Description
Rich, chewy espresso chocolate chip cookies made with browned butter and dark chocolate chunks. Perfect balance of coffee and chocolate flavors with a tender, chewy texture.
Ingredients
For the Cookie Base:
- ¾ cup unsalted butter (for browning)
- 1 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- ⅓ cup white (granulated) sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 extra egg yolk, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
For the Dry Mix:
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup espresso powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 4 ounces dark chocolate, roughly chopped
Substitution Notes:
- No espresso powder? Use 2 tablespoons of finely ground coffee beans
- Semi-sweet or milk chocolate chips work great if you don’t have dark chocolate
- Light brown sugar can substitute for dark brown sugar
Instructions
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.
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.
Add the egg, extra yolk, and vanilla. Mix until everything looks combined and shiny.
In another bowl, whisk flour, espresso powder, salt, and baking soda together. Break up any lumps in the espresso powder.
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.
Put the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. I usually make mine the night before because waiting is hard.
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.
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.
Notes
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.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 11 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American