Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies {Honey-Sweetened}
The most amazing honey-sweetened chocolate chip cookies ever.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (2 cubes) butter room temperature
- 1 cup (12 ounces) raw honey see note
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract see note
- 3 cups (15 ounces) all-purpose white flour see note
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 cups (18 ounces) chocolate chips see note
- 1 cup (4 ounces) coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (350 degrees convection bake). Line 2 half sheet baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
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In the bowl of a stand mixer using cookie paddles, combine softened butter and honey and whip 1-2 minutes until lightened, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
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Add flour, salt, and baking soda and pulse until just a few streaks of flour remain. Add chocolate chips and nuts and pulse a few more times just until barely mixed.
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Scoop giant 4-ounce portions of cookie dough (you can use a greased ⅓ cup measuring cup and fill it slightly heaping). Then roll them gently until they start to form a ball. I like to roll it just barely so the cookie still has some rustic character. Place dough balls onto prepared cookie sheets in 2 columns of 3, allowing for 6 cookies per sheet, evenly spaced. Flatten each ball just slightly with a damp hand. See note for size variations.
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Bake each pan in preheated 375 degree oven (350 convection) for 14-15 minutes or until cookies are golden brown on edges and slightly crackly on top.
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Remove from oven and let cookies rest for 2 to 3 minutes on cookie sheet before removing to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Recipe Notes
1. As with all honey-sweetened recipes on this blog, I use raw honey that I buy in bulk from a local source. If you use regular honey from the store keep in mind that it is not always the same. Often honey from the store has been watered down or mixed with corn syrup and recipes made with it (especially baked goods) will turn out very different.
2. For best results, use a good quality vanilla extract rather than an imitation vanilla. We love this white Mexican vanilla that you can order on Amazon.
2. I’ve found that the amount of flour needed for this recipe can vary by ¼ cup either way, depending on your elevation. This recipe was created at about 4,000 feet. If you are lower elevation you may want to use up to ¼ cup less flour. If you are higher elevation, you may need up to a ¼ cup more flour. If you are wondering about how the elevation will affect your cookies, always start with the smallest amount of flour from the guidelines above. You can start out by baking 1 cookie as a test. If the cookies spread too much while baking, you need to add a little more flour. If the cookies don’t spread enough, you need to use less flour.
3. I prefer dark chocolate chips in this recipe - Ghirardelli or Guitard brand.
4. The recipe works with no nuts and fewer chocolate chips too (even though I like the recipe as it is--my family prefers half the chocolate chips so that's what we've been making recently). We've found that the no-nut version cookies taste better if you don't flatten the dough balls before baking.
5. This recipe still works with smaller cookies. For medium cookies (I used a #20 cookie scoop) they baked about 11-13 minutes. For mini cookies (a #40 cookie scoop) they baked in about 8-10 minutes.
Update (4/20/22): The original recipe I posted used cold butter. I have since discovered that the Bosch cookie paddles do not hold up well mixing cold butter (even if it is sliced). So I am adapting the recipe to use room temperature butter. If you want the texture similar to the original recipe I posted, you can chill the dough after forming the dough balls and before baking (about 30 to 60 minutes).