what to expect:
Prep Time: 30 minutes | Chill Time: 1 hour | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
Soft and chewy coffee cookies with coffee-infused butter, crunchy coffee beans, and pools of dark chocolate.
*For helpful tips and how-to’s, make sure you read the whole post.
My husband is a big-time coffee drinker and I am a big-time cookie lover. Put them together and you get these coffee cookies with dark chocolate chips! They’re a favorite in our household due to the potent coffee flavor, crunch of actual coffee beans, and savoryness of dark chocolate.
This coffee cookie recipe has become a family favorite and is my favorite treat to gift to friends and loved ones. They’re always a hit and remind me of a mocha when you get a bite with chocolate.
What You’ll Find in This Post
- What You Will Need (Ingredients)
- Helpful Tip: Use Decaf Beans
- Helpful Tip: Using Melted Butter
- Helpful Tip: Using Crushed Coffee Beans
- Helpful Tip: Chopping Your Chocolate for Pools of Melted Chocolate
- Important Tip: Chill Your Coffee Cookie Dough
What You Will Need to Make Coffee Cookies with Dark Chocolate
Ingredients:
- Unsalted Butter
- Coarsely Ground Decaf Coffee Beans
- Brown Sugar
- Granulated Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- Instant Coffee
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Soda
- Kosher Salt
- Cocoa Powder
- Dark Chocolate
Use Decaf For Your Coffee Cookies
Full disclosure, these coffee cookies have the potential to pack a major caffeinated punch if you use normal coffee beans. I highly recommend (read: INSIST) you use decaf coffee beans in your coffee cookies so that you can enjoy them without worrying about being over-caffeinated.
Use Melted Butter for Coffee Infused Dough
We’re using melted butter for these coffee cookies for two reasons:
- It gives the cookie a beautiful soft and chewy texture.
- We’re actually infusing coffee into the butter to really add that next dimension of flavor.
You want to be careful when you’re infusing your butter to not let it come to any sort of simmer, let alone to brown.
The goal here is to reserve as much of the butter as possible (limiting how much of it steams off) while also heating it just enough so that the coffee beans will release their flavor.
It may sound tricky, but if you keep your burner on low you’ll be just fine!
Crush the Coffee Beans For Added Crunch
Instead of buying coarsely ground beans for these coffee cookies, I prefer to crush the cookies myself so that you have that added crunch and texture of coffee beans in every bite.
I choose to use my food processor, but you don’t need any fancy equipment to do this. You can use a spice grinder or even crush them by hand with a mallet or the flat side of a knife.
Get creative! You don’t need fancy equipment to get the results we’re looking for.
Use Chopped Chocolate Instead of Chocolate Chips
I recommend using a chopped bar of chocolate for these coffee cookies instead of chocolate chips.
I just find that chopping up a bar of chocolate is a guaranteed way to get those melty pools of chocolate, which is what I prefer for these coffee cookies. Bar Chocolate melts far easier than chips, which is why we love it in this coffee cookies recipe.
I want to be clear here – there is nothing wrong with chocolate chips! If that’s all you have or what you prefer, go ahead and use them.
If you do decide to go the chocolate bar route, just give the chocolate bar a rough chop until you’re left with “chip” sized pieces and you’re good to go.
Chill Your Cookie Dough For Flavorful Coffee Cookies
Chilling the dough for your coffee cookies is very important for this recipe, so don’t skip this step. It allows the flavors of the cookie and the coffee to fully meld, sets the butter that has been melted, and ensures all of your cookies are the same temperature when they’re baked to help with consistency.
If you’re baking your coffee cookies in batches, be sure to leave any unbaked dough in the fridge until you’re ready to move them to the oven. We don’t want them coming up to room temperature before baking.
If you make these coffee cookies, be sure to let me know what you think or if you run into any problems by leaving a review! And be sure to tag me @ficklebea on Instagram – I love seeing how your baked goods turn out.
If you’re new to baking or nervous about spending more time in the kitchen, check out My Kitchen Commandments for some helpful tips!
PrintCoffee Chip Cookies
Soft and chewy coffee cookies with coffee-infused butter, crunchy coffee beans, and pools of dark chocolate.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Chill Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 45 minutes
- Yield: 24 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 8 tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 1/2 cup Coarsely Ground Coffee Beans (decaf recommended) (split, 3 T. and remaining beans)
- 3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar (packed)
- 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Eggs (room temp.)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 2 tbsp Instant Coffee (optional)
- 1 1/2 cup All Purpose Flour
- 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 1/4 tsp Kosher Salt
- 2 tsp Cocoa Powder
- 90 grams Dark Chocolate (roughly chopped or about 2/3 cup of chips)
Instructions
- Add sugars to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk together your flour, kosher salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder until combined.
- In a small saucepan over low heat, melt your butter. Once melted, add 3T. of coarsely chopped coffee beans and let steep for 5 min, stirring constantly to prevent browning or bubbling. Remove from heat and let cool for 8 min. (* see note)
- Pour the butter and coffee bean mixture through a fine mesh sieve and into the mixing bowl with your sugars (discarding the steeped grounds). Mix on medium until well combined. It will look grainy and a little wet.
- Add eggs one at a time on medium and allow the first egg to incorporate fully before adding the second. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, add your vanilla and instant coffee and mix until fluffy and light, about 1 minute.
- Turn off your mixer before adding your dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, kosher salt, cocoa powder). Mix on low until just incorporated, scraping down your bowl as needed.
- Remove the bowl from the mixer, scraping down the paddle with a spatula, and gently fold in chocolate and remaining crushed coffee bits (the crushed beans left over after using the 3T. to infuse your butter) by hand until fully incorporated.
- Use a spoon to scoop out tablespoon sized dough portions, roll each portion into a ball with your hands. Place rolled dough balls on a small sheet tray or plate, covering before chilling in the fridge for at least 1 hour. (** see note)
- 30 minutes before baking off cookies, preheat oven to 350℉.
- On a sheet tray lined with a Silpat or parchment paper, place dough balls roughly 3 inches apart as they will spread. Bake for 10 minutes with rack placed in the middle of the oven, rotating the tray half-way through.
- After removing cookies from the oven, lightly drop the tray on your counter from about a 2 inch height and allow cookies to cool on your baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
*If you do not have coffee beans, you can omit the crushed coffee beans from the batter and use 2 tablespoons of instant coffee in place of the crushed beans used to infuse the butter. There is no need to pour the butter through a sieve if you have used instant coffee in the butter.
** If your dough is too wet to roll into balls after mixing, chill the mixing bowl with batter (covered) in the fridge for a half hour to slightly set. After a half hour, again attempt to roll into balls, and then allow dough balls to chill for another half hour before baking.
To help with your shopping list, here are the ingredients based on where they’re located in the grocery store and the total quantity you will need for the recipe:
Dairy:
- Unsalted Butter (8 Tablespoons, or 1 stick)
- 2 Eggs
Pantry:
- Decaf Coffee Beans (1/2 cup)
- Instant Coffee (2 Tablespoons) – optional
- Brown Sugar (3/4 cup)
- Granulated Sugar (1/2 cup)
- Vanilla Extract (1 teaspoon)
- All Purpose Flour (1 and 1/2 cups)
- Baking Soda (1/2 teaspoon)
- Kosher Salt (1 and 1/4 teaspoons)
- Cocoa Powder (2 teaspoons)
- Dark Chocolate (90 grams)
Clay Filson says
This is super well done and I really like the format!
Will give some feedback after the 1st batch – hoping they taste as well as they look.
Congrats on the web site launch!!
Sierra says
Thank you so much! Let me know your thoughts once you’ve given them a go 🙂
Kathy says
Beautiful presentation and photos, so inviting!
Coffee and chocolate great combination!
Thanks for the detailed recipe.
Look so good, I think I can smell fresh cookies.
Sierra says
Thank you! Coffee and chocolate is always a great combo in my opinion 🙂 happy baking!
Jeff Smith says
Just made my first batch of these and they were phenomenal. They’re actually pretty simple and quick to make, and combine my two favorite things – coffee and chocolate! The melty chocolate and crunch of the coffee beans are a wonderful contrast of texture, while the coffee infused butter gives the entire cookie a transcendent and aromatic flavor. This will be a regular in our house!!
Sierra says
I’m so glad you liked them! They’re definitely easy to whip together – I’m glad you thought so!
Kaylee says
This is my new favorite recipe, and I can’t wait to see what you share next! I also really that the tone of this blog is that of someone who knows what they’re doing, but keeps it simple for less experienced bakers. Love love love!
Sierra says
I’m so glad you enjoyed these cookies and felt like they were approachable! I truly believe that anyone can bake and cook, so I love that you felt confident enough to give these a go. Happy baking! 🙂
Megan says
Y’all… these cookies are insane! Soft but with texture on the bottoms/edges, light / not too sweet, and the chocolate and coffee really balance each other out.
My dough came out sticky so I couldn’t roll into balls before chilling, definitely take a look at the recommendations if your dough came out a little too wet to roll.
AND, for the love of all that is good, use decaf beans as recommended. I used regular and I can only eat one or two of these a day, which is a very hard limit when they taste SO GOOD.
Thank you for the recipe — the perfect cookie!
Sierra says
Ha I’m so glad you enjoyed them! I definitely have to use decaf when I make them for the exact same reason…they’re way too good to stop at two!
Ashley says
I made these for a picnic and they were a massive hit! I had multiple people request the recipe and got rave reviews. So if you like compliments as much as I do–make these cookies!!!
They’re more elevated than a traditional chocolate chip cookie but just as easy to make, so you can be the baker of the ball (or princess of the picnic!).
Sierra says
I love this review 😂 So glad they were a hit and weren’t too difficult!!