Home is Where the Chocolate Chip Cookies Are

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Nothing says, “Welcome to my home! You’re in a safe place here,” quite as well as a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies.

When I was growing up my mom always had homemade chocolate chip cookies available for us and our friends. I’m pretty sure that people came to my house for the cookies. They might have thought I was basically okay, too.

We moved to Colorado Springs when I was fourteen years old and that’s when we launched our decades-long search for the perfect chocolate chip cookie. We wanted a recipe that would bake up just as perfectly in our mile-high-plus city as it does at sea level.

We began with the Toll House Traditional recipe. That’s the recipe that I first used when I was learning to bake. That’s the recipe that made my college roommate the famous cookie baker on campus. It’s the gold standard.

But I’m nothing if not curious. And I wondered, “What if there’s a better recipe out there?” So my next stop was the Pie in the Sky cookbook. This cookbook is the authority in high altitude baking. She even breaks down each ingredient measurement by exactly how many feet of high altitude you have working against you. Her Pie in the Sky Chocolate Chip cookies became our new favorite! Crispy, buttery, caramelized perfection.

But the kids weren’t really that into them. They preferred softer cookies, and sometimes wouldn’t even eat the Pie in the Sky cookies! (The cookie dough, on the other hand, remained as popular as ever.)

Enter the new family favorite, Martha Stewart’s Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies.

What’s the science behind these cookies with ingredients that almost identically match the other recipes, but which remain soft even when they are cooled? I don’t know! (Maybe it’s the higher proportion of brown sugar?)

But these cookies are the bomb. No high altitude adjustments need to be made. Mix and bake and eat! Salty and sweet, soft and chewy, fluffy not flat!

I use this coarse kosher salt for these cookies and normally use slightly more than the original recipe calls for. I love the extra salty flavor to play off the sweet chocolate. I also love to use half semi-sweet chocolate chips and half milk chocolate. I think the milk chocolate goes with the saltiness best and the variety of chocolates adds a special flair.

Print Recipe

Pie in the Sky Chocolate Chip Cookies

A high altitude cookie recipe from the authority on high altitude baking.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Servings: 3 dozen

Ingredients

• 14 tbsp butter, softened
• 2 tbsp shortening (like Crisco)
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 ¼ cup + 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375°
• Cream together the butter, shortening, and sugars. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well.
• Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
• Stir in chocolate chips.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Drop by spoonfuls onto the baking sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 9-10 minutes until golden on the edges. Repeat until all the dough has been baked.

Print Recipe

Martha’s Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the clear winner here.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Servings: 3 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1-1½ tsp salt (coarse salt recommended)
• 2 ¼ cup flour
• ⅓ tsp baking soda
• 2 cups chocolate chips (I recommend a mix of semisweet and milk chocolate)

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375°.
• Cream together the butter and the sugar and brown sugar. Add vanilla and eggs and salt and mix well. (The original recipe called for 1 tsp. salt. I like to use 1½ tsp. coarse salt.)
• Add flour and baking soda. Stir in chocolate chips.
• Place dough by spoonfuls on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper. Bake for 8-10 minutes until barely browned on the edges. Don't overbake. Continue with remaining dough until all the cookies are made.