If you’ve ever visited my blog before, you know I have a *slight* obsession with chocolate chip cookies. My archived recipes are extensive; the passion is real. A few years ago, I even rounded up a definitive list of best chocolate chip cookie recipes, just to set the record straight.

Well, I spoke too soon because this year, I developed the best chocolate chip cookie recipe in the history of all recipes. “You are exaggerating,” you might be saying, but trust me- I’m not. I’ve now made this recipe three times in the past three months, and every time, it delivers incredible results.

Before I start sounding like a car salesman for chocolate chip cookies, I’ll tell you why this recipe is different. First, it calls for a healthy amount of vanilla extract. Vanilla extract is the secret superpower of chocolate chip cookies. It doesn’t ask a lot, but it gives so much. It is basically responsible for a chocolate chip cookie’s flavor (along with the chips). You might scoff at the idea of adding half a tablespoon of vanilla extract to your dough, but it is worth it. It creates a cookie with a more layered flavor, so you’re not just experiencing the taste of sugar and chocolate.

Second, this recipe calls for a healthy chill time in the fridge. The jury is out on whether or not to chill your chocolate chip cookie dough. Time and patience would dictate you shouldn’t, but my experience as a baker dictates you should. The batch of cookies I made today turned out excellent after I chilled the dough for about 24 hours.

However, the time they turned out the best was actually right after I got sick in February. I was planning to chill the dough overnight and bake the cookies in the morning, but I felt like I was getting sick, so I rolled the dough into balls and froze them in plastic bags to make when I got better. When I was finally better, I defrosted the balls on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet for 30 minutes, baked them for the same amount of time, and they were incredible. I tested my hypothesis at work when I brought a second batch in a week later, and everyone agreed the earlier one from two-week frozen dough was better.

Finally, as is true with so many things in baking, quality chocolate makes a difference. I like to use semi-sweet Guittard, which you can get at Whole Foods or other specialty grocery stores. I’ve had a lot of people tell me they can taste the difference, and it makes me feel better about spending that much money on chocolate. In cookies, as in life, sometimes you have to pay a little more to get the good stuff.

Here are a couple songs to get you started on your chocolate chip cookie journey. Usually I leave you with just one, but this week, I couldn’t choose. The first one describes how I feel when these cookies come out of the oven, and the second came on last night when I was making the dough. It makes me feel like I’m on a cooking show.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever…I Promise

Ingredients

168 g unsalted butter
200 g brown sugar
50 g cup granulated sugar
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk, room temperature
1/2 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
220 g all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
heaping 1/4 tsp kosher salt
225 g semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Directions

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling it and cooking it until it turns brown. Immediately remove the saucepan from the stove and pour the butter into another bowl to cool.

Whisk the flour, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the cooled butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium speed until well combined. Add the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla extract, and mix until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl and bottom as needed to make sure everything is well incorporated.

Add half the flour mixture to the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix until combined. Then, add the rest of the flour mixture little by little until it’s all combined. Don’t overmix. Use a spatula to incorporate the chopped semi-sweet chocolate.

Chill the dough for at least 24 hours in the fridge. If you want, you can roll the dough into balls, freeze them on a baking sheet, then store them in the freezer in airtight plastic bags until you’re ready to bake them. If you go the latter route, let the balls of dough defrost on the counter for 30 minutes before you bake them.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Use a 1.5 to 2 Tbsp scoop to portion out the dough into balls, setting them about 2 inches apart on the baking sheets.

Bake one sheet at a time in the oven for 11 minutes until the cookies are puffy but still soft in the middle. Remove them from the oven and let them cool on the sheet for about 5-6 minutes before placing them on wire racks to cool the rest of the way. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. Enjoy!