After I finally finished The Great Chocolate Chip Cookie Test a few months back, I realized I had another comparison I wanted to try - Chocolate Cookies! I don’t know how, but chocolate seems to be this polarizing flavor - people either obsess over it, or they just don’t like it. How can you not like chocolate? I honestly have no idea. While I wouldn’t say I’m chocolate obsessed, I certainly do love it, and therefore having the “best” chocolate cookie recipe is key.
I have my traditional childhood recipe that my mom made and always seemed like the best to me, but in the past few years of avid recipe testing I’ve discovered two more that I really enjoyed - Jacques Torres’s Mudslide Cookies, and Christina Marsigliese's (Scientifically Sweet) 3/4lb. Chocolate Cookies. And you know what that means - comparison time!
Each recipe has very different ratios of chocolate to flour to eggs, and understandably so, produces pretty different cookies. They’re all delicious, but after a few rounds of testing with different audiences, here’s the consolidated feedback and the corresponding recipes below.
Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies
This recipe was the overall winner, and unsurprisingly is the recipe I’ve come to know and love from my childhood. One thing that’s particularly great about this dough is that it really doesn’t need chilling (while most cookie doughs do) - only a bit of standing at room temperature before scooping the dough. Here’s the feedback:
The darkest cookie, very easy to break in half.
Moderately soft exterior - if you prefer crispier bake it an extra minute or two.
Deep chocolate flavor, but pleasantly sweet. Flavor similar to a chocolate brownie.
You can really taste both the chocolate and the cocoa, and the salt on top really complements the chocolate.
Not as soft as the Scientifically Sweet recipe, but still very fudgy.
Not as thick/heavy as the Mudslide recipe (you don’t have to chew it too much), but still a solid, chewy, fudgy cookie.
3/4 Lb. Chocolate Cookies
Like a brownie in cookie form
Soft, with lighter chocolate flavor
Hints of mocha, chocolate ice cream
Mudslide Cookies
A thicker, heavier cookie
Not crunchy or crispy, but more solid throughout - wouldn’t call it “fudgy”
Very dark, the least sweet - very chocolatey
Would hold up best to “mix ins”
Sharper contrast between the sweetness of the chips and the dough
Requires the most chewing
So, really, they’re all great cookies, and you can pick which you want to make based on the notes above. I’ll probably stick with the TCC cookies as my default, but compare for yourself and see which you like best!
Happy Baking!
The Favorite - Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies
MAKES approximately 22 Cookies
INGREDIENTS/SUPPLIES
2 cups AP flour (240g)
1/2 cup cocoa (43g)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
16oz semisweet chocolate, chopped (~2 and 2/3 cups)
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso powder (optional, but def. contributes to their #1 status)
1.25 sticks butter, room temp
1.5 cups brown sugar (310g)
1/2 cup sugar (50g)
2 cups of chocolate chips (12oz) - ideally a mix of brands and kinds (e.g. Hershey’s Dark, Ghirardelli Semi-sweet, Guittard milk chocolate). It’s more important to mix up the types than the brands. You can also use an equivalent amount of chopped candy - snickers, whoppers, peppermint patties, twix - anything would work!
sea salt
stand mixer
2-3 large cookie sheets & parchment
food scale or cookie scoop (optional, but will make your cookies better)
DIRECTIONS
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together 240g AP flour (2c), 43g cocoa (1/2c), 2tsp BP and 1tsp salt.
In a medium heatproof bowl, melt 16oz chopped semisweet chocolate. You can do this gradually over a double boiler, or in the microwave following the instructions at #9 here.
In a small bowl, whisk or mix with a fork 4 eggs and 2tsp vanilla, then sprinkle 2tsp espresso powder over it to dissolve.
In your mixer on low, then medium-high, cream until fully combined (~2 minutes) 1.25 sticks butter, 310g brown sugar (1.5c) and 50g sugar (1/2c).
Reduce speed to low and gradually add in your egg mixture and mix until fully combined.
Add the melted chocolate, and mix for about 45 seconds.
Scrape the bottom and sides of your bowl, then with mixer on low add the flour mixture and mix just until no traces of flour remain, no longer.
Scrape down the sides again, add 12oz chocolate chips, and mix on low for 15 more seconds until the chocolate chips are evenly distributed.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until scoop able and fudge like - 15-30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350.
In order to make the cookies look uniform, you need to scoop the batter either with a cookie scoop or by weight. I use a 2” cookie scoop to make cookie dough balls that are about 2 ounces each. Scoop the dough and place them about 1.5” apart on parchment lined cookie sheets (I have oversized cookie sheets and bake 8 at a time).
Sprinkle each dough ball with a bit of sea salt, then bake until the edges have just begun to set but the centers are still very soft, about 10 minutes.
Cool the cookies completely on their baking sheets, and enjoy!
3/4lb Chocolate Cookies
adapted from Scientifically Sweet
MAKES approximately 14 Cookies
INGREDIENTS/SUPPLIES
12oz semi-sweet and/or dark chocolate, divided into 8oz/4oz
3/4c AP flour (105g)
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee or espresso powder (optional)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick butter, room temp
1/3c sugar (70g)
1/4c brown sugar (55g)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
sea salt
stand mixer
2-3 large cookie sheets & parchment
food scale or cookie scoop (optional, but will make your cookies better)
DIRECTIONS
In a medium heatproof bowl, melt 8oz chocolate. You can do this gradually over a double boiler, or in the microwave following the instructions at #9 here. Chop the remaining 4oz of chocolate and set aside.
Whisk 105g AP flour, 1/2tsp instant coffee or espresso powder, 1/2tsp baking powder, and 1/4tsp salt in a bowl.
In your mixer on low, then medium-high, cream until light and fluffy: 1/2 stick butter, 55g brown sugar (1/4c) and 70g sugar (1/3c).
Beat in 2 eggs one at a time until fully incorporated, then add your melted chocolate and mix thoroughly.
Add your flour mixture and mix on low until no traces of flour remain, but don’t over beat!
Mix in your chopped chocolate on low only about 10-15 seconds, until fully distributed.
Preheat your oven to 375F. If the dough is too soft to scoop/hold shape, put it in the fridge for 10 minutes, but not longer!
In order to make the cookies look uniform, you need to scoop the batter either with a cookie scoop or by weight. I use a 2” cookie scoop to make cookie dough balls that are about 2 ounces each. Scoop the dough and place them about 1.5” apart on parchment lined cookie sheets (I have oversized cookie sheets and bake 8 at a time).
Sprinkle each dough ball with a bit of sea salt, then bake 8-10 minutes.
Cool the cookies completely on their baking sheets, and enjoy!
Mudslide Cookies
adapted from Jacques Torres
MAKES 18 cookies
INGREDIENTS/SUPPLIES
8oz bittersweet chocolate
3oz unsweetened chocolate
1/3 cup AP flour (42g)
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
pinch salt
3 tablespoons butter, room temp
1 cup and 3 tablespoons sugar (237g)
2.5 eggs (125g)
1.5 cups of chocolate chips (9oz) - ideally a mix of brands and kinds (e.g. Hershey’s Dark, Ghirardelli Semi-sweet, Guittard milk chocolate). It’s more important to mix up the types than the brands. You can also use an equivalent amount of chopped candy - snickers, whoppers, peppermint patties, twix - anything would work!
sea salt
stand mixer
2-3 large cookie sheets & parchment
food scale or cookie scoop (optional, but will make your cookies better)
DIRECTIONS
Preheat your oven to 350.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together 42g AP flour (1/3c), 1/2TB baking powder, and a pinch of salt.
In a small bowl, whisk or mix with a fork 2.5 eggs (start with 3 and remove 25g, or measure out how much you have to remove using measuring cups/spoons).
In your mixer on low, then medium-high, cream until fully combined: 3TB butter, and 237g sugar (1c + 3TB).
Reduce speed to low and gradually add in your egg mixture and mix until fully combined.
Add the melted chocolate, and mix for about 45 seconds.
Scrape the bottom and sides of your bowl, then with mixer on low add the flour mixture and mix just until no traces of flour remain, no longer.
Scrape down the sides again, add 9oz chocolate chips, and mix on low for 15 more seconds until the chocolate chips are evenly distributed.
In order to make the cookies look uniform, you need to scoop the batter either with a cookie scoop or by weight. I use a 2” cookie scoop to make cookie dough balls that are about 2 ounces each. Scoop the dough and place them about 1.5” apart on parchment lined cookie sheets (I have oversized cookie sheets and bake 8 at a time).
Sprinkle each dough ball with a bit of sea salt, then bake until the edges have just begun to set but the centers are still very soft, about 14-16 minutes.
Cool the cookies completely on their baking sheets, and enjoy!