Hershey's Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is the chocolate chip cookie so many of us grew up on, the dependable Hershey’s recipe that turns out the same golden-edged, soft-centered cookies batch after batch. There’s a reason it became a classic: it simply works.

Two sugars do the heavy work of texture. Light brown sugar brings moisture and a soft chew with a touch of caramel, while granulated sugar crisps the edges and helps the cookies spread to the right thickness. Creaming the butter and sugars until truly fluffy beats in the air that gives them structure.

Semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips fold in by the bagful, with chopped nuts optional for crunch. Drop, bake just until lightly browned, and pull them while the centers still look soft. They keep cooking on the hot sheet and set into a chewy, bakery-style texture as they cool.

Pro Tips

• Cream the butter and sugars until genuinely light and fluffy. That aeration is the foundation of good cookie texture.
• Pull them when the edges are set but the centers still look slightly underdone. Carryover heat finishes them soft.
• Don’t pack the flour. Spoon and level it, since too much makes dry, cakey cookies.
• Let them rest on the sheet a minute or two before moving to a rack so they don’t fall apart.

Variations

• Use dark chips, or a mix of milk and semi-sweet for a sweeter cookie.
• Chill the dough an hour for thicker cookies with deeper flavor.
• Add a sprinkle of flaky salt on top before baking to play up the chocolate.