Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you’re craving a homemade dessert, try making a batch of these soft, gooey chocolate chip cookies, just like Mom used to make. Our perfect chocolate chip cookies have a tinge of caramel flavor and are studded with chocolate goodness. And here’s a tip from our test kitchen: Use a small ice cream scoop to form the balls of dough and they’ll bake into gorgeous, perfectly round cookies every time.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/4 cups (6 1/2 oz./200 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick/4 oz./125 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup (3 1/2 oz./105 g) firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 6 Tbs. (3 oz./90 g) granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups (15 oz./470 g) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 350°F (180°C). Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and mix on low speed until blended. Slowly add the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. Switch to a wooden spoon and stir in the chocolate chips.

Using a small ice cream scoop or heaping tablespoon, drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the dough mounds 2 inches (5 cm) apart.

Bake the cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until the bottoms and edges are lightly browned and the tops feel firm when lightly touched, 10 to 13 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies to wire racks to cool completely. Makes 10 to 12 cookies.

Adapted from Williams Sonoma Bake Good Things (Weldon Owen 2015)