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These are the absolute best chocolate chip cookies with shortening you'll ever eat. No need to try out another ~ you will love this recipe!
Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe
These chocolate chip cookies are SCRUMPTIOUSLY soft, gooey, wrinkly, buttery – truly the perfect chocolate chip cookies. Here's just a plain-ole' nothing fancy chocolate chip cookie recipe to try out, but I must say, these are the BEST ever.
(Seriously.)
Pssst – you can also substitute M&M's for the Chocolate Chips and they turn out SOO GOOD TOO! (I recommend a mix of the Mini M&M's and the regular M&Ms for the best M&M texture!)
When I was pregnant with our oldest son Jackson (and absolutely determined to be the perfect housewife who baked cookies all the time. . . ), a friend shared this recipe.
Perfection.
(Print your free chocolate chip recipe card HERE. They're also part of our Menu Planning Made Easy Freezer Menus if you'd love more yummy recipe ideas)!
After baking them at least once a month for the last 16 years, I've got the recipe down by memory, and figure when I'm old and grey you'll find me in the nursing home baking up these cookies for all the staff.
(Pretty sure I'll have forgotten everything else in the world, but these cookies are not to be forgotten. )
A lot of times these days my daughter Reagan mixes up a batch of these (hers are almost better than mine ~ and way more consistent!). She made up a batch a few days ago, and goodness, they were divine.
A few quick tips? We love this bakers rack, this cookie dough scoop, and usually use these parchment sheets to make cleanup fast and easy.
If you just need a simple recipe that goes a long way and makes everybody happy . . . this one's for you. 🙂
Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ingredients:
- flour
- baking soda
- salt
- white sugar
- brown sugar
- shortening
- eggs
- vanilla
- chocolate chips
How to Make the Chocolate Chip Cookies with Shortening
You'll want to start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees. Then, cream your shortening and both sugars together until well blended. Add in your eggs and vanilla to sugar mixture and make sure these are very well blended.
Grab a separate bowl and combine your flour, baking soda and salt. Then add the shortening mixture and make sure everything is well combined. Add in your chocolate chips and mix.
Add the cookies onto a baking sheet and bake for 7 – 9 minutes. Pull the cookies out of the oven and lightly tap to “settle” your cookies. Let cool on a wire rack and then enjoy!
Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 Cup White Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1 Cup Shortening
- 2 Whole Eggs
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 12 oz Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- Cream Shortening and Sugars together until well blended
- Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
- In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt
- Mix with a spoon and then add to shortening mixture and mix until well blended
- Add in the chocolate chips, mix, and add to your baking sheet (usually a tablespoon size works well!)
- Bake in oven for 7 - 9 minutes
- Pull out of the oven and lightly tap the pan on the counter top to "settle" your cookies.
- Let cool on wire rack
- Enjoy!
Go HERE to download a free printable copy of this recipe. Yum!
Looking for more recipe ideas? Here are some of our favorites!
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Good but far from ‘the best’ chocolate chip cookies. My kids and I were quite disappointed even though I used Ghirardelli chips and White Lily flour. Skip the shortening and use good Irish butter like Kerrygold (Aldi has a very good Irish butter that not as pricey).
So sorry to hear they weren’t a hit for you! Thanks so much for the tip. We’ll definitely try that out! 🙂
Salted butter instead of shortening and they’re even better! 🙂
Yum! Thanks for letting us know!
I was curious about using butter or lard instead of shortning. Thanks for sharing the info.
Shortening seems to always work best, but butter will work as well – hope that helps Misty!
I like to use a mixture of half shortening and half butter.
Thanks for chiming in Michelle!
I’m not sure what happened…. I followed the directions exactly as written. I made two batches, the first one I used a stick of shortening I had in my pantry, but wasn’t sure if it was just old. So, I used a stick of butter shortening. I knew it wasn’t old, but still not crazy about how the cookies turned out. Not sure I want to try again…
Mine don’t look like yours. They are very flat. 🙁
I saw just chocolate chips in ingredients and put in semisweet without thinking to notice the type I had. Baking chips of course are what is needed, for anyone else who might make same mistake I did.
I don’t like cookies too sweet so I was expecting the worst, but they are quite good, not ruined by any means, and my family actually thought they were great. I will use baking chips next time though or cut back on the sugar. Thank you for a great recipe, I can tell it will be best recipe I’ve found so far.
So happy you liked them Jeanie ~ thankfully the recipe is pretty flexible, and you can use most any type of chocolate chips you like! 🙂 Thanks a bunch for your feedback!
Semi sweet chocolate chips are what I use in all my cookies. I have never had a chocolate chip cookie recipe not turn out. I have never hear of baking chips.
Hello. I am hoping to use this recipe for a project for my 5th grade students. I am needing to know about how many cookies this recipe makes.
Hi there Tymbre! It depends on how big you make them, but probably about 3-4 dozen? 🙂 Hope that helps!
I’m a chocolate chip cookie conossieur, and I tried this recipe 2 years ago. THE BEST!!! The shortening is really what gives this cookie that perfect balance of crispy edges with gooey center. Also, I only changed 1 thing… I swap out vanilla extract for almond extract and it elevates this recipe even more. I get so many comments about these all the time. Fabulous!
So happy to hear you love the recipe Kristy ~ and thanks for the suggestion on the almond extract! 🙂
Laurie, what shortening do you recommend?
Hi Janice, I have found that butter flavored shortening is the best for this recipe! Hope that helps!!
I LOVE this recipe!! Have the ingredients changed lately? I just made them for the first time since last fall and the cookies taste a little different. I have gone over the ingredient list different times and made sure I added everything, but it is still different!
Hmm, the recipe should be the same Anna ~ so strange! (Did you maybe use dark brown sugar instead of light brown sugar, or did you use butter-flavored shortening instead of regular? Were you able to give your pan a tap on the counter after baking so they would “settle”?). Hope you’re able to recreate them the way you did the first time! 🙂
Can you make the dough, refrigerate, and cook later? If so, do you need to adjust the cooking time/temperature?
Thank you!!
Hi Jennifer, yes you sure can. The temperature doesn’t need to change but you might see that it needs an extra minute since the dough is so cold. Or you can always freeze them ready to go as well. Here’s a post Laurie did about that! https://passionatepennypincher.com/how-to-flash-freeze-cookie-dough/
No joke, these literally are THE best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had! Normally I’d doctor up a recipe, but this is complete perfection as stated by my entire family! The shortening and time you bake them are 100% the keys to them turning out perfectly. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Have you tried to freeze the dough? I’d like to make the dough now, scoop into balls then freeze. Then I could have fresh baked cookies for Christmas Eve.
Hi Heather! Yes – you can absolutely do that. But I would flash freeze them – here’s how I do it!
https://passionatepennypincher.com/how-to-flash-freeze-cookie-dough/
Curious, before I venture on baking these. Are these chewy or crunchy? Or is it like you said, under cook a little to let them be soft. And if that’s the case will these become crunchy over time or will they stay soft.?
I love this recipe! Never made them with chocolate chips though. I use white chips and macadamia nuts or heath chips.
could you substitute canola oil for the shortening?
Hi Susy! Shortening works best – I wish there was a way to use something else! Hope that helps!
Delicious cookies!
Just baked these! Can’t believe how great they turned out. I have tried SO MANY chocolate chip cookie recipes that just don’t end up they way I think they should. These are fantastic. I live in Florida so I have screwed up so many things thinking it was the humidity, but maybe I just had the wrong recipe. Thank you so much!!!!
Soooo glad they worked for you Merry – definitely our favorite!
can you use shorting with butter or plain
I usually use the shortening with butter Shawn. Hope that helps!
Approximately how many does this recipe make? My husband loves chocolate chip cookies so looking forward to trying these!
He will love these I think! I’d say it makes a little more than 3 dozen – hope that helps! 🙂
will be making these today!!!
I made these tonight! They were so delicious!!
They’re definitely one of our favorites ~ so glad you enjoyed them! 🙂
Can you substitute butter or margarine for the shortening? I really want to try these!
I really think they’re best with shortening, but butter works too- I’ve tried them with margarine and that doesn’t work at all for me. Hope that helps! 🙂
Our dough was very creamy and cookies came out very flat and thin. Used 1 cup margarine (2 sticks) and 2 cups flour, along with rest of ingredients. What did we do wrong?
I agree that you are right about these cookies! The BEST! I found them on your site. They are addicting. Everyone I have shared them with loves them! I know you have said this, but the key to making them so perfect is to NOT overcook them.
Sooooo glad you liked them Kelly ~ thanks so much for sharing! And yes, definitely don’t overcook them … I might just need to go put in a batch now. 🙂