Soft and chewy espresso chocolate chip cookies with a crisp exterior. The perfect balance of bittersweet, and soft-chewy.

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Infusing coffee flavor
Why not instant coffee powder?
Browning Butter
How to make your cookies chewy
How to get the perfect cookie shape
Ingredients
Let's Get Baking
📖 Recipe
💬 Comments

Another one of my favorite flavor combinations. These espresso chocolate chip cookies are the PERFECT cookie. Why? This cookie combines the true definition of bitter-sweet, sweet-salty and crispy-chewy. The soft chewy interior with a slightly crispy exterior, a coffee infused brown butter cookie dough base with puddles of dark chocolate topped with a sprinkle of flakey salt. I don't know if a cookie can get any better than this!

Chewy espresso chocolate chip cookies with coffee and flakey salt

Infusing coffee flavor

The first challenge in this recipe is infusing the cookie dough with espresso. The easy way out is adding a spoon of instant coffee powder and calling it a day. But I wanted to have that deep coffee flavor... By infusing ground coffee in the browned butter, it not only adds depth to the nutty brown butter but also allows the butter to take on that coffee fragrance.

A small amount of coffee grinds is also added to the dry ingredients mix to give a little extra kick. And there you have it!

Why not instant coffee powder?

Instant coffee powder is a great option for many desserts as you can concentrate the flavour without compensating texture. You can achieve the concentration of a couple of cups of coffee in a few teaspoons! But in this case the coffee granules provide the cookies with a little extra structure and chew. The ground coffee gives these cookies that extra unique texture and helps you achieve that dreamy thick, soft, chewiness.

Browning Butter

Browning butter has become very common in cookie recipes because it adds that extra oomph that you can't find in store-bought or even bakery-bought cookies.

Essentially it's the browning of the milk solids in butter after it has melted down. If we are being scientific this is called the Maillard reaction. My favorite kind of scientific reaction 😉 This is the reaction that gives you that beautiful golden crust on your pies, the crisp exterior to your cookies, and fills your house with the smell of a bakery.

If you still don't get it, this reaction is basically the difference between a boiled potato and a crispy, golden roast potato. This reaction with your butter creates a nutty, deep, and super fragrant butter that only adds flavor to your cookies!

A couple of tips to browning your butter:

Use a light-coloured pan: This will let you see the milk solids browning in the bottom of your pan, and prevent burning.
Keep stirring your butter: Browned butter can burn easily when the milk solids are stuck to the bottom of your pan. Once the butter starts foaming keep stirring. The butter should be sufficiently browned when the bubbling stops and the butter smells fragrant.

How to make your cookies chewy

When it comes to cookies everyone has their own preferences, but I still think that chewy cookies are superior 😆

There are a couple of ways to make cookies chewier...

Egg yolks

Adding egg yolks to your cookie dough increases the fat content, helping the cookies retain their softness while increasing chew.

Ground Coffee

Coffee granules provide extra structure without contributing to gluten development. A soft chewy cookie that won't get dense and tough!

Chilling your cookie dough

Chilling your cookie dough allows it to rest, not only preventing the cookie from spreading into puddles, but also increasing its chew. This is because the rest time allows extra moisture in the cookies to be drawn out. This concentrates the sugar content, resulting in a chewier cookie. The longer you rest them, the chewier they'll be!

Cookies are all about that nice rouuuuund shape, and it's not hard to perfect!

Start by rolling your cookie dough into balls before placing them in the oven. Straight after the cookies are baked get a cookie cutter that is slightly larger than the cookie itself. Place it around the cookie and give it a wiggle, shaping it into the perfect round shape.

I learnt this technique from Erin of Cloudy Kitchen, if you haven't seen her blog she does the most amazing cookies and baked goods. You'll love her!

Ingredients

Unsalted butter: Butter is one of the most important ingredients when making cookies because it gives them the perfect texture and flavor. I like to brown my butter for an extra fragrant flavor.
Ground coffee: I like to use freshly ground coffee beans for the best coffee aroma.
Brown sugar: Brown sugar gives the cookies a bit of a caramelized flavor along with a little bit of moisture and chew.

Granulated sugar: Aka white sugar gives the cookies sweetness and lightness to the final cookie.
All-purpose flour: Aka plain flour, makes up the structure of the cookie.
Baking soda: Baking soda helps the cookies rise when baking, preventing them from becoming too hard or tough.

Baking powder: Baking powder serves the same purpose as baking soda, helping the cookies rise.
Large egg: The egg binds all the ingredients together to form the cookie dough.
Egg yolk: Egg yolks add flavor to the cookies while also increasing the chewiness of the cookie.

Dark chocolate: I like to use a good-quality bar of chocolate when making chocolate chip cookies as it tastes better and melts better into the cookies. Feel free to use dark chocolate chips or wafers if you prefer.
Flaky sea salt: Flakey salt will take these to the next level, bringing that sweet and salty flavor combination. This is optional, so feel free to leave it off if you prefer.

Let's Get Baking

I hope I have given you guys enough tips to create the perfect espresso cookies. These have been my latest obsession and I'm sure all my friends, family, and coworkers can vouch for them too.

If you liked this recipe make sure to leave me a comment and rating down below, I would love to know how you went.

Also, don't forget to tag me on Instagram @catherine.desserts and hashtag #cattycakes so I can see and share your desserts. Follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Youtube, and TikTok for more of my baking creations and updates! Until next time... happy caking!

📖 Recipe

Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies

Print Recipe

★★★★★

4.8 from 4 reviews

Soft and chewy espresso chocolate chip cookies with a crisp exterior. The perfect balance of bittersweet, and soft-chewy.

Author: Catherine Zhang
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Yield: 9 1x
Category: Cookie
Method: Easy
Cuisine: American

Ingredients

Scale

110 g Unsalted butter (½ cup)
2 tbsp Ground coffee (I)
100 g Brown sugar (½ cup)
70 g Granulated sugar (⅓ cup)
200 g All purpose flour (1 ½ cup)
½ tsp Baking soda
½ tsp Baking powder
1 Large egg
1 Egg yolk
200 g Dark Chocolate (3.5 oz)
1 tsp Ground coffee (II)
Flakey salt

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Instructions

In a small saucepan heat the butter over medium heat until dark golden brown (there should be specks of brown milk solids at the bottom of the pan)
Remove from heat and add ground coffee (I) and stir (careful as there will be splattering)
Pour browned butter mix through a fine-meshed sieve into a large mixing bowl, and let cool for 5 minutes
Once cooled add the white sugar, brown sugar, egg, and egg yolk, and whisk to combine
In another bowl whisk together the plain flour, ground coffee (II), baking powder, and baking soda
Add the flour mixture to the cooled brown butter, and stir until just combined
Fold in the chopped dark chocolate
Cover the bowl with cling wrap and let it chill in the fridge or freezer for 30 minutes
Line a baking tray with parchment paper
Preheat the oven to 180C/ 355F
Remove the dough from the fridge and use a medium cookie scoop or your hands to form 9 even balls
Evenly space the cookie dough balls on the lined tray, leaving enough space for the cookies to spread slightly
Bake for 15 minutes
Remove and cool on a wire rack until room temperature
Enjoy!
Store any remaining cookies in an airtight container for up to 2 days.