My Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes

I love to bake and one of my favorite things to bake are cookies. I have been buying recipe books for as long as I can remember and some of my favorite books are of cookie recipes. I like a lot of different cookies but chocolate chip cookies are some of my favorites, and there are thousands of different recipes all with a lot of the same ingredients but in different measures.

While garage sale-ing I found one of my all-time favorite cookie recipe cookbooks. It is titled "The Search For The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie" by Gwen Steege. The result of a nationwide contest sponsored by The Orchards, an inn located in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. The recipes in this book are the best recipes out of 2,600 entries.

I hope you will find one of these recipes to your liking and taste. Bake with your children or grandchildren. You will fill your kitchen with some of the best aroma's around and your taste buds will be dancing.

My all-time favorite cookie recipe

This cookie recipe is Karen Klooz Hunter's of Hay Springs, Nebraska. It is my very favorite in "The search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie" book.

Ingredients:

6 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 cups butter

1 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed

3 eggs

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

3 cups milk chocolate chips

2 cups chopped walnuts or pecans

Sift together flour, baking soda & salt; set aside

Combine the butter, sugars, eggs & vanilla and cream very well. Add the sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Shape dough into balls, placed on lightly greased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees F. for 7 to 9 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE. Sides should be slightly browned, but centers will look gooey. Yield: 6 dozen

The amount of cookies you get from this recipe will depend on the size of dough balls that you make. I find using a mellon baller is a great help and keeps the cookies of uniform size. You can use any size you prefer.

As a side note: I have also added heath bar chips along with all the chocolate chips and I have substituted whole wheat flour for the flour and they still turned out yummy!

For coconut lovers

This recipe comes from Angeline Birdsall from corning, New York. If you are a coconut lover this recipe is for you. It has everything, chocolate, nuts and coconut.

Ingredients:

4 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 /2 cups butter, softened

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed

3 large eggs

3 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1/2 cup coconut

Sift together flour, baking soda & salt; set aside.

Cream butter, sugars, eggs & vanilla and almond extracts. Stir in sifted ingredients. Gently stir in chocolate chips, nuts and coconut. Drop by rounded tablespoons onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 375 degrees F. for 10 minutes, or until edges of cookies turn golden. DO NOT OVERBAKE! Cookies will continue baking after being removed from the oven. Allow to set for a few minutes on trays before gently removing to racks to cool. Yield 4 to 5 dozen

Great ideas for every day cooking.

The best from the Inn

This Inn, located in the Berkshires, sponsored the chocolate cookie recipe contest. This recipe is from their kitchen and it is wonderful. Try it with a large glass of milk!

Ingredients:

6 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 tablespoon salt

3 cups margarine

2 /12 cups brown sugar, firmly packed

1 cup granulated sugar

5 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Combine the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter with a large wooden spoon. Add the brown and granulated sugars and continue creaming until well blended. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla extract. Mix in the dry ingredients, using your hands to blend well. Gently stir in chocolate chips. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 8 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE! Place baking sheet on a rack so that air can circulate under the cookies as they cool or slide parchment with cookies still in place, onto racks to cool. When completely cool, store tightly covered. Yeld: 9 to 9 1/2 dozen

Are you seeing a pattern with these recipes? Too many cooks bake their cookies too long. Remember, once removed from the oven the cookies do continue to bake...you can't rinse them with water like pasta.

A baking sheet is a must have when making cookies. This is one of my favorites because it bakes evenly and washes up great.

Taste like a chocolate covered cherry!

This is a recipe I asked for after tasting a cookie one of the ladies from church brought to a potluck dinner. I can tell you they didn't last long, everyone loved them. I don't know who the originator of this cookie is so I just call them Carol's choco-cherry cookie.

Ingedients: For cookie dough

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 cup butter

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

48 marachino cherries

1/2 cup cocoa

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Ingredients: Frosting

6 oz chocolate chips

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)

Combine the flour and cocoa together; set aside

Beat butter, add sugar, vanilla, baking soda, salt, egg and baking powder. Beat until well combined and then gradually add flour mixture.

Shape dough into 1 inch balls, place on ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Drain the cherries reserving the juice. Using your thumb press a hole in the center of each dough ball and place one cherry in each thumbprint.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Cookies should be done but not doughy. Remove from heat and let cool. While cooling make frosting. In small saucepan combine milk and chocolate chips. Stir until chocolate is melted. Add enough cherry juice to the chocolate to have a nice smooth consistency that will drizzle over the cherry that is in the cookie. Drizzle to cover cherry.

If you like chocolate covered cherries these cookies will not last long and if you need to bring a desert somewhere, this one is perfect. Happy eating.

Easy to make

This is a tastey cookie that looks pretty on a plate. Bring this one to your holliday get together. The whole family will love this one and they are bite size.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups butter

1 tablesppon vanilla

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup finely chopped nuts

3/4 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups (12 oz) mini chocolate chips

more powdered sugar

Beat together butter, sugar, vanilla and salt until creamy.

Gradually add the flour.

Stir in chips and nuts.

Shape level tablespoons into 1 1/4 inch balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 -12 minutes.

Remove from oven and sift powdered sugar over hot cookies.

Cool and sprinkle again with powdered sugar.

These are great with a hot cup of coffee or hot chocolate.

How It Got Started

Back in 1930, Ken and Ruth Wakefield opened a restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts in an old colonial house. Stagecoaches traveled a road between Boston and New Bedford and stopped at the restaurant to pay a toll at the gates. The house was known as the Toll House and was highly esteemed as a place to enjoy great food and hospitality.

Ruth is the inventor of Chocolate Chip Cookies. She was making a batch of her well liked colonial butter cookie which called for nuts. Having discovered she was out of nuts she had only one option. One that most bakers are called upon to use at one time or another. SUBSTITUTION! Yes, she substituted Nestle semisweet chocolate bar for the nuts. Having chopped them up she was assuming they would melt while being baked and swirl into the dough. Well, they did melt a little but she also had some chunks of chocolate that did not melt. She called them Chocolate Crispies and they quickly became a huge success.

At some point the recipe for her Chocolate Crispies was published in a Boston newspaper and before long the Nestle Company discovered a rise in sales of their semisweet chocolate bar. With some investigation they discovered the source of the chocolate bars popularity. To make it even easier for people to use, the Nestle company scored the bars to make them easier to break into pieces and even went so far as to market a special chopper for the chocolate bars.

In 1939 the Nestle Company began make chocolates in the familiar "chip" that we readily find in our supermarkets.

In the 1940s the Nestle Company purchased the Toll House name from the Wakefields and you can still find the original Nestle Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe on every package.

Here is the recipe for the TOLLHOUSE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE:

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 cups Nestle Chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts

In small bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In large bowl combine butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract; beat until creamy.

Beat in eggs.

Gradually add flour mixture.

Stir in Nestle semisweet chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop by level measuring tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake at 375 degrees F. for 9 to 11 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE.

Yield: 5 dozen

This is another recipe that doesn't last long in my house so I double the recipe and freeze a few dozen. To tell the truth I must hide them in the freezer.

Two great recipes

From Richard MacDonald of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania comes a traditional chocolate chip cookie recipe. Some of the same ingredients in different amounts. This is Chocolate Chip Cookie I

Ingredients:

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

6 tablespoons brown sugar, firmly packed

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla exract

1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or semisweet chocolate bar cut into pieces

Sift flour before measuring then resift with baking soda and salt; set aside.

Cream butter. Add sugars gradually and continue beating until creamy.

Beat in egg and vanilla extract.

Stir in sifted ingredients.

Stir in nuts and chocolate chips.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets, placing cookies well apart.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 8 to 10 minutes.

Yield: about 4 dozen

And by Susan S. Grossman of Canton, Ohio here is her recipe called

Chocolate Chip Cookies II

As you can see the ingredients are similar but in different amounts. These cookies are softer and chewier than most chocolate chip cookies.

Chocolate Chip Cookies II

Ingredients:

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup margarine, room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon water

2 eggs

3 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Sift flour before measuring, then resift with baking soda and salt; set aside.

Combine margarine, sugars, vanilla and water in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer about 2 minutes or until creamy.

Add eggs and beat until fluffy

Gradually add the sifted ingredients and beat with electric mixer for about 2 minutes or until very well blended.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop by heaping teaspoonfuls onto lightly greased baking sheets. Bake on middle oven rack at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not overbake. Remove from oven when lightly browned and slightly crisp on botttom. They may seem slightly undercooked. Cool 1 minute on baking sheet then remove to paper towels to cool completely.

Yield: 4 dozen

Make sure you have some ice cold milk on hand or a fresh pot of coffee. You won't be able to resist either of these cookie recipes once you smell the aromas coming from your kitchen.

Here is a chocolate chip cookie recipe with a small variation for those of you who do not like big chunks of nuts in your cookie. With this recipe you grind the pecans until they are finely ground; so the pecan flavor is in the dough and you hardly notice that you are eating pecans except that the flavor of the pecan is noticeable. Also, these chocolate chip cookies are on the chewier side instead of crisp.

Pamela McCartney of Champaign, Illinois is to be credited for this chocolate chip cookie recipe. It is very good so I hope you will give it a try.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup margariene

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup finely ground pecans

Sift together the flour, soda and salt; set aside

Cream together the margarine, sugar, eggs and the vanilla and almond extracts. Stir sifted ingredients into creamed mixture along with the pecans.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased baking sheets.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 10 minutes.

Yield: 2 to 3 dozen

Personally I am not a dunker. I don't like soggy. But my husband dunks everything and has some of the grandchildren doing the same.

Do you dunk your cookies?

The Healthy Cookie

For some reason eating an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie always seems to be a healthy choice. I can't tell you my reasoning, I guess because you are eating oatmeal and raisins. They are good for you, right?

I've tweaked this recipe over the years trying to make it a healthy version of a cookie. I'm not a dietician so I don't really know if I have succeded, all I know is they don't last long around my house so the taste is still there and I have reduced the fat and sugars. Plus, no one knows that they are eating a low fat, low sugar cookie.

If you try them, you can let me know what you think. Please!

Ingredients:

1 cup Smart Balance (Butter Blend) it contains NO Hydrogenated Oils

1/2 cup Splenda Brown Sugar

1/2 cup Splenda Granulated Sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons Vanilla

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 1/2 cups Old Fashioned Quaker Oats

1 cup Raisins

1 cup finely chopped walnuts

1 cup mini chocolate chips

Heat Oven to 350 degrees F.

Beat together; Smart Balance, brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth and creamy. Add eggs (one at a time) and vanilla and beat well. Add flour, baking soda and cinnamon and mix until well combined.

With a spoon mix in the following; oats, nuts, raisins and mini chocolae chips. Blend well. I often remove my rings and dig in with my hands. I have found this to be easier and all the goodies get mixed equally.

Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are a beautiful golden brown. I often use a medium size melon baller which gives me a consistent size to the cookie.

These taste really good with a hot cup of coffee or a hot chocolate. I hope you like them.

The soft cookie

Here is a little twist on the Chocolate Chip Cookie. Chococlate Chip Cookies are usually either crisp or crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. These cookies are like the texture of cake. So if you like cake, these will be a hit with you. The chocolate is from candy bars, 3 candy bars to be exact. Make sure the candy bars have been chilled.

This recipe is from Mary A. Christmann of Los Altos, Californa. Thanks Mary.

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 4 ounce chocolate candy bar, broken into small pieces

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add sifted ingredients to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Add vanilla. Beat with mixer until well mixed, scraping bowl occasionally with rubber spatula. Stir in chocolate pieces by hand.

Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets, placing cookies about 2 inches apart. If desired, press each cookie into a neat circle with moistened fork. Bake on middle oven rack at 375 degrees F. for 12 to 14 minutes, until edges are lightly browned. Cool thoroughly on wire racks before storing in a covered container.

Yield: 3 dozen

Adding a new ingredient -potato!

I never would have thought of adding potato chips to a chocolate chip cookie. I've added them to my meatloaf, I've eaten them with dip but I have never added them to a chocolate chip cookie recipe. But these are very good and I think you should give them a try. This recipe comes from Derene Wilson of Clearlake, California and I found it in "The Search for the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie" cookbook by Gwen Steege. Thanks to you both.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup butter or margarine

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup light brown sugar - firmly packed

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups potato chips, coarsely crushed

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mix together the flour and baking soda. Set aside. Cream butter, sugars, and eggs until smooth and well blended. Stir in vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients and mix well. Gently add potato chips and chocolate chips, then nuts and mix well to distribute everything evenly.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 10 to 12 minutes.

Yield: 9 dozen

I always wear an apron when baking. Mine has a pocket which I throw my measuring spoons in. I keep several on hand so that when my grandchildren are in the kitchen with me they have one too.

Big Chips for Big Cookies

Do you like a BIG cookie? Do you like milk chocolate? Do you like coconut? If you can answer yes, yes and yes then this is the cookie for you. It uses large chocolate chips, it uses milk chocolate instead of semisweet chocolate and this is a BIG cookie.

This recipe comes from Jan Deering of Wichita, Kansas, Jan this is a real winner!

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup margarine

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

2 eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups large milk chocolate chips

3/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1/2 cup flaked coconut

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt, set aside;

Cream margarine. Gradually add sugars and beat until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Add sifted ingredients and beat until well blended.

Stir in milk chocolate chips, macadamia nuts and coconut.

Drop by 1/4 cupfuls onto ungreased baking sheet. Placing cookies 3 inches apart.

Bake at 375 degrees F. for 16 to 19 minutes, until golden.

Yield 2 dozen

A taste of Mint!

Here is a recipe from Mary Cramer of North Adams, Massachusetts and it is a real winner! What I love about this recipe is that it is basically the same ingredients for the batter but all the chocolate and nuts are different. I think this would be a good cookie recipe to bring to a holiday get-together.

This is a great twist for the chocolate chip cookie.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 eggs

8 ounces semisweet chocolate cut into 1/2 inch chunks

1 1/4 cups chopped almonds (optional)

3 dozen pieces creme de menthe candy, cut into quarters

Combine flour, baking soda and salt and set aside.

Beat butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs until light and fluffy. Blend in dry ingredients. stir in chocolate chunks, almonds and creme de menthe candy. Chill for 1 hour.

Remove from refrigerator and allow to stand for 10 minutes. Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets. Placing cookies about 2 inches apart.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for about 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Do not overbake. Cool and remove from cookie sheet.

Yield: 3/ 12 dozen

Tip: This also makes a great bar cookie, so if you are in a hurry; spread the dough over the bottom of a lightly buttered 9 x 12 inch baking pan and bake at 350 degrees F. for about 20 to 25 minutes. When cool cut into squares.

My personal feeling is that you CANNOT have enough cookbooks. Even if you only find a couple recipes in a book it is worth having.

If you like coffee or mocha flavor this one is for you!

If you love the flavor of coffee and chocolate then you will love this recipe. Something special happens when you combne these two flavors together. This is still a chocolate chip cookie but it has an unusual twist.

This is also an eggless recipe. I haven't run across many eggless cookie recipes; so, if you have been looking for one, here is a good one.

This recipe comes from Barbara Nowakowski who is from North Tonawanda, New York.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted (sweet) butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon instant coffee granules

12 ounces (2 cups) semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream together butter and brown sugar. Blend in vanilla and coffee granules. Add sifted ingredients to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop by teaspoonfuls onto lightly buttered baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool slightly before removing from baking trays.

Yield: 6 dozen

FYI: These cookies do not spread while baking, as most cookies do. Whatever size you put on the baking sheet is the size of your cookie. If you are looking for tastey, bite sized cookies these will be wonderful. They are pop in your mouth size and believe me they are delicious with a hot cup of coffee or a hot chocolate.

Chocolate Lover's Cookie

Do you just love chocolate no matter how you eat it? Do you always pick chocolate over any other flavor? Chocolate Malt versus Vanilla Malt will win every time in my book. I just love chocolate. Well, here is a recipe for you chocoholics. This is a recipe I created by combining several of my favorite recipes and then just tweeking them a little. I hope you like these Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Ingredients:

5 Cups flour

1 cup cocoa

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups butter or margarine

1 cup granulated sugar

2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

3 eggs

3 tablespoons vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

3 cups milk chocolate chips

2 cups finely chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

In large bowl mix flour, baking soda and cocoa. Set aside.

Combine the butter, sugars, eggs and vanilla and mix until very creamy. Add the flour, baking soda and cocoa and mix until very well blended. Using a long handled spoon stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Mix well.

Drop by teaspoon full onto ungreased cookie sheet. You may line the cookie sheet with parchment paper for easier cleanup.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 7 to 9 minutes. Cookie will be gooey when taken out of the oven so let sit for a minute or two before removing them from the cookie sheet.

Yield: About 6 dozen

Tip: I use a medium size melon baller and get 12 cookies per cookie sheet.

Make sure you have a big container of milk in the house!

The classic Kitchen Aid Mix Master. Every kitchen should have one. I received my Kitchen Aid Mix Master as a Christmas gift from my son over 20 years ago and it is still operating as if it were brand new. My Kitchen Aid has the 4 1/2 quart bowl and I love it. It is one tough appliance. Not only does it operate like a new machine it looks brand new too.

As you can see my favorite cookie is the chocolate chip. I guess as long as any cookie has chocolate in it or on top of it, I will love it.