The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes, According to Eater Editors

What constitutes the “perfect” chocolate chip cookie is an intensely personal calculus: a balance of your preference for chewiness versus crispiness, multiplied by your desired chocolate-to-dough ratio then divided by the ideal salty savoriness versus chocolatey sweetness (clearly, actual calculus is not our strong suit). But Eater editors’ go-to recipes run the gamut of cookie options, from tall and fluffy to chewy and dense, meaning your next perfect cookie recipe might be among this batch:

Rye chocolate chip cookies: The first time I encountered a rye chocolate chip cookie was at the Atticus Bookstore Cafe in New Haven, Connecticut. I fell hard and fast for the deep, savory hit from the rye flour, which balanced out the rich sweetness of a typical chocolate chip cookie. So, of course, I frantically looked for a recipe to create at home and stumbled upon this gem from Milk Street. Yes, the recipe is a little labor intensive, but toasting that rye flour and adding butter to it right off the stove is worth the final product. I’d take these cookies out on the earlier side of the recommended time since they firm up further on a cooling rack, leaving you with a crisp yet chewy and soft-centered cookie. If you, like me, enjoy a note of savoriness in your sweets, then this recipe will quickly become a keeper. — Tanay Warerkar, Eater NY reporter

BA’s best chocolate chip cookies: Growing up, the only chocolate chip cookie I ever knew was the one baked from the recipe on the back of the Toll House bag. It wasn’t until recently that I started looking into different recipes; that’s when I stumbled upon Bon Appétit’s best chocolate chip cookie recipe by Chris Morocco. There’s something about browned butter that turns this classic cookie into something elevated. It doesn’t hurt that the recipe is also incredibly simple and works perfectly despite my lack of patience with butter softening. Pro tip: Throw in some toffee bits for an extra crunch and an even more nutty, buttery, decadent taste. — Alyssa Nassner, art director, Vox Media Editorial Networks

BraveTart chocolate chip cookies: Stella Parks is a baking genius and her chocolate chip cookie recipe is the BEST THING EVER. I’ve never made the base recipe by itself, but I swear by the brown butter version available in her bake book. It’s been fun experimenting with variations on certain ingredients. I’ve played around with adding varying temperatures of the brown butter to the cookie dough mixture, for instance: The still-hot liquid results in a crispier, saltier cookie, but I prefer the cooler brown butter version, which is softer. I’ve also experimented with chocolate quantities and varieties (I’m fond of adding more milk chocolate). I’ve even made a duck egg version, which resulted in a taller cookie. But, as always, the cookie is beautifully sweet and slightly salty, soft and chewy. It’s my go-to cookie for parties (when we used to have them) and now for socially distanced drop-offs. — Nadia Chaudhury, Eater Austin editor

Super-thick chocolate chip cookies: I don’t know if I’m the target audience for this recipe, given I have never visited Levain Bakery or tried one of its famous cookies (though apparently now I can locally), but I was intrigued by its decadence and sold on its relative simplicity. There are smart tips woven throughout (such as the suggestion to weigh the size of your cookie scoop to know if you’re getting the right quantity of dough, as well as the internal temperature guidelines to determine whether these giant cookies are actually done). I love making them as gifts, particularly hostess ones — there’s just something festive about showing up with a batch of gargantuan cookies when a single one could probably serve four. — Missy Frederick, cities director

Buckwheat chocolate chip cookies: Sister Pie in Detroit is best known for, well, pies, but when I visit the West Village corner bakery, I always make sure to order at least two of its buckwheat chocolate chip cookies. These gray beauties have a not-too-sweet flavor that goes perfectly with the chocolate chips and a little flaky salt on top. Bonus: These cookies are gluten free. — Brenna Houck, cities manager

Smitten Kitchen’s consummate chocolate chip cookie, revisited: I didn’t find this recipe until the start of the pandemic last year, but I’ve made them multiple times since, and to me, they truly are the consummate chocolate chip cookie. They’re huge, so rather than the kind of cookie you grow up eating, they’re more like the ones you’d get from a coffee shop or bakery as a treat. (They’d fall even further into this category if I actually bought the fancy chocolate feves the recipe calls for, but I’ve found they’re still very good with the slightly squat 60 percent chips Ghirardelli makes.) The best part about them is their size — you never feel cheated out of chocolate or crispy edges. My recommendation is to make a batch and freeze the 100-gram dough balls so you have the ideal amount of cookie, which is to say five inches of cookie, whenever the mood strikes. — Monica Burton, editor

Fluffy chocolate chip cookies: Patience, my pretty. For fluffy mounds of chocolate chip cookies, I turn to this recipe for a veritable muffin top of a sweet that uses cold butter and a little cornstarch to help it rise while baking. A 30-minute chill session before popping them in the oven, six at a time, prevents the cookies from spreading. Just consider the amount of time needed to chill the cookies before baking as a tradeoff for the minutes spent bringing butter to room temperature in traditional chocolate chip cookies. Cinnamon, almond extract, and two types of chocolate give them extra depth. — Susan Stapleton, Eater Vegas editor