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Sometimes the best new R&B can be hard to find, but there are plenty of great rhythm-and-blues tunes to get into if you have the time to sift through the hundreds of newly released songs every week. So that R&B heads can focus on listening to what they really love in its true form, we’ll be offering a digest of the best new R&B songs that fans of the genre should hear every Friday.

This past week was filled with some strong R&B and afrobeat releases. They include Omah Lay’s “Woman,” John Legend’s “Dope” with JID, Foushee’s “I’m Fine,” Sudan Archives’ “Selfish Soul,” Ravyn Lenae’s “Xtasy,” and a new video for Eli Derby and 6lack’s “Lately.”

Ravyn Lenae — Hypnos

In 2018, Ravyn Lenae gave us her Crush EP. Now in 2022, she returns with her debut album Hypnos and she’s better than ever. Sixteen songs take listeners on a luscious and ethereal journey with help from Steve Lacy, Mereba, Foushee, and Smino.

Jacquees — “Say Yea”

It’s been a little while since we’ve heard from the self-proclaimed “King Of R&B.” Jacquees’ last spotlight moment came with his 2019 sophomore album named after the title he wears so proudly. The Atlanta native is now ready to release his third album and he kicks off its rollout with the sultry and passionate “Say Yea.”

Xavier Omar — “Feelings 4 You”

Beautiful heart-warming music is something that you can expect to receive from Xavier Omar. His 2019 and 2020 albums, Moments Spent Loving You with Sango and If You Feel respectively, are both examples of that. Omar is about to give us more examples of that and it begins with “Feelings 4 You.”

THEY. — “Blü Moon”

Nearly two years after releasing their sophomore album The Amanda Tape, singer Dante Jones and producer Drew Love of THEY. are back in action with their new track “Blü Moon.” The tender record speaks to the duo’s hesitant feelings about a one-of-a-kind woman they’re growing feelings for.

Mahalia — Letter To Ur Ex

The last project we received from British singer Mahalia was her 2020 EP Plastic Hearts which followed her 2019 debut album Love And Compromise. While we’re still waiting for her sophomore album, Mahalia returns with her Letter To Ur Ex EP which presents five new songs to hold her fans over until her second album

Davion Farris — Moved

The latest generation of the Farris family has more to offer than SiR and D Smoke. Davion Farris, who is brothers with the aforementioned names, released Moved his first project in five years. “I want my fans to feel seen, heard, and understood,” Davion said about the 7-track release. “I want them to know that a strong black man can be vulnerable and that vulnerability helps make him whole.”

August 08 — Towards The Sun

After inking a deal with Def Jam, Los Angeles singer August 08 has arrived with his first project under the new label. Towards The Sun is now available for listeners to press play on and it touches down with sevens songs and a lone feature from Schoolboy Q. Additionally, Towards The Sun is the first half of his upcoming two-part debut Seasick, Towards The Sun, so you can expect more from August 08 soon.

Allyn – After Hours, Pt. 1

Sacramento-born singer Allyn gave us her Overthinking project towards the end of the summer last year. Less than a year later and Allyn is already back in action with a quickstrike project. After Hours, Pt. 1 arrives with four songs and a lone feature from fellow Cali native Phabo and surely the first of more to come soon from Allyn.

Leon Thomas & Benny The Butcher — “X-Rated”

He’s produced and co-written records for Ariana Grande, Ella Mai, Rick Ross, Drake, and more, and now, Leon Thomas has a record deal after signing with Ty Dolla Sign new label EZMNY Records. His first release under the imprint is “X-Rated” with Benny The Butcher, a record that’s supported by glitchy production and Thomas’ praises about a woman and her sexual freedom.

Lojay & Sarz — “Monalisa (Remix)” Feat. Chris Brown

There were many records that were highlights in the afrobeats world last year. Lojay & Sarz’s “Monalisa” is certainly one of them. Almost a year after the song was released, the duo gives it a special boost with help from Chris Brown, who supplies his own verse to the irresistible song.

Jada Kingdom — “Last Call”

Jamaican-born singer and songwriter Jada Kingdom is looking to make a name for herself this year. She takes another step towards achieving that with her new single “Last Call” which strikes as a sizzling and sultry number focused on her inability to remember the thrilling and excellent moments from the night before.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

While hot sauce is nothing new (we’ve been dousing our eggs, sandwiches, mac and cheese, and almost everything else with it for years), it feels like the culinary world is hot sauced obsessed in recent years. And we’re not just talking about a tad bit o’ heat. We’re talking about a trend of ridiculously hot, make-sure-you-have-milk ready, mouth-burning, day-ruining hot chips, crackers, mac and cheese, chicken, soda… the list is long.

While we don’t know where it at all began, we can likely thank the wide range of “Flamin’ Hot” chips for getting everyone obsessed with over-the-top, out-of-bounds hot-hot heat. Meanwhile, Hot Ones, hosted by Sean Evans, has amplified the idea of adding a little spice to your food by turning it into a sort of masochist challenge. So a Hot Ones chip was probably inevitable.

Recently, Pringles collaborated with Hot Ones to create limited-edition chips called Pringles Scorchin’ Hot Ones. The flavors are Pringles Scorchin’ Hot Ones The Classic Hot Sauce (only available at Circle K starting in July), Pringles Scorchin’ Hot Ones Los Calientes Rojo (only available at Walmart starting in June), and Pringles Scorchin’ Hot Ones Los Calientes Verde (available at retailers nationwide starting in June).

We got cans of all three flavors in advance of their release. Keep reading to see how they all stack up and find out which ones are worth trying and which ones aren’t.

The Flavors Ranked From Least to Most Hot:

3) Pringles Scorchin’ Hot Ones The Classic Hot Sauce

This flavor is described as a “timeless hot sauce flavor with an extra peppery kick that will keep snackers coming back for more.” We couldn’t agree more. When the can was cracked open, the smell was of classic, vinegar-based hot sauce. It was very reminiscent of a plate of hot, slathered, spicy chicken wings. Eating one continued this trend. It was fairly nostalgic in that way.

Covered in bright red powder, this chip doesn’t seem to be hot at first, but the heat builds. Behind the heat are slight notes of vinegar, cayenne pepper, a pleasing salty flavor, and a nice, unexpected tang that hits you in the back of your taste buds. Not as hot as expected, but we can imagine eating a whole can would leave your mouth on fire. In the hierarchy of the three, this is definitely the beginner flavor. It’s hot but not “call in sick to work”-hot like the other two.

Hotness Level:

1/5

2) Pringles Scorchin’ Hot Ones Los Calientes Verde

This iteration of spicy Pringles is described as a “punchy, smoky blend of serrano and habanero chiles, sweet fruit and tart tomatillo packed in one, crispy bite.” We think their description is perfect, but the nose was heavily dominated by habaneros and nothing else. That’s not such a bad thing as we love these ridiculously spicy peppers.

While the Classic Hot Sauce and Caliente Rojo flavors are covered in red dust, this one is a vibrant green. The flavor is surprisingly smoky with tart tomatillo flavor, spicy habanero, and serrano peppers. It has a nice mix of smoke, tart tomatillo, and spicy peppers. It might be the most well-rounded of the three. There’s a lot more heat than the Classic Hot Sauce Flavor but not remotely as much Caliente Rojo. If you’re working your way up in the heat index, this is step two.

Hotness Level:

3/5

1) Pringles Scorchin’ Hot Ones Los Calientes Rojo

These crisps are described as having the “perfect balance of sweet applewood-smoked red jalapeños and tangy habanero for a fiery blaze in every bite.” We aren’t positive we agree with their sentiment as the nose smells remarkably like barbecue-flavored chips. There might be a little pepper in there too, but it’s dominated by a fake-smelling barbecue sauce aroma.

Just like the Classic Hot Sauce-flavored crisps, these bad boys are covered in red dust. Slight smoky, salty, and with a healthy, potent kick of jalapenos and habaneros — these are a lot hotter than the classic hot sauce flavor. It only took one chip for me to start looking around for the glass of milk I had on standby. These are definitely not for novice hot sauce fans. Be prepared for a fairy numb tongue when you’re done.

Hotness Level:

5/5

The Bottom Line:

With the connection to Hot Ones, we expected all three of these flavors to be uncomfortably hot. But it makes sense that there would be a gradual climb in heat. There are three levels of heat perfectly suited for every level of spicy food fans. While they differ in heat, each is flavorful and memorable.

If they weren’t just available for a limited time, we’d make every one of these a permanent addition to our snacking arsenal.

Back in 2015, a group of over 1,000 musicians came together to perform a massive cover of Foo Fighters’ “Learn To Fly.” The performance was a stunt to get Foo Fighters’ attention and ask them to play a show in Cesena, Italy. It worked, as the band did end up performing in the city. Since then, the project, dubbed Rockin’1000, has continued to perform, and their first performance in nearly three years took place this past weekend.

The set was played to over 50,000 people in Paris and it included a tribute to the late Taylor Hawkins via a cover of “My Hero.” The caption of the performance’s official YouTube upload reads, “One thousand musicians dedicating this song to one drummer: Taylor Hawkins. ”

Worth noting is that “My Hero” comes from Foo Fighters’ 1997 album The Colour And The Shape, and Hawkins only joined the band after that album was recorded. Still, he has plenty of experience with “My Hero”: Since 1998 (Hawkins’ first full year with the band), Foo Fighters have performed the song over 900 times, according to setlist.fm. The site also offers further proof that “My Hero” is one of Foo Fighters’ signature songs: They’ve played it live 970 times total, making it the band’s third-most performed song, behind “Monkey Wrench” (997 times) and “Everlong” (1,086 times).

Watch Rockin’1000 perform “My Hero” above.

For Charlie Hickey, writing music is more than just a passion; It’s a way to cope. The 21-year-old songwriter makes music to manage his anxiety and OCD, particularly as he navigates the bewildering and uncertain transition from teenage years to adulthood. As the child of two musicians, Hickey grew up with an interest and appreciation for music from a young age. Eventually, he learned to lean on his transfixing, twang-infused voice to give a refreshing account of relatable growing pains through a soft rock lens.

Hickey translates youthful mishaps and ruminations into dazzling, acoustic-led ballads on his debut album, Nervous At Night. The LP is a collection of 11 warm-toned, introspective tracks that offer hazy vignettes of the singer’s life. To celebrate the release of Nervous At Night, Hickey sat down with Uproxx to talk his love of Elliot Smith, The National, and the kindness of Midwestern parents in our latest Q&A.

What are four words you would use to describe your music?

Melancholy, Neurotic, Optimistic, Searching

It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?

I guess I would just like it to be remembered at all. I think the greatest marker of true success in an artist is how long their music sticks with people. All my favorite artists have careers that have spanned many different eras and musical trends and that’s my ultimate goal for my music.

What’s your favorite city in the world to perform?

I loved playing in Montreal! I don’t even know why. The vibes were just great. Just something I can’t describe.

Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?

Probably Elliot Smith. He was my first favorite artist and the first time I heard that type of vulnerability in music and I knew that that was what I aspired to.

Where did you eat the best meal of your life?

Fiore in South Pasadena. Roast chicken sandwich. Go if you ever get the chance.

What album do you know every word to?

Definitely Cardinal by Pinegrove. Also, Saves The World by MUNA.

What was the best concert you’ve ever attended?

I saw an artist called Jesca Hoop play at the Highland Park Ebell. I’m a huge fan of her. It was just such a transcendent live show. It was just her and two other backup vocalists who played really minimal percussion. Perfect in every way.

What is the best outfit for performing and why?

Lately, I’ve been loving a white tank top under a blazer. Sexy and classy.

Who’s your favorite person to follow on Twitter and/or Instagram?

Steven Phillips Horst. He’s one of the co-hosts of my favorite podcast, Celebrity Book Club. Each episode is dedicated to a different celebrity memoir. Both him and his co-host Lily Marotta are hilarious and observant of culture in a really profound way.

What’s your most frequently played song in the van on tour?

“Mistaken For Strangers” by The National. I’ve had the opportunity to obsessively dive into the catalogue of artists I’ve always loved and I’ve done that with The National. One of the great bands of all time and this song is my current favorite.

What album makes for the perfect gift?

Maybe Boxer by The National. I got that album on vinyl for Phoebe Bridgers for her 20th birthday.

Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?

Honestly never crashed anywhere super weird. I’ve crashed with a lot of friends’ parents, which is the way to go, especially if they are Midwestern parents! They will want to make you food so badly.

What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?

I haven’t gotten a tattoo but me and my sister have the same birthday but three years apart. We’ve talked about both getting our birthday tattooed.

What artists keep you from flipping the channel on the radio?

If Sam Hunt comes on a country radio station, I’m not changing that.

What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever done for you?

I had a family friend growing up named Joe Henry, an incredible songwriter and producer and one of my earliest heroes. When I was like 15, he brought me up to sing his song “Trampoline” with him at his show at Largo. It was a very formative moment for me and I owe a lot to him!

What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?

Honestly, just to not worry so much about everything because things change so fast in a way that is so hard to grasp when you are that young and it feels like they never will. Just that none of this will matter in a year. Also, don’t vape!

What’s the last show you went to?

I’ve seen Wolf Alice play every night for the last month or so on tour. They are beyond incredible live. Feels like being at a rock show 20 years ago in the best way possible while also feeling so hip and current. Can’t say enough about how great those guys are. They are rockstars in the truest sense of the word.

What movie can you not resist watching when it’s on TV?

Maybe Knocked Up or Bridesmaids. Kinda random — both movies I loved as a kid when all I wanted was to see R-rated movies. They make me feel very nostalgic.

What’s one of your hidden talents?

I’m sort of good at doing push-ups.

Nervous At Night is out now via Saddest Factory Records. Get it here.

For the past few months, Chance The Rapper’s activity has picked up considerably, leading some to believe he’s rolling out his first major project since 2019’s The Big Day. He’s been calling his single releases “writing exercises,” dropping “Child Of God” in March and following up earlier this month with “Wraith,” which features longtime collaborator Vic Mensa. In addition, Chance popped up with a guest verse on Chicago rapper Supa Bwe’s February single “ACAB,” leading to more speculation that he’s actively working himself back into the rap spotlight.

It looks like he’ll continue the process — and slightly accelerate it — with another new release to close out the month of May. As usual, he teased the upcoming track, titled “A Bar About A Bar,” with a snippet of the song played over a video clip of Hyde Park painter Nikko Washington applying acrylics to a canvas. Chance also highlighted the finished painting in a separate tweet announcing that it’ll be on display at the Art Institute of Chicago until this Sunday.

If Chance truly is working toward a new album, these writing exercises could be just the sort of “back to basics” marketing rollout that will win back his goodwill among audiences and the lukewarm reception of The Big Day. Check out the teaser above.

Olivia Rodrigo‘s Sour tour has proven to be one of the most significant tours of the year. From striking visuals to using her platform to speak on social justice and political matters, Rodrigo is representing Gen-Z in an effective manner. Also, one of the most exciting elements of the Sour tour is the impressive covers she’s performed by other pop-rock icons.

So far, she’s covered “Just A Girl” by No Doubt, “Seether” by Veruca Salt, and “Complicated” by Avril Lavigne. On one tour stop, Rodrigo brought Lavigne out to the stage, and the two sang a duet version of “Complicated.” At her latest stop in Los Angeles at the Greek Theater, Alanis Morissette joined Rodrigo for a performance of Morissette’s 1995 classic, “You Oughta Know.”

According to Variety, Morissette sang the first verse of the song, then she and Rodrigo sang the chorus together, before Rodrigo sang the second verse solo.

Rodrigo and Morissette first met last year, during an interview for Rolling Stone‘s annual Musicians On Musicians issue.

“I love how you’re so honest and talk about stuff that normally isn’t talked about in songwriting,” Rodrigo told Morissette.

Morissette replied, “Well, you’re doing the same. I’m excited. I went down many rabbit holes knowing I was going to meet you.”

Empress Of’s Lorely Rodriguez has always put down gripping and emotive indie pop. But now it seems as though Rodriguez is entering the next phase in her artistry, that’ll have her mentioned in the same breath as some of progressive pop music’s best.

On her latest track, “Dance For You,” we get a full-on disco pop assault, produced by Charli XCX and Francis And The Lights beat maestro BJ Burton. Cascading synths and a driving dance floor thump feel akin to the sweaty, diva pop of Róisín Murphy and Robyn. Rodriguez releases her inhibitions and leaves it all out for the beat.

“I love the lyrics on this song,” she said in a statement. “I made this in Minneapolis with BJ Burton. It was freezing outside. I was in a cave-like studio in the snow literally dancing as I wrote this. ‘Surrender to me like this’ is a touching lyric for me because I’m not hurt over this person anymore. I’ve come out the other side.”

“Dance For You” joins the previously released “Save Me,” as the first two tracks to emerge from Empress Of’s newly announced EP, Save Me. The new EP is due out on June 24th.

Watch the video for “Dance For You” above. Check out the Save Me album artwork, tracklist, and upcoming live dates for Empress Of below.

1. “Save Me”
2. “Dance For You”
3. “Turn The Table”
4. “Kept Up”
5. “Cry For Help”

05/27 — Buena Vista Lake, CA @ Lightning in a Bottle Festival
06/18 — Brooklyn, New York @ Brooklyn Mag Festival
08/06 — San Francisco, CA @ Outside Lands

Save Me is out 6/24 via Major Arcana. Pre-order it here.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Growing up, my favorite Sesame Street character was the Cookie Monster. Elmo came off as an obnoxious, hammy infant and Big Bird’s whole vibe just depressed me, but the Cookie Monster had a singular goal and purpose — to eat cookies. That’s something that resonated with me as a small pudgy child and frankly, still resonates with me to this day. So when my editor asked me to review and rank the top five chocolate chip cookie recipes on the internet I gladly jumped at the chance, even knowing full well that not only would I have to make them all.

Eight sticks of butter, six hours, one broken mixer, and pounds of brown sugar and chocolate chips later, I’m still not sick of chocolate chip cookies. That’s how much I love them.

The chocolate chip is, in my opinion, the perfect cookie. It has this comforting brown sugar and butter flavor with subtle echoes of toffee and caramel and bursts of sweet chocolate in every bite. Even if it isn’t your favorite cookie, it isn’t polarizing like a snickerdoodle or oatmeal cookie — it’s a people pleaser. If you’re planning on making chocolate chip cookies from scratch, you deserve the very best, so we made, reviewed, and ranked the top five recipes on the internet in search of the best-tasting chocolate chip cookie you can make at home.

PART I — Methodology

For our five recipes we did a simple google search for “best chocolate chip cookies ever” and chose the top five results, which were from Joy Food Sunshine, All Recipes, Tasty, Once Upon a Chef, and Pinch of Yum. To keep the flavors consistent I used the same brand of flour, butter, chocolate chips, white sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs for every recipe. I also purchased a fresh box of baking soda instead of using the one in the back of my fridge.

The recipe for chocolate chip cookies is pretty simple, it’s a mixture of sugar, butter, vanilla, egg, flour, and chocolate chips. The only material differences between these five recipes were the ratios of each ingredient, the use of semi-sweet, sweet, or dark chocolate chips, and the technique by which the batter was mixed.

I followed each recipe’s respective preparations as written, which involved making five different cookie recipes in five different (but very similar) ways. This process showed me that the differences in technique — such as sifting flour, hand-mixing, and incorporating ingredients one at a time — didn’t have a major impact on the final result, but things like baking time and allowing your dough to sit did prove big factors. Since all of the recipes had a range of baking times, I prepared batches of the same recipes using multiple times. I’ll note where that is significant.

Now, let’s rank them on flavor!

PART II: A Pro-Tip On Making Aesthetically Pleasing Chocolate Chip Cookies

If you want chocolate chip cookies that look as delicious as they taste, invest in a cookie scooper or save some spare chocolate chips to place on your dough before throwing them in the oven. I don’t have a cookie scooper and I was making every recipe in a single day, so I rolled my cookie dough between my palm for speed and called it a day. That resulted in chocolate chips that stayed internal and hardly ever erupted through the surface of the cookie.

This doesn’t affect the flavor in any way, but if you’re trying to impress someone with your homemade cookies, it’s worth the extra effort.

PART III: The Rankings

5. Joy Food Sunshine

Recipe Notes:

Joy Food Sunshine is a blog created by Laura, a homeschooling mom, and former chemistry teacher. Her simple no-frills chocolate chip recipe has the number one spot on Google. Congrats Laura, I hope you’re raking in the dough (get it?! GET IT??????).

This dough recipe, which produced the highest yield at over 40 cookies doesn’t need to be chilled and calls for the dry ingredients to be mixed separately and makes a point of specifying that you should be using dry-ingredient measuring cups (leveled with a knife), not liquid measuring cups. This is great advice, always use dry ingredient measuring cups when working with flour!

This recipe differs from the others in its use of light brown sugar, baking powder, the highest cooking temperature, and the shortest baking time. Throughout the recipe Laura makes a point to say not to over-bake these cookies, writing “They will not look done when you pull them out of the oven, and that is GOOD.” She recommends a 9 minute baking time, which I followed and… the cookies looked light as fuck. Even when they cooled.

I did the next batch for 11 minutes, and then a final batch for 12 minutes. All look lighter than I’d want them to be. This probably has more to do with the light brown sugar than the bake time.

Tasting Notes:

They’re great, Laura promised a simple chocolate chip recipe, and this is definitely that. The texture is soft and you can give the cookie a slight bend before it breaks in half — probably because of the use of baking powder and baking soda. Not sure I need this pliability though.

Flavorwise, this cookie hits you with sweetness and ends with a salty aftertaste. It’s a bit too salty, and I blame the use of salted butter. If you like salty cookies, you’re better off using unsalted butter, and instead finishing each cookie with a pinch of sea salt after it bakes while it’s still hot. This would result in a more pronounced but less intrusive salty taste. When mixed into the cookie, this ends up with an aftertaste that is largely dominated by salt when it should be dominated by chocolate and sugar.

The Bottom Line:

A few tweaks away from being a great chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Follow Joy Food Sunshine’s recipe here.

4. All Recipes

Recipe Notes:

Before I had made a single one of these cookie recipes, a quick scan of the ingredients led me to assume that this was going to be the clear winner — it’s the only recipe of the five that actually adds a new ingredient: walnuts. I love walnuts, and I love the earthy nutty quality that nuts add to cookies in general, so I was expecting these to be great. They just slightly miss the mark.

This recipe differs from the last recipe in its use of unslated butter, less salt in general, and an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract. Technique-wise it calls for each ingredient to be mixed-in individually, and for the baking soda to be dissolved in hot water before incorporating. I have no idea if this actually changed anything but the cookies turned out a bit more uniform in this batch than any of the other recipes.

The cookies needed to be baked at 350 degrees for 10 mins and that checked out, getting my cookies to look exactly what I think they should look like: light tan to brown with crisped edges.

Tasting Notes:

Sweet and chocolatey, but not overwhelming so. There is a perfect balance of brown sugar, butter, and salty flavors but the walnuts infuse a sort of bitter and dirty aftertaste to the whole thing. Maybe it’s just a bad bag of walnuts, but I actually would’ve preferred this recipe sans nuts.

The Bottom Line:

Delicious but if you’re going to add nuts make sure you get the good stuff. My walnuts came prepacked from the baking section of my grocery store, had I cracked my own walnuts I have no doubt this recipe would’ve come out better and ranked higher.

Follow All Recipes recipe here.

3. Pinch of Yum

Recipe Notes:

Pinch of Yum is a blog written by Lindsay, a former 4th-grade teacher and full-time blogger living in Minnesota. I had some serious doubts about her small yield recipe which utilized less than a cup of chocolate chips, and the lowest amount of sugar. A half-cup of white sugar and a fourth of a cup of light brown sugar all but ensured these cookies were going to be as pale as what Joy Food Sunshine gave us. And I don’t like that!

This recipe also called for the least amount of salt and called for microwaving the butter before mixing it in. Don’t microwave your butter… just let it sit out for about 30 minutes and you’re good. Microwaving the butter risks you putting hot ingredients into your dough, which will cook it. You don’t want that. Lindsay’s recipe didn’t specify what type of chocolate chips to use, so I went with 60% cacao chips.

This recipe also suggested you make 12 large cookies with the dough. So that’s what I did, despite not being a fan of big cookies, personally speaking.

Tasting Notes:

Lindsay may have sold me on big soft cookies. I love this recipe, I had some serious doubts and the cookies are lighter in color than I want them to be, with an almost sugar-cookie-like appearance, but dammit are they good. Each bite is incredibly soft and sugary, with the chocolate chips serving as bursts of rich flavor.

You don’t get chocolate in every bite because of the big size, but when you do it’s ecstasy.

The Bottom Line:

Add more chocolate chips and swap that light brown sugar for dark brown sugar and you’ve got one of the best soft chocolate cookie recipes on the internet. If you like big soft cookies, work off of this recipe.

Follow Pinch of Yum’s recipe here.

2. Tasty

Recipe Notes:

I had no faith in Tasty’s recipe. The website looks like something out of the Geocities era of the internet and it called for me to hand mix the ingredients rather than use an electric mixer, and sift the flour — which I still think did little more than waste my time. This recipe calls for more sugar than any of the recipes, less baking soda, and a mix of semi-sweet and dark chocolate chips.

It also called for the longest bake time, at 12-15 minutes, and produced the least uniform and ugliest cookies of any of the recipes on this ranking. Having said that, who cares what they look like? They’re fucking delicious and that’s all that matters.

Tasting Notes:

This recipe specified that allowing the dough to sit for at least 30 minutes would result in richer flavors, so that’s what I did and it seems to have worked. While these cookies look ugly and have the least consistent shape despite me platting them on the baking sheet with the same method (a tablespoon of dough, palm rolled into a ball), the flavor is noticeably richer here.

There is a slight toffee-like quality to this brown sugar dominant cookie. The flavors shift — at first, you’re hit with buttery sweetness before you get bursts of bitter and rich chocolate ending in a slightly salty finish that is practically begging for a pinch more of sea salt sprinkled on top.

The Bottom Line:

I’m going to go ahead and suggest you go against the recipe and use an electric hand mixer to make this. Finish these cookies with a pinch of sea salt once they’re done baking and we guarantee you this will become your favorite cookie recipe on the internet.

Follow Tasty’s recipe here.

1. Once Upon A Chef

Recipe Notes:

The number four most popular result on Google and our personal number one choice, this cookie recipe rises above the rest. Once Upon A Chef is a blog run by Jenn Segal, a classically trained chef, cookbook author, and mom who used her culinary training to tweak the Tollhouse cookie recipe. It’s funny that the only person who listed culinary training in these recipes utilized a pre-existing and popular recipe but hey, if it’s not broke don’t fix it.

This recipe uses the same amount of sugar as Tasty’s but calls for more flour, which helps the sweetness spread out and results in a more balanced flavor. This was the only recipe that gave explicit mixing times for each ingredient, which I followed to a tee, whether I thought the dough needed more work or not.

Jenn did not lead us astray though, these turned out perfectly. This is the only recipe that suggests you leave your dough in the fridge for a few hours to overnight, so that’s what I did. I think this probably had the biggest impact on flavor, so I definitely suggest you let your dough sit no matter what recipe you make.

Tasting Notes:

Earthy rich brown sugar dominates the flavor here, with creamy chocolate notes in every bite and a toffee and caramel finish. The flavors continue to shift on the palate even when you’re done with the cookie, making this particular recipe especially addicting. Texture-wise this cookie is perfect, it’s perfectly balanced between being soft and pliable on the inside, and crispy and audibly crunchy on the outside.

This is the only recipe that doesn’t feel like it needs any tweaking, and for that, we’re giving it the number one spot.

The Bottom Line:

This requires a little bit of patience but it’s worth it. This is far and above the best cookie recipe on the first page of Google and the one you should work off of as you develop your own perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe.

Follow Once Upon A Chef’s recipe here.

Whoopi Goldberg completely dispensed with pleasantries on Wednesday morning’s episode of The View where she called out Republicans who offer nothing but “thoughts and prayers” after deadly shootings like the one in Uvalde, Texas that claimed the lives of 19 elementary school children.

At the top of the panel discussion on the tragic event that arrived on the heels of a mass shooting less than two weeks ago in Buffalo, Goldberg threatened to “punch” the next Republican who responds with empty rhetoric that isn’t backed up by action. Via Mediaite:

“Why are we always at square one with this? And I swear to god if I hear another Republican senator talk about their heart being broken, I’m going to punch somebody. I can’t take any thoughts and prayers,” said Goldberg. “If your thoughts and prayers were with everybody, you would have done something by now. It’s not like everybody’s not trying to make something happen. What the hell is going on?”

Clearly incensed by yet another senseless shooting, Goldberg turned things over to her co-hosts, starting with Joy Behar who was equally tired with Republicans “gaslighting” these situations.

“Stop saying it’s not guns that kill people, it’s people that kill people,” Behar said. “It’s guns that kill people, okay? Stop saying the opposite. Stop saying that mental illness is behind this. There’s mental illness in every country in the world, and they don’t have this problem. So stop gaslighting me on that one, and stop saying that you can have a good guy stop a bad guy with a gun.”

Ana Navarro blasted the lack of action after Sandy Hook, and how a decade later, an 18-year-old still has easy access to “weapons of war.”

Sunny Hostin highlighted how guns are the “leading cause of death in children” in America:

And Sara Haines urged a passing of red flag laws in every state, which would’ve prevented the Uvalde shooter. “Can’t we all agree that people that have a problem or have threatened people should not have a weapon for a period of time?” Haines said.

(Via Mediaite)

After the tragic school shooting in Texas that took the lives of 21 people, including 19 kids, CBS has pulled the fourth season finale of the cop show FBI, which featured an attempted school shooting plotline.

The finale follows the titular FBI team as they investigated an armed robber that turned out to be a student. According to the episode synopsis: “As the team investigates a deadly robbery that garnered a cache of automatic weapons for the killers, they discover one of the perps is a classmate of Jubal’s son, who is reluctant to cooperate with the case.”

Instead of the episode, CBS will air a rerun from February with no plans to air the pulled finale yet. The season finales of the FBI spinoff shows FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International will still air this week as scheduled.

Several stars and government leaders have responded to the heartbreaking events by encouraging action and stricter gun control laws. As the media reacts to the tragedy, there is an unfortunate history of TV episodes being pulled from the air surrounding the events of a school shooting. A week after the 1999 Columbine shooting, an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer was pulled after it featured a student bringing a gun to school. Over two decades later, this stuff is still happening.

(Via Deadline)