This recipe for chocolate chip cookies is GOLD. PURE GOLD. I never plan on using another recipe because these are absolute perfection.

I make a lot of things in the kitchen, and I receive more compliments on these cookies anything else I make! And I cannot even take the credit because this recipe has been handed down for generations. It’s my best friend’s grandma’s recipe – thank you Grandma Betty!!!

And they are so easy to make. Nothin’ complicated here. The simplest things are usually the best things in life, wouldn’t you agree?

Here are some tips + tricks when it comes to making these cookies p e r f e c t .

1. Under-bake them. You are going to want to leave these in the oven a lot longer than you should. They are going to look very underdone, but I promise it’ll be okay 🙂 The trick is to see if the bottom edges look like they’re getting golden. But the tops will not look golden at all! This is the #1 rule. Trust me on this one. Here’s a picture of what they look like when you take them out of the oven.

2. Let them sit on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. This continues the cooking process outside of the oven and firms them up. If you transfer the cookies to the cooling rack too soon, it’ll be a doughy mess.

3. The dough will seem very flour-y when you add all three cups of flour. But this is what gives these little guys structure – it keeps ’em fluffed up. Here’s what the dough looks like pre-chocolate chips. Very thick.

4. If you don’t set out your butter + margarine ahead of time to soften, it’s okay. But do NOT over-soften in the microwave, or your cookies will be flat. Here’s what I do:

• Set my microwave power to 50%
• Heat both sticks of butter and margarine for 2-3 seconds at a time
• Check the softness + and rotate to another side of the stick. The side touching the microwave surface gets the softest.

It hardly takes any time at all to get them just a tiny bit softened, which is how you want them for this recipe! According to The Pioneer Woman, softened butter/margarine “should still be cool to the touch, but when pressed using a little pressure, your finger will leave an indentation.”

5. Let them cool completely before eating. These chocolate chip cookies are much better NOT fresh out of the oven! People will tell you they’re underdone if you let them grab a cookie too early, which is not not not true. They just didn’t have patience 😉 I may or may not be referring to my brother and dad… Anyone else feel like the men in their household can never just WAIT when you bake something!?

Okay, anyway. Let’s get into the recipe!

The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies

Serving Size: ~3 dozen cookies

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup margarine
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 12 oz bag chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Cream sugar, eggs, butter, margarine, and vanilla together in large bowl using an electric mixer. Butter and margarine should be softened, but still firm (see tips above).
3. Add dry ingredients using an electric mixer. Do not over-mix.
4. Stir in chocolate chips.
5. Bake for 8-9 minutes. They will look under-done, but I promise this is the key to perfect cookies! You should see the edges starting to get golden, but not the tops.
6. Let cookies sit on the baking sheet for ~2-4 minutes. This is an important step not to skip!
7. Transfer cookies to cooling rack and let cool completely before eating. They aren’t perfection until completely cooled 🙂

I recommend reading through my tips + tricks above to ensure you don’t make any common cookie baking mistakes. The reason these chocolate chip cookies are the BEST is because this recipe isn’t like other recipes. Trust me on this one 🙂

ENJOY + let me know how your chocolate chip cookies turned out in the comments below! A huge thank you to Grandma Betty and her granddaughter (aka my bff) for creating the most amazing chocolate chip cookies + allowing the recipe to be shared with YOU!