Baked By Buttercup: Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

In honor of the 4th of July, I decided to make an All-American dessert. I could have made something festive with red and blue, like a fruit tart or this cherry cheesecake from Cooking Light that my sister shared with me, but I decided to go with something about little more simple and classic. Okay, realistically I didn’t want to leave the house today and there are only a few things I can make in a moments notice. So, I decided to make Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Now, I usually use the Tollhouse® recipe found on the back of the bag of chocolate chips. But today I wanted to venture outside my comfort zone and use someone else’s recipe. I really just did a simple search for “best chocolate chip cookie” and this amazing recipe came up as the third link on Yahoo! This helped me discover a brand new baking blog and opened me up to a quest for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe. What makes a cookie perfect? Honestly, I don’t know. As long as a cookie isn’t over cooked and brunt, can you really go wrong? No, I don’t think you can. :) I’ve had some pretty amazing chocolate chip cookies in my life, so I’m determined to share as many of those recipes as I can get my hands on.

I think that my favorite part of Savory Sweet Life are the little troubleshooting trip that Alice, the author, included at the end of her recipe. She provided a few solutions for flat cookies, like weighing the flour for a more exact and precise measurement. Did you know that if your baking soda and baking powder are more than a year old, they have probably lost some of rising abilities? I certainly didn’t know that! Alice’s recipe also uses sea salt/kosher salt instead of table salt and it really gives the cookie a nice texture. It’s fun, if salt in a cookie can ever be considered fun. :)

So, I give you the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever, as decided by one person on the internet and until I find another one to replace this one. Oh, it should be noted that I didn’t do a darn thing to alter or adapt this recipe. If someone says its the best, I’m going to try it the way they suggest first before I play with it. So pour yourself an ice cold glass of milk and enjoy!

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever

2 sticks salted butter, softened

½ cup sugar

1½ cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2¾ cups (12 ounces) all-purpose flour (weighing flour is preferred)

¾ teaspoon coarse sea salt/kosher salt (or use ½ teaspoon table salt)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1½ teaspoon baking powder

2¼ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 360°F. Cream butter, sugar, and brown sugar until it’s nice and fluffy, approximately 3 minutes on medium-high speed.

Emphasis on light, fluffy, and creamy.

Add the eggs and vanilla and beat for an additional 2 minutes.

So soft and sweet and creamy. It's pretty incredible.

Add baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour until cookie batter is fully incorporated.

Kosher salt!

Exactly 12 ounces of flour. :)

A little thicker than I am used to, but it makes a great cookie.

Add chocolate chips until well distributed. The cookie batter should be somewhat thick.

Soooo delicious. The recipe would have made 48 cookies if I hadn't had to taste-test the dough so much! ;)

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop about 2 tablespoons of dough or use a medium cookie scoop.

I'll never stop loving my cookie scoop!

Bake for 10-12 minutes until the edges are nice and golden brown. Remove from heat and allow the cookies to stay on the cookie sheet for an additional 2 minutes. Pick up the parchment paper with the cookies still on top and transfer to a cool non-porous surface. Allow the cookies to cool on the paper for at least 3 minutes before serving. Enjoy!