These soft chocolate cookies are rich and buttery. Stuffed with dried tart cherries, sweet vanilla baking chips, and mellow toasted pecans, the mix of textures and flavors makes them hard to stop eating.
Read on for the how-tos and some ways to vary the recipe to suit your taste. If it’s chocolate cookie recipes that really make your heart go pitter-patter, you will probably also enjoy my chocolate peppermint crinkle cookies or my crispy chocolate cookies.
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Soft Chocolate Cookies, At a Glance
✅Skill Level: Beginner
✅Skills: The Creaming Method
✅Type: Soft Cookies
✅Number of Ingredients: 10 for the dough, 3 mix-ins, optional
✅Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
✅Cook Time: 25 minutes
✅Yield: 48 with mixins and about 36 plain
Jump Straight to the Recipe
Why You Need to Make These Chocolate Cookies
What’s to love:
- Deep chocolate flavor underscored with espresso powder
- They will start out a little crisp but will soften into lovely soft chocolate cookies after a few hours. And even though they’re soft, they don’t crumble and make a huge mess
- Makes 4 dozen with mix-ins and around 2 1/2-3 dozen if baking plain
- Easy to make with a
stand mixer or a hand mixer
Anything that might trip me up?
Using a kitchen scale will give you the best results that are most like the ones I got. If you are scooping/sweeping or packing your cups with flour, your results could differ a lot from the written recipe.
What Makes These Chocolate Cookies Thick and Soft?
Using all brown sugar makes for a softer cookie. Brown sugar has molasses in it, which makes the cookies moister to begin with. Combine that with sugar’s hygroscopic properties (it draws water to it from the atmosphere), and that alone can help you have soft cookies.
Baking powder adds a little lift and puff, allowing the cookies to bake up a bit more on the cakey rather than crunchy side.
Eggs provide structure, allowing for a thicker cookie, and the yolks promote tenderness since they are mostly made up of fat and emulsifiers.
Last, baking at 350, which is moderate for cakes but maybe a little on the high side for small cookies, allows the cookies to set up more quickly before they can spread and thin out too much. This results in a thicker, softer cookie.
Note: The best way to describe the texture of these cookies is to compare them to Lofthouse-style iced sugar cookies. Without the icing. And very chocolatey. The edges will be crispy to begin with, and then the whole cookie softens into the muffled crumble of a great soft but not cakey cookie.
The Case For, and Against, Mix-ins
Here are the chocolate cookies, plain, sans mix-ins.
You’ll get no complaint from me.
Either way works!
Pro Mix-Ins:
- You can vary the flavor and add textural interest
- Cookies will spread less and be thicker since many mix-ins are denser than the dough and heat more slowly
- When it comes to mix-ins, the sky is the limit
Con Mix-Ins:
- If you are looking for unrelieved chocolatey goodness, sometimes a simple chocolate cookie is the way to go
- The cookies will spread more without mix-ins.
Credit Where Credit Is Due
I started my experimenting with this recipe from Sweetest Menu.
Testing has to start somewhere, and I like to start with a solid, proven recipe and then tweak it until I get the results I want.
How To Make
These are straightforward cookies that are made with the creaming method.
In this section, I’ll go over all the ingredients as well as substitutions where applicable. You’ll also get a step-by-step rundown of making the dough as well as my recommendations for equipment and ways to vary the flavor of these cookies to suit your taste.
If you are ready to bake, please feel free to jump straight to the recipe.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Here’s what you’ll need to make soft chocolate cookies:
- flour: All-purpose works great here. Flour adds bulk and structure to the cookies
- cocoa powder: I use a “regular” American-style cocoa powder. If you use Dutch process, you can leave out the baking soda
- baking soda: neutralizes the acidic ingredients (cocoa powder and instant coffee)
- baking powder: Adds a touch of leavening to give the cookies a bit of puff and keep them soft
- butter: at cool room temperature. I use unsalted
- brown sugar: Provides sweetness, a little extra depth from the molasses, as well as softness. Cookies sweetened with brown sugar spread less and absorb more liquid, keeping the cookies soft
- instant coffee: Just enough to underscore the chocolate flavor. The cookies do not taste at all like coffee. Use instant coffee or espresso powder. Either will work
- vanilla extract: Rounds out the flavors and provides some nice floral notes
- salt: Snaps all the flavors into focus. Please don’t leave out the salt. I call for one teaspoon, plus an optional few flakes of sea salt on top. You can forgo the flaky salt, but the chocolate really needs the salt in the recipe
- eggs: Provide structure, a touch of “lift” or leavening, and extra moisture. The eggs help to keep these cookies softer
- pecans: I toast pecan halves in the toaster oven and then chop them fairly fine. Leave them out or substitute any other toasted nut: hazelnuts, cashews, or walnuts would be lovely
- white baking chips: You can also use a white chocolate bar and chop into “chip-sized” pieces. Substitute dark or milk chocolate chips
- dried tart cherries: I love the pops of sweet-tart dried cherries. Feel free to leave them out or substitute Craisins, raisins, or chopped, dried apricot
Procedure
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These cookies are very straightforward to make.
I divide the ingredients into 4 parts:
- ingredients to be creamed together first: butter, brown sugar, salt, espresso powder, and vanilla
- eggs that get beaten in one at a time after creaming
- dry, which I whisk together first before adding to the bowl: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda
- then the chopped pecans, white chips, and dried cherries which all get mixed in at the end (an optional step, obviously, if you are making plain cookies)
Visual How-To
Here are a couple of collage images to show you how to make the dough.
- Butter, brown sugar, salt, vanilla, and espresso powder go in a bowl, or the bowl of your
stand mixer . - Cream until smooth and uniform.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well to make sure each is incorporated before adding the next. Scrape the bowl as necessary.
- Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa powder), all at once, and mix until mostly mixed.
- The dough is almost mixed–see there is still some loose flour?
- Dump in the mixins (if using) all at once and mix until evenly distributed.
- Portion the dough in 1 oz (2 Tablespoon) portions. I sprinkled a few flakes of sea salt on top of each one.
- The cookies, fresh out of the oven and cooling on a rack. Baking takes between 13-17 minutes, depending on how crisp you’d like the edges to be.
NOTE the cookies do soften after a few hours.
Equipment You May Need
You can make these cookies using a stand mixer or a hand mixer. I tested it both ways, and both work well.
I like to bake on half-sheet pans, because they are very versatile. I also use them as roasting pans, for making jelly rolls, for cooking vegetables, etc.
If you don’t weigh your cookies, use a 2-Tablespoon cookie scoop so all your cookies come out a uniform size.
You may also want to check with my post about tools for serious bakers to see if there are any other equipment necessities you can pick up.
Variations
These cookies are very easy to vary. You can add spices to the dough, switch up flavorings, and of course swap out mix-ins as well. Just stick to roughly 3 cups total mix-ins, and you’ll be fine.
- Minty Chocolate Cookies: Add 3-4 drops of peppermint oil to the dough. Use crushed candy canes and peppermint bark as the mix-ins
- Cherry Chocolate Cookies: Substitute chopped red and green glace cherries for the mix-ins called for in the recipe
- Chocolate Cashew Cookies: Add the zest of one orange to the dough and substitute chopped toasted cashews for the mix-ins called for in the recipe
- Triple Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies: Swap out a mixture of dark, milk, and white chocolate chips for the mix-ins called for
Tips for Success
No need to refrigerate this dough, but it is pretty sticky. A 30-minute rest in the fridge does make it easier to handle.
For more uniform soft cookies, roll the dough into balls between your hands before baking.
Note that the cookies will spread more without mix-ins. With mix-ins, you’ll end up with smaller, thicker cookies. Either way, your cookies will be nice and soft, especially after the first day.
Chocolate Cookies Q & A
4 dozen if using the mix-ins in the amounts I call for. If you are making plain soft chocolate cookies, you will probably get about 3 dozen cookies.
Keep at room temperature, tightly sealed, for up to 5 days. Freeze in freezer bags for up to 3 months.
Absolutely. I would leave out the mix-ins, though. Then you can sandwich them together with marshmallow cream, buttercream, Nutella, jam, or whatever you can think of.
Serving Suggestions
These little guys would be a wonderful addition to a cookie tray.
I always like a mix of colors, shapes, and sizes, so pair them with angel slices, some brown butter chocolate chip cookies, and throw in a few pieces of candy: penuche or peanut butter fudge would be a great choice.
And if you just want to enjoy chocolate cookies by themselves, pair them with a tall glass of milk, maybe some orange hot chocolate, or a homemade adult peppermint mocha latte.
Questions?
If you have any questions about this post or recipe, I am happy to help.
Simply leave a comment here and I will get back to you soon. I also invite you to ask question in my Facebook group, Fearless Kitchen Fun.
If your question is more pressing, please feel free to email me. I should be back in touch ASAP, as long as I’m not asleep.
A Note About Measurements
My recipes are almost all written by weight, including liquids, unless otherwise specified.
For accuracy and consistency of results, I encourage you to buy–and use–a kitchen scale.
I promise that baking and cleanup will be so much quicker and easier.
This is the scale that I recommend for home use. I have owned and used one for years.
Don't let its small price and small size fool you. The Escali Primo is an accurate and easy-to-use food scale that I have used for years. It's easy to store, easy to use, has a tare function, and easily switches between grams and ounces/pounds for accurate measurements.
Love These Chocolate Cookies? Please Rate and/or Review
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You can use the stars to rate 1-5 (5 is best), and leave a review in the comments. It helps me make adjustments if any are needed, and comments help others decide whether the recipe is worth making.
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Thank you so much for taking the time!
Soft Chocolate Cookies (With or Without Mixins)
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Ingredients
- 238 grams all-purpose flour 8.5 oz or about 2 cups
- 84 grams cocoa powder (not Dutch process) 3 oz or about 1 cup
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 280 grams unsalted butter, at cool room temperature 10 oz or 2 1/2 sticks
- 308 grams dark brown sugar 11 oz or 1 1/3 cup packed
- 2 teaspoons instant coffee or espresso powder
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt I use Morton’s
- 2 large eggs at cool room temperature
- 112 grams pecans, toasted and chopped 4 oz or about 1 cup, optional
- 168 grams white chocolate baking chips 6 oz about a 1 cup, optional
- 140 grams tart dried cherries 5 oz or about 1 cup, optional
Instructions
- Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment. You'll use each one twice. Set your oven racks in the top and bottom thirds of the oven and heat to 350F.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer or in a large bowl using a hand mixer, cream butter, brown sugar, instant coffee, vanilla, and salt together until nice and creamy.
- Thoroughly beat in each egg, one at a time, making sure the first is completely incorporated before adding the next. Scrape the bowl as necessary.
- Add in the dry ingredients and mix on low speed until mostly mixed. There will still be some loose flour in the bowl, but the dough will be coming together. Scrape the bowl as necessary.
- Dump in your mix-ins–pecans, white chips, and cherries–and mix until evenly distributed and there is no more loose flour. Dough will be sticky
- Using a 2 Tablespoon cookie scoop, portion out into 12 cookies per pan. Flatten each cookie slightly with a spatula. Sprinkle on a few flakes of finishing salt if you'd like. Refrigerate the remaining dough.
- Bake for 14-17 minutes, depending on how crispy you'd like the edges, rotating pans 180 degrees and switching racks after about 8 minutes.
- Allow cookies to cool on the pans for 2 minutes before removing to cooling racks to cool completely.
- Repeat steps 7-9 with remaining dough.
Did You Make Any Changes?
Notes
Yield
If you decide not to use mix-ins, you will end up with closer to 3 dozen cookies.Variations
Here are some ideas for variations to get your started:- Minty Chocolate Cookies: Add 3-4 drops of peppermint oil to the dough. Use crushed candy canes and peppermint bark as the mix-ins
- Cherry Chocolate Cookies: Substitute chopped red and green glace cherries for the mix-ins called for in the recipe
- Chocolate Cashew Cookies: Add the zest of one orange to the dough and substitute chopped toasted cashews for the mix-ins called for in the recipe
- Triple Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies: Swap out a mixture of dark, milk, and white chocolate chips for the mix-ins called for
Storage
To store, keep tightly covered at room temperature for up to five days. For longer storage, keep in zip-top freezer bags. Be sure to press out as much air as possible before sealing. The cookies will keep well for up to 3 months.Nutrition
Thanks for spending some time with me today.
I really hope you love these soft chocolate cookies, whether or not you add the mix-ins.
Take care, y’all.
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