The chocolate chip cookie is iconic. It's one of the first—and most often—things people bake and the gold standard by which they judge bakeries. Everyone has passionate opinions about what makes their ideal cookie the best. So when chocolate chip cookies were first floated as contenders for our 2024 Recipe of the yearmy initial thought was, you have got to be kidding since as Senior Recipe Developer, it would be my job to develop the recipe. When I realized it wasn't a joke, my next thought was,
But now, over a year and a thousand test cookies later, I'm proud to present them Super soft super soft chocolate chip cookies, our 2024 Recipe of the Year and our new favorite chocolate chip cookie. it's big, ultra-buttery and full of deep caramel notes thanks to the nutty brown butter. The texture is nostalgic yet complex: a touch bent, extra soft and chewy with slightly crisp edges.
1200
The number of cookies we needed to bake to perfect this recipe
Why chocolate chip cookies?
Our goal is not to reinvent the chocolate chip cookie, and certainly not to dethrone your treasured family recipe or your favorite bakery's version. We are here to offer a chocolate chip cookie that is modern, innovative, sophisticated and very much like the chocolate chip cookie of 2024; to throw the ball into the deep end of the age-old chocolate chip cookie debate and encourage bakers to try a new recipe, one that has been endlessly tested and carefully calibrated to deliver an innovative version, you must try this classic.
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
What makes this cookie special?
Everyone knows that butter + sugar + chocolate = delicious, so what makes this chocolate chip cookie special? I'm so glad you asked! Here are seven elements that make this chocolate chip cookie stand out from the rest.
1) No special equipment
We wanted this recipe to be accessible to everyone, regardless of your kitchen setup. To make the dough for Super soft super soft chocolate chip cookies you will need it a small pot, 2 Bowling gamea whip, a shoulderor cutting boardand a serrated knife. This recipe comes together by hand – no mixer required!
38
Pounds of butter used when testing these chocolate chip cookies
2) Brown butter
Brown butter it adds a complex flavor to the cookies, which helps push beyond the usual, one-note flavor of a cookie that's just sweet. AND added bonus The advantage of using brown butter is that there is no need to soften the butter and there is no need to worry about how to properly cream it with sugar.
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
3) Bread flour
You might be thinking – wait, I thought bread flour was it to make bread? Not always! In this recipe, the higher protein content of bread flour (12.7%) allows more gluten to develop. More gluten development leads to a firmer dough, and a firmer dough results in a chewier texture in the baked cookie.
4) Tangzhong
Making one tangzhong — an Asian technique that involves cooking flour and liquids together until they reach a roux-like consistency — is usually reserved for bread recipes, helping to give bread a super soft texture (think milk bread) and an extended lifespan. Using the method on cookie dough and cooking the mixture to a thicker, mashed potato-like consistency brings the same characteristics to a chocolate chip—they're super soft and keep for up to five days.
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
5) Chopped chocolate
It's true, there's nothing easier than tearing up a bag of chocolate chips and mixing them into cookie dough. But chocolate chips will never eclipse chocolate chips in terms of chocolate distribution and eating experience, and when using a serrated knife to cutit's not as annoying as you might think.
The chocolate chipped in different sizes provides a dynamic eating experience, and the melting and mouthfeel are 10/10. Plus, when you chop your own chocolate, you have more control over the type of chocolate you can use, and you can count on high-quality options like Semi-sweet guitar wafers.
50
Total kilograms of chocolate used during recipe development
6) Rest at night
Once mixed, the cookie dough will keep in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours. I know, I know – the waiting is the hardest part! But there is many benefits of a vacation in the refrigerator: It gives the dough time to fully hydrate, prevents over-spreading and improves the flavor of the cookies. The benefit I like most about an overnight rest is that it's resting time, giving you more flexibility with your baking time. The dough can be refrigerated for up to three days, so if you want to enjoy freshly baked cookies every afternoon, live your life!
Photography by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne
7) Large size
Separated from ours larger cookie scoopthese are huge cookies that are just over 4″ in diameter when baked. Giant cookies are fun and quirky and different — that's the point! The larger surface area gives plenty of room to enjoy the beautiful toppings and texture, filled with chopped chocolate chunks walso making room for multiple textures; soft, chewy centers surrounded by edges that are slightly crisp.
Of course, there are other cookies that use brown butter, cut chocolate, require an overnight rest, or use bread flour. But when you put it all together? You have a modern chocolate chip cookie, unlike any you've tried before: slightly flaky, extra soft without being candy, chewy with slightly crisp edges (on the day they're baked). And, thanks to the creation with tangzhong, these features last for days.
90 g
Weight of each cookie (we told you they were big!)
But there's only one way to know for sure: Bake our newest recipe of the year, Super soft super soft chocolate chip cookies. Be sure to share your cookies with us on Facebook and Instagram using #RecipeOfTheYear, and please leave a review and let me know what you think (pssst: I really do read them all!).
Cover photo by Rick Holbrook; food styling by Kaitlin Wayne.
