Chocolate Chip Cookies
Butter, shortening, and a full bag of chips—crisp edges, chewy centers, worth buying shortening once a year.
This is my favorite chocolate chip recipe from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, 16th edition (2017). I buy shortening once a year, just for these cookies.
Time
- Prep: about 15 minutes
- Bake: 8–10 minutes per sheet (375°F)
- Total: about 25 minutes (first batch)
Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1 cookie · 1 of about 48
- Calories ~150
- Protein 2 g
- Fat 8 g
- Carbohydrates 19 g
- Fiber 1 g
- Sodium ~105 mg
All nutrition facts are AI generated and approximate.
Ingredients
- ½ cup butter
- ½ cup shortening
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 2 Tbs light corn syrup
- 1 Tbs vanilla
- 2¼ cups flour
- 1 (12 oz) package chocolate chips
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a large bowl, mix butter and shortening on high for 30 seconds.
- Add the sugars, baking soda, and salt and mix at medium speed for 2 minutes. Pause occasionally to push the ingredients off the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
- Beat in the eggs, corn syrup, and vanilla until incorporated.
- Beat in the flour until combined.
- Mix in the chocolate chips.
- Drop cookies on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.
- Bake 8–10 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet a couple of minutes before moving to cooling racks.
Notes
- Don’t overbake: Pull the cookies at 8 to 10 minutes when the edges are set—they finish firming as they cool.
- Cool on the sheet: Let them rest a couple of minutes on the hot pan before moving to racks so they don’t break.
- Space them out: Drop the dough about 2 inches apart to leave room for spread.
- Worth the shortening: Buying shortening just for these is the trick to that crisp-edge, chewy-center texture.
- Make-ahead: Scoop and freeze the dough, then bake from frozen with an extra minute or two.
Why This Works
- Butter plus shortening: Butter brings the flavor while shortening’s higher melting point limits spread, giving crisp edges and a chewy middle.
- Brown sugar and corn syrup: Both add moisture and invert sugars that keep the cookies soft and chewy rather than dry.
- Creaming the fats and sugars: Beating them together whips in air and dissolves the sugar for an even, tender crumb.
- Cooling on the sheet: Residual heat finishes the centers gently so the cookies set without overbaking.