A friend recently mentioned to me that I don’t have any plain chocolate chip cookie recipes on the blog. This is because I rarely make plain chocolate chip cookies. I’m continually steeping flowers into the butter or playing with spelt or einkorn or buckwheat flour. It’s rare that I don’t want to add espresso or browned butter or incorporate discarded sourdough. For me, this is where the fun is and it’s a little of what sets me apart from other recipe developers and food bloggers. 

Back in college, when I first discovered the world of food blogging, I would spend hours sifting through images on Food Gawker and pinning recipe after recipe to my Pinterest boards. As a Summer Camp Counselor, I spent the kid’s computer hour devouring blog posts (yes, the whole thing, not just skipping to the recipe), and scribbling the names of recipes and blogs onto scrap pieces of paper, creating “Things I Want To Make” lists so that I wouldn’t forget when I had a chance to get into the kitchen. As a teacher, any downtime I had after school was spent reading and copying down new chocolate chip cookie recipes. I still have at least 5 splattered pages tucked in old recipe books of chocolate chip cookie recipes I tried in my quest for the perfect one. Some called for half-melted butter, others used cornstarch. There were combinations of cake flour, bread flour, all purpose flour. There were recipes where you chilled the dough for at least 24 hours and those ready to bake right away. 

But over the last ten years, I’ve learned that there is no such thing as the perfect chocolate chip cookie. Everyone’s idea of perfection is different—is it soft and chewy? Thin and crispy? Thin, with crispy edges and chewy insides? Do you prefer milk chocolate or dark chocolate? My perfect chocolate chip cookie even changes with my mood. So instead of only sharing my current favorite chocolate chip cookie iteration (which I guarantee you will change within the week), I’ve decided to compile a collection of some of the best chocolate chip cookie recipes I’ve found. Play around, experiment, and discover one that is perfect for you. And then, add flowers to it. :)

1. Thalia Ho is an artist through and through. Her layer cakes, piled high with flowers and herbs, are breath-taking, her photographs are detailed and romantic, and her poetry is stunning. Her cookie recipes are some of my favorites and I frequently use them as jumping off points when I’m developing new recipes. Start with her Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies and then play around with her Smoked Tahini Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies or her Spelt Chocolate Chips. 

2. Tara O’Brady is a brilliant cook and writer. Her Everyday Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe from her book, Seven Spoons, has captured the hearts of people all over. It’s accessible, practical, and an all around great cookie. 

3. Sarah Kieffer, who wrote The Vanilla Bean Baking Book, is famous for her “pan-banging” technique, which results in elephant ear edges and chocolate puddles. Her cookies are wide and thin, cookies with perfectly wrinkled edges and chewy middles. Pan Banging Chocolate Chip Cookies

4. It may be controversial to include Alison Roman’s Salted Butter and Chocolate Chunk Shortbread Cookie on this list, but I couldn’t help myself. Though not a traditional chocolate chip cookie, Alison’s salty shortbread coins are studded with chocolate shards and rolled in crunchy sugar. Martin is decidedly against these cookies, apparently you cannot give him a shortbread cookie when he’s expecting a classic chocolate chip, but the rest of the world and I think they’re a really great cookie. 

5. Below, I’m sharing the most traditionally-minded chocolate chip cookie I have in my collection. This is the one I go to when filling special orders or baking by request. They are thick and fluffy, similar to a Levain bakery cookie, but on a slightly more manageably-sized scale. 

And a few more chocolate chip-esque cookie recipes from the blog: 

Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie with Walnuts 

Yield: about 40 small cookies or 20-24 large cookies 

Ingredients: 

3 cups (440 g) all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, melted 

1 cup (190 g) brown sugar

1/2 cup (115 g) granulated sugar

2 eggs, at room temperature 

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 heaping cups (about 400 g) dark chocolate pieces, chopped 

200 g toasted walnuts *optional*

Procedure: 

1. Preheat oven to 350° F and place roughly chopped walnuts on a baking sheet. Bake for 5-7 minutes, until fragrant and toasted. Let cool completely. 

2. In a small saucepan set over medium heat, melt butter and then set aside to cool completely while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. 

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. 

4. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, and melted butter. Beat for 1-2 minutes, until combined and the mixture turns from the consistency of wet sand to a more homogenous batter. 

5. With the mixer running on low speed, add the eggs one at a time, making sure each is incorporated before adding the next. Mix in vanilla extract and scrape down the sides of the bowl. 

6. In two or three additions, add the dry ingredients, mixing on low to medium speed until just combined and no flour streaks remain. Gradually mix in the chocolate chunks and toasted walnuts. Use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon to stir the dough a few times to make sure that everything is evenly distributed, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes. 

7. After the dough has chilled, use a cookie scoop (whatever size you want, but adjust baking times accordingly) to scoop cookie dough onto a parchment-lined sheet tray. At this point, you have three cookie baking options: 1) Bake right away! This will work and they will be delicious, but the cookies may spread a little more, giving you a slightly thinner cookie. 2) Return cookies to the fridge and chill for anywhere between 2-24 hours. This is my favorite option if time permits, because it allows the dough to hydrate and the flavor to develop. It also keeps the cookies pretty thick when baking. 3) Transfer cookies to a freezer bag and pop in the freezer until you’re ready to bake. I love doing this so that I can bake off one or two when a craving strikes and there I always have cookies on hand. 

8. When you’re ready to bake: preheat the oven to 350° and line a sheet tray with parchment paper. Place scooped cookie dough about 2” apart on the tray and bake for 10 minutes for smaller cookies. After ten minutes, remove the pan from the oven, bang it on the counter once or twice, and then return to the oven and bake for another 2-3 minutes. You’re looking for golden brown edges and centers of the cookies that are dry to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on the pan. For larger cookies, start with 12 minutes and then keep an eye on them, adding extra time in 2 minute intervals until they are baked to your liking.