This Wilderness Our Home

Thick · Gooey · Buttery · Perfectly Salted

I’ve been baking chocolate chip cookies since I was six years old, standing on a stool beside my great-grandmother’s mixing bowl. I remember sneaking bits of cookie dough every time she wasn’t looking—the buttery sugar, the melting chocolate chips, the warmth of the dough before it ever hit the oven.

My kids do the same thing now, hovering by the bowl, waiting for their chance. I’ve always loved cookie dough more than the finished cookies, but these—these make me actually want to bake the whole batch.

Over the years, I went from the Nestlé recipe on the back of the bag to one I perfected more than a decade ago. That version carried us through birthdays, long days, and late nights when we just needed something sweet. But this year feels different. A new baby, a teen, and a pre-teen—a new rhythm in our house and a new chapter in the kitchen.

After eleven years, I wanted something thicker, deeper, and more complex—a cookie with molasses-like warmth, brown butter depth, and vanilla that lingers. These cookies are that and more: chewy, gooey, golden at the edges, and deeply aromatic from honey, cream, and browned butter.

As Christmas approaches, we’ll make these often—and a couple of weeks before the holiday, we’ll prepare a special batch with M&Ms, caramel pieces, and dark chocolate chips to freeze into dough balls. It’s part of our favorite Christmas Eve tradition (aside from celebrating my oldest son’s birthday and spending time with family): baking Santa’s cookies while we watch a Christmas movie together before everyone drifts off, the house filled with the smell of butter, sugar, and quiet anticipation.

And for the record, yes—we sometimes make cookie dough just to eat. When I do that, I swap applesauce for eggs. The key is a very smooth sauce—Pink Lady apples work beautifully because they’re firm, naturally sweet-tart, and have a mild flavor that blends right in.

🕒 Recipe at a Glance

Prep Time: 25 min

Cook Time: 25 min

Rest Time: 1 hr

Total Time: ~1 hr 40 min

Yields: ~18 large cookies (about 90 g each)

🍪 The Ultimate Gourmet Chocolate Chip Cookies

Thick · Gooey · Buttery · Perfectly Salted

Ingredients

Dry

3 cups (360 g) all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp baking powder

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp fine sea salt

Wet

12 Tbsp (170 g) unsalted butter, browned and slightly cooled

2 Tbsp (30 g) cream cheese, softened

1 cup packed light brown sugar

¼ cup packed dark brown sugar

½ cup minus 2 Tbsp (≈85 g) granulated sugar

2 Tbsp honey

1½ Tbsp vanilla bean paste (or 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract)

¼ tsp almond extract

2 large eggs, room temperature

3 Tbsp heavy cream

Add-Ins

2½ cups (≈425 g) mixed chocolate (dark chocolate chunks, semisweet chocolate chunks, mini semisweet chips)

Flaky sea salt for finishing

Instructions

1. Brown the butter.

Melt the butter in a light-colored saucepan over medium heat until it foams, turns golden, and develops brown specks. Remove from heat and cool for about 15 minutes.

2. Whisk dry ingredients.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, and sea salt. Set aside.

3. Cream butter, sugars, and cream cheese.

In a stand mixer, beat the cooled browned butter, cream cheese, light brown sugar, dark brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium-high for 3–4 minutes until pale and fluffy.

4. Add honey and extracts.

Mix in the honey, vanilla bean paste, and almond extract until smooth and fragrant.

5. Add eggs and cream.

Beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the heavy cream and mix briefly until silky and cohesive.

6. Combine wet and dry.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients about ½ cup at a time until the dough just comes together with no dry streaks.

7. Fold in chocolate.

Stir in the chocolate chunks and chips by hand to keep their shape and avoid overmixing.

8. Chill the dough.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour (or up to overnight). This deepens the flavor and helps control spread during baking.

9. Bake.

Preheat oven to 340°F (170°C). Line baking sheets with parchment. Scoop 3 Tbsp (≈90 g) portions of dough. Bake for 10–11 minutes, until edges are lightly golden and centers still appear soft. Immediately tap the pan once on the counter to collapse air pockets. Let cookies cool on the tray for 8–10 minutes before transferring to a rack.

10. Finish.

Sprinkle with flaky sea salt while warm. (Optional: brush tops lightly with melted butter for a glossy bakery finish.)

 

Chef’s Notes

• Using a blend of light and dark brown sugar deepens the caramel and vanilla flavor without needing molasses.
• Extra vanilla bean paste brings that warm, bakery-style aroma and rounds out the sweetness.
• Browned butter, cream cheese, and honey work together to create a custardy, gooey center that stays soft for days.
• Mixed chocolate sizes—chunks and chips—give you both dramatic melt pools and even chocolate distribution in every bite.
• Overnight chilling enhances color, flavor depth, and overall chew.
• If making smaller cookies, reduce bake time by 1–2 minutes.
• Microwave a cooled cookie for 8 seconds to revive that fresh-baked gooey center instantly.

🍪 Favorite Variations

Salted Caramel Pretzel Cookies

Sweet, salty, and crunchy with a soft, gooey center.

1 cup caramel bits

1 cup crushed pretzels (about 2 cups whole) 1½ cups semisweet or dark chocolate chips

Fold caramel bits and chocolate into the dough, then gently stir in pretzels last. Bake as directed and sprinkle with flaky sea salt. For extra indulgence, drizzle with melted caramel or dip cooled bottoms in milk chocolate.

White Chocolate Blueberry Cookies

A note from a lifelong white-chocolate hater:

I have never been a fan of white chocolate or milk chocolate — I avoid them in almost every dessert. But every once in a while, there’s a flavor combination that just works, and white chocolate with fruit happens to be one of them. The sweetness softens the tartness of the berries, and instead of tasting “white chocolatey,” the cookie ends up creamy, fragrant, and balanced.

If you’re skeptical like I always am, try it once — just a small batch. It’s a different kind of cookie, a gentle one, and perfect for when you want a twist without getting too far from home base.

You can adapt this same idea with raspberries.

The base dough’s browned butter and honey make all of these versions taste like the kind of bakery cookie you didn’t know you needed.

A soft, fragrant twist that’s creamy and slightly tart.

¾ cup dried blueberries

1½ cups white chocolate chips

Optional: ½ tsp lemon zest or ¼ tsp cardamom

If the blueberries are firm, soak them in hot water for 3–5 minutes, then pat dry.

Fold them in with the white chocolate and chill before baking.

Sprinkle tops with coarse sugar for sparkle.

Raspberry variation: use freeze-dried raspberries crushed lightly, then fold in. Bright, tart, buttery, and just a bit fancy.

🎄 Christmas Eve Freezer Batch

Swap in 1 cup dark chocolate chips,

1 cup holiday M&Ms, and

½ cup caramel baking pieces.

Scoop into dough balls and freeze on a tray, then store in a sealed freezer bag.

On Christmas Eve, bake from frozen at 340°F for 12–13 minutes until just set and gooey in the middle.

We bake them while the movie starts, and by the time Santa’s on his way, the house smells like sugar, butter, and a little bit of wonder.

📚 Related Posts

Vanilla Bean Caramel Sauce

Chocolate Caramel Sauce

Black Forest Cookie – coming soon

Every batch carries a memory—the spoon scraping the bowl, the smell of browning butter, the first bite that melts on your fingers.

This version is everything I hoped it would be: a cookie that bridges generations, rich with memory and flavor. I hope it fills your kitchen with that same warmth and wonder.

🖊️ Author’s Note

These cookies hold decades inside them—my great-grandmother’s kitchen, my kids’ giggles, and all the quiet evenings in between. Baking has always been the way I make home feel like home.

Thanks for being here. May your house smell like butter and vanilla soon.