A few things before you start:

• This is a freeze-first cookie. You make the dough, portion it, and freeze it before it ever sees the oven. I use this quarter sheet pan to hold the dough in the freezer for the first day before I transfer it to a Ziploc freezer bag. Freeze the dough for least 6 hours before you bake, though dough balls hold in the freezer for weeks or months. That’s been my secret weapon for years: a bag of frozen dough balls means a warm cookie is always about 20 minutes away, whenever people are over or I just want one.
• Weigh everything. I know not everyone bakes with a scale, but I can’t really troubleshoot for you if you’re using measuring cups. Everyone scoops flour a little differently. (Get a cheap digital scale. It’ll pay for itself the first time you bake. It’s also way easier!)
• This recipe is tested with King Arthur all-purpose flour. That’s the only flour I can vouch for here.
• Get an oven thermometer. This one is $8. Before you bake your cookies, set your oven to 350, put it in, and see what your oven is actually doing. Running hot or cool changes everything about baking, particularly how these cookies bake. If you find that your oven isn’t calibrated correctly, you can always just bump the temp up or down depending on what you find.
• Pans matter here. Dark pans will burn the bottoms. I use these sheet pans. Inexpensive, dishwasher-safe, and what’s under every cookie I sold this summer.

The technique (read this part first)

This dough does not get creamed. No bringing butter to room temperature, no whipping it fluffy with sugar. You’re using cold, cubed butter straight from the fridge. I use my KitchenAid mixer (here’s their classic version that’s not as large as mine), but I’ve never tested this recipe without a mixer. I mix the cold butter with the sugar on low just until the butter’s incorporated and no longer in visible chunks. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix for no more than 30 seconds. Then add your dry ingredients and mix only until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Can you sense a theme here? Over-mixing is the one real way to ruin this dough, so when in doubt, stop early.

The other technique you’ll want to employ is shaping the cookie dough into tall mounds before you freeze them. Below, I’ve shown how I shape the dough. It looks a little weird, but I promise it will give you a better result than rolling the dough into a round ball.

[ CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTO ]
If photo is gone, they look like termite mounds

NORTHWOODS TABLE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE RECIPE

[ PHOTO OF FINISHED COOKIE ]

Ingredients

8 ounces (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, each stick cut into 8 pieces
200 grams (1 cup) light brown sugar
120 grams (2/3 cup) white sugar
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
405 grams (about 3 1/3 cup) all purpose flour
8 grams (2 teaspoons) baking powder
4 grams (1 1/2 teaspoons) Diamond Crystal kosher salt (if using Morton, cut in half)
5 grams (1 teaspoon) baking soda
5 grams (1 1/2 teaspoons) cornstarch
8 ounces (1 1/3 cups) semi-sweet mini chips (I use Toll House)
8 ounces (1 1/3 cups) milk chocolate chips (I use Ghiradelli)

Directions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cold cubed butter and sugars on low for 2 minutes, until the butter is broken down with no visible chunks.
2. Add the egg, egg yolks, and vanilla. Mix on medium-low for no more than 30 seconds, just until incorporated. Scrape down the bowl as needed.
3. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, then add to the wet ingredients. Mix on low until just combined — don’t overwork it.
4. Fold in both chocolate chips, by hand if the mixer isn’t distributing them evenly. Stop as soon as they’re incorporated.
5. Portion the dough into 6 ounces each using a scale — this recipe makes about 8½ cookies (I eat the half raw, haha, freeze the other 8). No scale? Eyeball 8–9 even portions. Shape each into a tall dome rather than a round ball, then flatten the bottom slightly so it won’t tip over in the oven. Place on a parchment-lined pan or plate for freezing.
6. Freeze the portioned dough at least 6 hours before baking — or up to a few months.
7. When you’re ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350°F or 375°F — see notes below for which.
8. Bake straight from frozen on parchment-lined half sheet pans (4 cookies per pan max) for 16 minutes, rotating the pans top-to-bottom and front-to-back halfway through, until the tops and bottoms just start to brown. (A full 8-cookie batch can take closer to 20 minutes.) The centers should still look doughy. Cool on the pan for 15 minutes to set up before moving.

350°F vs. 375°F: Both work, it’s genuinely personal preference. 350°F gives you a less domed cookie. 375°F gives you a taller, more browned dome. The cookie is doughy in the middle either way. If you use 375°F, keep an eye on the cookies so they don’t burn.