Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies

Espresso chocolate chip cookies are rich, deeply flavored, and absolutely irresistible! These bakery-style cookies combine the nutty richness of browned butter with bold espresso powder and chunks of dark chocolate.

Love More Chocolate Chip Cookies? Try My Nestlé Chocolate Chip Cookies or this Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies next.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

These aren’t your average chocolate chip cookies – they’re elevated! The browned butter creates this incredible nutty depth that pairs perfectly with the coffee notes, while the extra egg yolk makes them gloriously chewy. Plus, they look absolutely stunning with those gorgeous chocolate chunks peeking through. I promise you there will be no leftovers!

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Ingredient List

What You Need:

• ¾ cup unsalted butter (I always buy the good stuff for browning)
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed tight
• ⅓ cup regular white sugar
• 1 egg plus 1 extra yolk, sit them out while you prep everything else
• 2 teaspoons vanilla (the real stuff, not imitation)
• ½ teaspoon salt

Dry Stuff:

• 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup espresso powder (found mine at Target)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 4 ounces dark chocolate bar, hack it up with a knife

If You Don’t Have Something:

• No espresso powder? I’ve used really fine coffee grounds in a pinch
• Any chocolate works, even those fancy chips from Costco
• Light brown sugar’s fine if that’s what you’ve got

Why These Ingredients Work

Browned butter is like adding liquid gold to your cookies. When butter browns, those milk solids get all caramelized and create this nutty flavor you can’t get anywhere else. My mom taught me this years ago when I was complaining about my cookies tasting boring.

That extra egg yolk came from me being clumsy in the kitchen. I used to get these thin, flat cookies that looked pathetic on the plate. One morning I cracked an egg wrong and had an extra yolk sitting there. Too lazy to start over, I just threw it in. Best accident ever – now my cookies are thick and chewy like the ones from that bakery downtown.

The espresso powder doesn’t make these coffee cookies, which shocked me when I first tried it. It just makes the chocolate taste more chocolate-y somehow. My dad hates coffee but eats these by the handful.

Essential Tools and Equipment

You probably have most of this already:

• One medium pot for the butter
• Big mixing bowl (I use my grandmother’s old ceramic one)
• Electric mixer if you have one, wooden spoon if you don’t
• Regular measuring stuff
• Cookie scoop or just a spoon
• Couple baking sheets
• Parchment paper (get the pre-cut sheets, they’re worth it)
• Wire rack for cooling

How To Make Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies

Step 1: Brown Your Butter Like a Pro

Put your butter in a pot over medium heat and let it melt. Keep stirring while it foams up and makes little popping sounds. That’s just water cooking off. Keep going until it smells like nuts and turns amber colored. Takes 5-7 minutes usually. Let it cool before you use it.

Step 2: Create Your Sugar Base

Mix both sugars with your cooled butter in a big bowl. Beat it until smooth, about 2 minutes with a mixer. Longer if you’re doing it by hand.

Step 3: Add Your Wet Ingredients

Add the egg, extra yolk, and vanilla. Mix until everything looks combined and shiny.

Step 4: Prepare Your Dry Ingredients

In another bowl, whisk flour, espresso powder, salt, and baking soda together. Break up any lumps in the espresso powder.

Step 5: Bring It All Together

Add the dry ingredients to the wet stuff slowly. Mix just until you don’t see flour anymore, then stop. Mix in the chocolate chunks gently.

Step 6: Chill for Success

Put the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. I usually make mine the night before because waiting is hard.

Step 7: Bake to Perfection

Heat your oven to 350°F. Put parchment paper on your baking sheets. Scoop the dough into balls about 2 inches apart. Bake for 11 minutes. They should look puffy with golden edges but still soft in the middle.

Step 8: The Waiting Game

Let them sit on the pan for 5 minutes before moving them. This keeps them from falling apart. Then put them on a cooling rack.

You Must Know

Critical Tip: Make sure your eggs are room temperature. Cold eggs made my browned butter turn into weird chunks once. Now I take them out when I start the butter.

Personal Secret: Listen for when the butter stops sizzling so much and starts smelling nutty. Don’t leave the kitchen during this part – I burnt a whole stick once because I got distracted by my phone.

Pro Tips & Cooking Hacks

Check your espresso powder before using it. Mine sat in the pantry for ages and tasted awful when I finally used it.

I chop my own chocolate instead of using chips now. Regular chips don’t melt right, but chopped chocolate makes these great melty spots.

Chill the dough or your cookies will spread flat like pancakes. I learned this the hard way during my early baking days.

Use parchment paper. It stops sticking and helps them brown evenly.

Flavor Variations & Suggestions

For Christmas, I added cinnamon and a tiny bit of cayenne pepper to a batch. They tasted like Mexican hot chocolate cookies. My uncle, who never says much about food, asked me to write down what I did.

My daughter wanted white chocolate for her birthday, so I used that plus some dried cranberries. She said they looked fancy like from a real bakery.

My neighbor puts chopped hazelnuts in hers. I keep meaning to try that because it sounds really good.

If you want more chocolate, add 2 tablespoons cocoa powder with the flour. They get pretty addictive though.

Make-Ahead Options

I keep cookie dough balls in my freezer all the time for unexpected company. This dough works great for that.

The dough keeps in the fridge for 3 days, perfect for weekend baking when I want fresh cookies without starting over. I freeze the dough balls for up to 3 months – just bake them frozen and add an extra minute.

I scoop all the cookies onto baking sheets, freeze them, then put them in freezer bags. This way I can bake just a few for breakfast or a whole batch when people come over.

Recipe Notes & Baker’s Tips

The browned butter gets hard when it cools – that’s normal. If your dough feels too stiff after chilling, let it sit out for 10 minutes. I thought I’d ruined everything the first time this happened.

These cookies taste better the next day. The flavors blend together overnight, and they get chewier. My family hides some from the first batch because they disappear fast.

I keep mine in an old cookie tin on the counter. They stay good for a week, though they never last that long here.

Serving Suggestions

I serve these warm with cold milk – reminds me of being a kid, but with way better cookies. They’re perfect for lazy Sunday afternoons when you want something nice but not fancy.

For dinner parties, I put them on my grandmother’s old plate and people think I bought them somewhere expensive. I warm them in a 300 degree oven for 2-3 minutes first – makes the whole kitchen smell like a coffee shop.

I took some to my neighbor in a mason jar when she had surgery. She texted that they were better than any store gift.

How to Store Your Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies

I keep mine in this old tin my aunt gave me, just sitting on the counter. They last about a week, but honestly they never make it that long around here.

If you want to freeze them, wrap each cookie in plastic wrap first. I learned this after finding freezer-burned cookies that tasted like the inside of my freezer. They keep for months this way.

To reheat day-old cookies, stick them in a 300 degree oven for a couple minutes. My kids think I made fresh ones when I do this – it’s my little secret.

Allergy Information

These have wheat, eggs, and dairy in them. My friend with celiac uses that Cup4Cup flour instead of regular flour, and they turn out pretty good. Different texture, but still tasty.

For dairy-free, you’d need to use plant butter, but you lose that amazing browned butter flavor. I haven’t tried it myself, but my vegan neighbor might have some ideas.

Questions I Get Asked A Lot

Can I use regular coffee instead of espresso powder?

You can try it, but it won’t pack the same punch. I did this once when I ran out of espresso powder and the coffee flavor was barely there. If that’s all you have, grind some coffee beans super fine and use about 2 tablespoons.

My cookies spread too much – what happened?

Usually means you didn’t chill the dough long enough, or your oven runs cool. I had this problem for months until I got an oven thermometer and realized my oven was lying to me by 25 degrees.

Can I make these without browning the butter?

Sure, but why would you want to? That’s like the best part! Just melted butter works fine, but you miss all that nutty goodness that makes people ask for your recipe.

How do I know when the butter is properly browned?

It stops making those crazy bubbling sounds and starts smelling like toasted nuts. My kitchen always smells incredible during this step. Takes about 5-7 minutes, but use your nose, not the clock.

💬 Tried this recipe? Leave a comment and rating below! I love hearing about your baking adventures and any creative twists you’ve added. Did you try any of the flavor variations?