I’ve made a lot of chocolate chip cookies in my 51 years, a lot. Let’s just say that I never met a cookie I didn’t like (not really, but it sounds funny). I do love a good, thick, chewy with a little crisp chocolate chip cookie. Over the years I’ve experimented with various recipes, starting with that good old Toll House recipe, a cookie recipe primer.

Cookies preferences are so varied, some love sandy, crumbly cookies, others extra chewy. I don’t think there is a perfect cookie texture, clearly a macaron is not the same as a snickerdoodle, but they’re both tasty. If you stick around you will get plenty of cookie recipes, nothing too fussy, but always delicious.

It’s Creaming and Sugaring Time

Did any of you get the Willy Wonka reference? Gene Wilder casually explains what the Oompa Loompas are doing to his chocolate river. I chuckle watching his guests observe in slack jawed disbelief and outrage. Love that movie, love the book, dislike the Johnny Depp version, have not yet watched Timothy Chalemet’s. Creaming the room temperature butter and sugar together in this chocolate chip cookie recipe is vital to the end result.

You need to commit to creaming for around five minutes, until the color has lightened up and you have a nice light and fluffy texture. You’re basically incorporating air into this mixture, which acts as a leavener, it helps puff the cookies up. It also helps smooth the graininess away, making a creamier base to add your dry ingredients to. You’ve gone far enough when the mixture begins to lighten in color.

Salt or No Salt

Is there a difference between salted and unsalted butter when baking, I think so. Both in the flavor and texture category. Unsalted butter has no salt, you heard it here first… Just kidding, unsalted butter is all cream, that’s it, nothing else. Whereas salted butter has salt and a higher water content, water in baking impacts final texture, it can thin out the dough as it bakes.

Another consideration is salt can extend longevity, simply put, longer shelf life. Salted butter can be left out of the fridge at room temperature longer. But don’t worry, you can safely leave unsalted out long enough to bring it to room temperature, in the winter I take it our the night before I bake.

I baked with salted butter for most of my life, I didn’t want two different kinds of butter in my fridge, what a pain. It was this cookie recipe that converted me to an unsalted butter disciple, a few years ago was when it started. I was experimenting with butter as well as flour. I had never used any flour other than all-purpose (AP) and cake flour, until I began baking sourdough bread.

Gigi’s Test Kitchen

As a baker, experimenting was not something I did, I believed that you always followed a recipe to the letter. I began testing the differences between salted and unsalted butter, bread, cake, and AP flours, as well as chocolate chips. I made the original Jacque Torres recipe as written, using cake flour and two additional tablespoons of granulated sugar. I also made a variation with salted butter, and a third with unsalted butter, less granulated sugar, corn starch, bread and AP flour.

I sent all those chocolate chip cookies in with my husband, who conducted a blind taste test on his colleagues. The results were unanimous, the third recipe, which is only slightly different than the original was the winner. I have now discovered the delicious difference of quality chocolate vs. Nestle Toll House or store brand.

All Chocolate is Not Equal

Now let us talk chocolate. When baking, your choice of chocolate chips or chunks is important. I recently switched to Callebaut Belgian Dark Callets, a little spendy, but so worth it in my opinion. I have used Nestle Toll house semi-sweet morsels for years, switching it up with Ghirardelli Baking Chips, always a good choice. At the end of the day it comes down to personal preference, I find the Callebaut smooth, rich, and the way they melt a bit more than other brands giving a please cookie dough to chocolate ratio.

Cornstarch is something I never used in my cookies until a I stumbled across this recipe. Cornstarch prevents your cookies from spreading out too much, keeps them thicker, and improves the chewy factor. I also find that when I use cornstarch, the tops of my cookies have a nice sheen to them, not very important but they look pretty.

Chill Out

I do not chill these cookies, I don’t feel it is necessary. I have chilled them and they came out the same as when I don’t, so I skip that step. I am generally pro chill, I think for the vast majority of recipes the end product is improved. I’m no baking chemist, I was lazy and wanted cookies sooner rather than later, so I skipped that step and was please with the result. Dealers choice my friends.

One last recommendation, don’t skip the flaky salted tops, there is not much that makes my taste buds happy then the perfect balance of sweet and salt, I like using Maldon sea salt flakes. I hope you enjoy this recipe that is adapted from Jacques Torres’ recipe. Whatever chip you choose, if you chill or not, these cookies are top notch. Chewy, thick, chocolatey, bakery sized chocolate chip cookies that please even the pickiest eaters, grandson approved. Speaking of chewy and chocolatey (I sense a trend here) hop on over and try these amazing brownies!

I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.