Help! I Need a Good Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

Well, this was an epic fail. Eva and I bake on Tuesdays, as one of her extracurricular activities. Yesterday we made chocolate chip cookies and they were a disaster. I used the recipe on the back of the Nestles chocolate chip bag and it sure didn't work for me. These cookies spread out all over the pan, making one gigantic, thin, nasty cookie. Horrible. They didn't look right, didn't taste right, and were not the chewy, cakey, delicious cookies I remember.

The second tray turned out better because I doctored up the batter by adding another half cup of flour.

This was more like it, but still not right. I don't know what the problem was, but here are some thoughts:

1) Too much butter (2 sticks)
2) Not enough flour (only 2 1/4 Cups)
3) Too many chocolate chips (2 cups)
4) I did not add nuts (Eva's preference), which would have thickened up the batter
5) Did not chill the dough- but the recipe didn't say to do that

So what do you think? 

I'd love it if you could steer me in the direction of a perfect cakey chewy chocolate chip cookie. I have every cookbook known to man, so if you just reference "Ina Garten's recipe from her (Fill in the Blank) cookbook", I can find it. Or send me a website link, or send me your Grandma's recipe. I just know I need to get a decent chocolate chip recipe pronto. And Eva tells me if I MUST add nuts, she will cope.

Holding my breath here, praying you all will come through for me.

Comments

[Steffi Smith]

My friend makes the Crisco Chocolate Chip cookie recipe using butter flavored Crisco. I’ve never made them but hers are perfect every time. I’m going to try them. Hoping mine are as good as hers. The recipe is online. Enjoy your blog!

[Susan]

I just made choc chjip cookies with walnuts from a recipe on “dessert for two”.com. They were awesome and only made a dozen. She has several recipes with variations. My dough seemed really crumbly even after refrigerating but I just rolled them into lopsided balls and they baked great!

I don’t remember having cookies spread like yours did all the years that I’ve been baking but I often have the same problem. Has butter changed? I do find that the cookies often taste better after chilling especially oatmeal cookies. Hope you find a great recipe.

Ps the cranberry/white chocolate cookies in dessert for two are AMAZIN

[Bonnie]

I use David Leite's recipe that was published in the NYTimes. The dough is refrigerated overnight.
Happy cookie baking and eating!
--Bonnie

[Kathryn J Sims]

jello instant pudding added to the batter is my trick. I'm sure the recipe can be found on the Jello website.

[Vic]

I had the same thing happen to me with shortbread cookies and pie crust. The cookies spread and were completely flat and the pie crust melted while it was cooking. I used Kerry Gold butter. I did some research and read that it could be the butter - if you use a European butter, the fat content might be higher and that's what causes the spread. Hope your next batch turns out better!

[Patty]

https://handletheheat.com/bakery-style-chocolate-chip-cookies/
These are the best chocolate chip cookies. They are soft, chewy, and large. I have made them countless times. Because they make a large cookie, frequently I bake 3 or 4 and freeze the rest for a later date. I always have these chocolate chip cookies in my freezer ready to bake. No refrigeration of the dough needed but The author is a big proponent of weighing your ingredients, which I used to never do but am a convert, yielding consistent baking results. These are my favorite and a hands-down winner. (I don’t add the chocolate discs… I just add more chocolate chips).

[Kathy]

I make that instant pudding recipe and it's on the Yummly.com website.

[Margaret]

Here are 3 things I do, regardless of what recipe I use -
* use Ghirardelli’s chocolate chips
* use unsalted butter, and reduce the amount by a tablespoon or so
* chill the batter

Good luck! (What fun, making all those samples!)

[Nancy Anderson]

Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg
12 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl combine flour, soda, and salt. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine butter, shortening, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla. Beat until creamy. Beat in egg. Gradually add flower mixture and mix well. Still in chocolate chips and nuts. Drop on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes.
Makes 36-48 cookies.

[Nancy Anderson]

Dang autocorrect! Add flour mixture, not flower mixture.

[Sue]

Try substituting margarine for the butter, makes a cakey cookie vs crispy with butter.

[Kathy Czuprynski]

Good morning! My Mom’s recipe was the exact recipe from the back of the Nestle’s chocolate chip recipe EXCEPT you add a full cup extra of flour. My goodness! Dunking those babies in a glass of milk is a wonderful childhood memory!

[Kathy Czuprynski]

And I always use butter, not margarine. I’ve used Land o Lakes, Publix and Kerrygold butter without any issues.

[Lisa D.]

The recipe I have used for years is this one. https://www.food.com/recipe/champion-chocolate-chip-cookies-173754
Equal amounts of butter and shortening means they don't get flat and crispy. I add an extra 1/4 cup of flour per recipe (my grandmother's trick) to make them chewier.

[Deb S]

A long time ago, I made that recipe on the back of Tollhouse Choco Chip bag like you did but only used one stick of butter as I didn't see it as a "cup." Gamechanger - really nice chocolate chip cookie but now prefer an oatmeal cookie with chocolate chips to that recipe - I think it is "healthier" - HAHA!

[Vikki W]

Give sallysbakingaddiction.com a try. She has numerous chocolate chip cookie recipes, plus she explains the reasoning behind the ingredients. Happy Baking!

[Debbie R.]

I have tried a lot of recipes for chocolate chip cookies, and think that this one is the most delicious. From HuffPost https://www.huffpost.com/entry/chewy-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookie-recipe_n_5b5b34c5e4b0b15aba986dcf

Good luck! And please be sure to tell us how it goes. There's nothing like a great chocolate chip cookies!

[Loris Mills]

Search on YouTube for Dorie Greenspan and her classic chocolate chip cookies. Lots of great tips for great cookies along with the recipe. I've made them a few times and always well received. My husband also likes the recipe on the Quaker Oats box because likes Oatmeal chocolate chip.

[Linda DeMuth]

I got this recipe from a friend in the 60’s and have used it consistent. It makes a big batch of cookies which I like. I have found that I get good results using half butter and half Crisco also. If I use all butter, I have the same relics you got.
Cowboy Cookies
2 cups flour. 1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. Baking soda. 2 eggs
1/2 tsp. Salt. 1 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 tsp. Baking powder. 1 pkg. chocolate chips
1 cup shortening 2 cups quick cooking oatmeal
1 cup sugar

Sift dry ingredients together. Cream sugar and shortening together.
Add eggs and vanilla. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix In Chocolate chips and oatmeal. Bake 350 degrees. 15 minutes.

You’ll probably get many suggestions but I hope you give this a try. My kids and now my grandkids use this same recipe!

[Linda Demuth]

That darn spell check! I like using it but sometimes it changes things that don’t need changing. I meant to say I got the same results that you did.

[Jan]

My sister & I both use the exact recipe on the back of the Nestles chocolate chip bag. The only change is that we always use regular white Crisco in place of the butter--not butter flavored Crisco; 'original' white. Beat the Crisco, eggs & sugars until they're 'fluffy'. Add the dry ingredients as called for in the recipe & mix well. The chocolate chips go in last & are folded in until evenly distributed. I use a 1 ½" scoop to drop the dough on the foil covered cookie sheet. Bake according to directions. My sister lives at sea level & I live at 5400' above--same recipe with no adjustments.

[Susan McGirr]

I've always used the Nestle recipe but I use 1/2 Crisco and 1/2 butter. I do add nuts (usually pecans)but that shouldn't matter. Too much butter makes them flatten out.

[Kathi Kittle]

I had the same issue with the recipe on the Nestle bag. Since then, I have always made the recipe from the cookbook I got in my high school home ec class. It is a 1950’s edition of the Betty Crocker Cookbook (yes, I still have it). Here it is:
Mix together 2/3 c soft butter, 1/2 c granulated sugar, 1/2 c packed brown sugar, 1egg and 1teaspoon vanilla.
Sift together and stir into wet ingredients 1 3/4 c flour, 1/2 t baking soda, 1/2 t salt
Add about 1 1/4 c chocolate chips and about 1/2 c walnuts (or as desired).
375 degrees for 8-10 minutes. I
I do not chill the dough and scoop with a medium sized ice cream scoop. I also use parchment paper and cook the minimum time. I like them slightly undercooked. You can use 1 1/2 cup flour instead, but I like a softer, more rounded cookie.
I think these are the absolute best!

[JackiesStitches]

My mom used the recipe from the bag but used half shortening and half butter. I don't know where she got the idea from but the cookies were always delicious!

[Wanda Hanson]

Like many others that have commented, I use half white Crisco and half Land O'Lakes butter. I beat the sugar and shortening/butter for about 2 full minutes and also after adding flour beat for at least a minute before adding chips. Sometimes I chill the dough, sometimes I don't with very similar results either way. Electric ovens make taller cookies, gas ovens, flatter cookies, comparing my mothers and mine.