New and Improved! Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

When the cookie’s dough itself takes great all on its own – when it can stand without any chocolate at all – you know you’re onto something. These, friends, are my favorite, go-to cookie. Ever, always, and of all time. They’re my Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, and they’ve taken a lifetime to get just right. There are a few things about these salted butter chocolate chunk cookies that skyrocket them from ordinary cookie status into something truly worthy of such an illustrious title as, “BEST EVER.”

I don’t use those words lightly – truly I don’t. I try to save them for the recipes that are sort of in a league of their own – they’re the best I’ve ever had of their kind, and therefore definitely deserve to be lauded and celebrated as such, you know? This is kind of a big deal. THESE ARE kind of a big deal. Ahem, anyway. Read on, friend. And enjoy.

If you like the looks of these Chopped Chocolate Cookies, then you might also enjoy our S’mores Cookies and these Pumpkin Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. Or, if you’re into the salty/sweet thing like I am, peek at this Kentucky Butter Cake. It’s ridiculous.

Why We Love These Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

I delivered a big box of these salty chocolate chunk cookies to my daughter’s school last spring, as a contribution to the school’s celebration of Teacher Appreciation Day, and as soon as the final bell rang, I received a slew of emails (okay, three) from teachers and parents alike, all inquiring as to how these impossibly delicious cookies came to be and if, by chance, I could share the recipe.

Oh sweet people, sweet unassuming people who have no idea that sharing recipes is, quite literally, what I do for a living. Imagine that. Oh, happy day! I was thrilled to dish up the dirt on these exceptionally delicious cookies.

The dough itself is an amalgamation of, I dunno, maybe five different cookie doughs that I’ve made over the years, and it contains my secret cookie weapon that really helps deepen the flavor of each and every cookie (read on to see what that is).

Want more cookies in your life? Here, we’ve got you.

Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies

Pumpkin Sugar Cookies

Chocolate Brownie Cookies

Peanut Butter-Stuffed Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies Anatomy 101

Please note the almost too large chunks – not chips! – of freshly chopped chocolate that take up residence in these cookies. They totally obliterate the measly chocolate chip as the chocolate of choice, and really taking our cookies to the next level.

You see, in my humble opinion, freshly chopped chocolate chunks are better than chocolate chips in cookies (way, way better) because they kickstart your experience with a stunning, come-hither, BANG! before you’ve even plucked your cookie from the pile. They puddles of glossy, deeply brown chocolate are so delicious looking, it’s hard not to be in love at first sight.

The trick is using chocolate bars – not the pre-cut chocolate chunks – and chopping them up haphazardly into pieces of various shapes and sizes (as you can see from my photos – they’re all over the place). This really makes for a beautiful cookie and also contributes to this particular cookie being up there among the very best. Plus, they’re chocolatey-er. And chocolatey-er is good.

What is the best chocolate to use for salted butter chocolate chip cookies?

This is sort of a matter of preference, but semi-sweet is pretty perfect. It’s not too sweet, not overly bitter. I like to choose chocolate that is not the cheapest in the store, but also affordable enough to be reasonable. Here’s the kind I like.

Why You Should be Using Molasses in Your Cookies

Now, we all know that molasses takes center stage in our Christmassy ginger spice cookies – that’s a tale as old as time, really. But I like to sneak an unsuspecting tablespoon or two of dark, syrupy, caramel-esque molasses into most cookie doughs that I make, and they’re always so much better for it.

It’s never enough to really tell it’s there, that little bit of molasses in your cookies. But its enough to enrich the dough and deepen its flavor. I used to make browned butter chocolate chip cookies, but find that adding a touch of molasses into the dough serves the same purpose. It deepens the flavor and makes them even more delicious. No need to take the time to brown any butter, honestly. When your cookie dough manages to almost outshine the chocolate itself, you know you’re really onto something.

For additional interesting (and savory!) ways to use your molasses, try our Pad See Ew, Savory Baked Beans, and Southern Killed Lettuces.

What you’ll need to make these Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

All-purpose flour: My favorite and preferred flour for cookie making, all-purpose has this sweet spot protein content which allows it to form the perfect glutinous structure for optimal cookie crumb-ing. And by that I mean, it just works really well for cookies. For breads, I like bread flour because the protein structure is greater – there’s more of it and that contributes to the overall sturdiness. For biscuits and cakes and tender, light-as-a-feather shortbread, I like a lower protein count in my flour, so often times I’ll reach for a fluffy cake flour. Cookies fall right in the middle for me, and all-purpose flour is the best.

Baking soda: Baking soda (also referred to as sodium bicarbonate), is a leavening agent that does a few things when it comes to cookies, including:  making them denser and chewier, helping them to rise, and slowing the protein coagulation which gives the dough more time to spread, thus resulting in more evenly baked cookies. Baking soda also helps cookies brown really well (especially around their edges) and it speeds up the Maillard reaction, which develops deeper flavors and colors in less time.  

Kosher salt: Yep, even though we’re using salted butter AND crunchy sea salt in these cookies, we still need to add a pinch of Kosher salt to the dough (just like we do in my spiced, salty snickerdoodle recipe). It all adds up to a cookie that boats just MORE – more flavor, more everything. And honestly who doesn’t want a “more” cookie?

SALTED Butter: Two full sticks of great salty butter. We’ll need it to be room temperature, for optimal creaminess, too.

The Sugars: The combination of both brown sugar and white granulated sugar helps create a caramel-esque, perfectly sweet dough.

Eggs: Just one here, actually. It’s all we need.

Vanilla extract: Vanilla has a luxe sweetness all its own, a delicious note that I can’t imagine leaving out of almost any sweet treat.

Molasses: This is my cookie secret weapon.

Water: The water helps these cookies spread out to just the right thickness/crispiness. It’s amazing what just a little splash of water can do to a cookie dough. I wouldn’t add the water to a puffier, fluffier cookie – but for this one – it’s just the thing.

Semi-sweet chocolate bars: I like the middle-of-the-road bittersweet flavor of chocolate chopped

Flaky sea salt: For sprinkling on top, just when they come out of the oven. Think Maldon here. That little crunch of salt is a hallmark of these cookies, and levels them up to top-tier baker status. It’s true.

How to make these Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

This salted butter chocolate chip cookies recipe is straightforward and very standard, so far as chocolate chunk cookies go. Creaming butter, mixing dry ingredients, and weaving them together with a few extra tricks and tweaks to make things special.

Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and place the oven rack in the middle position. Cover two large baking sheets with aluminum foil, shiny side facing up.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl with a hand-held electric mixer), cream together the butter and sugars until very smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, molasses, and water and then mix until well-combined. Add the flour mix to the wet mix and beat to combine. Stir in the chopped chocolate, mixing just until evenly combined.
3. Scoop golf-ball sized (heaping tablespoons) balls of dough onto the prepared baking sheets. I usually only do 6 cookies per sheet. 
4. Bake the cookies, in batches, for 7 minutes. Then, open the oven door and lift one corner of the pan(s) in the air and then let it drop down onto the baking rack again – creating a BANG (see NOTE). This drop will deflate the cookies and help to create those gorgeous ripples. Do this every minute until the cookies have baked for a total of 11 – 12 minutes. You’ll drop them about 3 – 4 times total.
5. Remove the cookies from the oven when they’re just golden, and sprinkle them right away with a little flaky sea salt. Allow your salted butter chocolate chip cookies them to cool and firm up before transferring them elsewhere, about 6 to 8 minutes. Continue baking and freezing your pans until you’ve made your way through all of the dough.

A Word on Pan-Banging Cookies

I would never publish this recipe without giving credit where it’s due, and part of the aesthetic appeal of these babies comes from those wavy, rippled edges. These edges are like a crispy, crunchy, protective barrier to the gooey, soft, warm cookie dough in the middle and are a result of the brilliant pan-banging method devised by Sarah Kieffer, of The Vanilla Bean Blog and The Vanilla Bean Baking Book.

I almost can’t make cookies without using this method anymore, I just love it so much, and I find that it works for so many different types. This “pan banging” is really no more than opening the oven a handful of times during the baking process and lifting a corner of the sheet pan up about a foot and then letting it smack back down on the oven rack, thereby flattening out the cookies and creating a rippled layer.

Repeatedly doing this, once every minute for about the last 5 minutes of baking time, creates that cascading rippled effect. Brilliant, no? Incidentally, the cookies need to be rather large for the full effect to be reached, so make sure you space them out accordingly on your sheet pan to allow them to spread properly.

Why Are We Using Aluminum Foil When Baking These Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

To achieve the fetching pan-banging effect with these salted butter chocolate chip cookies – those flattened, perfectly browned and crisped edges and ridges – you need to utilize the aluminum foil as directed in the recipe. Don’t be tempted to skip it or the results just won’t be quite what we’re looking for.

While I would never suggest that you use aluminum foil in all of your cookie baking endeavors, there is a time and a place for it and today’s recipe is a prime example. Aluminum foil (given that it contains aluminum) is a great conductor of heat, and therefore can sometimes contribute to the burning or over-browning of cookies. But in this recipe, it all works because we’re going to freeze the cookies for a bit before baking them and we’re also going to make them rather large, which also helps combat any sort of burnt outcome.

What’s more, using the dull side of the foil, as opposed to the fully-shiny side, will help ensure the cookies spread and flatten out the way we want them too. The super shiny side might over-do that effect, so dull side it is. Baking is SUCH an interesting science sometimes, and man is it cool when it all just works.

And with that, I give you my very favorite, most frequently made, most requested recipe for the Best Ever Salted Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies.

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