Want to bake perfect cookies?

Cookie Recipes


If you know me, you know cookies are my favorite dessert! Here is a collection of the very best cookie recipes! You’ll find chocolate chip cookies, soft cookies, peanut butter cookies and lots more! Plus TONS of cookie baking tips for perfect cookies every time.





How to Make the BEST Cookies

Want to bake picture perfect cookies? Check out these how-to articles for all my tips and tricks for baking homemade cookies.

Tessa’s Top Baking Tips

Flat cookies? Make sure your butter is at a cool room temperature.

When creaming butter and sugar for cookies, always use COOL room temperature butter that’s about 67°F. If your butter is too warm and greasy, you’ll end up with flat, puddle cookies.

Also, be sure to use unsalted butter so you’re in control of the amount of salt in your cookies.

How to shape perfect balls of cookie dough

A spring-loaded cookie scoop is the best tool for making quick and easy work of shaping perfect balls of cookie dough.

How to make soft cookies

For soft cookies, remove from the oven a minute early when the tops still look slightly wet. The residual heat of the oven will finish them to perfection. Cool on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack.

The Ultimate Cookie Handbook

Get ready to make cookies that rival your favorite bakery. 🍪 The Ultimate Cookie Handbook shares the sweet SCIENCE of cookie baking in a fun, visual way allowing you to create & customize your own recipes.

Don’t be surprised if your creations start being requested by EVERYONE at every single event.

How to Make Cookies Step-by-Step

Step into my kitchen and bake these homemade cookies with me!

YouTube video
YouTube video

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YouTube video

Want to bake your version of perfect cookies?

Download our FREE Cookie Customization Chart to make your cookies chewy, crispy, cakey, or however you like them!

All Cookie Recipes

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are my cookies flat?

When cookies turn into sad, flat puddles, the culprit is usually butter that was too warm.
Generally speaking, the warmer the dough is when it enters the oven, the flatter the cookies will bake. So for thick cookies, use butter at a COOL room temperature. Perfect room-temperature butter for cookie baking should give slightly when pressed with your finger but still hold its shape and be at a cool room temperature of about 67°F.
Check out my article for how to bake THICK cookies here.

Why are my cookies puffy and not spreading?

Because flour compacts easily, you can wind up accidentally adding 20% more flour to your dough if you don’t measure it the professional way.
Make sure to measure your flour accurately by using a digital scale to weigh your ingredients! Too much flour will result in puffy cookies. Check out my article for how to measure flour here.

How to freeze cookie dough:

Make the cookie dough as the recipe instructs. Freezing works best with drop cookies (i.e. chocolate chip, peanut butter, etc.). Cut-out cookies actually freeze well after they’re baked!
Roll the cookie dough into even balls and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet that fits in your freezer.
Freeze the balls for 1 hour, or until solid. This prevents the balls from sticking to each other.
Remove the balls to a ziptop bag.

Which vanilla to use for cookies?

I recommend baking with pure vanilla extract. Avoid imitation vanilla flavor.

Do you have any recipes for bar cookies?

Yes! Check out my Peanut Butter Chocolate Chunk Bars or these Loaded Cookie Bars.

Which cookie sheet is best for cookies?

The type of baking pan used is SO important.
Nonstick pans or dark colored pans brown way more quickly and aggressively. These Nordic Ware unlined aluminum baking sheets are my go-to for perfectly golden brown cookies.
Check out my Best (and WORST) Baking Pans article here for more details on the science of baking pans.

How long can you freeze cookie dough for?

You can store cookie dough in the freezer for up to 6 weeks so you always have a treat just a few minutes away.

How to make chewy chocolate chip cookies:

One of the keys to CHEWY cookies is to use more brown sugar than granulated sugar. The molasses in the brown sugar draws in more moisture, making the cookies thicker, softer, and chewier.
For extra chewy cookies, try adding an extra egg yolk. You can also replace half or all of the all-purpose flour with bread flour for an ultra chewy bite.

How to keep cookies soft:

To keep your baked cookies soft, you can add a piece of bread or tortilla on the top and bottom of the container (not touching the cookies) a day or two after baking them, or whenever you find the texture starting to harden. The moisture from the bread will migrate to your cookies, making them soft and chewy again.
A tortilla is a new favorite of mine because it takes up much less room than a slice of bread and still offers the same results. Not to mention it fits into a round cookie tin pretty perfectly.

Which cocoa powder is best for cookies?

This really depends on the specific cookie recipe, though my Soft Batch Double Chocolate Cookies call for natural unsweetened cocoa powder.
To learn more about the differences between Dutch process vs. natural cocoa powder, check out this article.