A rich and decadent cookie loaded with chocolate chunks and toffee-like flavors, these vanilla bean chocolate chunk cookies are truly worthy of being added to your ‘must make’ chocolate chip cookie recipe list!

I’m a firm believe that one can never have too many great chocolate chip cookie recipes. This chocolate chunk cookie recipe came about as a happy accident. I was going to make my recipe for the best salted caramel chocolate chip cookies (they’re one of my most popular blog recipes and so many people have made them and told me how much they loved them) but I didn’t have any caramel sauce, or chocolate chips on hand, so I improvised. I was going to make kind of like a caramel type sauce out of the butter and sugars.

WOWZ, these cookies, they have a slight toffee/caramel flavor from melting the butter/sugars, and I added a little vanilla bean paste (this is the one I use, this stuff lasts forever so don’t balk at the price) and the chocolate chunks really bring a bold chocolatey taste to them. They’re so incredibly delicious.

While I know that there are so many recipes for chocolate chip cookies out there, this one truly makes some of the best chocolate chip cookies, ever!!! And that’s coming from someone who is also a firm believer that chocolate chip cookies are one of those foods which the statement “no xyz is a bad xyz” applies to. No chocolate chip cookie is a bad chocolate chip cookie…am I right? Crunchy, chewy, dry, slightly overcooked, warm, cold, heck, even stale cookies… they’re all good. At least to me lol (my husband says that that statement also applies to pizza where no pizza is bad pizza hahah). But these cookies, I cannot express how much I love them, save this recipe, make this recipe…everyone who tries them will thank you, trust me, they’re just down right amazing!

Here are some tips for making these awesome cookies:

• Use good quality vanillas – I like using the Nielsen-Massey brand. Here is the vanilla extract and the vanilla bean paste I used for this recipe.
• Put the chocolate bar in the freezer for 5 minutes, then use a good quality serrated knife to cut it into chunks
• Use a cookie scoop – this is the one I use – for making equally sized cookies that bake evenly
• I don’t like adding baking soda for these cookies, I find it adds a little bit of a bitter taste, these cookies only use baking powder.
• I basically live by my silicone baking mats, they’re such a great kitchen tool, definitely cannot recommend silicone baking mats enough (these are the ones I have, they’re the knockoff brand and they work great!)

Next time you’re looking for a truly stand out chocolate chip cookie recipe, you have absolutely got to try these vanilla bean chocolate chip cookies!!

Yield: 3 dozen cookies

Vanilla Bean Chocolate Chunk Cookies

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Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 6-8 oz semi-sweet chocolate bar, cut into chunks

Instructions

In a small pot heat the butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar over medium heat, stirring for 3-5 minutes, until the butter and sugars melt and come together and the mixture starts to bubble around the edges. Remove from heat and add in the vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste. Let sit to cool for 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line 2 baking sheets with silicone baking mats and set aside.

In a bowl beat the eggs, then slowly mix in the butter/sugar/vanilla mixture (you can do this in the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer). Add in the salt, flour and baking powder and mix until well combined.

Add in the chocolate chunks and stir with a wooden spoon until incorporated.

Using a 1 tablespoon cookie scoop, scoop cookie dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart slightly press down on the dough balls to flatten them a little (I get 3 cookies to a row, 4 rows, so 12 cookies per cookie sheet). Repeat with all the dough.

Bake cookies for 10 minutes, then remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool, then enjoy.