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These cookies are perfect. I didn’t have any cardamom so I did half a teaspoon of salt in with half a cup of sugar to roll the dough – incredible. These are DEFINITELY a recipe to save and make over and over and over
Emma
These Chocolate Cookies Are Essential
Let no holiday pass without cookies! Really, let nothing pass without cookies.
Especially thick, soft-centered, crispy-edged, dark, rich, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cookies. Laced with espresso powder and with a snowy sprinkle of cardamom sugar on top (optional, but such a wintery treat).
They’re beautiful, festive, deeply delicious, and you’re going to be lucky if they last a day in your house. Be prepared when you set them out. People will come in droves…family, friends, neighbors, the Amazon delivery person may wander in and grab one for the road.
They are truly remarkable. So put some in your pockets before they’re gone.
Why Big Cookies Are Better
This recipe will make about twenty-four very large cookies. We’re not messing around here with baby cookies. We want a cookie that says we mean it. Because we DO.
The larger size of the cookie also helps achieve that perfectly thick sunken soft middle. The kind you just want to curl up in, the kind that pull apart at each craggy little crack. The kind that makes you think, “Maybe I should eat just one of these”, but you know it will probably be two. Or ten.
Also, with a little bit of settling on the pan after you pull them out of the oven, not only will you have soft chewy middles but you also get those nice crispy little edges. That tiny crunch in each bite. And, yes, it’s all a part of the same cookie but it just tastes different, you know? The oven crisp edge with the melty fudgy center…
HELLO IS THIS A DREAM COOKIE OR WHAT? Honestly tearing up just writing about it.
And if you want JUST TWO HUGE CHOCOLATE COOKIES for a smaller-batch treat of this same caliber, you already know I’ve got that ready for you.
Ingredients You Need
Here’s what you’ll want to gather up:
- your cookie basics: butter, brown sugar, eggs, flour, baking soda, salt
- vanilla
- cocoa powder
- extra sugar for rolling
- cardamom (optional)
- espresso powder (also optional, but let’s be fun)
Cardamom is interesting because you can’t exactly place it, but you can tell when it’s not there. It’s just slightly warmer, a tinge of something special, a little Christmasy speckle on your palate. It is certainly not required to make these cookies delicious, they are unbelievable with or without, but it really is worth a try. And let’s be serious here, you’re going to wind up making batch after batch of these on repeat, so why not dust one batch with this wintery spice?
How To Make Chocolate Cookies (Three Steps)
It’s hard to choose what to love most about these cookies, but the fact that they’re a real mix & bake, no-fuss kinda situation certainly makes the list!
- Make the dough. Cream butter and sugar and then add the eggs and vanilla until just combined. Then, in goes the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder (if using, but remember, let’s be fun), baking soda, and salt. Stir and mix it all together.
- Form into balls. About 1/4 cup per ball because you mean it (a large cookie scoop or ice cream scoop works great here). Roll each in the extra sugar (or cardamom sugar if you’re feeling festive!).
- Bake in batches. We recommend 6-8 at a time. Remove from oven and LET. THEM. REST. so you get the crispy edges and soft craggy middles. Transfer to a wire cooling rack.
Storage Tips
We want to keep these cookies SOFT. Here’s how we do that:
- Let cookies cool completely.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
- BONUS tip: Put a slice of bread in the container with the cookies (seriously) to keep them at their very softest.
Tips For Making Really Good Cookies
- Splurge for good cocoa powder (if feasible) – Dutch process cocoa powder or dark cocoa powder especially makes really dark, rich, delicious cookies!
- Go for the cardamom sugar – the recipe says it’s optional, but the cardamom creates such a lovely, subtle warming, flavor that just really takes these up a notch.
- Freeze the baked cookies or dough – these are great ready-to-eat out of the freezer, or you can freeze before baking. I’d just make sure you roll the cookie dough balls prior to freezing.
- Let these cool completely before handling them – they are very delicate and can break easily. If you’re traveling with them to a holiday party, I’d line each layer in the container with parchment so they don’t stack directly on top of each other.
Chocolate Cookies: Frequently Asked Questions
Store them at room temp in an airtight container for maximum freshness. Add a slice of bread to the container to keep them soft!
Yes! To make it even easier when you’re ready to bake the cookies, form the cookies into cookie dough balls you can just pop on a baking sheet from the freezer.
Yep! These are shockingly delicious cold/frozen and will keep for up to 6 months in the freezer!
Absolutely. The dark cocoa powder just adds a bit more rich flavor and deeper color.
Unsweetened cocoa powder is what you typically find in the grocery store – it’s lighter in color and a little sharper.
Dutch process cocoa powder is darker, smoother, and richer, and less acidic.
Either cocoa powder will work here, but I do love the dark and rich taste of the Dutch process!
Try these Two Huge Double Chocolate Cookies! Same delicious cookie, with just two for a perfect late-night snack.
Yes! I’d recommend adding 1.5 cups of chocolate chips.
Sure could! I haven’t tried it personally, but I think if you finish it off by rolling in powdered sugar (instead of granulated or cane sugar), you would get a crinkle cookie. I’d love to hear in the comments if you give it a try!
Watch Me Make These Cookies
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The Very Best Chocolate Cookies
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 24 very large cookies
Description
These are really the very best Chocolate Cookies! Thick, soft-centered, and crispy-edged. All your basic cookie ingredients here plus dark cocoa powder and ground cardamom to make things extra festive!
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3 1/2 cups brown sugar, loosely packed
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (470 grams)
- 1 cup dark cocoa powder (100 grams)
- 1–2 tablespoons espresso powder (optional, but recommended if you’re using regular cocoa powder to give the flavor more depth)
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- extra cane or granulated sugar for rolling
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
Instructions
- Mix Wet Ingredients: Preheat oven to 350. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy and light. Add eggs and vanilla, mixing gently until just combined.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Add flour, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix until combined into a soft dough.
- Roll Dough: Form into balls (about ¼ cup per cookie / ball). Roll each ball in the extra sugar (mixed with cardamom, if you want).
- Bake: Bake for 10-12 minutes (I recommend 6-8 at a time on the baking sheet, so you’ll need to bake in batches). Remove from oven and let them rest – you want the cookies settle down a bit and give you crisped edges with thicker, soft-baked centers.
Notes
These cookies are delicate and they can break easily, so be sure to let them cool fully before handling them too much. I’d recommend storing them in the fridge so they stay a bit stronger for transporting around to all your various Christmas events. 🙂
If you find the dough is very sticky, or if you aren’t getting the slightly puffed centers like you see in the photos, try adding a tablespoon more flour to the remaining dough.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: chocolate cookies, chocolate cardamom cookies, cookie recipe
More Delicious Cookie Recipes
- The Best Soft Chocolate Chip Cookies (classic and so tasty!)
- Favorite Browned Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (brown sugar caramely goodness – what a treat!)
- Old-School Homemade Oreos (retro and fun)
- Strawberry White Chocolate Cookies (a fun and unexpected cookie combo!)
- Soft Gingerbread Cookies with Maple Glaze (another holiday cookie fav)
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Will adding an extra egg yolk be good?
I have tried several chocolate cookies from a different, very popular website. They were all very disappointing. This recipe did not disappoint. The cookies flattened perfectly, they tasted wonderful, and look beautiful as well. Well
These are legitimately excellent cookies. Worth every rich bite. I made them exactly as directed. Be prepared —the dough is very, very thick and a bit difficult to handle—even with my KitchenAid mixer!
We made these for Santa this past Christmas and I think my 4 year old still dreams of them because he asked for one tonight and it just so happens that past me thought it was a good idea to freeze dough balls for any future “we need cookies TONIGHT” occasions. Present day me is quite pleased with that plan as these cookies are just so dang delicious! They usually just need a couple of extra minutes in the oven baked from frozen.
these look delicious! but 4 sticks of butter is like half of my butter supply lol will it still work if I split all the ingredients in half? 12 cookies instead of 24
Yes, you can definitely halve the recipe!
The cookies came out completely flat and basically raw despite putting them in the oven for more time than suggested 🙁 They also came out pooled in butter – i think chilling them or increasing flour amount might help.
I just made these and they’re absolutely delicious. I was a little worried for my stand mixer, but she powered through lol! I tried rolling my last batch in powdered sugar instead of granulated to try as crinkle cookies and they didn’t really have the contrast I look for in them. Next time I might try double rolling them in powdered sugar, but I just wanted to report back on my experience for anyone who is considering trying it.
Can I make these cookies smaller?
Been baking for 40 years and these were the worst chocolate cookie recipe ever!
This recipe seems confused. 2 cups of unsalted butter! Wow! I cup of dark chocolate powder translated as 100 grams. 8 ounces of dark chocolate powders 277grams. 3 and 1/2 cups of brown sugar! I wish someone who made this recipe would tell the the ingredients are correct.
Holy moley these are good!
I used a 50/50 blend of Valrhona Dutch process and Anthony’s organic black cocoa powders. I also cut back the sugar by 1/2 cup, and added some dark chocolate chunks – not too many, maybe about 1/4 of what you would normally use for regular chocolate chip cookies.
Made these as drop cookies, without the extra roll in sugar. Wound up with 50 cookies and a very happy 4th grade class. Will definitely make these again
This recipe sucks, I have tried it twice, following the instructions to a tee, and both times the cookies have come out like liquid, not even cooking all the way through.
I made a half batch as I only had Abulita chocolate I had ground which I doubled, stuffed half of them with a truffle, and rolled them in the little ground chocolate (because the Abulita has less cocoa) that I had along with sugar and cinnamon. Not your recipe exactly but followed as close as possible. They just came out of the oven and no we didn’t wait. Yum!
Super THIN, FLAT and WAAAY TOO MUCH butter. Like a nasty amount. The raw dough was tasty but once cooked, they are inedible. I chilled the dough but it didn’t matter they were still paper-thin. Can’t believe how greasy they are.
I can’t understand all these positive reviews, except that there are lots of ppl who have no standards for cookies, and as long as it has butter and sugar, they’ll like it.
I threw the rest of the cookie dough away, which is a shame because I used dutch processed cocoa powder, and A POUND OF BUTTER…what a waste of ingredients!
From now on, if a cookie recipe calls for such an extremely large amount of butter, I know to stay away! Lesson learned. Yuck.
My cookies turned out looking like wet, bubbly piles of dog poo. I followed every measurement (US), and idk what went wrong. They’re overly buttered.
There’s no enough flour in this recipe for cookie to hold it’s shape. Can’t even hold the cookie up without it falling apart, unless you make mini bit sized cookies.
Why does the metric version have 2 different weights ? e.g. should I use 406g flour or 470g?
Thanks!
Great question! Thanks for pointing this out. I’d use 406 grams of flour.
2CUPS of butter??? Really??? That’s a pound of butter for 20 cookies!
I get requests for these every holiday and I keep espresso powder on-hand at all times just for this recipe 🙂 it makes a lot but the dough freezes great! Favorite cookie.
I love to bake and make a lot of cookies in December. These have been on my list for a few years and WOW I was sleeping not making these sooner. The flavors are complex and delicious. It’s a special cookie, it got rave reviews- my brother in law gave me a Paul Hollywood handshake 😉 don’t sleep and make these!
This is my second time making these as part of my holiday cookie collection and they are a hit every time! Best chocolate flavor!
Such a decadent holiday treat. The cardamom sugar takes it over the top. I loooove freezing some cookie dough balls later for a special treat!
These were very good! A nice addition to our Christmas cookie tray!
Such a good recipe! We split the dough in half and put peppermint chips in one half. Both were delicious!