These thick, chewy salted chocolate chip cookies are the ONLY chocolate chip cookie recipe you’ll need! Â Plus a tip to keep them super soft for days!
If you’ve never tried salted chocolate chip cookies before, you’re in for a TREAT!! Â The sprinkle of sea salt truly accentuates the rich chocolate flavor, and this recipe produces super thick and chewy cookies that will be impossible to resist!
I debated whether or not to even post this recipe… I mean doesn’t everyone already have a chocolate chip recipe that they love? Â I decided to post them anyway, but didn’t want to call these “ultimate” or “the best”, because let’s face it, nothing beats Grandma’s cookies right? Â And in all actuality, these were actually supposed to be Halloween cookies, with little spider legs piped onto the chocolate chips… so let’s just see how those turned out…
Yeahhhhh can we say FAIL?! Â Lol, but sometimes you have to laugh at yourself and decide to turn a fail into a win… so I give you, these salted chocolate chip cookies!
I cannot even describe to you how much self-restraint it took to actually shoot these photos without just diving in and eating like 3 cookies! Â Is there a better smell than rich chocolate chip cookies baking? Â Pure heaven.
Even though these cookies are made entirely from scratch, they really don’t take very long at all! Â Yes, there is some chilling time… but that’s not hands on, so you can go watch a tv show, wrangle your kids, or sit down and check out your favorite food blog, *wink wink, nudge nudge*.
If the “salted” part of these salted chocolate chip cookies is throwing you off, just promise me you’ll try it before you make a decision. Â The sea salt doesn’t make these overly salty, it’s just a pinch that truly accentuates the rich chocolate flavor. Â Kind of like the Guinness does in these cupcakes, or the baking chocolate does to this turkey chili! Â I do really recommend sea salt for these cookies though, not kosher or table salt.
And of course, you can’t have these salted chocolate chip cookies without a glass of cold milk!  I’m not even a huge milk drinker, but the dunking isn’t optional 😉
As we all know, baking, while more of a science, isn’t exactly the same from one kitchen to the next. Â The way someone measures their flour, temperature of ingredients, ambient temperature, freshness of ingredients, and different ovens are just a few of the variables. Â To help you guys get the PERFECT cookies every time, here’s a few of my helpful tips.
Tips for Perfect Cookies:
- Use room temperature ingredients (eggs, butter, etc).
- Make sure your ingredients are fresh (like baking soda for example, if it’s not fresh, it won’t act the same during the baking).
- Chill your dough for at least 30 minutes.
- Roll dough into balls and don’t flatten them.
- Bake cookies on parchment paper, and don’t put them too close together.
- Gently press a few extra chocolate chips into the top of the balls of dough before baking (makes them look really pretty and bakery-like).
- Take cookies out when they look like they’re ALMOST done. Â The center should still look slightly underdone. Â They’ll keep baking as you let them cool a few minutes on the baking sheet.
I also have a super awesome tip I just HAVE to share with you guys. Â You know that freshly baked texture of cookies that you love, but fades after just a couple of hours? Â I found a way you can have that soft texture for days. Â Yes, DAYS! Â Grab an airtight storage container and line the bottom with wax paper. Â Place a flour tortilla on top of the wax paper, then top the tortilla with another sheet of wax paper. Â Then add your cookies as usual, with wax paper between the layers. Â Seal the container. Â That’s it! Â The tortilla gives off a bit of moisture, and it keeps the air in the container moist enough to keep the cookies super soft. Â For some extra ooey-gooey fresh baked feel, pop a cookie in the microwave for 5 seconds or so before serving!
Think of these salted chocolate chip cookies a base recipe.. there will be other versions of these cookies coming to the blog!
Happy Baking!
Some Helpful Tools To Make This Recipe:
- Cooling Rack – this cooling rack has crossbars to reinforce it… no more saggy, flimsy racks!
- Cookie Scoop – Get perfectly sized cookies, every time!
- Sea Salt Flakes – You’ll love the texture and flavor of this sea salt!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup salted butter at room temperature, 1 stick
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/3 cup + 2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips (more or less to your tastes)
- sea salt flakes (for sprinkling)
Instructions
- Add flour and baking soda to a mixing bowl and whisk for 15 seconds to incorporate and make them fluffy.
- To the bowl of a stand mixer, add softened butter and both sugars. Beat with paddle attachment for about 2 minutes, until mixture is smooth and fluffy.
- Add egg and vanilla, beat on LOW speed until combined.
- Add flour, half the mixture at a time, beating on LOW speed until JUST combined after each addition. Don't overmix, or your cookies won't be soft and tender.
- Add chocolate chips and stir together with a wooden spoon.
- Cover bowl and chill for at least 30 minutes.
- minutes before you want to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Use a large cookie scoop (or a 1/4 cup filled about 2/3 of the way), scoop round balls of dough onto parchment paper about 2 inches apart. I baked 6 cookies per sheet.
- Press a couple chocolate chips into the tops of the balls of dough, and bake about 10-12 minutes, or until edges are lightly golden brown and tops of cookies look a little underdone. (mine took 11 minutes).
- Sprinkle top of baked cookies with some sea salt flakes.
- Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
Want to save this recipe for later? Click the heart in the bottom right corner to save to your own recipe box!
Chef Tips
2. If you use UNsalted butter, add 1/4 tsp salt to the dry ingredients
3. I measure my flour by whisking flour beforehand, scooping the flour with the measuring cup, leveling off with the back of a butter knife, then making sure to whisk the flour again before adding to the dough.
Video
Tammy says
Love, love, love these cookies! My new favorite! Thank you so much!
Christine says
This is my new “go-to” cookie recipe. They are incredible. I have made these cookies far too many times since discovering this amazing recipe. I add pretzels and pecans to a few cookies in each batch for myself but my family likes them just as they are. Try it – you won’t regret it!