add the butter and beat until incorporated
- Blend in the eggs and vanilla.
- Mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda
- Add to the butter/sugar mixture
- Mix well but do not overbeat
- Add the chocolate chips and nuts (nuts are optional)
- Form into balls about the size of a large walnut
- Place on an un-greased cookie sheet.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 9-10 minutes.
Vanilla:
Instead of using the 1 tsp. water, I use 3 teaspoons of vanilla. If you use a really good quality Mexican vanilla, I would stick with the 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1 tsp. water
Salt and Baking Soda:
I increased rather than decreased these. I did not like the taste of the final product using less. They turned out bland. More enhances the flavor.
Oven Temperature:
Bake at 400 for about 9-10 minutes—keep the dough balls about the size of a walnut and freeze the dough cookie balls first before baking. Most recipes for chocolate chip cookies bake at 350 or 375 degrees, but because of the high altitude, I raised the temperature of the oven from 375 to 400 and they came out better.
At high altitudes, food seems to cook slower–especially baked goods. If you cook these cookies too slow, they will flatten. I tried 375 degrees and that was okay, but when I increased the temperature to 400 and baked the cookies for about 10 minutes they turned out perfect…slightly crisp on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside.
Oven:
I have a gas oven. You may need to experiment with the timing of your oven.
This recipe goes with my blog: Combining Children’s Books with Food Is the Best Way to Go. It talks about combining children’s books with food. These cookie recipes go perfectly with the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
Do you have a favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe? Any tricks that work in the area you live in? Please comment in the section below.
Enjoy!
Want to remember this post? Post, “The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever!” to your Favorite Pinterest Board!
FAQ’s
What can I use in cookies instead of chocolate chips?
You can cut up a chocolate bar and put it in the dough. Like chocolate chips, the pieces of chocolate bar will retain their shape during the baking process. You can also put raisins, chopped nuts, m&m’s, and chopped dates. If you put in raisins, “plump” the raisins before putting in the dough. What it means: put them on the stove with water; bring it to a boil; boil for 8 minutes; drain completely before putting in the dough.
Why do my chocolate chip cookies not spread?
Cookies will spread if you are using too much liquid or they will spread if you are using butter instead of margarine or shortening in the recipe. They will also spread if you are at high altitude. Cookies made at sea level tend to be fatter when using butter, margarine or shortening.
How do you keep cookies soft?
Under-bake them by about 3 minutes. You can use shortening instead of butter, but I would not advise it—shortening clogs the arteries. I only use butter in my cookie recipes and they all come out soft.
Why are my cookies cakey not chewy?
Watch how many eggs you are using. More eggs mean cakier cookies and not chewy.
Just finished baking your COOKIES! YUMMY! They turned out just right!
So glad! I’m assuming you used the recipe for high-altitude–correct?
We did! John was my able assistant! They turned out just like you said they would!