Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies

Double chocolate espresso cookies are simple to make and feature a deep chocolate flavor that’s brought out even more by espresso powder. Chocolate chunks round out these soft, hearty cookies.

Given that five out of the last six recipes on this blog are savory, if there was ever a time to share a good, old-fashioned cookie recipe with you, this would be it.

If you’ve been reading around here for awhile, 1) thank you! and 2) you may have noticed I have a thing with espresso. No matter if it’s in the form of espresso powder or whole espresso beans. Beans are a favorite in this vanilla espresso almond butter, while espresso powder makes an easy addition to SO many chocolate desserts.

These double chocolate espresso cookies feature espresso powder and are thick and chewy, with an ultra rich chocolate flavor. In smaller quantities espresso powder doesn’t impart much of a coffee flavor, but it has a knack for intensifying the taste of chocolate. Always a good thing, right?

Recipe ingredients

For these cookies however, I wanted the taste of espresso to shine through in the end result. I added two teaspoons of espresso powder for a deep, dark flavor that pairs so well with the chocolate dough and dark chocolate chunks studded throughout. These cookies may be on the smaller side but they’re packed with flavor.

The instant espresso powder I use isn’t anything fancy as I buy it in the coffee aisle of my regular grocery store. It’s in a small glass jar with a green lid and costs just a few bucks. It’ll last forever if you’re using it as I do in baking recipes — a little goes a long way.

As for the cookie base, it’s not far off from a classic chocolate chip cookie base. We have butter, granulated and brown sugars, an egg, and vanilla extract for the “wet” ingredients, and all-purpose flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder (lots of powder!), and a pinch of salt for the dry ingredients. Stir in some dark chocolate chunks or chips to make these proper double chocolate espresso cookies and there you go.

Recipe steps

The very first step is to take out your butter sticks to come up to room temperature. Remembering to do that on time just might be the hardest part of this recipe!

Once the butter is softened, cream it together with the sugars, the egg, and the vanilla extract. Then add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. We don’t want to overmix once the flour gets involved as that can cause the gluten to over-activate, leading to tough baked goods.

All that’s left is to stir in chopped up chocolate and you’re ready to scoop. No chilling required. 

These double chocolate espresso cookies are on the smaller side as I used a one-tablespoon capacity cookie scoop (affiliate link). While the thought of a BIG cookie is always appealing, keeping these guys small was intentional as I’m envisioning them as a fab addition to a holiday cookie plate or a dessert tray any time of year. In those instances maaaaybe you’re like me in that you like to sample a little bit of everything. Smaller cookies mean you get to try more varieties of them (at least by my logic).

Of course, feel free to use a bigger cookie scoop if you’d prefer! Just adjust the bake time (and space between cookies on the baking sheet). One-tablespoon capacity cookies will take around 11-12 minutes in the oven, add a few minutes for larger cookies.

Related recipes

These malted brownie cookies bring lots of chocolate flavor on their own, with espresso powder as welcome support. These really taste like from-scratch brownies – in cookie form!

Do you have a cookie press? Try something new with chocolate spritz cookies. They have the same buttery base as traditional spritz cookies, just with a chocolate-y vibe elevated by (you guessed it) espresso powder.

Recipe notes

• While I gravitate towards unsalted butter for baking recipes, you can substitute in salted butter for some of the butter content if you’re a fan of a sweet and salty dessert. I would omit the added pinch of salt in that case.
• Dark chocolate is a favorite pairing with the espresso flavor, though you can use whatever type of chocolate you like: semisweet, milk, etc.

Double Chocolate Espresso Cookies

Double chocolate espresso cookies are simple to make and feature a deep chocolate flavor that’s brought out even more by espresso powder. Chocolate chunks round out these soft, hearty cookies.

4 from 1 vote

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Course: Cookies

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 11 minutes

Total Time: 21 minutes

Servings: 25 cookies

Calories: 140kcal

Author: Alyssa

Ingredients

• ▢ 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter at room temperature (10 tbsp in total)
• ▢ 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• ▢ 1/2 cup brown sugar
• ▢ 1 egg
• ▢ 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• ▢ 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (6 tbsp in total)
• ▢ 2 tsp espresso powder
• ▢ 1/2 tsp baking powder
• ▢ Pinch salt
• ▢ 1 cup dark chocolate chunks or chips

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Instructions

• Preheat oven to 325°F. Cream together butter, sugars, the egg, and vanilla extract in a bowl until light and fluffy.
• Add flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking powder, and salt and mix in until just combined, taking care not to overmix.
• Stir in chocolate chunks/chips.
• Using a cookie scoop or a spoon, scoop rounded cookie dough balls about 2"-apart from one another onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 11-12 minutes, or until the tops are mostly set. Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5-10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie | Calories: 140kcal | Carbohydrates: 18.6g | Protein: 1.8g | Fat: 6.8g | Saturated Fat: 4.4g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 9mg | Potassium: 70mg | Fiber: 0.9g | Sugar: 11.6g | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 0.7mg

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Nutritional information is provided as an estimate. As it can vary due to many factors (brands used, quantities, etc.), we cannot guarantee its accuracy.