Chocolate Chip Cookies: The Ultimate (and Unconventional) Guide to a Classic

Photo by Rio Funatsu ‘25

Chocolate chips are one of the most popular American classics. Too many recipes are always floating around, and tracking the pros and cons of each is nearly impossible. 

For the chewy dark chocolate chip cookie with a subtle sweetness, these few tweaks to any recipe can help you achieve the cookie of your dreams. 

Brown Sugar, Brown Butter

The key to making a perfectly toasty cookie is the browned butter. The method from Sally’s Baking Addiction extracts a deep flavor profile every time. When you are done cooking it, immediately transfer your butter to a heat-proof bowl so it doesn’t continue to cook. Make sure to scrape down the pot because the most flavorful parts of your browned butter live in the brown speckles that cling to the bottom. 

Make sure to let your browned butter cool for about ten minutes before using because you don’t want to dissolve your sugars at this stage. And yes, “sugars” is plural. To achieve a chewy, nutty cookie, use a ratio of 2-to-3 of white sugar to brown sugar. 

Salt

As a rule of thumb for most recipes, always include the pinch of salt. It helps regulate the sugar so you can better appreciate the actual flavor aside from the sweetness. Zingerman’s Bakehouse has all the science behind how to choose your salt.

Mixing

Mixing the dry and wet ingredients is a delicate art. Not mixing enough creates dry and crumbly cookies, but overmixing leads to more gluten development, making them tough. To quote Moira Rose from “Schitt’s Creek," “Fold in the cheese!” or better yet, fold in the dry ingredients just until small streaks of flour remain. 

(Really) Dark Chocolate

The choice of chocolate is where it gets a little unconventional, but if you are looking for a not-too-sweet chocolate chip cookie, use equal amounts of dark chocolate chips and chopped 100 percent cacao chocolate. Yes, 100 percent. While you still get the gooey, decadent chocolate chips, the 100 percent chocolate adds more depth to the flavor without stacking on more sweetness.

Chilling the Dough

Before you pop your cookies in the oven, let the dough balls chill in the fridge. This helps stop cookies from spreading too much, resulting in a thicker cookie. The colder the dough, the better the finished product. Handle the Heat recommends a 72-hour chilling time, but even 30 minutes can go a long way. 

Baking

Finally, the baking. To get lofty cookies that aren’t underbaked in the middle, there is physical labor that goes into ensuring an even bake. For around three increments during baking, lift one side of the tray and let it drop onto the rack a couple of times. This “pan-banging” technique was developed by The Vanilla Bean Blog and helps deflate the middle of the cookie to achieve the perfect ripple on the surface. 

Finishing Touches

The last step, and arguably the most important, is sprinkling flaky salt onto the freshly baked cookies to help bring out more flavor in each bite. 

With whichever recipe you follow, you can instantly incorporate any of these tips to elevate your dessert. While it may take some trial and error to figure out the perfect recipe for your taste, a toasty, charming cookie is on your horizon.