A cookie that holds its shape, but is tough, is not a cookie I would choose to bake or to eat. If it doesn’t taste good, I I don’t care how good it looks.
It’s amazing how everything here turns into a disagreement. I don’t recall saying there were tough or tasteless. 
Anyway, to the OP, thanks for the recipe! I’m outta here.
Speaking of sugar cookies, learned a great trick this season for making them.
Rather than chilling the dough in a lump for an hour and then rolling it out after beating it into submission because it’s cold and hard and won’t easily roll, take the fresh unchilled dough and roll it between two sheets of parchment paper. Lift the top sheet every few passes of the rolling pin to ensure it doesn’t remain stuck to the dough.
Then chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
So much easier!
A silicone rolling pin makes life so much easier. 
I just put the dough in the fridge between batches…so it’s in there every 14 minutes.
I have heard that the brand of butter can change the texture and shape of a cookie. My signature cookie ( as in the one that gets the most attention ) is a chocolate crackle cookie…a recipe I came across about 25 years ago. I have learned to tweak the recipe a bit because after the first batch in the oven, the dough changes. The recipe call for the cookie to be rolled in confectioner’s sugar prior to baking, but I have found that dusting the cookies after they cool with the sugar works out better.
I am a so so baker , but a good cook …I think baking involves a lot of chemistry, which is interesting but challenging at the same time
Once again, I think these CC Cookies are the best I have ever made, thanks to conmama
Another batch in the oven! This time, I used unsalted butter and 4 cups of chocolate chips. Question: Did anyone manage the “15 minute” prep? If so, I’m hopeless. Took an hour.
ETA - Another double batch.
Yes the part bread flour makes it more chewy. It wasn’t tough, I thought it was just right. This is from the fastidious Joanne Chang that she sells in her popular Flour Bakeries in Boston they are rather famous so I though I’d give a try. I may try it with my Oatmeal jumbles. But no I would not do that with shortbread. With my shortbread I use AP flour with a portion of rice flour.
The Toll House recipe is meant to be small and pretty crisp: the recipe calls for cookies made of a rounded tablespoon of dough. The Flour Bakery cookie is much bigger, made with a full quarter cup of dough per cookie, and is meant to be a bit underbaked in the center. I guess the bread flour is addressing the texture of that central soft chewy section.
@socalmom23 …how did those come out? Did you use 4 cups for one batch? I was confused when you said double batch…which would just be 2 cups then. How was it with unsalted butter? I just had salted and used that
@conmama - They were even better than the first batch! To clarify, I doubled the recipe but used only 4 cups of chocolate chips instead of 6 cups. Thanks again for the recipe!
@shellz post #52 link is awesome.
So I made these cookies a few days ago and I was confused as to why my cookies looked so different than the picture. The kids liked them but they were so thick and didn’t spread out and not the usual chocolate chip cookie.
So I didn’t post a comment.
Then I looked at the link shellz gave which immediately made me realize i used baking powder instead of baking soda. That link was great.
So I have a correct batch in the oven now. 1 12 oz bag trader joes chips. 14 minutes. We shall see…they are still pretty fat.
Yum…I’m going to see if I can make them a bit thinner. Spraying (did not spray cookie sheet before) a now warm pan and flattening them out with the spatula…oh, and throwing crushed walnuts on top because I forgot them…this ought a be interesting…
That worked well for husband who likes thinner crispier cookies with nuts.
A great success…nomnomnomnomnom
I’ve been interested in this discussion because I love cookies and I wanted to figure out why these cookies were supposed to be better than standard Toll House cookies. It looks to me, without making the recipe, that whereas Toll House cookies are small, thin, crisp and buttery, these cookies are larger, softer, thicker and chewier, and also a lot more chocolatey.
I’m going to make both versions tomorrow and do a taste test with Fang Junior and Fang Nephew, both big hungry guys. But I’m guessing that the cookies are intentionally thick. That’s what the extra flour, the ground oatmeal, and the combo of baking soda and lemon juice are providing. If you don’t want a thick, chewy cookie with extra chocolate chips, make a different recipe.
Cookie testing results:
I used the recipe linked in the original post, versus this Toll House recipe:
https://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/18476/original-nestle-toll-house-chocolate-chip-cookies/
I made both recipes as specified, and chilled the dough overnight. As specified, I used an ice cream scoop to portion out 1/4 cup of dough for each of the Secret Recipe cookies, and I used a cookie scoop to portion out a rounded tablespoon of dough for the Toll House cookies. I discovered that for both recipes, the cookies needed to be smashed down before baking, perhaps because they had sat overnight.
The opinion was unanimous. Fang Junior, Fang Nephew and Fang all preferred regular old Toll House cookies to the Secret Recipe.
There are three different changes to the recipe. I’ll comment on all three separately.
(1) The extra vanilla and the cinnamon: we could taste them and we didn’t like them. We felt they made the cookie worse, making it taste more like an oatmeal cookie and less like a chocolate chip cookie. I felt they masked the butter flavor, and why would you want to do that? The undesirable flavor change was particularly egregious when tasting the dough (of course I eat the dough, don’t you?). We do not recommend this change at all.
(2) The extra chocolate chips: none of us like them. We think that regular chocolate chip cookies have the right amount of chocolate. I notice that several posters did not put in the extra chocolate when they made this recipe. We recommend that a cook think carefully about whether they would like more chocolate chips in their cookies.
(3) The oatmeal, extra flour, baking soda and lemon juice to make a bigger cookie that is chewy in the center: we thought it was an acceptable variation. Not better than the standard, but different.
In short, our recommendation is to leave out any cinnamon in chocolate chip cookies, and cut the vanilla back to 1 teaspoon. People who like big chewy cookies should take the oatmeal/extra flour/extra baking soda/extra acid/ice cream scoop sized cookie route. People who think chocolate chip cookies need extra chocolate chips should put them in, or use something like Ghirardelli 60% cacao chocolate for more chocolate flavor.
@“Cardinal Fang” My husband is heaving a huge sigh of relief. I mentioned trying this new recipe, and the look of sheer panic on his face was quite comical. He is a tried and true Nestle Toll House cookie afficianado. I told him about this thread and he was certain that someone would agree that there is no better chocolate chip cookie. Thanks for saving me the inevitable moans and groans from the peanut gallery. (Although when he’s on travel next, I may have to try this recipe anyway!)
This recipe is really for someone who wants a big chewy chocolate chip cookie. If you like Toll House cookies in their crisp little buttery deliciousness, and you like that you can enjoy a handful of them, this recipe is not for you.
I will try this cookie next weekend. DS loves soft, chewy ccc. For those who may want a little more pastry like cookie, may I offer this recipie: take 2 frozen, flat pie crusts, let them defrost, spread nutella, (warm it slightly to allow it to spread easier), I also add chopped walnuts, you could sprinkle a little orange extract or liquor, cover over with the 2nd pie crust. I cut them into about 1 inch strips and twist them a few times. Put on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and bake for about 14 min. on 350degrees. Watch closely and remove before they become golden in color.
Not sure what to say Cardinal Fang? Sorry I wasted your time?
@conmama I don’t think CF meant any harm. I think there was a brief moment of intensity between a couple posters up thread a bit. While I don’t think your recipe suits my picky hubby, I think for me, it might be a keeper. Keep sharing !
You don’t need to say anything. I enjoyed doing the cookie A/B testing, and so did my son and my nephew. Science marches on!
I had wondered whether we didn’t like the new recipe in part because we grew up with the old one. But one of Mr. Fang’s hiking buddies showed up this morning after hiking with Mr. Fang, and wanted in on the cookie test. (I think he’d worked up an appetite walking.) He preferred the original Toll House cookies too, and he’s Chinese and didn’t grow up with any chocolate chip cookies at all, poor guy.