These espresso chocolate chip cookies are big, bakery-style cookies with made with a coffee-infused cookie dough and pools of dark chocolate. They have a delicious espresso flavor for a gourmet cookie that you can easily make at home.
If you’re ready for a grown-up cookie that competes with the classiest coffee shops, then these espresso chocolate chip cookies are the next recipe to add to your baking list. I realize I used chocolate chunks for this recipe as opposed to chocolate chips – but I think you’ll forgive me when you bit into a massive pool of melty chocolate. The cookies are thick without being dry and have slightly crispy edges with almost gooey centers. The coffee flavor pairs perfectly with dark chocolate and, I dare say, these are divine with your morning coffee.
Getting the Perfect Coffee Flavor
How strong you like your coffee is obviously a personal preference. For this recipe, I use 2-3 teaspoons of instant espresso powder or enough to make 2 cups of coffee according to the package instructions. I prefer using instant espresso powder over instant coffee powder because it has a richer flavor and you can use less, so it dissolves more easily. However, if you only have instant coffee powder, I’d use 3-4 teaspoons. You’ll want to use the finest instant coffee powder you can find.
Note: Do not simply use ground coffee beans. You’ll end up with gritty granules in your cookies and the coffee flavor really doesn’t infuse into the cookie dough well, so you won’t taste much coffee.
You’ll melt the butter with instant espresso powder. If not all the espresso powder dissolves, that is totally ok and expected. As the butter melts, the instant espresso powder will warm up and start to soften and slightly dissolve. Then when you beat together the melted butter with the espresso powder/instant coffee powder partially dissolved, it will dissolve fully due to the manual action of the mixer.
Baking Tips & Tricks
- After melting the butter with the instant espresso, let the mixture cool for at least 10 minutes before using. This helps the coffee flavor to really infuse into the butter.
- If some of the espresso powder sticks to the saucepan/bowl that you melted the coffee in – that’s ok.
- If you’ve ever found that your cookies taste dry, the most likely reason is because too much flour was added. Always measure the flour very carefully to avoid this. If using cups, whisk the flour first. Then spoon into a dry measuring cup and level off the top. The most accurate option is always to use a kitchen scale.
- Be sure to chill the dough for at least 1 hour. Otherwise the cookies can spread too thin.
- If you want pools of melted chocolate, chop up a chocolate bar instead of using a bag of chocolate chunks. Chocolate chunks typically have stabilizers in help hold the chocolate chunks together and prevent melting (so that all the chunks don’t melt into one big piece of chocolate in the bag if your kitchen is warm). Therefore when baking, the chunks tend to hold their shape more than a chopped chocolate bar.
Love coffee? Then be sure to try these other coffee-infused desserts:
Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie Sheets
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter (112 grams)
- 2 ½ teaspoons instant espresso powder or 3-4 teaspoons instant coffee powder
- ½ cup brown sugar (110 grams) packed
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 large egg
- 1 ⅔ cup all-purpose flour (208 grams)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch AKA cornflour
- ½ teaspon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 cup dark chocolate chunks (180 grams) I chopped up a chocolate bar
Instructions
- Chop the butter into pieces and add to either a heatproof bowl or small saucepan. Add in the instant espresso powder/coffee powder.
- Melt the butter either in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave using short 30-second intervals on medium power, stirring between each interval. The espresso powder will start to soften, but not necessarily dissolve.
- Once the butter is melted, let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.
- Add the melted butter with espresso powder to a large bowl. Add in the sugars and beat until combined. You don't want to see pools of melted butter.
- Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
- Add the flour mixture into the butter mixture. Start with the mixer on a low speed and gradually increase to a medium speed until combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chunks.
- Cover the bowl with plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350F (180C or 170C on a fan forced oven). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Form the dough into balls with about 3 tablespoons of dough each. I used 2 scoops of a medium cookie scoop (mine holds 1.5 tablespoons of dough) or you could use a large cookie scoop.
- Place dough balls 2-3 inches apart on the lined cookie sheets.
- Bake 1 sheet at a time in the middle of the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until the tops look set.
- Cool cookies on the cookie sheet for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to continue cooling.
Notes
- Instant Espresso Powder/Coffee Powder: I typically use the amount that would be enough to make 2 cups of coffee according to the package instructions. If using instant coffee powder, I use a little more. Do not simply use coffee granules.
- Chocolate Chunks: I recommend buying a dark chocolate bar and chopping into chunks to get the large pools of melted chocolate. Feel free to use your favorite dark or semi-sweet chocolate. Chocolate chips work too.
- Storage: Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Fresh cookies are always best.
- Nutrition: Details provided are an estimate only and based on 1 cookie, assuming the recipe yields 10 equal-sized cookies.
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