Classic Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
My go-to recipe for the best tasting chocolate chip cookies is Ghirardelli’s semi-sweet recipe. These cookies come out perfectly every time and are a crowd pleaser!
When My kids smell these cookies baking in the oven they come running! They are light and soft like a pillow, chocolatey, and the perfect ratio of salty and sweet.
Follow his recipe to a “T” and you will never look for another recipe again. And an added bonus is, the recipe is always right on the package, so you’ll never be left searching for your favorite recipe again.
Ingredients
It’s all about the ingredients that you use in this recipe. Using the best ingredients will help you to achieve the mouthwatering taste and pillowy texture that you will be sure to enjoy.
You also want to make sure that all of your ingredients are fresh. Baking with rock-hard brown sugar or old baking soda will badly affect your recipe.
However, if your brown sugar is hardened I have a post that will give you tips on how to soften brown sugar.
Butter
This recipe calls for softened unsalted butter. The unsalted butter is necessary to make sure that you don’t get overly salty cookies.
The little added salt in this recipe is just enough to bring out those great flavors without the cookies becoming too salty.
If you only have salted butter on hand then I would recommend omitting the 1/2 teaspoon that the recipe calls for.
You might be wondering, how to know when your butter is softened? Or what exactly does that mean? Softened butter is not melted butter.
Set your butter out on the counter for 15-20 minutes. If you can gently push your finger into the butter and leave an indent then your butter is softened and ready to go.
If you melt the butter it will make for a buttery, watery mixture that won’t work in your favor for this recipe.
Sugar
Granulated white sugar is what you want to use in this recipe. Using granulated sugar allows the sugars to melt into the cookie and evenly add sweetness. If you can use organic cane sugar I highly recommend it.
Avoid using clumpy sugar as it won’t be able to evenly mix into the mixture and you will end up with a mouthful of sugar or a bite with no sugar at all, which I can assure you won’t be pleasant.
Brown sugar
This recipe doesn’t specify using dark or light brown sugar. I prefer to use light brown sugar personally but you can use whichever you have on hand.
Dark brown sugar will make your cookies chewier than if you used light brown sugar. This is because of the molasses that is in it.
Make sure that when you measure it out that you pack it into your mixing cup to get the right measurement.
Eggs
Next, you need 2 large eggs. Bringing them to room temperature will help incorporate them into the butter and sugar mixture. When I take out my butter I also take out my eggs and allow them to warm up just a bit.
As I mentioned before you want to make sure that you’re using the freshest ingredients.
If you find yourself wondering how to tell if an egg is bad then head over o my post that will explain all of the signs.
Vanilla
Vanilla extract is important in creating the amazing flavor of these Ghirardelli chocolate chip cookies. Organic pure vanilla is going to be your best bet.
Whenever possible you want to use pure vanilla extract. It makes a big difference in taste when you use pure vanilla extract rather than vanilla extract.
Flour
There are so many different options when you are standing in the flour aisle in the grocery store. When it comes to baking these amazing cookies you want to use all-purpose flour.
Some recipes call for you to sift your flour first but in this recipe, there is no need to sift it. You want your cookies to have a little bit of denseness to them.
Baking soda
The most important thing about baking soda is that it is fresh. When you use old or expired baking soda your cookies are going to come out flat and cracking.
Make sure that it is fresh and not clumpy before you add it to your mixture. Baking soda is the component that will make your cookies soft and pillowy.
Salt
Using kosher salt or sea salt is going to give you the best salt to sweetness ratio. If you are using table salt you are going to want to use half the amount of salt then the recipe calls for.
Also, like I said when we were talking about butter in this recipe, if you only have salted butter on hand, eliminate adding more salt to your recipe.
Ghirardelli chocolate chips
There are no other chocolate chips that are better than Ghirardelli in my opinion.
Depending on what you like you can use Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips, semi-sweet chocolate chips, or bittersweet chocolate chips in this recipe.
I used semi-sweet because I like that sweetness and what I think tastes most like a classic chocolate chip cookie.
| Types of Ghiradelli Chocolate Chips | Flavor | Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Ghiradelli Milk Chocolate Chips | Creamy and sweet | Adds a light sweet creaminess to every bite |
| Ghiradelli Bittersweet 60% Cacao Chocolate Chips | Bitter and sweet | Adds a deeper flavor yet is still sweet |
| Ghiradelli 72% Cacao Dark Chocolate Chips | Bitter and sweet | Offers a rich deep dark chocolate taste throughout the whole cookie |
| Ghiradelli 100% Cacao Unsweetened Chocolate Chips | Bitter | Bold chocolate that is not sweetened |
| Ghiradelli Grand Chips Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips | Sweet | Adds a decadent chocolate taste |
| Ghiradelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Mini Baking Chips | Sweet | Little bits of chocolate added to every bite |
Nuts (optional)
It is completely optional to use nuts in your chocolate chip cookies. Walnuts and pecans are great added to your recipe and give them a nice crunch.
I recommend chopping them up or buying walnut or pecan pieces so that you aren’t getting a huge nut in one bite.
It will also help you to keep your cookie mixture together and form clumps to put on the cookie sheet. If you like nuts, give it a try!
How to make Ghirardelli Chocolate chip cookies
Let’s dive into making these soft-baked, pillowy, chocolatey Ghirardelli chocolate chip cookies!
I am going to walk you through each step and give you a few tips that I think will help you achieve the best chocolate chip cookie ever!
Gather all of the ingredients and kitchen tools that you need and let’s get started.
Preheat oven
Preheat the oven to 375°F. It is important to preheat the oven when you are baking cookies.
If you put your cookie dough into the oven while it is preheating it will cause the dough to melt and you will end up with flat, hard cookies.
Also, make sure that the oven rack is in the middle of the oven so that the cookies can bake evenly.
Mix dry ingredients
With a whisk stir together your flour, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl so that it is all incorporated. Then set the bowl aside while you mix the wet ingredients.
Mix wet mixture
In a separate mixing bowl add together softened butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Mix on medium speed until they are well mixed.
It will become a creamy mixture and be light brown.
Add eggs and vanilla
Add one egg at a time into the wet ingredients and mix in between adding each egg. This will help the eggs to be evenly mixed into the dough.
Next, add in your vanilla and mix the dough on medium speed for 30 seconds.
I recommend cracking your eggs into a separate bowl first to make sure that you don’t get any shells into the bowl.
If you crack your eggs directly into the mixture it will not only be hard to tell if you got any shells in the mixture but it will also be hard to get them out.
Combine wet and dry mixture
Now it is time to add the dry mixture to the wet mixture. Add a little bit of your dry mixture into the wet mixture and mix at a slow speed.
Continue to add small amounts until you have fully incorporated all of your wet and dry ingredients together.
You do not want to add all of the flour mixtures at once because it will be a lot harder to mix them into the wet ingredients evenly.
About halfway through I like to scrape the side of the mixing bowl to get any dough that may be sticking to the sides off and mixed in.
Stir in Ghiradelli chocolate chips
Add roughly half the chocolate chips stirring them into the dough. Once those are mixed in add the remaining chocolate chips and mix them in at low speed.
If you are adding walnuts or pecans to your cookies you want to add them now. Just as you did with the chocolate chips, mix them in on the stir setting or low speed.
Learn more about how to toast pecans or make toasted walnuts for a great healthy snack idea!
Arrange onto cookie sheet
Place tablespoon-size clumps of the cookies dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet. You can either eyeball the tablespoon or use a spoon to place them onto the cookie sheet.
Just make sure not to go too big and space them apart with at least 2 inches in between so that when they expand they do not run into each other.
Bake
Place your cookies into the preheated oven on the middle rack. Bake them for 9-11 minutes depending on the size of your cookies.
I pulled mine out of my Breville smart oven right at 11 minutes. They were just starting to turn golden on top.
When you pull them out they may look like they need just one more minute but hold tight! Once you remove them from the oven they will continue to cook for a minute while they are cooling and will be cooked to perfection.
Every time I think they need just one more minute and I leave them in the oven they come out overcooked and hard as a rock.
Cool
Once you have pulled your cookies out of the oven and they have cooled for one minute on the pan, move them onto a cooling rack.
This step is important for a couple of reasons. First, you want them to cool on the pan so that they continue to cook for that last minute on the pan.
Secondly, the reason you want to get them off the cookie sheet after a minute and transfer them to the cooling rack is so they do not get stuck to the pan.
It’s amazing how fast they cool and become stuck. Moving them while they are still warm will prevent this from happening.
Enjoy!
Now that they have cooled, go ahead and enjoy these amazingly delicious Ghirardelli chocolate chip cookies. Enjoy them with a big glass of milk or a cup of coffee.
FAQ
Semi-sweet chocolate is the best chocolate chip for baking cookies. You want chocolate chips that are between 40% and 70% cacao semi-sweet chips.
Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips are hands down the best ones out there.
Ghiradelli melting wafers are best used for melting or dipping chocolate as they melt down nicely into a velvety consistency.
Ghiradelli chips are best for baking cookies, brownies, or muffins as they tend to keep their shape more.
Eggs are one of the components that create that moist and chewy texture. If you want your cookies to be more chewy and moist you can just use egg yolks and not egg whites.
If your recipe calls for 2 eggs, use 3 egg yolks and no egg whites.
Classic Ghirardelli Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup Unsalted butter-softened (2 sticks)
- 3/4 cup White sugar
- 3/4 cup Brown sugar, packed
- 2 Large eggs
- 2 tsp Vanilla
- 2 1/4 cup All-purpose flour
- 1 tsp Baking soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 cups Ghirardelli Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1 cup Walnuts or pecans (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F
- Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt and set it aside.
- Beat together butter, sugar, and brown sugar on medium speed in a large mixing bowl until it is all incorporated.
- Add in eggs one at a time, mixing on low.
- Add in vanilla and continue to mix on low for 30 seconds.
- Add in the dry mixture gradually mixing at low speed until it is all mixed together.
- Stir in Ghirardelli chocolate chips. (and nuts if you are adding them)
- Place tablespoon-sized clumps onto an ungreased cookie sheet spaced about 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes or until they start to turn golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow them to cool for 1 minute and then transfer them to a cooking rack.