This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Northeastern chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
While I love to bake and cook, sometimes I need something simple to bring to a potluck or gift a friend. In those moments, I always turn to this chocolate chip cookie recipe. It is consistently a hit, takes just one hour to 90 minutes to prepare and uses ingredients I usually have on hand. Regardless of your needs, these cookies are the best sweet treat for any occasion when you’re short on time but still want to arrive with something homemade. Here’s how to make them.
Ingredients
- One-half cup salted butter
- One-half cup granulated sugar
- Three-fourths cup brown sugar
- One egg
- One tablespoon vanilla paste
- One and one-fourth cups all-purpose flour
- One-half teaspoon baking soda
- Pinch of flaky or kosher salt (plus extra for garnish)
- One cup bittersweet chocolate chips
Steps
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Place the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. As the butter melts, occasionally stir with a rubber spatula or whisk. The butter will begin to bubble and create a foam as water evaporates from it. Continue stirring to monitor the butter beneath the foam. Remove the butter from the heat once small brown specks form.
- Measure the brown and granulated sugars into a medium or large mixing bowl. Pour the browned butter into the same bowl, scraping in as many of the brown specks from the saucepan as possible. Mix the sugar and butter together with a rubber spatula until fully combined.
- Add the egg and vanilla paste to the butter and sugar mixture and stir until fully combined. The mixture should appear brown and slightly more watery than before, but still have some viscosity.
- Measure out the flour, baking soda and salt, then add them to the bowl. Using your rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until fully incorporated. The mixture should resemble cookie dough at this point.
- If the dough is still warm, let it sit for a few minutes before adding the chocolate chips to prevent them from melting. Once cool, fold the chocolate chips into the dough until evenly distributed.
- Using your hands, form the dough into balls that are about one to two tablespoons in size (or whatever size you prefer). Place the balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper about one-half to one inch apart.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until the cookies begin to brown on top.
- After taking the cookies out of the oven, sprinkle them with flaky or kosher salt. Let them cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before moving them to a plate or cooling rack with a spatula in order to prevent them from breaking.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- I measure my vanilla paste with the heart. One tablespoon is a suggestion, but feel free to use more or less depending on your preference. Adjusting the amount will impact the final cookie.
- For perfectly circular cookies, find a glass with a rim slightly larger than the circumference of the cookies. After taking the cookies out of the oven, place the glass over each one and gently move it in a circular motion to shape the edges.
- You can substitute different mix-ins in place of chocolate chips to use this recipe as a base for a variety of cookie combinations.