Some recipes come together in an afternoon. This one didn't.

LouLou's Chocolate Chip Cookies are the result of more than six months of testing, tweaking, baking, and tasting. Every ingredient was carefully adjusted—from the balance of brown sugars to the amount of cornstarch, the perfect blend of leavening, and even the baking time—to create what I believe is the ultimate chocolate chip cookie.

I wanted a cookie that was everything a chocolate chip cookie should be:

• Soft and thick in the center
• Lightly crisp around the edges
• Rich with buttery, caramel flavor
• Loaded with chocolate in every bite
• Just as delicious fresh from the oven as it is after freezing the dough

There were plenty of batches that were too flat, too cakey, too sweet, or just missing that "wow" factor. But every test taught me something, and after countless cookies, this recipe became LouLou's Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies. (By famous I mean amongst the cookie testers - my children.)

One of my favorite tricks is freezing the cookie dough before baking. Not only does it help create that thick bakery-style cookie, but it also means you can bake just a few whenever the craving strikes. Fresh, warm cookies are never more than a few minutes away. I always keep frozen dough stocked for when my kids and grandkids come over. 

Whether you're baking these for family movie night, sharing them with neighbors, or sneaking one for breakfast (I won't judge!), I hope they become a favorite in your home, too.

Happy baking!

LouLou's Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes: 28 large cookies

Ingredients

• 3½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1¼ teaspoons baking soda
• 1½ teaspoons sea salt
• 1¼ cups unsalted butter, softened (2½ sticks)
• ⅔ cup dark brown sugar
• ⅔ cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2½ teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups Guittard Semi-Sweet Maxi Chocolate Chips

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt.
2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter, dark brown sugar, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar for 3–4 minutes, until light and fluffy.
3. Mix in the vanilla extract. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
4. Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the dry ingredients. Mix just until combined.
5. Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Using a large (double) cookie scoop, scoop the dough into 28 balls.
7. Freeze the dough until firm. Store frozen until ready to bake.
8. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
9. Bake frozen cookie dough for 6 minutes, rotate the pans, then bake 6 more minutes, or until the edges are lightly golden and the centers are just set.

LouLou's Tips

• Freeze extra dough so fresh cookies are always just minutes away.
• Don't overmix once the flour is added—this keeps the cookies tender.
• For the best chocolate experience, use Guittard Semi-Sweet Maxi Chocolate Chips. Their larger size creates melty pockets of chocolate throughout every cookie.
• Use fresh ingredients. Yes, it makes a difference. 
• P.S. The secret ingredient is homemade vanilla.

Enjoy every warm, gooey bite! 🍪

Fun Fact: My daughter and I once had a little bakery called LouLou's Bakery. It started when we dropped these cookies off on a neighbor's porch. The next day she called and said they were the best cookies she has ever had and asked if we would make 1600 of them for her to handout to her clients for Christmas. 1600 cookies is a lot of cookies and a lot of baking in a normal residential oven. We literally baked day and night to get her cookies delivered on time and fresh. The next year she asked us to do cake pops. Eventually the little bakery fizzled out as I started LouLou's Fabric Shop.

This is the original recipe I typed up after I got the recipe just right. We kept track of the amount of cookies we had baked for the 1600 count order on the side and back of the recipe. I can't get myself to type a new one. This is the one I still pull out to this day. (Though I actually have it memorized at this point.)

P.S. Forgive me, I am not a food photographer or a photographer of anything for that matter. The pics may not be that great but I promise you the cookies are!