I’ve got some Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies for you. I hope you’re as excited as I am! Talk about chocolate overload. These cookies have as much chocolate as you can handle which, as you can imagine, makes me oh-so happy. Seriously, these still make me drool when I look at the photos from now before posting them here for you.
These cookies are from my friend Sarah’s new book, 100 Cookies. Yes, the legendary Vanilla Bean Blog is back at it again. If you don’t have this book now, I highly recommend you drop everything and go get it right away. Sarah has really outdone herself with this one. She printed up 100 of her best cookie recipes for your afternoon/weekend/evening/WFH snacking/baking/sweet tooth/entertainment needs. Everyone needs this tome! If you follow Sarah on Instagram (which you definitely should–you won’t regret it), I’m sure you’ve seen the Neapolitan cookies and extended pan-banging cookie section hit up all of your feeds. She is the cookie queen, and we should all start bowing down now.
Now back to these chocolate cookies. I have spent a bunch of my professional career focusing on chocolate flavor, texture, recipes, etc., so I appreciate a fantastic chocolate cookie when I see it. These cookies are fudgy with a slightly chewy edge which makes them feel like a brownie edge piece that stays rich and soft in the middle. There are multiple types of chocolate—cocoa powder, cacao nibs, dark chocolate, and caramelized white chocolate—in here which is in-and-of-itself a magical thing. The chocolate and cocoa powder create a decadent cookie with some help from an added egg yolk to make you think about those favorite fudgy brownies of yours. The cacao nibs add a crunch and tanginess to the cookie crumb, while the caramelized white chocolate lightens it up a bit with some caramel flavor. The qualities of this recipe that really push it over the top are browned butter and espresso. Both ingredients deepen the chocolate experience and make everything more roasty, toasty, and nice.
If you want to brush up on some chocolate science, head on over to any of these links below. You know you want to!
Wait, can you break it down a little further?
What is caramelized white chocolate?
Bonus links! Some coffee nerding, a bit about browned butter, and some baking talk just because.
Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies
These cookies are fudgy in the center and a little chewy on the edges with as much chocolate as you can handle. I like to switch 1 oz of the dark chocolate for caramelized white chocolate to add in a bit of caramell-y lightness. I also highly recommend using the cacao nibs—they’re a great crunchy addition!
From 100 Cookies by Sarah Kieffer
Makes 20ish cookies
1 ½ cups (213 g) all-purpose flour
½ cup (50 g) Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 teaspoons ground espresso powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons (198 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
¾ cup (150 g) brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
5 oz (142 g) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, or 4 oz semisweet or bittersweet chocolate + 1 oz caramelized white chocolate, chopped into bite-sized pieces (see notes)
2 tablespoons cacao nibs, optional
Flaky sea salt, optional
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Line three sheet pans with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, ground espresso, baking powder, and baking soda.
- Slice 4 tablespoons (57 g) of the butter into 4 pieces and place them in a large bowl. Melt the remaining 10 tablespoons (142 g) of butter in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the butter until it is dark golden brown and giving off a nutty aroma, 2-3 minutes. Pour the browned butter (and any bits of browned butter stuck to the bottom of the skillet) into the bowl with the room-temperature butter and stir until all the butter is melted and combined. Stir in the granulated and brown sugars, vanilla, and salt with a rubber spatula, mixing until combined.
- Whisk in the egg and the yolk until fully combined and the batter is smooth and glossy, about 45 seconds. Let the batter skit for 2 to 3 minutes, and then whisk again for another 45 seconds. Pour the flour mixture into the bowl and use a rubber spatula to combine (it may take a minute to incorporate all the dry ingredients). Place the chopped chocolate and cacao nibs, if using, over the dough and use your hands to knead it in until it is evenly distributed. The dough will be very shiny, slick, and dense, and it will take a minute to incorporate the chocolate.
- Form the dough into 1 ½ oz (45 g) balls (2 tablespoons). Place 6-7 cookies on each sheet pan. If you want a bit of a salty taste on the cookies, add a pinch of flaky sea salt, such as Maldon salt, to the top of each cookie dough ball.
- Bake the cookies one pan at a time, rotating halfway through baking. For soft cookies with a gooey center, bake the cookies until the sides are set, the centers are very puffed, and the dough is still light, 8 to 9 minutes. For cookies with a crispy edge and tender center, bake until the cookies are light golden brown around the edges and the centers are still slightly puffed, 9 minutes. For cookies with a crisp edge and firm center, bake until the cookies are golden brown around the edges and the centers have begun to collapse, 10 minutes.
- Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let the cookies cool for 10 minutes, then move the cookies to the wire rack to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Note: for a more developed flavor, the dough can be rested for up to 48 hours in the refrigerator. Place balls of formed dough on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, and cover with plastic wrap. Bake the next morning as directed, adding a little baking time (about 1 minute) to the chilled cookies. These cookies will be more plump and won’t spread as much.
