Coffee and chocolate are a great combination, and small amounts of coffee appear in recipes for all kinds of chocolate desserts. Coffee is used to bring out some of the darker, roastier notes in chocolate and make chocolate desserts taste even richer. As a coffee fan, sometimes I want coffee to share the spotlight a little bit. These Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies have a good balance of chocolate and coffee flavors – which is to say that there is a lot of chocolate and coffee in every bite.
The cookies use unsweetened cocoa powder and espresso powder for their rich flavor. They’re slightly soft and fudgy inside, with a hint of crispness just around the edge. They’re at their best if you don’t overbake them because this is a cookie that is better when it is tender and brownie-like. They’re loaded with chocolate chips, which definitely tips them in the direction of chocolate instead of espresso, but you get the flavor of both elements clearly in each bite – and that makes them perfect for coffee lovers as well as chocoholics. The cookies taste even better the next day (although they’re good straight out of the oven, too), when the coffee and chocolate have time to meld.
Instant espresso powder is going to give you the best coffee flavor in these cookies. If you don’t have instant espresso powder (it is available in either the coffee aisle at many grocery stores), instant coffee powder can be substituted. The cookies will still be delicious, but they will have a milder coffee flavor to them than cookies made with espresso powder.
Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup espresso powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups semisweet/bittersweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl. cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs, one at a time, followed by cocoa powder, espresso powder and vanilla extract. Mix ingredients for 1-2 minutes, or until completely combined.
With the mixer on low speed, gradually blend in the flour mixture until no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Stir in chocolate chips.
Shape dough into 1-inch balls and drop onto prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 9-11 minutes, until cookies are set but still soft.
Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 3-4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
Makes about 3 1/2 dozen.
Tami
September 14, 2013These were amazing! Thanks so much for sharing this recipe.
Elisa
September 24, 2013Made them today and oh my, they are fabulous! I got soooo many compliments on them. Personally I described them as a brownie cookie, because the texture is just like brownie goodness. Definitely a must in anyones recipe book as it’s so easy to make yet delicious!
Mindi
September 30, 2013Made these yesterday and they are fabulous! Made them tiny, so I only baked for 7 minutes which was perfect. Purchased “Edward’s Instant Espresso Coffee Powder” on Amazon to use, and it was just right. Thanks for the great recipe.
Better With Sugar
November 6, 2013oh my friggin gosh i made these the other day and they have got to be my new favourite cookie. All of that coffee and chocolate,so much flavour! And they actually stayed pretty soft for a few days (although most of them were gone the first day. i made the mistake of putting them out for my friends :S). I ran out of semi sweet chocolate chips so i used white chocolate chips and they came out phenomenal. Thanks for the great recipe!! 🙂
carol
November 10, 2013The absolute best cookie I ever made!! And ate!!!
Avra-Sha Faohla
February 2, 2014Funny that you say these are “tipped in the direction of chocolate instead of espresso” because I found that they tasted like coffee WAY more than chocolate. Perhaps it’s because I used instant coffee grounds instead of powder? Or maybe I am not as much of a coffee person as you so it seems stronger to me? Whatever the reason, I wanted less coffee so I made them again with half the coffee and LOVED them. I also subbed 3/4 cup oil for the 1 cup butter and didn’t have a problem. Anyway, these cookies came out gorgeous, had a wonderful texture, and tasted amazing. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! (And I hope the substitutions I listed are helpful to someone!)
FrankieBean
February 12, 2014I made a batch of these tonight. Instead of using all chocolate chips, I did part chocolate chips and part toffee baking bits. They are AMAZING! I might even add a touch more espresso powder next time.
Vanessa
February 18, 2014Even though I may have overbeat my dough and the cookies were flat, they taste amazing! This is a great recipe. None of the stores nearby had espresso powder so I used instant coffee and they still had a really delicious coffee flavor; however, next time I make them I’ll make sure I have some espresso powder.
baker-chan
August 30, 2014Hi,
Could we refrigerate the dough for 2hours or overnight first before baking? Just wondering 🙂
Jane C.
January 23, 2015I made these, and they are great! My new go to for a chocolate cookie! I tasted the coffee more in the dough than the baked product, where, for me, it just enhanced the chocolate a lot.
baker-chan– I did refrigerate my dough overnight because of time constraints. I cannot compare it to non rested dough, but I can tell you my cookies came out great after being refrigerated overnight.
Like another poster, I made mine a little smaller. They baked into beautiful cookies.