Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes: My Top 10 List {Naptime Simple Tips}
My Day So Far: Driving up to Cooperstown for tomorrow’s appearance on “Bridge Street.” Crazy excited (and nervous!)
Naptime Goals: Arrive in Cooperstown, bake brownies for tomorrow’s show, make sure I have all ingredients prepared.
Tonight’s Meal: Mom’s cooking tonight, I am too nervous about tomorrow to cook!
Parenting Lesson of the Day: Kiddo + 3 hour solo parent car ride = not fun.
I have never met anyone who doesn’t like chocolate chip cookies. In fact, I would find it downright strange if someone told me they didn’t like a classic buttery cookie studded with warm, oozy chocolate chips. I mean, who could ever turn down such taste perfection? When it comes to baked goods, the standard chocolate chip cookie is a true classic. I theorize that it is almost the perfect sweet – pleasant to chew and taste, with perfectly proportioned flavors of butter, sugar, vanilla and chocolate. It is the childhood treat that never loses appeal.
I’ve baked so many chocolate chip cookies over the years that I’ve become a bit of a connoisseur. If you don’t believe me, just ask my friends. I bake them by the dozens on a weekly basis, dolling them out in ziploc baggies any chance I get. My standard operating procedure is to make the dough during naptime, let it rest in the fridge throughout the afternoon, then bake them after my daughter goes to sleep. Then, I save half of what I bake for my family and give the rest away. This means we all enjoy fresh cookies, plus it necessitates that I replenish our supply every few days. Sure, I bake other kinds of cookies as well, but chocolate chip remains the ultimate standby. These are the ones I bake more than any other.
I’ve probably tried at least four dozen different chocolate chip cookie recipes since I started baking as a teenager. Over time I’ve weeded out most of them, only retaining a small, but well-edited, selection of those worthy of repeat performances. The recipes I like most each have subtle nuances, creating cookies with their own unique flavor and textures. In turn, each cookie is well-suited for a variety of serving purposes. One recipe I’ve found is particularly good for ice-cream sandwiches, another is great for children, and a third is perfect for serving during afternoon tea.
After years of careful taste-testing I am excited to share my personal favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes with you. I will write a quick disclaimer here, too: I know I haven’t, by any means, tried all recipes out there. But, in my opinion, these are the best of the best I’ve baked to date. After you read this list, if you have a favorite recipe you think should be listed here, let me know and I’ll give it a go!
The Naptime Chef’s favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes:
1. Dorie Greenspan’s My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies: Soft, sweet and slightly cakey, these are my favorite hands down. The flavor notes of vanilla and chocolate are perfectly balanced, while the texture is slightly soft, but not crumbly. Part of their success is due to Dorie’s specific instructions for adding the ingredients – follow them carefully. These cookies stand up well when vanilla ice-cream is sandwiched between them, and are also great served on their own to adults and children alike.
2. The New York Times’ Chocolate Chip Cookie by Jacques Torres: A slightly more involved recipe, I’ve made this with both the complicated flours, and basic all-purpose flour. Both versions have been successful and delicious. I love how the chopped chocolate creates layers and ridges in the cookie, allowing the chocolate to melt and permeate every crumb. A particularly decadent cookie, these are great for impressing friends and guests.
3. Cook’s Illustrated Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies: Being a devotee of browned butter, it is only natural that I would turn to this recipe. Initially skeptical, I’ve come to love the deeper flavor the browned butter gives the cookie, creating rich almost caramel-like notes that contrast nicely with the chocolate. Don’t bake these with children unless they are old enough to use the stove.
4. Martha Stewart’s Thin and Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies: Not surprisingly, Martha has enough varieties of Chocolate Chip Cookies to make my head spin. And, I’ve tried every single one. The unusually large amount of butter causes these cookies to thin out and crisp while baking, making them somewhat brittle from the start. I love the slightly delicate texture and rich buttery taste, they are perfect for grown-up afternoon tea.
5. Barefoot Contessa’s Chocolate Chunk Cookies: Never one to shy away from excess, Ina shows us how it’s done by passing up wimpy chips and adding impressive chocolate chunks to her cookies. These cookies are bold in flavor, size and texture. I find them particularly great for summer ice-cream sundaes and for serving to kids. Adults love them, too, though they are so gigantic you only need to eat one!
6. Neiman-Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookies with Blended Oatmeal: An old favorite, I stumbled upon this recipe in a fluke email and didn’t look back. I never add raisins or walnuts to my cookies, but I love the addition of oatmeal. In this case, the blended oatmeal creates a wonderful, subtle texture and nutty flavor that is unusually satisfying.
7. Martha Stewart’s Alexis’ Favorite Brown Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies: Vastly different from the delicate Thin and Crisp variety, these cookies are frisbee-style cakey cookies similar to those found in coffeehouses around the country. I love the deeper flavor they get from the larger than usual amount of brown sugar. I’ll admit, when we are feeling indulgent I whip up a batch of these and dip one, piece by piece, in a tall glass of milk. They also hold up well when traveling because they are so large and sturdy.
8. Tate’s Chocolate Chip Cookies: It is rare that you can recreate a packaged product from scratch at home, but with this recipe you can. Kathleen’s well-balanced chocolate chip cookies are generated by this very same recipe. So, either buy them in the store or make them at home – your choice! An all-around great cookie, I like to sprinkle a little extra salt on top and take them to summer picnics.
9. Scharffen Berger’s House Recipe: Leave it to the chocolate experts to come up with one heck of a decadent cookie. More sophisticated then most, these cookies call for a variety of Scharffen Berger chocolate (a brand which I highly endorse), creating a multi-layered chocolate flavor. I recommend using the bittersweet chocolate chips and serving these with coffee to adults.
10. Chocolate Cinnamon Oatmeal Cookies from Park Avenue Potluck: Great cookies with playful flavors, I love how these caramelize when baking. The generous dose of cinnamon gives them a warm comforting taste and aroma, making them perfect for baking at home with children and munching on a cold winter day. They are also excellent for taking into school or the office – colleagues always love the unusual flavor twist.
This is a very helpful list for me to bake my way through!
This is a very helpful list for me to bake my way through!
I agree, if someone said they didn't like chocolate chips cookies, I probably wouldn't like them!
I agree, if someone said they didn't like chocolate chips cookies, I probably wouldn't like them!
Good luck tomorrow – just pretend you are cooking and teaching to your fans!
Good luck tomorrow – just pretend you are cooking and teaching to your fans!
awww. this is soooo good! i am gonna try them all:)
awww. this is soooo good! i am gonna try them all:)
Can't wait to work my way through the list!
Can't wait to work my way through the list!
WOW!!! I can't wait to try these…though I should wait until the oatmeal chocolate chip ones I made on Sunday are gone. 🙂
WOW!!! I can't wait to try these…though I should wait until the oatmeal chocolate chip ones I made on Sunday are gone. 🙂
I like your list and I will definately try all of them. The chocolate chip cookie is my favorite. I did stumble upon a recipe that I have repeatedly made because it is so darn good and I thank that blogger each time. The recipe is from Baking Illustrated, pg. 434 (from blogger browneyedbaker.com. If you haven't made this recipe, I hope you do. I would be very interested to read what you think of it.
I like your list and I will definately try all of them. The chocolate chip cookie is my favorite. I did stumble upon a recipe that I have repeatedly made because it is so darn good and I thank that blogger each time. The recipe is from Baking Illustrated, pg. 434 (from blogger browneyedbaker.com. If you haven't made this recipe, I hope you do. I would be very interested to read what you think of it.
I have to say I admire you for going through a journey in search for great ccc recipes! I think the last time I baked ccc was at least several years ago! I don't know why that is because I do enjoy munching on a good ccc. Perhaps because there are soooooooooooooooooooo many ccc recipes out there that claim to be the best of the best of the best of the best EVER that I shine away from trying, strange, I know!Thanks for this wonderful short list, I may have to try at least 3 from yours, probably recipes from Dorie, NY and CI! Thanks so much for posting and for sharing your experience – it is very invaluable!
I have to say I admire you for going through a journey in search for great ccc recipes! I think the last time I baked ccc was at least several years ago! I don't know why that is because I do enjoy munching on a good ccc. Perhaps because there are soooooooooooooooooooo many ccc recipes out there that claim to be the best of the best of the best of the best EVER that I shine away from trying, strange, I know!
Thanks for this wonderful short list, I may have to try at least 3 from yours, probably recipes from Dorie, NY and CI! Thanks so much for posting and for sharing your experience – it is very invaluable!
Try browning half the butter…even better!! 🙂
Try browning half the butter…even better!! 🙂
i love this post! i will definitely be trying dorie's recipe now! just one question…do you really drop the dough by the teaspoonful? just seems little small and wanted to double check…thanks!!
i love this post! i will definitely be trying dorie's recipe now! just one question…do you really drop the dough by the teaspoonful? just seems little small and wanted to double check…thanks!!
I am so glad everyone liked this post! @catK, the teaspoonfuls should be about 1 to 1"1/2 inches round. They are not meant to be huge cookies, which I find to be a nice change of pace. They do spread out when baking. Good luck!
I am so glad everyone liked this post! @catK, the teaspoonfuls should be about 1 to 1"1/2 inches round. They are not meant to be huge cookies, which I find to be a nice change of pace. They do spread out when baking. Good luck!
Great list! Love your photo!!
Great list! Love your photo!!
Which of these cookies are best at room temperature? Which are best warm and would not be as good as others at room temp?
Which of these cookies are best at room temperature? Which are best warm and would not be as good as others at room temp?
Thanks! All of these cookies are great at room temperature. My absolute favorites at room temp are Dorie's, Thin & Crisp and Cook's Illustrated. The Thin & Crisp by martha stewart are tough to eat when they are warm because they are so thin, as are Cook's Illustrated because they have so much butter. However, the rest should be delicious warm from the ovenl. If you want to freeze them, place them in a zipoc freezer bag and seal it well.
Thanks! All of these cookies are great at room temperature. My absolute favorites at room temp are Dorie's, Thin & Crisp and Cook's Illustrated. The Thin & Crisp by martha stewart are tough to eat when they are warm because they are so thin, as are Cook's Illustrated because they have so much butter. However, the rest should be delicious warm from the ovenl. If you want to freeze them, place them in a zipoc freezer bag and seal it well.
I tried the Tate’s recipe exactly and found that yes, they were crispy but not as crispy as Tate’s packaged. Also, didn’t find they tasted as good. There is definitely something not right with the recipe….maybe more butter is needed but they don’t have that dynamic crunch like the packaged type.
Hi! I think the difference is the ovens. Tates bakes such big batches for their packages that the industrial ovens bake them differently – at a higher heat which crisps them up. It is next to impossible to recreate in a home oven. Of course, if you want to get them crispier just try adding more butter! 🙂
[…] was well known that I am a chocolate chip cookie fanatic. Remember my Top 10 Chocolate Chip Cookies recipes? As evidenced by that list, I like them just about any way I can find them and am always looking […]
I can’t wait to try these! May I ask which recipe you used for the cookies in the photo at the top? That’s exactly the type of cookie I’m looking for. Thanks!
Hi! The above cookies are Dorie’s Best Chocolate Chip Cookies (#1 on the list). They have a soft cakey texture with lots of pockets of chocolate. I love them so much and hope you do too!
also, do you have her cookbook? That is the best place to get the recipe, though it is printed online here as well: http://www.food.com/recipe/worlds-best-chocolate-chip-cookies-by-dorie-greenspan-332767
[…] chip cookie recipes. Most of the list is still the same, but I’ve added one in recent years. Here is the original post with a lot about how and why chocolate chip cookies are my absolute favorite. Below is the list […]
[…] is how we did it: I made a batch of our Dorie’s chocolate chip cookie dough. I formed the dough balls then made a little well in the center of each one like a thumbprint […]