The absolute BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies

Crispy on the edges, chewy & gooey in the middle, the perfect salty & sweet balance, simply the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe. These cookies are made with browned butter and a mix of both dark & milk chocolate to give that extra boost of flavour. 

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Looking for more cookie recipes? What about Malted Milk Pecan Chocolate Chip cookies, or Malted Milk S’mores Cookies?

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Tips for making the best chocolate chip cookies

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Do not skip on salt and vanilla - It doesn’t sound like much of an addition, but it makes all the difference in your final bake. DO NOT SKIP on these key ingredients! They are the key to that perfect balance in flavours

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Use browned butter - Specifically use unsalted butter for this, as this allows you to control and balance the amount of salt in the recipe yourself. Browning your butter gives the cookies that delicious nutty hint, notes on how to brown your butter are below

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Do not overmix your batter - Overmixing your batter will cause your cookies to spread out too thinly in the oven, giving you a flatter and crispier cookie

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Chill your cookie dough before baking - This sounds excessive but allowing your cookie dough to chill in the fridge for a few hours before baking allows for the flavours to settle in and for the butter to harden again. Once you bake your chilled dough, you will get the perfect height and spread of your dough. Not chilling the dough makes the cookies spread too much in the oven and they just won’t have the same intensity of flavour

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‍Do not overbake - When these cookies come out of the oven, they tend to look a bit underbaked. However, cookies always continue to cook through once they are out of the oven. Usually, a cookie will take up to 20 minutes after it has been taken out of the oven to be completely done cooking, chilling, setting and being ready to eat.

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Allow your cookies to cool completely - Due to the above, not allowing your cookies to cool properly will halt the final stages of its cooking process and leave you with underbaked cookies. I know it’s hard, but let your cookies rest at least 20 minutes before digging in!

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Can you freeze these cookies?

Absolutely! I would recommend freezing to pre-scoop your dough into cookie dough balls and place them in a ziplock freezer-safe bag. These stay fresh for up to 3 months in the freezer and you can basically bake them on demand! Frozen cookie dough balls will create a slightly thicker cookie but definitely just as tasty. Either allow your cookie dough to come to room temperature (about 30 ish minutes) and bake according to instructions, or bake a bit longer directly from frozen. Just look for those crispy edges & gooey middle to take them out of the oven.

How to store these chocolate chip cookies

These cookies are definitely at their best on the day that they are baked. I would not recommend baking these cookies ahead of time as they tend to go slightly stale after 2 days. You can keep them ‘fresh’ in an airtight container for up to 3 days. However, I would recommend baking and consuming them on the same day or within 2 days. 

Because of this, I highly recommend keeping your freezer stocked with this cookie dough so you can simply bake them on-demand.

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How to make browned butter

Making your own browned butter may sound like a daunting task, but it is super easy! It is the absolute BEST addition to any of your bakes that requires butter, so it is highly recommended to get a hang of this. Just follow these simple steps and you’ll be good to go:

1. Start by melting your butter like usual in a saucepan over medium heat
2. Once the butter is all melted, you want to continue letting it heat up. Try to stir constantly so the butter will brown evenly
3. The butter will now start to foam, this is the butter getting up to that boiling point
4. Once the foam has disappeared, keep a close eye as this is the moment where the butter starts to brown. Keep stirring!
5. The milk particles will now drop to the bottom of your pan, these are the bits that will caramalise and make for browned butter
6. Once your butter has turned from a deep yellow to a beautiful golden brown colour and you start to smell that nutty aroma, take it off the heat. It goes from browned to burnt fairly quickly, so keep an eye on it here
7. Once it is browned enough and off the heat, transfer it to a separate bowl so it doesn’t continue to cook in the hot pan and allow it to cool before using. Don’t forget to scrape those caramalised bits from the bottom of your pan! 

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Baking time and oven temperature

Baking time and oven temperature may vary depending on the oven you are using.  All oven temperatures in my recipes are based on a conventional oven. If you bake with a fan assisted oven, turn down the temperature slightly as these ovens tend to become hotter than a conventional oven at that temperature setting. Ovens have the tendency to deviate from the temperature you set the oven to. I would highly recommend using an oven thermometer to ensure the inside of your oven is at the right temperature. My oven for example only goes up to 160C even though I turn it up to 230C 

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An oven that is too hot may result in an overbaked or burnt bake and an oven that is too cold may result in underbaked and soggy bakes. Having the thermometer will not only help in getting the right temperature but also helps in determining the right baking time.

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Enjoy loves!