Subway-Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Stand mixer or hand mixer
• •Large mixing bowl
• •Rubber spatula
• •2-tablespoon cookie scoop or measuring spoon
• •Rimmed baking sheets
• •Parchment paper
• •Wire cooling rack

Instructions

1. 1

   Combine dry ingredients

   Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. This takes thirty seconds and prevents streaks of baking soda that would leave bitter pockets in your finished cookies.

2. 2

   Cream butter and sugars

   In a large bowl, beat the softened butter with both sugars using a hand mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Start on low to incorporate, then increase to medium-high. Beat for 3 full minutes until the mixture turns pale and fluffy, scraping down the sides halfway through. This aeration is where chewiness begins.

   Properly softened butter holds a fingerprint but doesn't feel greasy. If your butter is too soft, the cookies will spread flat and turn crispy.
3. 3

   Add eggs and vanilla

   Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 30 seconds after each addition. The mixture may look slightly curdled after the first egg. Don't worry. Add the vanilla extract with the second egg. Beat until everything looks smooth and glossy, about another 30 seconds.

4. 4

   Incorporate flour mixture

   Add the flour mixture all at once. Mix on low speed just until the last streaks of flour disappear. The moment you stop seeing white, stop mixing. Overworking develops gluten, which gives you tough cookies instead of tender ones.

5. 5

   Fold in chocolate chips

   Add the chocolate chips and fold them in with a rubber spatula, using broad strokes from the bottom of the bowl upward. Distribute them evenly. Every bite should have chocolate.

6. 6

   Chill the dough

   Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight. This step is not optional. Cold dough spreads slowly in the oven, which is how you get thick cookies with set edges and soft centers. Skip the chill and you'll get flat, crispy discs.

   For even better flavor, chill overnight. The rest allows flour to fully hydrate and sugars to dissolve, producing deeper caramel notes.
7. 7

   Portion and arrange

   Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Scoop dough into 2-tablespoon portions and roll into balls. Arrange on prepared sheets with 2 inches between each ball. They'll spread. For that classic look, press a few extra chocolate chips into the tops of each dough ball where they'll show.

8. 8

   Bake until barely set

   Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. Here's the critical judgment call: pull the cookies when the edges are golden and set but the centers still look pale and slightly underdone. They'll appear too soft. They're not. The centers will firm up as they cool. If you wait until they look done in the oven, they'll be overbaked on the plate.

9. 9

   Cool on the pan

   Let cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes. This finishing time allows carryover cooking to set the structure while keeping the interior soft. Transfer to a wire rack only after they hold their shape when lifted. Eat warm for the full experience: edges that yield with the slightest resistance, centers that stretch before breaking, chocolate still melted.

Chef Tips

• •The brown sugar to white sugar ratio determines texture. More brown sugar means more moisture and chew. If you want crispier edges, increase the white sugar slightly.
• •Semisweet chips hold their shape better than chopped chocolate. For a more sophisticated cookie, use half chips and half chopped bittersweet chocolate (60-70% cacao).
• •Butter temperature matters more than any other variable. Too cold and it won't cream properly. Too warm and your dough will be slack. Leave butter on the counter for 45 minutes before starting.
• •For bakery-style appearance with exposed chocolate pools, press a few chips into the tops of each dough ball before baking. These catch the eye first.
• •Store baked cookies in an airtight container with a slice of bread. The cookies pull moisture from the bread, staying soft for up to five days. Replace the bread as it stales.

Advance Preparation

• •Dough can be refrigerated up to 3 days. The flavor improves with time as the flour hydrates fully.
• •Portioned dough balls freeze beautifully for up to 3 months. Freeze on a sheet pan until solid, then transfer to freezer bags. Bake directly from frozen, adding 2-3 minutes to the baking time.
• •Baked cookies can be frozen in airtight containers for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature and rewarm for 2 minutes in a 300°F oven to restore their fresh-baked texture.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 cookie (about 43g)