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Few comfort foods are as classic as a chocolate chip cookie. But for such a seemingly simple treat, there’s a lot of debate over the best way to make one. Semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate? White or brown sugar? Crispy or chewy? We asked five celebrity chefs for their favorite chocolate chip cookie recipes, and even they couldn’t reach a consensus.
They could, however, share several helpful tips for baking your perfect cookie, whatever that may be. Some chefs swear by less-expected ingredients like cake flour, corn syrup, and oatmeal. And for one chef in particular, the best recipe of all time has been hiding in plain sight.
Here is how five professional chefs make chocolate chip cookies, so you can head into your next batch with a little extra inspiration.
Geoffrey Zakarian
The long-time Chopped judge loves baking with his daughters, Madeline and Anna. And for the Zakarian family, the ideal chocolate chip cookie strikes the right balance between crispy and chewy. The key ingredients? Not one, but two types of sugar.
"The real secret to a good chocolate chip, to have that nice balance, is the mixture of white sugar and brown sugar," Zakarian explains. "The brown sugar has an ingredient in it that makes it nice and soft, it's called molasses."
That sticky brown syrup is a byproduct of making granulated sugar, and it helps dough retain moisture as it bakes. As a bonus, it also brings a more complex flavor than standard white sugar, which only makes a chocolate chip cookie more delicious.
Judy Joo
Chef, restaurateur, and television personality Judy Joo loves Levain-style gigantic chocolate chip cookies. “It's because they're the perfect combination of gooey versus cakey, and they're really big," Joo says.
To achieve that pillowy texture, she borrows a technique similar to the one you would use for scones, using cold butter instead of the softened or melted butter more commonly found in cookie recipes.
The other key to a Levain-style cookie is to use a combination of all-purpose and cake flours. "The cake flour makes it nice and soft, and is a bit more tender—but you need the regular flour for the protein content so it has a structure," Joo says.
For the finishing touch, she adds a mix of semi-sweet and bittersweet chocolate, along with a handful of walnuts.
Millie Peartree
Millie Peartree’s chocolate chip cookie take is a bit controversial: she’s pro oatmeal. When it comes to achieving maximum chewiness, quick oats are one of her guaranteed texture boosters.
"I like oatmeal," Peartree says. "But I wanted to combine oatmeal cookies and chocolate chip cookies."
She is also very particular about the chocolate. "It's very important, in my opinion, to use baker's chocolate versus chocolate chips,” she says.
High-quality baking chocolate often has a more pronounced cocoa flavor and is less likely to contain additives. And when you chop chocolate from bars or wafers, you end up with both large pieces and small shavings, which Peartree says creates a “good bite of chocolate in every nook and cranny of the cookie."
Andrew Zimmern
Andrew Zimmern has a Rolodex of cookie recipes, but he’s partial to the one his family loves most. "I tend to get really crafty and oblique with chocolate chip cookies, but this recipe is tried and true,” he says.
To get the right mix of crispy, chewy, and golden brown, Zimmern uses white sugar, brown sugar, and corn syrup. As the sweeteners melt and caramelize, they create layers of texture. "The corn syrup makes sure there's chewiness in there,” he explains.
Zimmern finishes the cookies with bittersweet chocolate, though he strongly recommends taking your favorite chocolate bar and breaking it into the dough, along with pecans. “I love ’em,” he says. “Sorry, walnut people.”
Adam Richman
Adam Richman is a no-nonsense cook. In fact, he defers to arguably the most iconic chocolate chip cookie recipe of all: the one on the back of a bag of Toll House chocolate chips.
"The truth of the matter is, I don't have my own recipe; I always used the one on the back of the Toll House box," Richman says.
That doesn't mean he follows it exactly, though—he takes half the dough and makes a massive pizookie.
With Adam's version, you get the best of both cookie worlds: a crispy, golden exterior and a gooey, barely baked center. It also happens to be the perfect vehicle for a few scoops of ice cream if you’re aiming for an extra-indulgent dessert.
