These white chocolate chip cookies are the ideal blend of chewy and crisp. With crunchy rippled edges, soft centers, big pools of white chocolate and a lot of flaky salt, they’re everything you want in a cookie!
Buttery, caramelized white chocolate chip cookies are perfectly chewy and crisp, sweet and salty. I love to use Sarah Kieffer’s pan-banging technique to get gorgeous crunchy ripples on the edges and a soft center. Brown sugar and big white chocolate discs round out the caramelized, milky flavors, and a pop of crunchy flaked salt brings everything into focus.
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Why these the best white chocolate chip cookies:
Extra buttery: Plenty of good butter adds more than just flavor to these cookies! It helps them spread, which is a key component to the pan-banging ripple effect. It also helps them get deliciously crisp on the bottoms and edges. And when butter, brown sugar and white chocolate are combined, they create a cookie ambrosia.
Brown sugar: We use 100% brown sugar in these cookies for a chewy texture and rich, caramelized flavors.
Vanilla: I call for a full tablespoon of vanilla extract here. It adds so much warmth and delicate flavors.
White chocolate feves: These Valrhona white chocolate feves can sometimes be hard to track down, but they are SO worth it. I’m obsessed with chocolate chip cookies that are made up primarily of melted chocolate pools and held together with bits of chewy, caramelized dough. If you can’t find the discs, just chop up 2 bars of good-quality white chocolate into ½-inch chunks. I promise you they’ll be better than white chocolate chips!
Flaky salt: We love the contrast of sweet and salty: it's a classic for a reason. Spoonfuls of caramel doesn't sound that appealing... but make it salted caramel? Sign me up. Same for white chocolate, which can be too sweet. Especially when it's wrapped up in a cookie. But if you offset that sweetness with a crunchy pop of good salt, it's perfectly balanced. The mineral tang of flaky salt cuts right through the sugar and makes these white chocolate chop cookies incredibly delicious.
Pan-banging: Sarah Keiffer developed this technique of banging the sheet of partially baked cookies against the oven rack every 2 minutes to collapse the cookie dough. This creates a beautiful rippled edge and, aside from aesthetics, makes cookies that are the best of both worlds: crispy on the edges and soft and chewy in the center. Don’t skip it!
Chilled then returned to room temperature: Chilling hydrates the dough for a chewier, more flavorful cookie. Cold dough won’t ripple as well, so I bring them out of the fridge while the oven preheats. It's a little bit of a hassle, but don't we all just want the best cookies we can get?
white chocolate chip cookie ingredients:
- all-purpose flour
- baking soda
- baking powder
- kosher salt
- Butter
- brown sugar
- egg
- vanilla extract
- white chocolate discs (can substitute chopped white chocolate
- flaky salt
how to make white chocolate chip cookies:
- Whisk together dry ingredients.
- Cream butter and sugar.
- Beat in egg and vanilla.
- Slowly mix in flour until just combined.
- Mix in white chocolate discs.
- Scoop dough into balls and chill balls at least 1 hour. I love this 3-tablespoon cookie dough scoop!
- Pull dough balls out of the fridge and preheat oven.
- Arrange 5 cookie dough balls on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with flaky salt and bake 18- 20 minutes. After 10 minutes in the oven, start banging the pan every 2 minutes to collapse the cookies and create ripples.
- Transfer to a rack to cool completely.
- Repeat baking remaining cookies.
Do I really need to chill and rest this cookie dough?
As usual: it depends! The longer you rest this cookie dough, the chewier and more flavorful the white chocolate chip cookies will be.
It isn’t necessary to minimize the spread in these cookies. If I’m desperate for cookies, I’ll skip the chilling and bake them ASAP. Nothing catastrophic happens.
But resting the cookie dough will allow the flour to fully hydrate for a chewier texture, better shape, more depth of flavor, and better browning.
Plus, if you scoop the dough when it’s soft, you can make those dough balls to order and always be just 20 minutes away from a deliciously warm, freshly baked cookie.
more chocolate chip cookies to make!
salted double dark chocolate cookies
coconut chocolate chip cookies
pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
Printwhite chocolate chip cookies
These white chocolate chip cookies are perfectly chewy and crisp. With crunchy rippled edges, soft centers, big pools of white chocolate and a lot of flaky salt, they’re pretty perfect.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 14
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp kosher salt
- 1 ½ sticks (12 tbsp) butter, softened
- 1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 8 oz white chocolate discs (can substitute chopped white chocolate or chips)
- flaky salt, for sprinkling
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk to combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and mix to combine, scraping down bowl if needed. Add dry ingredients and slowly mix until just combined. Slowly mix in white chocolate.
- Scoop dough into roughly ¼ cup portions, roll into balls, and arrange on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Chill at least 1 hour and up to 3 days.
- Pull cookie dough out of the fridge and preheat oven to 350°F.
- Space 5 dough balls out on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet to allow for spreading. Sprinkle flaky salt on the surface and bake for a total of 18- 20 minutes. After 10 minutes, lift the pan about 4-inches off the oven rack and bang it a few times against the rack to collapse the cookies. Close the oven. Repeat the banging every 2 minutes until the bake time is up. When ready, the cookies will be golden brown and rippled on the edges, but still soft in the center.
- Let cool 5 minutes on the sheet pan, then transfer to a cooling rack. Cookies will firm up as they cool.
Notes
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 309
- Sugar: 26g
- Sodium: 241mg
- Fat: 16g
- Saturated Fat: 9.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 4.9g
- Trans Fat: 0.4g
- Carbohydrates: 39g
- Fiber: 0.5g
- Protein: 3.4g
- Cholesterol: 43mg
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