Thin and Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies

605 Ratings
  • 5 143
  • 4 151
  • 3 187
  • 2 87
  • 1 37

Adding more granulated sugar gives this classic thin and crispy cookie its crunch.

Martha Stewart Living, October 2003

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Recipe Summary

Yield:
Makes about 3 dozen
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Ingredients

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, 1/4 cup water, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

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  • Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

  • Bake until cookies are golden brown 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

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Reviews (49)

605 Ratings
  • 5 143
  • 4 151
  • 3 187
  • 2 87
  • 1 37
Martha Stewart Member
08/23/2020
These are simply amazing. 30 yrs of marriage and the tollhouse package recipe always disappointed my husband. He remembered his mothers like this!
Martha Stewart Member
05/22/2020
Don’t add the 1/4cup water and add 1/2 tsp more salt than the recipe if you’re using unsalted butter to have more flavour. Cookies turned out crisp. Pretty good recipe
Martha Stewart Member
05/22/2020
Don’t add the 1/4cup water and add 1/2 tsp more salt than the recipe if you’re using unsalted butter to have more flavour. Cookies turned out crisp. Pretty good recipe
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Martha Stewart Member
05/22/2020
Don’t add the 1/4cup water and add 1/2 tsp more salt than the recipe if you’re using unsalted butter to have more flavour. Cookies turned out crisp. Pretty good recipe
Martha Stewart Member
05/21/2020
The cookies spread out to cover the entire pan. Too much butter, too much sugar...I ended up punching out cookie shapes from the pan, so they were salvageable but more work than I bargained for. I wouldn't use this recipe again.
Martha Stewart Member
04/18/2020
Martha, Martha, Martha. All that butter makes these cookies greasy. Stick to toll house.
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Martha Stewart Member
10/11/2019
I like small cookies, so I used one tsp, about 2” apart. I also used 3 tbsp. water. They came out perfectly- - golden brown and crisp
Martha Stewart Member
04/11/2019
These are the ultimate best chocolate chip cookies! We call them "crack cookies" because they are so addictive.
Martha Stewart Member
02/13/2019
I usually make a pretty close variation to the toll house recipe, but some friends asked for a crispier cookie. this one is perfect! Wondering if some may miss the note in the directions about adding 1/4 cup water to wet mixture, as its not listed in ingredients. I use 1/2 sheet pans with silpat and also only bake 9 per sheet so they can spread a bit. Nothing but compliments, so it will stay in my go to collection.
Martha Stewart Member
02/10/2019
This recipe works perfectly if you allow the cookies enough room to spread. I use air-insulated cookie sheets and only scoop 9 dough balls per sheet. Takes a little longer, but worth it. (Freeze half the balls for another day.) Use Guittard bittersweet baking wafers (large flat discs of amazing chocolate) for the ultimate cookie.
Martha Stewart Member
01/15/2019
Perfect cookies! I used mini chocolate chips and I think it worked really well because they are so thin I was worried about how thin the batter was but as long as you give the cookies plenty of space they spread out and crisp up this is my favorite chocolate chip cookies recipe by far.
Martha Stewart Member
12/31/2018
Amazing cookies - do not let these idiots that left bad reviews sway your decision on making these! I'm guessing they can't follow a simple recipe! These cookies don't last in our home. They are perfect - they do not merge in the oven - leave your cookies room to expand, guessing these bad reviews might be from people trying them in a toaster oven, seriously these are the most amazing cookies - recipe is PERFECT AS IS! Ohio Mom
Martha Stewart Member
12/23/2018
It's hard to go wrong w/ a chocolate chip recipe but this one does. They not only spread to form one big cookie but were basically tasteless. There is a great chocolate chip recipe which uses butter and spry but I cannot find. Does someone have it?
Martha Stewart Member
12/01/2018
Removed one egg. Added half and half about 1 fl.oz. cookie was thin.crisp and rich!
Martha Stewart Member
12/01/2018
I used the 1/4 cup of water and they’re perfect. BUT: you have to bake them for nearly 18-19 minutes to get that dry, crispy crunch like Tate’s.
Martha Stewart Member
11/23/2018
I followed the recipe exactly and the cookies spread out so much I ended up with one big cookie on the pan. I have made many chocolate chip cookies and this was the worst I ever used. I am so disappointed, all those ingredients a waste. Now I need to find another recipe and make more cookies. Very, very bad, not a up to Martha Stewart standards. Do not use this recipe.
Martha Stewart Member
08/11/2018
I give this 5 stars. I have made these cookies 100 times, and they were great every time! I added marshmallows and it was delicious! This recipe is out of this world.
Martha Stewart Member
07/12/2018
I originally followed the recipe exactly, including the quarter cup of water, but the cookies spread out too much, bleeding into each other, and cooked unevenly, ending up very greasy. I tried again, this time halving the recipe and using only 2 teaspoons of water, and it worked much better!
Martha Stewart Member
02/19/2018
It is the best tasting cookie ever!
Martha Stewart Member
01/27/2018
Thin is right! I could see daylight through them! Too greasy too, the extra 1/2 stick of butter is too much. The old standard Toll House recipe is STILL much better.
Martha Stewart Member
04/29/2017
I replaced the water with evaporated milk & added pecans... Luvs!
Martha Stewart Member
02/25/2017
I used only two teas[filtered]s of water
Martha Stewart Member
02/25/2017
These are awesome. The best chocolate chip cookies ever.
Martha Stewart Member
12/05/2016
Hi when I reviewed the ingredients compared to the instructions.. it says to add water to the mixture.. Water isnt listed in ingredients. Just want to be sure this isn't an error.. if water is needed please confirm. Thanks.
Martha Stewart Member
01/16/2016
Hi, i find it slightly sweeter to my taste. How can i reduce the sugar level? Please help. Thanks!
Martha Stewart Member
06/17/2015
Never bother with any other cookie recipe ever again. If you like Tate's Cookies, you will love these.
Martha Stewart Member
04/02/2015
These cookies came out perfectly for what I needed! I wanted a flat chocolate chip for a mocha crème cake that I make and have tried other recipes but couldn't get the cookies flat enough - this one definitely works well. I added the 4 tsp of water, chilled the dough in the fridge for 15 minutes, and baked on parchment paper. I did flatten the cookies but then tested the last few without flattening them and they all came out just the same so you can save time on that. This is now a favorite!
Martha Stewart Member
10/06/2014
All I can say is just delicious! This cookie is nice and thin and just perfect. Only thing I changed was the water. I followed others advice and just used 4 tsps. of water. I had no trouble with chocolate chips staying in the middle. Evenly distributed and a nice golden brown. Delicious flavor.
Martha Stewart Member
05/10/2014
These are positively outstanding! Light, thin, crispy, crunchy. If you like Tate's Bakery chocolate chip cookies, you will love these. Thank you to the previous posters who recommended using just 4 teaspoons of water. It was the perfect amount as 1/4 cup would have been too much and ruined the outcome. I am using these cookies tonight to make ice cream sandwiches. Thank you Martha for sharing a recipe that's definitely a keeper!
Martha Stewart Member
03/23/2014
Made these exactly as the recipe instructions say, and they ended up a HOT MESS. I'm disappointed.
Martha Stewart Member
03/01/2014
These thin and crisp chocolate chip cookies are the best and I mean BEST!!!! First batch didn't work so well because I did a heaping tblspn and I guess it was way too heaping so I did an exact level tablespoon and it worked perfectly. In addition I did put the batter in the fridge for about 15 min. before laying out the first batch and again inbetween batches. One of the results of doing a very level tblspn was the amount of cookies I got close to 6 dozen perfect cookies. may i have another!
Martha Stewart Member
01/31/2013
Make the recipe with water or not, the key step is a gentle flattening of each cookie before baking at 325 for 17-20 minutes.
Martha Stewart Member
12/22/2012
If you are looking for thin and crispy (which I was!) then this is the perfect cookie. I did the 4 tsp water and it was perfect. The comparison to Tate's is right on the mark!
Martha Stewart Member
11/05/2012
Please update the recipe ingredients to include the 1/4 cup water! Unless you read the directions very carefully you will miss this step and end up with a puffy, soft cookie instead of a thin and crispy one.
Martha Stewart Member
03/14/2012
These cookies are fantastic! This is my favorite type of chocolate chip cookie. These fly off the table at the bake sale! They're kind of like Tates cookies, but a lot more of a bargain made at home.
Martha Stewart Member
12/05/2011
Absolutely outstanding cookie. After reading previous reviews, I used 4 tsp. water. The best chocolate chip ever.
Martha Stewart Member
09/08/2011
Sorry, but this recipe does not deliver. The only crispy part about the cookies are the 1/4 inch around the edge, and that's it. Do as I did and halve the recipe to test it. So glad that I did, as I threw away only half a batch instead of a full one.
Martha Stewart Member
02/25/2011
sooo yummy! made them and then used the cookies for ice cream sandwiches!
Martha Stewart Member
07/28/2010
The flavor of these cookies is great; they have a sugar-lace cookie type texture and taste. I did use the 1/4 c of water and I'd use much less next time. They were actually too thin and fell apart a bit. I like them thin, but they needed just a bit more heft to stay together.
Martha Stewart Member
04/20/2010
These are my go to cookies, but I've found a 1/4 cup of water is just too much. I sprinkly a few teaspons of water in at the very end, mix with a few more strokes, and then bake.
Martha Stewart Member
02/23/2010
Just made this same exact recipe, which is in Martha's COOKIE book, with one glaring difference. In the book, it says to bake them for 20-25 minutes. Luckily, I checked in with mine at 18m and saw they were nicely brown and got them out. Maybe somewhere in between is ideal. 15-18m perhaps?
Martha Stewart Member
02/20/2010
Followed the recipe to the letter and found the cookies too sweet with an eggy taste. Rather disappointed with the results.
Martha Stewart Member
11/16/2009
I followed the ingredients (minus the chocolate chips. I used M
Martha Stewart Member
02/15/2009
I made it for the fisrt time in my life, i did not used water, and it works gorgeous. The taste and texture is perfect, but i'll try with water, i want to see the diference, but i think that the dough will be thin. Aurinha
Martha Stewart Member
12/24/2008
I use 2 tbs (30 ml) of water instead, I forget why, but it works better. I have been baking this cookie for 3 years, everyone loves them, this is the best recipe for thin cc cookies, they ship well, and will keep about 2 weeks, perfect for gift giving...
Martha Stewart Member
11/18/2008
The water makes them nice and thin. This is the best recipe I've found.
Martha Stewart Member
09/24/2008
1 cup = 250 mL 2 cups = 500 mL
Martha Stewart Member
09/18/2008
may i know what is 2 cups equivalent to in - ml? is it 200ml?
Martha Stewart Member
07/28/2008
These were extremely easy to make and came out yummy! A definite keeper. Not sure why directions state to add 1/4 water, not needed.
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