If you love the family favorite, classic Toll House Cookies you don’t want to miss this recipe! Especially since it makes Better Than Toll House Cookies by simply using malted milk powder, high-quality butter, and then chilling the cookie dough!

Overhead photo of toll house cookies on a plate.

Table of Contents

Nothing beats a classic—except a recipe that’s BETTER than the classic! Think that’s a bold statement? Take just one bite of these cookies, and you’ll quickly say to yourself, “These are better than Toll House Cookies!”

Though this recipe is based on the original Toll House Cookie recipe, I made some tweaks that drastically improved these cookies to be the best! I added malted milk powder to the dough, an inexpensive ingredient that makes all the difference, enriched the cookies with COLD Kerrygold Butter, and then chilled the stacks of dough for at least 3 hours.

We also went back to the original Ruth Wakefield method of using chopped chocolate (chocolate chips weren’t invented until several years after Toll House purchased the recipe from her). This means ripples of chocolate in every bite!

The result? Delightfully rich, sweet cookies with a hint of sea salt with slightly crisp edges and satisfyingly soft, chewy centers. A total drool-worthy treat that everyone will love!

Rebecca’s Recipe Review

Taste: Dark brown sugar, malted milk powder, and sea salt add dimension to an otherwise basic cookie. Ripples and puddles of chocolate throughout. Deep flavor develops while chilling.

Texture: Crisp edges, slightly underdone centers that start soft and cool to chewy.

Ease: 5/10 – Not hard but does require more work than the original.

Pros: Better flavor than the standard recipe. No waiting for butter to soften. Clearer instructions with more consistent results.

Cons: No one likes waiting for cookie dough to chill… but it’s worth it. This recipe also requires about $10 worth of chocolate.

Would I Make This Again? Yes! If I’m craving a slightly crisp and chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie, this is the recipe I’d go for!

Overhead photo of ingredients on a wooden table to make chocolate chip cookies.

If you’re worried that a recipe that’s better than Toll House Cookies is filled with ingredients that you won’t have on hand, think again. To build a scrumptious cookie that can easily be made in all kitchens, it was important to me to keep the majority of the ingredients simple.

Therefore, this cookie recipe begins with pantry staple ingredients such as all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs. The flavor then builds to perfection with the addition of malted milk powder and high-quality butter such as Kerrygold salted butter.

While malted milk powder isn’t necessary for the structure of the cookie, it does add an unforgettable depth of flavor that really pushes them to be better than Toll House Cookies! If you don’t have malted milk powder you can swap it out for powdered milk or powdered coffee creamer.

Another specific ingredient that’s used in this recipe is Kerrygold butter, since we need a full cup, we want to use a high-quality option to give them the best buttery flavor possible.

Then we loaded them up with semi-sweet chocolate chips and finely chopped semi-sweet chocolate. Oh, and we ditched Toll House Chocolate Chips because if you’re going through the trouble of waiting three hours for your cookies to be ready, you might as well use good chocolate chips.

Here’s a chocolate chip comparison you might find helpful. I personally like Guittard and Ghirardelli, but Trader Joe’s and Target’s Good and Gather Chocolate Chips are great options, too!

If you’d like, add in some chopped walnuts and flaky sea salt on top, too!

If gluten is a concern, try a 1 for 1 flour like Bob’s Red Mill in this recipe or try these Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Close up of a stack of chocolate chip cookies.

How To Make Toll House Cookies

A full recipe card with step-by-step photos and ingredient quantities for these cookies can be found at the end of the post. Leave a comment if you have any questions that weren’t answered in the post!

Prepare the dough by whisking together the all-purpose flour, malted milk powder, baking soda, and sea salt in a mixing bowl. Then set this aside.
In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract.
Mix in the eggs until fully combined.
Gradually beat in the flour mixture and stir until fully combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks and chopped walnuts (if using).
Use a medium cookie scoop to scoop the cookie dough onto a parchment-paper-lined pan, stacking the scoop of dough two high.
Top the doubled-stacked dough with additional chocolate chips and sprinkle with flaky sea salt.
Chill the dough in the refrigerator to achieve the best results.
Transfer the chilled stacks of cookie dough onto a fresh parchment-lined baking sheet, making sure to give them plenty of space from each other.
Bake each batch of cookies until the edges are golden brown and the centers have lost most of their glossiness.
Optionally, press a few additional chocolate chips into the tops of each cookie as soon as they come out of the oven. This will give them the classic chocolate chip cookie appearance.
Cool the cookies on the baking pan for a few minutes and then transfer them onto wire racks to finish cooling to room temperature.

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Cookie dough being double stacked with a cookie scoop on a baking pan.

Chilling The Dough – One of the things usually left out of the modern-day version of the recipe is the chilling time. But chilling the dough is absolutely crucial to getting soft and chewy cookies; if you don’t chill them, you’ll end up with flat cookies that spread.
Stacking Cookie Dough – Double stack the scoops of dough! This makes for thicker cookies that are perfectly soft and chewy in the middle.
Measurements – This recipe works best when ingredients are measured in grams using a kitchen scale. It’s easy to accidentally add too little or too much of an ingredient, especially too much flour, which then can significantly impact the final result.
Butter – Make sure your butter is cold and use Irish or European for best results.
Parchment Paper – Even if you’re using a non-stick pan, I still highly recommend using parchment paper for a better bake on your cookies.
Walnuts – Feel free to leave the walnuts out if you prefer, but they really do make the cookies! The two images below show this recipe made without walnuts and with, with no other changes being made.

Toll House Cookies on a table. — This cookie recipe without walnuts.

Close up of Toll House Copycat Cookies — This cookie recipe with walnuts.

How To Serve

Every ooey-gooey, fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookie pairs best with a tall, ice-cold glass of milk! These Better Than Toll House Cookies are also excellent with ice cream between two to make an ice cream cookie sandwich!

Sometimes I even make ice cream sandwiches to keep in the freezer for when I’m in the mood for a frozen treat! You can also just pop a cookie in the microwave to warm it up and then enjoy it with a scoop of ice cream on top.

How To Store Toll House Cookies

Better Than Toll House Cookies are kept best in an airtight container for up to 4 days. You can also stack them in a gallon Ziploc baggie with the excess air squeezed out of it.

How To Freeze Chocolate Chunk Cookies

You can also store these cookies in the freezer for longer storage. Learn How To Freeze Cookie Dough so then you can bake these Toll House Cookies straight from the freezer for a warm, homemade treat anytime without the kitchen mess!

More Delicious Chocolate Chip Recipes!

Did You Make This Recipe?

If you’ve tried this recipe, please let me know how you liked it in the comments below and leave a review. I love hearing from you!

Don’t forget to tag me – @sugarandsoulco – on Instagram and Pinterest with your photos or join our Sugar & Soul Show-offs Community and share them there.

This recipe was originally published in April 2018 and was updated in March 2024 with new photos and an improved recipe.