Recipe from Ravneet Gill
Adapted by Charlotte Druckman
- Total Time
- 30 minutes, plus 12 hours’ chilling
- Rating
- 4(8,023)
- Notes
- Read community notes
What makes these cookies truly “perfect” isn’t anything radical; it’s simply an attention to detail. The pastry chef Ravneet Gill was meticulous in developing her recipe, and all of her instructions exist for a reason. When she tells you to chill your dough overnight, don’t think you can skip over that. (If you do, your cookies will spread.) When she instructs you to roll the dough into balls before transferring them to the fridge to rest, do as she says, and you’ll get a nice plump, domed cookie instead of a sad flat one. Don’t go swapping in milk chocolate for dark, and chop the chocolate into large chunks for those dramatic, dense puddles of goo. One allowance: If you don’t have Maldon salt, another flaky salt or even kosher salt will do. —Charlotte Druckman
Featured in: A ‘Perfect’ Chocolate Chip Cookie, and the Chef Who Created It
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Ingredients
Yield:14 cookies
- ½cup plus 2 tablespoons/140 grams unsalted butter (1¼ sticks), softened
- Scant ¾ cup/140 grams dark brown sugar
- ⅔cup/110 grams superfine sugar
- 1large egg
- 1¾cups plus 2 tablespoons/250 grams all-purpose flour
- 1teaspoon baking powder
- ¾teaspoon baking soda
- ¾teaspoon Maldon sea salt (or kosher salt)
- 6ounces/170 grams dark (bittersweet) chocolate, chopped into large chunks
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (14 servings)
326 calories; 12 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 51 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 24 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 181 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
Step
1
Put the butter and both sugars in a stand mixer or mixing bowl. Cream together using a paddle attachment on medium speed, a handheld electric whisk or a wooden spoon for 1 to 2 minutes until paler but not fluffy. (Do not mix for too long; if you beat the mixture until super light and fluffy, that will cause the cookie to deflate later when cooking.)
Step
2
Add the egg and beat over medium speed until evenly combined.
Step
3
In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (all the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt), then fold into the butter mixture using a rubber spatula until combined.
Step
4
Add the chopped chocolate and fold into the dough until evenly distributed.
Step
5
Immediately scoop out heaping ¼-cup portions (about 60 grams), roll into balls and place on two baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 12 hours. (If space is tight, you can condense them on one sheet before refrigerating then redistribute among two sheets before baking.)
Step
6
The next day, heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Step
7
Make sure the dough balls are evenly spaced out among two baking sheets, as they will spread. Bake the cookies for 13 minutes (or 15 minutes if baking from frozen), until the cookies are puffed and golden at the edges. You want the middle to be ever so slightly not-quite set.
Step
8
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet; they will continue firming up as they cool. Once cooled, eat! (These cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days. The balls of dough will keep for up to 2 days in the fridge or 2 weeks in the freezer.)
Ratings
4
out of 5
8,023
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Cooking Notes
Janelle O
Shouldn't the butter be 1 and 1/2 sticks instead of 1 and 1/4?
Ellen
Everyone suggesting that 1 stick + 2 TBSP = 1.5 sticks, you are all bad at math, sorry. 1 stick = 8 tablespoons, recipe is correct.
L.G.
The article with the recipe remarks on the absence of vanilla because it has become so expensive. Cook's Illustrated did a study a few years ago comparing real vanilla extract to the synthesized type, vanillin. They found them to be virtually indistinguishable. In baked goods, I've been using vanillin since then. I find it highly satisfactory and highly affordable.
CFXK
At the risk of sounding cranky...The instructions and accompanying story emphasis the importance of meticulousness and attention to detail, and using precision in following the recipe, in order to achieve "perfection."Then it instructs us to chop the chocolate into "large chunks." One might ask (for the sake of precision): large as compared to what?
Dan Leithauser
As a cookie lover, but not wanting to make entire batches of cookies... I use an ice cream scoop for uniform sized and shaped cookies that I freeze on a tray, then transfer to a storage bag after completely frozen. That way I can pull a couple of frozen cookies out, let them thaw, bake and enjoy.
Mr. Smoochie
This recipe is incorrect!It states: “ These cookies will keep in an airtight container for up to 3 days.“Obviously, they will not. They will all be eaten immediately, all 14 of them, by everyone who lives nearby and can smell the aroma during their baking.
Carla
I love a great chocolate chip cookie, and for me, a chocolate chip cookie can't be great without a generous amount of chopped walnuts.
Erin
No, one stick of butter is 8 tablespoons, so the 2 tablespoons is 1/4 of a stick.
BigGuy
Combined weight of sugars is 250 grams weight of flour 250 " butter 140 " chocolate 170 " Here's the proportions to keep if you modify the recipe. Sugars and Flour should be 1 to 1. Combined weight of butter and chocolate should be 1 1/4 the weight of the flour or sugar. Use more chocolate than butter. Chocolate should be 1/5th more than the butter.
Baker
When the recipe was first posted there was an error and it was written as 3/4 cup or 1 and 1/4 sticks. It has now since been corrected and not noted I might add. So no- we're not all bad at math. Enough with the judging please.
Rich
I'm sure these are wonderful, if you like the soft-center style. But if you're hooked on crispy throughout as the right result, a la Tate's, it's hard to beat the Cook's Illustrated recipe they tout as "The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie." Fussy as all get-out, but well worth the effort.Perfection in things foodie is -- always will be -- a personal choice.
Reed
I have found that with a glass of Cold Milk almost any Chocolate Chip Cookie is "Perfect"Just sayin'...
Mike
The battle of the ages is between cakey cookies, chewy cookies, and crunchy cookies. Doneness and thickness are also crucial. Ms. Gill's "perfect" cookies look unappetizing to my crunchy-thin-slightly-burned-cookie taste. Because I'm an old fart, I've probably made an order of magnitude more chocolate chip cookies than this professional cookie-maker-wannabe. NYT, clearly you've endorsed the word "perfect" for Ms. Gill's cookies in the interests of starting heated arguments.
Leslie Mignault
I've been substituting bourbon for vanilla since canilla became so expensive.
Tom Bantle
3/4 cup butter is 1 1/2 sticks, not 1 1/4. But 140 grams is 1 1/4 sticks.
person
i’m sorry what is the point of chilling for 12 hours? i’m not very patient and i want cookies immediately but i don’t want them to taste bad. so do i have to chill it?
Jenny Perton
one of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes for a very simple reason: they turn out the same way every single time. Every other recipe is less precise than this and also less consistent. The instructions are fussy, but if followed correctly you get the same end result every time.
Pamela Turner
As the head note says, it’s about the details. I’ve made several times and on the one occasion I did not shape the dough into balls before refrigerating my cookies were flat and lacked the dual texture of a chewy interior with slightly crisp edges, such a disappointment. I made them again this week (remembering to use superfine sugar) and they were *perfect* for what my husband and I want in a chocolate chip cookie. Appreciate the gram weight for the dough balls. Perfect 14 cookie yield.
S Rose
We used 170g of chopped pecans rather than the chocolate and portioned into 28g balls. Eyes open these are radical changes to a great recipe but the resulting cookies were really good.
Stacy
I've made these twice. The 2nd time the dough was a little dry so I added an extra egg. They turned out great even without vanilla. I do prefer a chewy cookie just like the recipe produces.
Amy
Did as some recommended, upped the salt to 1 tsp and added 1/2 tsp vanilla extract and 1/2 tsp of almond extract. Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, so delicious.
Anthony B
My family and friends request that I make these for them. They have a lovely texture and people love them.
Ilana
Add more maldon salt before putting in ovenAdd vanilla to doughMilk chocolate w extra cacao
Cornelia
This is my to go to cookie recipe, and all my friends and family always LOVE it. Sometimes people ask me to bring these cookies, so they're definitely a hit. Thanks for the recipe, I wouldn't change a thing about it.
cooking time:
13 minutes only ; otherwise too crisp
Tricia
Use same measurements using Bob's red mill GF all-purpose flour for baking to make these gluten-free and substitute 1 tbsp ground flax seed in 2-3 tbsps hot water (let sit for a few minutes to thicken before adding) to make egg-free.
TB
I love these cookies but I'm struggling with the recipe. It seems like it's too much flour. The cookies stay nearly and their original ball shape and are perhaps to stiff in the middle. Last night while making the recipe and combining in the flour using a batter spatula, the silicone spatula actually broke. Suggestions?
Jenny Perton
the softer the butter is before you mix with the sugar, the better. I've used really soft butter and really hard, and the harder it is, the drier the dough looks at the end, but once you get it portioned and chilled they turn out the same in the end. the flour will hydrate with the long chill.
Hilda
So I followed recipe and my cookies flattened as they cooled. What happened? That’s a lot of time invested for flat cookies.
Lisa
How many does this make at 1/4 cup each?
Katelynd
bland. agree with others that vanilla would add nice flavors
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