Triple Chocolate Espresso Bean Cookies Recipe
Dark chocolate cookie recipe, each cookie pumped full of lots of freshly ground espresso powder.
Today's recipe is for you coffee lovers. I had a bag of chocolate covered espresso beans on hand and thought it might be interesting to bake them into a cookie. A dark chocolate cookie. A dark chocolate cookie pumped full of lots of freshly ground espresso powder...
Whole wheat pastry flour, Alter-eco all-natural, unrefined sugar, chocolate coated espresso beans
I used a whole wheat pastry flour instead of all-purpose flour. The more I use this flour for quick breads, cookies, and muffins, the more I love it. People think whole wheat and they think heavy - not so with whole wheat pastry flour. It is ground from a softer, starchier wheat berry which turns out a talcum soft, fine, off-white flour. It has less gluten than flour ground from hard wheat berries and is good for recipes where you want a tender crumb. Because it is a whole wheat flour it all of the wheat berry is used - the germ, the bran, and the endosperm. It is a whole food and all the good, nutritious parts are part of the final flour.
Cookie batter just before stirring in the espresso beans
Take a look here, the final dough is a thick and rich, creamy brown in color tinted by the cacao powder. It gives of a aura of dark chocolate spiked with the smell of the inside of a bag espresso beans. Every time I make cookies I have the same exact conversation with myself, right after I mix in the dry ingredients I say to myself, "I probably shouldn't sample the dough, it has raw eggs in it." And then I proceed to eat some regardless.
So, consider yourself warned - this is a cookie dough you can't resist sampling, raw egg roulette is in your future if you make a batch. Hopefully you have more willpower than I do and at the very least buy good, fresh, organic, free range eggs.
Fresh from the oven
Here's what the insides of the final cookies looked like. They were deliciously sophisticated in flavor with the crunch from the espresso beans playing off the dense cakey-ness of the cookie. Next time around I want a touch more ooey-gooey factor, so I'll stir in 3/4 of a cup of semi-sweet chips. I'll factor that into the recipe below.
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Triple Chocolate Espresso Bean Cookie Recipe
2 1/2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
2 tablespoons freshly ground espresso powder
3/4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking soda
3/4 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
3/4 teaspoon finely ground sea salt
1/2 cup natural cocoa or cacao powder (Scharffen Berger or Dagoba), not dutched1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (soft to the touch)
2 cups fine-grain natural granulated sugar (evaporated cane sugar) - for example, I love Alter-eco brand, OR do 1 1/2 cups sugar + 1/2 cup dark brown sugar2 large eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
8 ounces chocolate covered espresso beans
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Assemble dry ingredients: In a medium bowl whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cacao powder. Set aside.
Assemble the wet ingredients: In a big bowl or with an electric mixer beat the butter until it is fluffy and lightens a bit in color. Now beat in the sugar - it should have a thick frosting-like consistency. Mix in the eggs one at a time, making sure the first egg gets incorporated before adding the next. You will need to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice as well. Add the vanilla and mix until it is incorporated.
Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients: Add the dry ingredients to the wet mix in about four waves. Stir a bit between each addition until the flour is just incorporated. You could add all the flour at once, but it tends to explode up and out of the mixing bowl and all over me every time I do that. At this point you should have a moist, brown dough that is uniform in color. Stir in the espresso beans and chocolate chips by hand and mix only until they are evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Drop the cookies onto baking sheets: I like to make these cookies medium in size (they are rich!) - and use roughly one heaping tablespoons of dough for each one. I leave the dough balls rough and raggy looking - I never roll them into perfect balls or anything like that - this way each cookie will have a bit of unique personality.
Place the cookies in the oven: Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes on the middle rack. You don't want to over bake these cookies at all or they will really dry out. If anything, under bake them just a bit. When they are done, pull them out to cool.
Tip: If you don't want to bake all the cookies at one once you can freeze some of the dough for quick cookies later. Instead of placing the cookies in the oven put the cookie dough balls into a freezer-quality plastic bag and toss them in the freezer. You can bake straight from the freezer at a later date, up the baking time by a couple minutes to compensate for the frozen dough.
Big Batch: 2-3 dozen chunky, medium cookies.
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Comments
I never bake because I’m fearful of straying from the necessary exactness of the recipes. But I just went for it with these and they turned out great. I used organic pastry flour, but not whole wheat. I also just used a half-and-half combo of white and dark brown sugar. And most surprisingly, I used Soy Garden “Natural Buttery Spread” with good results! (I left out the additional salt from the ingredients.) I was sure this stuff would cause problems in baking, but this proved me wrong so far.
I made a chocolate chip version… I REALLY LOVE what the whole wheat flour does for the cookie! It’s fluffy and light, the texture is wonderful, soft and light – not at all what i expected from a regular cookie that is heavier and cumbly.
I’ve been instantly converted to Whole Wheat Flour.
I made these last night… how decadent! They are wonderful and I was able to get 4 dozen out of the batch. I only made 16 for now and froze the rest.
As far as ingredients I just used what I had on.. regular flour and baking soda and powder. They turn out just fine that way. I would like to get ahold of all the organic and try them that way as well.
I’d love to try this decadent recipes but hate to look high&low for the aluminium free BS and BP, as well as natural cocoa(non-dutch processed). If I am to use normal BS & BP, what do I need to adjust on the coca? Or vice versa?
Would I still get success if I use normal BS & BP and Dutch processed coca? Thanks.
In my experience not all chocolate covered espresso beans are created alike. I’ve had some really awful ones with a choc coating that was dull, waxy and not nearly rich enough to match the potency of the bean. As this recipe emphasizes using quality ingredients to make a quality cookie I was wondering if anyone could recommend a worthy choc covered bean to be the star of my cookies?
I made this the other day, I must say I didn’t use any of the organic versions of the ingredients, but they turned out fine. They’re a little on the soft side for me, didn’t taste too bad, I’d give it a 3.5 out of 5, but I shared these cookies with dozen other people and seemed like I was singled out as they all gave it a 5/5! 🙂
Some more uses for chocolate covered coffee beans!! Yum!!!!
These cookies look great! I’ve tried baking with whole wheat flour but found the texture too tough and gritty – I love the idea of the whole wheat pastry flour though – will have to give that a try!
what is espresso powder? and if i don’t have it, can i use real espresso coffee?
What could be better, espresso and chocolate together.
I would love to have some of this cake, but i am now cutting back on the chocolate stuff as i am going on holiday soon and i need to get in shape.
They sound exactly like what I would love, I love espresso flavored anything. Of course I have to make them.
I am going to try your recipe — it looks wonderful. Question — is the cocoa meant to be sweetened or unsweetened? I assume sweetened because I’m not sure Scharffen Berger makes an unsweetened version?
Fanny, so it is really true that the French love Starbucks?
Wow- a chocolate lovers dream. Not to mention those select who also love espresso. My sister will love this
Yum, they look so good. Actually i hate coffee (except frappucinos from starbucks = shame on me) but i love it in cakes, cookies and puddings.
I must try this recipe as i have some exams coming — i’ll be able to work all night while eating the most delicious ‘cafeine’ cookies!
I made a batch this weekend and they were great. Espresso-flavored batter smelled delicious and tasted even better. I think next I will try leaving out the coffee beans and doing all chocolate chips.
I did want to ask one thing. The cookies seemed to get crumbly on the second day. Is that because of the whole wheat pastry flour?
I was way to hungry to read this.
I’m sure you know this, but your pictures are gorgeous. I’ve been trying to up the quality of the images on my own food blog–I have a long way to go, but I find your pictures inspiring!
I made these for a Memorial Day picnic with a lot of modifications. Namely, using Dutch cocoa powder instead and adding cream of tartar to counter the fact. Since I didn’t have enough expresso beans, I also added some roughly chopped extreme dark lindt chocolate and used course black sea salt for an added kick. People were rolling around on the grass swooning over these cookies. They really loved the salty aspect against the richness of the chocolate and coffee taste, I recommend trying it out.
I just finished making these cookies and they are absolutely amazing! I used everyday ingredients, rather than the specialty ones, because that’s what I happened to have. I did have whole wheat flour, though. Only one thing I’d do different – my chocolate covered espresso beans were rather large, and next time I think I’ll leave them out until the cookies are dropped onto the pan, and press a single bean into each cookie. I used my regular Sumatra coffee, and ground it super-fine, instead of espresso beans.
Hanna, Whole Foods seems to carry whole wheat pastry flour, at least in this part of the country they do – or check at a local natural foods store. Garrett, no I think you could get away with swapping in all-purpose flour and be in the same ballpark, use the second sugar option in the recipe.
Alice, yes you can use the espresso ground for your espresso machine…that’s exactly right, and exactly what I use.
Racehl, I would do exactly what you suggested If I were to omit the espresso angle….more chocolate. I might skip (or chop) the chocolate covered almonds. With the non-espresso version I might mix in chopped walnuts instead.
Brian, I’ve made a matcha shortbread in the past. If I remember it was a pretty standard shortbread recipe that incorporated matcha and possibly some lemon zest….it’s all a bit hazy. Let me know how the ww flour turns out with the pancakes – I suspect they will be on the heavier side. If you have APF, I might do 1/2 apf and 1/2 ww 😉
first, those look awesome. i’m making a dessert for my meditation class for tuesday night and immediately thought, ooh, those’d be perfect! except then i realized maybe some of the people in my meditation class wouldn’t be psyched for mega-caffeinated cookies. ha! i’ll figure out something else. green tea instead of espresso. got any matcha powder cookie recipes?
also, i just got back from rainbow with ingredients for a ton of stuff including the testing recipes and i realized that, oops, i got whole wheat bread flour instead of pastry flour. i’m guessing w.w. bread flour is higher in gluten, duh, since you want that to develop as you knead it. it’s for pancakes though so i just have to stir the batter very sparingly and hopefully it’ll be okay.
Hi Heidi,
What do you think about making these without the espresso powder and beans? I can’t have coffee and was thinking about using these as a base for more of a triple chocolate cookie. Would subbing in more chocolate chips and chocolate covered almonds be ok?
i totally just loved the triple chocolate espresso bean cookies!! they were the best!!
Just a small suggestion: Please make these recepies available in the metric system as well. Cups, ounces etc. is really confusing for the rest of us….
Sounds wickedly delicious! I have some Green&Blacks espresso flavoured chocolates…
Denise–
The best explanation I have seen about the differences between cocoas is:
1. Through the Scharffen Berger site and
2. In Alice Medrich’s book Bittersweet.
Creating your own recipes can be about looking at ones you like, figuring out the math (ratios) and than making one with different stuffs. Understanding why the eggs or flour or salt or sugar etc. are there will come with trial and error and notes.
Also the CIA baking book is quite instructive, but be careful, I think it weighs about 20#!
Wow, I admire you for inventing your own recipe. I’d like to be able to invent my own baking recipes, is there some kind of book that teaches a person how to cook/bake without having to follow a recipe all the time. Just the comments in this blogged helped to illuminate why or why not BP vs BS. Also, I would have totally skipped by the cocoa part, and just put in my dutch cocoa, as I didn’t know there was a difference between the two. What is the difference, anyway?
what’s the problem with ww pastry flour? should be at any health food store…there’s 10 pounds of it in my fridge. nice to see that it can have a higher/more decadent purpose in life than pancakes!
Made these cookies today because I (too) had some chocolate covered espresso beans that have been laying around too long. This was the perfect way to use them up! The cookies were, simply put, amazing…and pretty easy to make too (I am *NOT* a baker…) Thanks for a great recipe!
i use ener-g egg replacer here too (family allergies) — but i still don’t like it in most recipes. i’ve been using flaxseed meal mixed with a bit of water to great success. nothing like an egg and butter rich cookie dough though. this looks fabulous. maybe i’ll try an allergy-free version for my hubby.
They look delicious. I love the combination of chocolate and espresso. Can’t wait to try them out!
Omg, the dough is so unresistable. I mean, its like this chocolate and with the smell of expresso, not ever have anything been better. To heck with raw eggs, its so tempting and smells so delicious!
Wow – I’m not even sure I can handle this recipe. This looks incredible.
Is the espresso ground for my espresso machine fine enough to go in this recipe or would I need to grind some new beans into a finer state?
YUM
These look fan-freakin-tastic! However, can I use non-organic, aluminum filled, everyday products, or does this recipe really only work well with the special flour, sugar, etc?
>O.o
that recipe’s a keeper…! thanks for sharing it!
omy. as if the three and a half cups of Peet’s this morning wasn’t enough…and now these! they look and sound soo incredibly…energetic!
omy. as if the three and a half cups of Peet’s this morning wasn’t enough…and now these! they look and sound soo incredibly…energetic!
Those cookies look soooooooo good! I am going to go make them right now! Thanks for the recipe.
my jaw literally dropped when i opened your web page this morning. seriously? those sound, look, ARE amazing!!! i love coffee. and cookies. both of them together, and with healthiful benefits of whole wheat (heh heh, like it really helps when you eat twenty of them…)????
awesome recipe. i cannot WAIT to try this! i think my heart rate just elevated 200%!
🙂
Hanna–You can find whole wheat pastry flour at King Arthur Flour. Their web address is http://www.bakerscatalogue.com. You can also request a free catalogue be sent to your home.
Those cookies are just mouth-watering! Send me all your cookies to be tried. Good choice Heidi!
Heidi–These look beautiful. Thanks for explaining the rationale behind the non-dutched cacao powder. It might be worthwhile to take a few words in the recipe to say why non-dutched powder is important, so people don’t substitute thinking it won’t make any difference. Is there another reason beyond activating the baking soda, for flavour or so on?
If you’re concerned about eating raw eggs, why not just use Energy Egg Replacer? I use it all the time to make cookies and it works fine. Then you can eat all the cookie dough you want without fear.
Oh my god, do those look good! And the most tempting ingredient of all is the whole wheat pastry flour… any ideas how one might get some… even online? If there’s one healthy ingredient, it makes up for the rest.
oh no don’t do that!
i must have them. must must. now.
Looks really yummyyyyyyyyyyy.
Heidi,
Hmmm. I think I would try it without the BP just to see what the exact difference would be. Baking Powder is rarely in cookies because it’s such a powerful “chemical leavener.” BP also will stale these faster so it’s something to take into consideration with all the “drying” components.
Maybe add another egg and take the leavener content down to a teaspoon. But I say this also because I am very sensitive to BP and try to lessen its use when I can find a way to do so.
wow, these look absolutely decadent but i think they may keep me awake all night! i will have to find a real coffee lover to make these for.
Hi Heidi. These sound delicious. And I don’t see any problem with using two leaveners. I often use a combination in my recipes. I’m curious to know why Shuna wouldn’t in this case.
Hey Shuna,
Here was my thinking re: the double leaveners. Insurance….I almost just went with just the baking soda, but figured some people would swap in god-knows-what for the cocoa/cacoa – dutch-processed cocoa, or something not acidic enough to trigger the soda, and I didn’t want them to be disappointed.
And the baking soda for its leavening, but also because it seems to temper and take a bit of the harshness off the acidic ingredients (like the non-alkalized cocoa)…
Would you have done it differently, or used a different ratio?
wicked..
Wow, those look amazing. If only I could somehow bite through my computer screen and taste…
Or I could try making them 🙂
Thanks for the recipe!
Heidi–
I am interested to know why you have 2 leaveners in this dough?
For those who may not be able to find alum. free baking powder it is easily made at home:
Sift three times:
1/4 cup cream of tartar with
2 Tablespoons baking soda
This mixture will not give you the massive rise you’re used to, so experiment with amounts.
I’m too old to eat these cookies, they’ll keep me up all night even if I eat them for breakfast!
These look seriously decadent! I am on a chocolate crave right now anyway, So this just put me over the top! *Evil cackle*
I will be making these very very soon! Thanks heaping spoonfuls!
Girl, I am so trying to lose weight right now, after recovering from a double-knee injury. You are *so* not helping!
*swoon*
These look and sound absolutely divine. And I love the fact that you are specifically calling for organic ingredients in the recipe.
One way to rationalize the extra cost of these? Think of the price of buying just one (no doubt less delicious) cookie from an upscale bakery of coffeehouse. That should pretty much cover the price difference right there. If not, just add in the cost of a $4 cup of coffee to go with the cookie.
P.S. I bake cookies all the time, using eggs from my own hens. I doubt that I have ever mixed up a batch of batter without sampling serious amounts of it, and I have lived to tell about it. It’s all in the eggs you choose. I also feed raw eggs to my dogs without any worries at all. And their coats look fabulous! : )
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