Chocolate Chip Cookies, Infinite Ways

Chewy or crisp, layered with oats or double chocolate

Mark Bittman
Heated

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Jessica Goodman for Getty Images

Drop cookies like this one are truly the easiest of the easy: Mix the dough, then drop by the teaspoon or tablespoon onto baking sheets. Many of these doughs are incredibly versatile, letting you add and swap ingredients to get just the flavor combination you want. If you’re a cookie neophyte, this is where you want to start.

Onto the chocolate chunk cookies: Chewy in the middle, crisp at the edges, and full of real chocolate flavor, these cookies will make you forget all about waxy, bland chocolate chips. Use whatever chocolate you like best: I always go dark. Chopping the chocolate by hand yields pieces that ooze quite a bit during baking. If that bothers you, line your sheets with parchment paper. This recipe has almost infinite variations, some favorites below.

Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Makes: About 2–3 dozen

Time: About 30 minutes

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 sticks butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

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Mark Bittman
Heated

Has published 30 books, including How to Cook Everything and VB6: The Case for Part-Time Veganism. Newsletter at markbittman.com.