How Do You Make Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies?

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“How do you make your chocolate chip cookies?” is a question that I get asked frequently.  I have been looking forward to sharing this family chocolate chip cookie recipe with you all! 

This is one of the top three recipes that my friends and family ask for and it is one that we have been using for a very LONG time.  

It doesn’t get much better than some good ole’ chocolate chip cookies.  I once bought 24 bags of chocolate chips during one shopping trip because I made them so much. Once you have them down, you can whip them up so quickly and they are delicious.  I have tried all kinds of recipes, and haven’t found one that I didn’t like. When you like a cookie, you like a cookie, what can I say!

Secret Ingredient

You need the SECRET ingredient, butter flavored crisco sticks. I don’t know when we started using those in our recipe, but I have no memory of making them without it.  They keep the cookies from going flat and create this fuller texture that you don’t get with regular butter. Trust me, it is worth the switch.

Recipe Steps

Note: You can use a handheld mixer or a larger mixer for this, but I do recommend that you use a mixer of some sort. 

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
• Mix together ¾ cup white granulated sugar, ¾ cup packed brown sugar, and one butter flavored crisco baking stick.
• Mix in two eggs, but add them and mix them one at a time. Beating well after adding each one.
• Add 1 tsp. Vanilla extract.
• In a medium sized separate bowl, mix together 2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour, 1 tsp. Baking soda, and 1 tsp. Salt. 
• Gradually mix this in with your wet ingredient mixture.  That is what you mixed together in steps 1-3.  You can mix this in by hand or with the mixer. 
• Stir in 2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chip morsels. I stir these in by hand.
• Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls onto the cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 8-9 minutes max! Do not over bake. 

Tips Gathered From Trial and Error

1. Use the butter flavored crisco baking stick. Don’t get me wrong, we LOVE us some butter, but we like the butter flavored crisco baking stick for this recipe.
2. Do NOT over bake these. 8-9 minutes max. When you look at them in the oven, they will barely look done. Just make sure they don’t have a wet look to them.  They shouldn’t be very brown at all. 
3. Realize that they will continue to bake when you take them out of the oven and let them rest on the pan for 3-5 minutes. 
4. Mixing the flour mixture in by hand gives them a little bit of a different texture. I do not do this regularly, but some of my family members do. 

Are Chocolate Chip Cookies Hard to Make?

I sent my son’s girlfriend home with the chocolate chips and the butter flavored crisco stick and she nailed it the first time.  If you can follow a few simple steps, you can make them. Really, just follow the steps. You might mess them up by over-baking them, leaving out an ingredient, or not following the steps, but like with anything, don’t give up.

How Long Does It Take To Make Them?

If you are experienced, it will take you around 10 minutes to mix them up. If not, give yourself about 20-25 minutes to mix them up so that you don’t rush or miss any of the steps. It only takes around 8-9 minutes to bake them.

Baking Tips

I always set my timer for eight minutes and yes, you do need to set a timer. Don’t wait until you smell them or you think, oh, it’s probably time to check them. No, you need to set your timer for eight minutes. For the first batch, since your pan isn’t hot from the previous batch, you may need to add one more minute of baking time, but I never go over nine minutes at 375°. 

Now, with that being said, everyone’s oven may bake a little different, so you’re going to  want to pay attention.  Start watching them around the 7-8 minute mark and  keep an eye on them.  Do not walk away during that last minute, literally, stay there to make sure that you do not over bake your cookies. You can always put them in longer, but you could never go back.  They should look gooey, but not wet.  They’re not looking super brown at this point, because when you take them out the heat from the pan itself will continue to cook the cookies.  pan another 2 to 3 minutes so that they can set up that way.

If you like a crispy cookie, bake them a little longer. I don’t have a lot of tips for this since I like mine gooey.

Do I have to use semi-sweet chocolate morsels?

You don’t have to use chocolate morsels at all? I know, that seems like a weird thing to mention in a chocolate chip cookie recipe post, but I usually make a few without chocolate chips as well.  You can use milk chocolate, dark chocolate, cut up a chocolate bar, mix the chocolates, etc. 

Can I make these ahead of time?

You can mix up the dough the day before, but for best results don’t bake them the day before. If you make the dough ahead of time, refrigerate it until about 20 -30 minutes before you are going to bake them. I like to sit the dough out on the counter for about 20-30 minutes so that it can soften a bit. Also, if you bake them right out of the fridge, it will affect your baking time. 

What is the Hardest Part?

Not eating all of the cookie dough! Good luck with that. 

Happy Cookie Baking,

Anna