Well, those Bourbon Bacon Brown Sugar Cookies and Sugar Cookies were a nice little jaunt into the world of cakey cookies, weren’t they? But let’s get back to the really good stuff. Nice, chewy, tender, soft cookies. The way cookies should be. Especially if they are double chocolate and spiked with espresso powder. Oh what a cookie, what a cookie, what a mighty good cookie.
I’ve never been a regular coffee drinker (mostly because the caffeine doesn’t agree with me), but I’ve always been a regular coffee lover. I love the smell of it. I love the ritual of it. I love the taste of it. I love the culture surrounding it. I love going into a cute little coffee shop in a new town and ordering something delicious. I love carrying around those pretty red cups from Starbucks in December.
I know that most people enjoy coffee for the jolt of energy, but I think there is a lot to be said for the nostalgia aspect. So many of us grew up with our parents sipping on a cup of coffee across from us at the breakfast table on Sunday mornings—that smell alone is enough to give me 11 different kinds of warm and fuzzies.
The way I feel about coffee is kinda the same way I feel about Christmas. There are so many wonderful memories in my life that are permeated with the taste and smell of coffee. It’s honestly hard to tell if I love the taste of coffee because I actually love the taste of it, or if I love the taste of coffee because it makes me feel nostalgic. Either way, man, I love coffee.
I’m not sure why you don’t see more coffee-flavored cookies. These espresso cookies have such incredible flavor. Of course, coffee and chocolate are a match made in heaven! This tender, dark chocolate cookie is flavored with espresso powder and flecked with chocolate chips—it’s kinda like your favorite mocha chip frappucino, but in cookie form.
If you’ve never worked with espresso powder before, it’s used frequently to add a deep, rich flavor to chocolate-y baked goods. You’ll often see recipes for dark chocolate cakes calling for espresso powder. It’s rarely used for drinking, so most of the time, you’ll find it in the baking aisle of your grocery store. Not all grocery stores carry it, so you might have to look around for it.
If you can’t find it, no worries, instant coffee powder works just fine. You just have to use quite a bit more, and the flavor is a touch more harsh, instead of a gentle undernote of coffee. Still delicious. And the bonus with instant coffee is that it’s available pretty much at every store (in the coffee aisle this time) and in a wide variety of roasts. I recommend a dark roast to most closely approximate the espresso powder, and feel free to go with decaf if the only jolt you want from these cookies is a sugar high.
My husband has named these cookies his absolute favorite out of the 12 cookies I’ll be posting for you (although, Chocolate Candy Cane Gooey Butter Cookies and Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Brownie Cookies were a close second and third). And that’s saying a lot, because he has eaten a lot of really delicious cookies over the past few weeks (life is hard for spouses of recipe developers). For what it’s worth, my favorite is the Chewy Lemon Snowdrops—but these are definitely in the top three.
Chewy Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies
These chocolate-espresso cookies are like a mocha chip frappucino in cookie form!
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup butter (2 1/2 sticks), softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons espresso powder OR 2 tablespoons instant coffee
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups chocolate chips
- Granulated sugar and whole coffee beans for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°. In the bowl of a mixer, cream together the butter, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, scraping the sides as necessary.
- Beat in the eggs and vanilla until well-combined.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, espresso powder, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet in three additions, mixing well between each addition. Remove dough from mixer and fold in chocolate chips by hand.
- Form dough into 1-1/2 inch balls, roll in granulated sugar, then press three coffee beans in the top. Refridgerate the dough for at least 30 minutes, then bake in preheated oven for 7-9 minutes, or until the edges just begin to crack, but the cookie still feels soft. Let cool for 3-5 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 36 Serving Size: 1 cookieAmount Per Serving: Calories: 188Total Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 27mgSodium: 146mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 1gSugar: 16gProtein: 2g
At Wholefully, we believe that good nutrition is about much more than just the numbers on the nutrition facts panel. Please use the above information as only a small part of what helps you decide what foods are nourishing for you.
