Double Chocolate Cold Brew Cookies
Chewy, rich double chocolate cookies with the bold taste of cold brew coffee. With a crispy edge and gooey center, these cookies have that perfect cookie texture combined with a flavor that chocolate and coffee lovers alike will love!
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Happy New Year!!! If you follow my Instagram, I’m finally getting around to sharing all of the “cookie of the month” recipes I created to celebrate Brooklyn’s monthly birthdays. These were to celebrate her turning nine months old in August. The picture below perfectly captures her personality: happy and a bit mischievous and always chewing on everything.
Seriously, when we went to Disneyland this Christmas, people kept giving her Mickey Mouse stickers because she’s so cute and smiley, but all she did was EAT THEM.
I also feel these cookies were a perfect representation of month nine: survival by chocolate and coffee. I tried nighttime weaning in August and it backfired, as she spent the month getting 4 new teeth and waking up ALL the time.
Oh well. She’s cute and I’ll sleep again one day.
Why this recipe works
I’ve experimented quite a bit with double chocolate cookies, so for this recipe I went with my more classic, chewy cookie recipe. It’s based on my favorite: the Nestle Tollhouse recipe, but with some obvious tweaks. I use a bit more sugar than called for, which in turn requires a bit more flour. As well, subbing some cocoa powder for flour isn’t an exact science, because cocoa is finer and is less capable of holding a cookie together than flour. So, after some delicious trial and error (I really suffered through eating several failed batches), I found a perfect double chocolate cookie recipe that is still classically crispy on the edge and chewy in the middle.
As for the cold brew flavor, I actually planned to make espresso cookie, but I had run out of instant espresso. To save time (#workingmomlife) I thought I’d cross my fingers and hope Trader Joe’s had some. They didn’t. But they did have instant cold brew! It actually works really well in baking, because the flavor is so distinct. I also had to use significantly more than I usually use of instant espresso, which was helpful to ensure that even the frozen dough ended up having a great flavor weeks later!
Key ingredients
Instant cold brew. I found this at Trader Joe’s, but I’ve seen it at Starbucks and some grocery stores. If you can’t find any, a high quality instant espresso or instant coffee will work. Just please, please, please—don’t use Folgers.
Flour. Spoon then level it so you don’t pack in too much flour.
Unsweetened cocoa powder. I suggest sifting it.
Baking soda. Be sure it’s fresh so the cookies rise.
Butter. Use European, if possible, as it has less water and makes a smoother dough.
Sugar and brown sugar. I used an equal amount of each, because granulated sugar works well with double chocolate recipes, but brown sugar keeps them moist and chewy.
Eggs. Be sure they’re room temperature.
Vanilla. Use pure vanilla extract.
Chocolate chips. Measure with your heart, my friend! I wrote the recipe with the typical two cups, but I usually use closer to three. Don’t go beyond that, or the cookies won’t hold together.
How to make giant double chocolate cookies
1. Sift and whisk dry ingredients. Sifting is technically optional, but I think it helps prevent over mixing.
2. Beat butter and sugar. You want the sugar slightly dissolved and the mixture to be light and fluffy, so mix at least 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs and vanilla, one at a time. Beat until well-blended each time, about 30 seconds on medium.
4. Mix in dry ingredients. Mix on low until just barely combined.
5. Stir in chocolate chips. You can use up to 3 cups chocolate chips, but don’t use more, as the cookies will start to fall apart.
6. Chill. I like to chill my dough at least overnight, but a minimum of 1 hour and up to 3 days. This is optional, and simply helps the cookies keep their rounded shape better during baking. You can also freeze them for 10-20 minutes after shaping and placing them on a cookie sheet.
7. Form into large balls. I like using a large cookie scoop so I can just place the dough onto my baking sheet, but you can use a spoon then roll it into a rough ball. You’ll want about 1.5 tablespoons worth of dough. Place cookies 2” apart on your prepared cookie sheet.
8. Bake. Bake until no longer matte in appearance and the edges begin to darken.
9. Let cool on pan then on cooling rack. You don’t want them to keep cooking once you take them out of the oven, so only keep them on the pan 5-10 minutes.
Enjoy!
Tips and FAQ’s for this recipe
What type of cold brew should I use?
I used Trader Joe’s Instant Cold Brew. I don’t particularly love drinking instant coffees, but this one isn’t too bad! I’ve also seen instant cold brew at Starbucks and some random grocery store in the Midwest, haha. You could sub 1-2 teaspoons of instant espresso or instant coffee, but those are stronger, so less is needed.
Can I make these ahead of time?
Yes! The dough will last up to 3 days in the fridge or at least a couple months in the freezer, depending on how well-sealed they are. I like to scoop my dough out, place it on a cookie sheet and let it freeze for an hour, then place the frozen cookie dough balls into freezer safe bags. Be sure to label the dough with the date so you don’t keep them too long.
Do I have to use European butter?
Personally, I think it makes a huge difference. It’s creamier and has a very different consistency than sweet cream butter. Since you only have a few ingredients here, you want to make sure each one is of the highest quality. But don’t worry—you can often find it at places like Costco on sale!
Brown the butter for a sturdier, chewier cookie
While I did not brown the butter here, I usually brown the butter for all of my cookies. It removes some of the water from the butter, which in turn helps prevent the sugar from creating too much liquid while baking (because sugar turns to liquid when heated). Thus, you won’t have cookies that spread too much or become too thin in the oven. While I adjusted the recipe to account for this and these cookies won’t spread if made as written, they don’t last as long as browned butter cookies, which is why I always suggest browning the butter if you have the time. You can follow the directions here to brown the butter.
Note: if you brown the butter, reduce the flour by 3-4 tablespoons.
Spoon then level your flour
Don’t scoop your flour! I never knew this until I started blogging, but it seriously makes a big difference. You will end up with roughly 25% more flour than the recipe called for if you just doonk (official baking term right there) your measuring spoon into the flour container and scoop. Gently spoon your flour into your measuring cup then level it off with the back of a knife. Trust me! It makes a difference.
Help! My cookies spread too thin
Be sure to measure the ingredients correctly. This dough uses a delicate balance of flour to butter. Too much or too little of either can lead to either dry, bread-y cookies or thin cookies that spread out and break easily. As well, be sure to chill the dough before shaping it then freeze after, so they are the right temperature for baking.
How do I know when the cookies are baked?
Since this is a dark dough, it’s hard to tell when the cookies are baked. You’re looking for a matte appearance throughout. Even if they’re a little underdone, they’re still delicious!
What kind of chocolate chips should I use?
I always stick with classic semisweet, partly because we’re never without the Costco bag of them. But milk chocolate would actually give a more “hot cocoa” flavor, while dark would make a deliciously rich cookie. Use what you prefer!
My tools
Here are my must-have tools I use for making these cookies. Affiliate links provided.
Mesh sieve (helpful to get the clumps out of the cocoa)
Double Chocolate Cold Brew Cookies
- prep time: 10-15 minutes
- chill time: 1 hour (or up to 2 days)
- bake time: 10-12 minutes
- total time: 1 hour, 25 minutes
servings: about 3 dozen cookies (depending on the size)
Ingredients:
- 1 ¾ cups (238g) flour, spooned then leveled*
- ¾ cup (75g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon (5g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (3g) sea salt
- 1-2 tablespoons instant cold brew powder (to taste–depends on the strength of your cold brew; can sub instant espresso or instant coffee, but use 1-2 teaspoons instead)
- 1 cup (227g) unsalted European style butter, room temperature**
- 1 cup (213g) granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup (134g) packed brown sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon (13g) pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (340g) chocolate chips (any kind)
Instructions:
- First, whisk together your flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and cold brew powder. I suggest sifting the cocoa powder if it tends to clump up, like mine does.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl, using handheld beaters or a hand whisk), beat the butter on high until light and fluffy, about 1 minute.
- Add the sugars and beat on high for at least 3 minutes, until light and fluffy and most of the sugar is dissolved (some might still be grainy). Scrape the bowl as needed, at least once during this 3 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat on medium until well blended. Add the vanilla and beat on medium until blended.
- Add the flour mixture and beat on low just until combined. Don’t worry if there are some streaks of flour, as the next step takes care of that.
- Using a sturdy spatula or wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips. If you don’t want quite a “fully loaded” cookie, you can use up to 3 cups chocolate chips.
- Now chill! Cover and chill the dough at least an hour or up to 2 days. I found that chilling overnight was perfect. If you’re in a rush, you could form them into balls and freeze them for about 20 minutes, but they may still end up a little flat (but still delicious!).
- Once the dough is chilled, preheat oven to 325F/165C and line a cookie sheet (or sheets) with parchment (or use a silicone mat to help reduce your carbon footprint!). Use a spoon or cookie scoop to form the dough into balls about 1 to 1 ½ inches in diameter. The dough should be stiff to the point that you really do need a scoop or a little elbow grease to scoop them. Place on your lined cookie sheet then freeze for 10 minutes while the oven finishes preheating.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the tops of the cookies are no longer shiny (or there’s just a tiny bit of shine around the nuts and chocolate chips).
- Let cool on the pan about 10 minutes, then either enjoy or remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy!
*Be sure to spoon then level the flour into your measuring cup OR weigh it to prevent packing it in and ending up with too much.
**European butter is best! It has less water and makes a better cookie, in my opinion.
Note about making these ahead: you could optionally chill the dough until it’s no longer sticky and thus easier to form into a ball. Form into single cookie balls then place on a cookie tray and freeze for 10 minutes. Once firm, you can transfer the dough balls to an airtight, freezer safe container or bag and keep frozen for up to 2 months. You can bake them straight from the freezer!
