5 Famous Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes You Need in Your Repertoire

Is there anything better than a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie?

A quick Google search for a recipe turns up over 125 MILLION results – proving our devoted love affair with the treat. And while we all have (strong) opinions on what deems a chocolate chip cookie our favorite, weeding through millions of recipes to find that perfect one can be a bit daunting. 😉

Below are 5 proven, no-fail recipes guaranteed to please. The only thing missing is the milk.

Pan-Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies from Sarah Kieffer

Cookbook author and blogger Sarah Kieffer made pan-banging cookies famous. The fun technique creates rippled, crispy edges and a soft, gooey center. During "The 2020 Quarantine," this was one of my favorite cookies that my sister and I made in our weekly virtual bake-off.

And if you want even more pan-banging deliciousness, Kieffer’s cookbook, 100 Cookies, devotes an entire chapter to their addictiveness.

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(This recipe post is incredibly detailed and thorough, and answers pretty much any baking/ingredient question that could possibly arise.)

Jacques Torres’ Chocolate Chip Cookie

This recipe from famed pastry chef and chocolatier Jacques Torres has been wildly praised since its New York Times debut in 2008.

The recipe itself requires a little bit of extra work, as all good things do. 😉

It is made with both bread flour (for structure) and cake flour (for tenderness), and lots of butter. The flour measurements are a little goofy, so if you have a kitchen scale, this is definitely the recipe to use it. And while the two types of flour are part of the recipe’s uniqueness, many bakers have commented that they’ve made the recipe using only all-purpose flour, and still claim them to be the best cookies ever.

The recipe calls for fancy chocolate fèves (large oval disks), but your go-to grocery store chocolate chip will work just as well. For me, that’s Ghirardelli’s 60%.

The recipe does call for refrigerating the dough at least 24 hours before baking. Great for make-ahead/plan-ahead baking. Bad for satisfying an immediate cookie craving.  (Note: It helps to scoop the cookies and then refrigerate, vs the other way around. Scooping cold cookie dough can be veeerrryyy frustrating, and will easily bend an inferior cookie scoop.)

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(This link is to the New York Time’s publication of the recipe, with over eleven thousand(!) 5-star reviews. But without a subscription, access is limited. Doing a quick Google search will offer up a number of additional sources for the recipe.)

Kim Boyce’s Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookie

Pastry chef Kim Boyce took the chocolate chip cookie world by storm when she published this unexpectedly satisfying 100% whole wheat version in her James Beard Award-Winning cookbook, Good to the Grain (also included in the list of my favorite baking cookbooks). Made with cold butter and a dough that doesn’t need to be chilled, this recipe can easily be made in a flash!

And if you’re hesitant to try a cookie made from whole wheat flour, substituting an equal amount of white whole wheat flour is a good, but unnecessary, stepping stone. These cookies are a far cry from tasting healthy.

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Not without Salt’s The Last Chocolate Chip Cookie

Blogger and cookbook author Ashley Rodriguez made quite a name for herself with these cookies - the recipe went swirling around the internet when she first posted it on her site in 2009. She even developed it into a cookie mix that was sold at the likes of Sur La Table.

One of the most interesting things about this recipe is that it’s made with three different types of sugar. In addition to the standard granulated white and light brown sugars, Rodriguez also adds crunchy turbinado (raw) sugar to the dough.

And while the recipe may have been all the rage +10 years ago, it is still very much worth making today. Great taste never goes out of style. 😉

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Alison Roman’s Salted Butter Chocolate Chunk Shortbread

Chocolate chip cookie meets shortbread.

This is the recipe that’s popularity generated its own hashtag, #thecookies. When the recipe was first published in Roman’s cookbook, Dining In (2017), it was hard to find a food blogger who wasn’t talking about it.

What makes the recipe stand out is that it’s made with salted butter, formed into logs, chilled for 2 hours, and then rolled in demerara (raw) sugar, creating its sugar-crisp edge. It is then sliced, topped with sea salt and baked. Talk about layers of flavor!

Here is a helpful video of Roman making the cookies in her home kitchen.

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I swear by these recipes. But, what did I miss? What's your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe? I'm all for an excuse to make another batch. So please, do share in the comments below! 👇❤️