Chewy Chocolate Chip Coffee Cookies

Looking for an afternoon pick-me-up? These Chocolate Chip Coffee Cookies use real espresso powder to pack a punch of coffee flavor and caffeine to put a little pep in your step!

This easy twist on a chocolate chip cookie recipe takes the classic favorite and adds tons of coffee flavor for an elevated cookie that is sure to impress your tastebuds! Plus, it requires no chilling time and comes together in less than 30 minutes.

I absolutely love that this recipe requires only one bowl! As a busy mom and environmental scientist, one-bowl baking is hands down my favorite! Less clean-up means I’m saving on both time and water. That’s a win-win for me!

Green tip: Speaking of cleanup, if you have a dishwasher-use it! Comparing dishwashing to handwashing, using an efficient dishwasher uses 1/6th the amount of water to get your dishes clean!

Chocolate Chip Coffee Cookies Ingredients

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Here’s everything you need:

• Unsalted butter. Unsalted butter allows you to control the amount of salt being added to your cookies. It’s also important that your butter is softened (not melted!) in order to get the perfect consistency in your dough.
• Light brown sugar. This cookie recipe uses all brown sugar to give it more of that caramelly flavor that you look for in a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe.
• Vanilla extract. For flavor.
• Egg. To bind your cookies together and to give them a little lift.
• All-purpose flour. The base of your cookie dough.
• Salt. To enhance all the other flavors.
• Baking soda. To help the cookies slightly rise.
• Espresso powder. This brings the coveted coffee flavor to these cookies! Read more on the best brands for the strongest coffee flavor below.
• Chocolate chips. You can use semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips. I used dark!

Coffee Cookies Tips and Tricks

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Set Yourself Up For Success

Start by pre-heating your oven and lining your cookie sheet. Consider using reusable baking mats for a more sustainable option!

It’s also imperative that your butter is softened!

The easiest way to soften butter is to take it out of the refrigerator about 30-45 minutes before you start the baking process. This will allow the full stick of butter to naturally rise to room temperature.

If you don’t want to wait, you can microwave your stick of butter on high for about 15 seconds. If it’s still too solid, continue to microwave in 5-second intervals until it’s softened.

The best way to tell if your butter is softened is by poking it! If it’s ready, your finger will leave an imprint.

If you don’t want to use the microwave, no worries! There are 5 other simple ways you can easily soften your butter. For more information, check out this article on how to soften butter quickly.

Green tip: Look for organic and palm oil-free butter if you can. Buying organic means you are supporting farms that do not use damaging pesticides and fertilizers, and palm oil production is a huge driver behind deforestation.

Cream the Butter, Sugar, and Vanilla Extract

The key to perfect cookies is to start by creaming your butter and sugar together. This is because creaming your sugar into your fat (in this case, butter) actually aerates the dough.

The sugar cuts into the butter, adding little bubbles that ultimately lead to a soft and chewy cookie. Once your butter is softened, it’s very easy to cream it!

Use a hand mixer on high to whip the softened butter, brown sugar, and vanilla extract together for 2-3 minutes, until it’s nice and smooth.

Add Your Egg to Your Cookie Dough Next

With one-bowl baking recipes, the order in which you add your ingredients does matter. After creaming your butter, sugar, and vanilla extract together, add your egg.

As always, I’ll remind you that the best practice is to crack your egg in a separate dish before adding it to your dough.

This just ensures that you have a better chance of spotting and extracting any eggshells that may fall in, or that you can salvage your dough in the off chance you have a bloody egg.

Of course, if you like to live your life on the wild side like me then you can take a chance and crack it directly in your bowl but do so at your own risk. 😉

Once you add your egg, use your hand mixer on low, mixing just enough to integrate the egg. It’s best not to over-beat the dough.

Green tip: Look for pasture-raised eggs (over free-range or cage-free) to support agriculture that is less reliant on chemicals and fossil fuels.

Add Your Dry Ingredients

Next comes your dry ingredients! Add your flour, salt, baking soda and espresso powder. Grab that hand mixer for a third time to combine the dry ingredients into your dough, ensuring the espresso powder is distributed evenly throughout.

I tested this recipe with both espresso powder and instant coffee, and while adding instant coffee does boost the chocolatey flavor, I could barely detect that coffee flavor.

What’s more, the actual brand of espresso powder makes a huge difference to the amount of coffee you will taste in your coffee cookies. I tested these cookies with three brands: Cafe Bustelo, King Arthur Espresso Powder (this one is designed specifically for baking), and a generic grocery store value brand.

I did the testing, so you don’t have to! To get the most intense coffee flavor, use Cafe Bustelo. While I absolutely love King Arthur and use their espresso powder in baking often, it didn’t bring enough coffee flavor to this recipe.

As for the generic store brand, I got a tempting coffee fragrance and detected it a little bit upon the first bite, but after that, they pretty much tasted just like normal chocolate chip cookies.

Quick note: Use Cafe Bustelo Espresso Instant Coffee for the strongest coffee flavor. If you’re using the individual packetss, use two!

If need be, use a spatula to scrape down any flour left on the side of the bowl to add it to your bowl.

The idea here is again to not overwork the dough. This technique gives you soft and chewy cookies every time!

Fold In Your Chocolate Chips Last

Once your dry ingredients are integrated, all that’s left to do is add your chocolate chips.

I like to conserve just a handful to place on top of the cookie dough once it’s already shaped. Afterall, we eat with our eyes first and I love seeing those chocolate chips on top before each bite!

Pour the rest of your chocolate chips into the dough and use a rubber spatula to fold them in, until they are evenly distributed throughout the coffee cookie dough.

Green tip: When trying to source chocolate sustainably, look for Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, or UTZ certifications as opposed to self-proclaimed sustainability labels that sometimes falsely advertise “sustainably sourced”.

How to Perfectly Bake Your Coffee Cookies

These coffee cookies are pretty foolproof and will hold their shape even without any chilling time. You can expect a little bit of spreading, so keep that in mind as you line up your cookies on your prepped baking sheet.

Aside from lining your baking sheet and making the cookies roughly the same size so they bake evenly, there is one more important tactic to getting the best texture on these cookies: bake them on the top rack!

Heat rises, so the top rack of your oven is often significantly hotter than the bottom. If you place one cookie sheet on the top rack and one on the bottom, there will be a noticeable difference in baking time.

If both sheets don’t fit on the top rack at once, I recommend baking the cookies in two separate rounds, so they can all cook on the top rack.

These cookies with coffee will bake beautifully in 12-14 minutes. When they are ready, the top and edges will be a little bit crispy to touch if you carefully poke them. It’s okay if the center is slightly underdone, as it will continue to cook as they cool.

How to Properly Store Coffee Cookies with Chocolate Chips

At room temperature, these chocolatey cookies will last for 5-7 days when they are covered. In the refrigerator in an airtight container, they can last up to three weeks.

Quick tip: Storing your cookies with a piece of bread will keep them softer and chewier. This is the perfect use for the end piece!

These cookies do tend to get pretty firm within the first couple days of storing them. If you want to keep them softer and chewier, store them in a container with a piece of bread (this is the perfect use for an end piece!).

Believe it or not, moisture from the bread keeps the cookies from drying out.

You can also freeze them once they’re baked for up to a year and allow them to thaw before enjoying.

Green tip: Of the billions of tons of food wasted annually, 50% of food waste happens at home. Reduce your contribution to food waste by properly storing baked goods!

Freezing Coffee Cookie Dough for Later

You can opt to freeze some (or all) of the dough for your coffee cookies with chocolate chips for up to a year. This way, you can have freshly baked cookies whenever you want them!

I like to shape the cookie dough into cookies and store them in a freezer safe storage bag (consider reusable storage bags for a more sustainable option!).

You can bake them straight out of the freezer! Watch them closely—you may need to add a minute or two to the baking time.

Chocolate Coffee Cookies Frequently Asked Questions

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What are good coffee cookies?

These chocolate chip cookies have coffee in them which not only brings out the chocolate flavor, but also makes them a great pairing with a cup of coffee!

Other cookies I love to enjoy with coffee are classic biscotti, snickerdoodles, and peanut butter cookies!

Do coffee cookies have caffeine?

While these coffee cookies do contain caffeine, it is a very small amount. For the 12 cookies this recipe makes, there is 1 tablespoon (or two typical servings) of caffeine, which equates to about 1/2 teaspoon per cookie.

Why You Should Make these Chewy Chocolate Chip Coffee Cookies

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• They’re easy! These cookies require just one bowl and less than 10 ingredients!
• They’re quick. The active baking time is less than 10 minutes, and because these cookies require no chilling time, they’re ready to enjoy in less than 30 minutes!
• They’re elevated. Taking a classic cookie to a new level with just one extra powerful ingredient!

If you’re loving these Chocolate Chip Coffee Cookies and want more cookies, check out these Gideon’s Bakehouse Copycat Cookies and these Cookie Monster Cookies.