Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have gone all in on researching, testing, and perfecting the Toll House Cookie Recipe (including speaking with Toll House themselves). After much trial and error, I have finally perfected the measurements and process for the perfect Toll House chocolate chip cookie, and now I’m sharing that with you!

Soft and chewy Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

The Nestle Toll House cookie recipe is quite possibly the most popular cookie recipe in the US, but I’ve got a gripe to share, which led me on my quest to perfect this recipe. 

The gripe: they don’t tell us how they measured the flour, which is very critical. Did they aerate the flour, spoon it into the measuring cup and level it? Did they stick the whole measuring cup into the flour bag and level it off? We need to know!

If you’ve ever made this famous chocolate chip cookie recipe and felt disappointed that your cookies came out flat or spread too much, this is why! Properly measuring flour is a golden rule in baking. How you measure your flour changes the texture and consistency of your final product. 

Now, you can make original Toll House cookies without the guesswork! Keep reading to learn how I figured out the flour mystery and all my best tips and tricks!

My Journey of Testing and Perfecting Nestle Toll House Cookies

When baking, I follow the King Arthur ingredient weight chart, which says 1 cup of all-purpose flour equals 120 grams. Since I weigh my flour on a kitchen scale, I took their measurement of 2 ¼ cup flour and converted it into grams based on the 120 grams per cup rule. The result was 270 grams. 

I followed the Nestle cookie recipe as instructed using the 270 grams of flour, but the cookies spread a lot and were pretty flat. So, we can safely assume Nestle does not follow the “1 cup equals 120 grams” rule. 

Next, I measured the flour using the aerate, spoon, and level method. I stirred the flour with a fork to aerate it, used a spoon to spoon the flour into the measuring cup, then used the back of a butter knife to level it off. Then, I measured that amount of flour on the kitchen scale, resulting in 297 grams. 

When I baked that batch, the cookies held their shape a little better but still spread some. 

Finally, I measured the flour by sticking the entire measuring cup into the flour bag and leveling it off. Every bone inside my body was saying, “Noooo, this is wrong!” but I continued on in the name of science! Measuring 2 ¼ cups of flour that way resulted in 333 grams. 

In summary, here are the measurements and conversions:

• 2 ¼ cups measured by using 120 grams per cup method = 270 grams
• 2 ¼ cup measured by using the aerate, spoon and level method = 297 grams
• 2 ¼ cup measured by the old school, stick the measuring cup into the flour and level method = 333 grams 

The difference between all 3 of these measuring techniques is 63 grams – which is equal to ½ cup flour! That means, depending on how you measure the flour,  you can be missing ½ cup flour or adding an additional ½ cup flour without even knowing it! Half a cup of flour makes a huge difference, meaning your cookies might spread more or might be puffier and thicker.

In my opinion, Nestle’s photos of their chocolate chip cookies on their website look thick and not spread out. This leads me to believe that when they originally developed this recipe, they must have measured the flour by sticking the entire measuring cup into the flour bag and leveling it off. 

How can we replicate a recipe accurately when there are so many different ways to measure flour?!

So I reached out to Nestle on Instagram, asking them to provide the recipe in grams, and they did! But I was a little surprised to see that their conversion for 2 ¼ cups of flour was equal to 281 grams. From having tested this recipe multiple times, using various amounts of flour, I truly don’t think you’ll be able to produce cookies that look like theirs by using only 281 grams of flour. 

Let’s not forget that Nestle recommends adding 1-2 additional tablespoons of flour if you won’t be adding the chopped nuts. Their gram recommendation was to “add an additional 7.8-15.6 grams of flour if omitting the nuts”.

Making Toll House Cookies That Aren’t Flat and Thin

After doing a lot of research, in order to get thicker cookies that aren’t spreading as much, it seems that people are implementing one or more of these techniques: 

• adding more flour
• substituting half of the butter for shortening
• chilling the dough before baking

Here is a photo of the original recipe in grams that Nestle provided:

For the cookies in the photos that you see here, I used 297 grams of flour (the aerate, spoon, and level method, then weighed on a scale) plus the recommended addition of 2 tablespoons of flour since I didn’t add the nuts, that gives us a grand total of 312 grams. I did not chill the dough. I do think chilling the dough in dough balls for 30 minutes would have yielded a thicker cookie.

So there you have it! Everything you could possibly want to know about flour when it comes to the Nestle Toll House recipe. 

Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Ingredients

These chewy chocolate chip cookies use basic pantry ingredients and those well-known chocolate chips! Get the full recipe in the recipe card below. Here’s what you’ll need:

• All-purpose flour
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Unsalted butter: Be sure to leave time for the butter to soften!
• Granulated sugar
• Brown sugar
• Vanilla extract
• Eggs
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips
• Chopped nuts (optional)

How to Make Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

Making the best chocolate chip cookies doesn’t have to be hard. Follow these 8 easy steps to make the famous Toll House cookie recipe. Get the full recipe in the recipe card below. Here are the step-by-step instructions:

1. Prep oven. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Mix dry ingredients. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. 

3. Start to mix wet ingredients. In a separate large mixing bowl, beat the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract with an electric mixer, 1 minute. 

4. Add in the large eggs, mixing on low. 
5. Combine wet and dry ingredients. On low, gradually beat in the flour mixture. 

6. Add chocolate chips (and nuts, if using). With a spatula, stir in the semisweet chocolate chips or nuts, if using. I didn’t add nuts.
7. Making cookie dough balls. On a silicone mat or parchment paper lined baking sheet, add about 6-8 tablespoon sized dough balls, evenly spaced.
8. Bake and cool. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 15-20 minutes before transferring. 

How to Store Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

Once the cookies have cooled completely, store them in an airtight container or ziploc bag for 4-5 days. You can place a piece of bread in the container with them to keep them soft. This trick is known to keep the cookies moist and soft.

These cookies also freeze well! You can either freeze the baked cookies or freeze the dough:

• To freeze the finished cookies: Allow them to cool completely first. Place them in an airtight container or freezer-safe bag for 3-4 months. I recommend writing the date and baking instructions on the outside of the bag. When you’re ready to eat them, thaw them overnight in the refrigerator.
• To freeze chocolate chip cookie dough: Line the dough balls up on a baking sheet (they can be close since they won’t be cooked right now), and place the baking sheet in the freezer. Once the dough balls are completely frozen solid, transfer them to a ziploc bag or airtight container. These freeze well for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to bake them, remove them from the freezer and let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before baking.

Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies FAQs

More Chocolate Chip Recipes

• Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Chocolate Chip Scones
• Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Hummus
• Chocolate Chip Banana Bread