Coffee lovers rejoice! These coffee cookies are crispy, chewy and absolutely packed with punchy coffee flavor!
Reader Review:
I make this as the mocha variation and my entire family loves it! I sort of got myself hooked on this recipe…
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Nessa
With a husband who would probably grab the coffee beans first on his way out of a burning house, I am constantly being asked to make coffee desserts. We've enjoyed my Coffee Cupcakes and my Chocolate Espresso Cake, but this coffee cookie recipe is so wonderfully simple that it can be whipped up at a moment's notice to satisfy the sweet tooth and coffee craving simultaneously.
These chewy coffee cookies have a wonderful texture that you just can't get from store-bought cookies - crispy around the outside and soft and chewy in the middle - and full of punchy coffee flavor.
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Espresso Cookie Ingredients
These few simple ingredients are going to come together to make the best coffee cookie you have ever had! The ingredients are similar to the base of a classic chocolate chip cookie recipe, but with espresso powder for punchy coffee flavor.
- Butter - Use unsalted butter or leave the additional salt out of the recipe if you use salted butter.
- White Sugar - White sugar gives us structure and helps to get those crispy edges. Use extra fine sugar (caster sugar in the UK)
- Light Brown Sugar - The brown sugar deepens the flavor and helps create that chewy center, it works really nicely with the coffee flavor.
- Egg - We'll use the whole egg, use a large egg and free range if you can. Make sure the egg is at room temperature.
- Espresso Powder - This is the super fine powder, also sometimes called instant espresso. This is different from instant coffee granules which are coarse and won't pack as much flavor.
- Vanilla Extract.- Use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste, this provides a nice base for the coffee cookies.
- Flour - Use all-purpose flour for these cookies, this will give the best texture and structure.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to Make Coffee Cookies
This coffee cookies recipe comes together so easily with just a few simple steps.
Wet Ingredients
Mix the espresso powder into a splash of hot water, then pour into a large bowl along with the melted butter, white sugar, and brown sugar.
Beat together until combined. You can use a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, an electric mixer on medium speed, or you can just use a wooden spoon.
Add Egg and Vanilla
Add the remaining wet ingredients, including the egg and vanilla and mix until combined.
Make sure you scrape down the sides of your mixing bowl.
Dry Ingredients
Sift the dry ingredients into a separate bowl and stir to combine.
Add the flour mixture to the cookie dough and stir together until a thick dough forms.
Chill & Scoop
Chill the coffee cookie dough in the fridge for 30 minutes. The chilling time doesn't have to be exact, it's purely to make the coffee cookie dough easier to handle.
Use a small scoop or a tablespoon to portion out walnut-sized lumps of dough, then roll them into cookie dough balls and place them on prepared baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Make sure they have enough space to spread.
Bake
Bake the cookies in a preheated oven for 12 minutes until they are a deep, golden brown.
Remove from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. The cookies continue to bake from the heat of the sheet, so if you put them on the cooling rack right away they will be underbaked.
I find it helpful to use a cookie lifter to transfer the baked cookies from the tray to the wire rack without breaking them.
Tip: The Cookie Scoot
For the perfect cookie, gently run a circular cookie cutter, just bigger than your cookies, around the outside of the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven to 'scoot' the edges into a perfectly round shape.
Coffee Cookies Recipe Tips
- Espresso Powder - Using espresso powder is the key to getting a deep, rich coffee flavor without adding too much liquid to the dough. Make sure it's instant espresso rather than regular instant coffee. Mix with a little hot water before adding it to the mixture to bring out the flavor.
- Melt the Butter - I like to use melted butter to create that chewy, café-style texture cookies are meant to be. Just be sure to let it cool slightly before mixing it with the sugars, so it doesn't make the sugar greasy or scramble the egg.
- Chill the Dough - This recipe says this step is optional - but I would highly recommend it. Just 30 minutes in the fridge will stop your cookies spreading too much in the oven, and leave you with evenly shaped cookies with crisp edges and soft centres.
Variations
Chocolate Chip - Add chocolate chips or chocolate chunks to add an extra level of indulgence to your coffee cookies. Coffee and chocolate are a match made in heaven after all! Personally, I think dark chocolate goes best with coffee, but use whatever kind of chocolate you like.
Mocha Cookies - To turn this coffee cookie recipe into a mocha cookie recipe, add 1-2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the espresso powder before you mix it with hot water to get that little bit of chocolate flavor.
Tiramisu Cookies - Use these cookies as a base for a mascarpone cream frosting to make these amazing tiramisu cookies!
Iced Coffee Cookies - Try drizzling your coffee cookies with a little vanilla glaze for some extra sweetness. You could even flavor the glaze with some espresso.
Can I Use Espresso Instead of Espresso Powder?
You could use a real shot of espresso to make these espresso cookies, but the amount of espresso you would have to add to achieve the same level of powerful espresso flavor would mean that you have to add far too much liquid to the cookie dough, which would make it sticky and hard to work with, and affect the end texture of the cookies.
Espresso powder allows you to get a strong coffee flavor without adding too much moisture to the dough.
Storage
Store cookies in a cookie jar or an airtight container with paper towels lining the bottom. Do not keep them in the fridge, store them at room temperature. Alternatively, store them in Ziploc bags or wrap them in plastic wrap. They will be good like this for up to a week.
If you want to freeze these cookies, I recommend putting the rolled cookie dough balls into Ziploc bags and freezing them that way. Thaw the frozen cookie dough balls before baking them as per the usual instructions.
More Coffee Recipes
If you love these coffee cookies, you might like to try some of these other coffee dessert recipes:
Recipe
Coffee Flavored Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 stick Unsalted Butter 113g
- ½ cup Granulated Sugar 100g
- ½ cup Light Brown Sugar 110g
- 1 Large Egg
- 3 tablespoon Espresso Powder
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 1 ½ cups All-purpose Flour 187g
- ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
- ½ teaspoon Salt
Instructions
- Melt the butter in the microwave, then pour it into a bowl with both of the sugars and mix together.1 stick (113 g) Unsalted Butter, ½ cup (100 g) Granulated Sugar, ½ cup (110 g) Light Brown Sugar
- Add a splash of hot water to the espresso powder and mix together to form a paste. Add to the butter/sugar mixture and stir everything together.3 tablespoon Espresso Powder
- Add the egg and vanilla and stir until combined.1 Large (1) Egg, 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- Add the dry ingredients and mix together until a soft dough forms.1 ½ cups (187 g) All-purpose Flour, ½ teaspoon (½ tsp) Baking Powder, ½ teaspoon (½ tsp) Baking Soda, ½ teaspoon (½ tsp) Salt
- Chill the dough for 30 minutes so it's easy to scoop.
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
- Spoon walnut-sized scoops of dough and roll them into balls in your hands. Place the cookie dough balls on the baking sheet, spaced well apart to allow for spreading.
- Bake for 12 minutes, then remove from the oven and let sit on the tray for at least 10 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool.
Wendy Kingston
Thank you for putting the ingredients and amounts at each step so I dont have to scroll up and down as much! Will be trying these soon!
linda trout
I cant wait to try this recipe!!! Been looking for just this kind of recipe.
Swati
Hello, thank you so much for the recipe! I wanted to ask if we could substitute the egg for anything else?
Jules Grasekamp
Hi Swati,
I haven't tested these cookies without the egg so I can't say for certain, but I know some people have had success using applesauce or mashed banana as a binder. If you try it I'd love to know how they turn out!
Jules
sam
Hi there! thanks for this recipe. just wondering if very finely grounded coffee beans could be substituted for the espresso powder. and If I wanted to make mocha cookies, do I have to make any other recipe adjustments besides 1-2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the espresso powder?
Jules Grasekamp
Hi Sam,
I wouldn't recommend subbing the espresso powder for ground coffee beans as it won't have the same effect. You could add freshly brewed espresso but the problem is the water content can start to make the dough too sticky so it's hard to get enough of a coffee flavor without compromising the consistency of the dough.
You don't need to make any other changes than that for the mocha version but some chocolate chips added in are definitely a nice touch!
Hope this helps,
Jules
Belinda Beretta
I loved these! Really easy to make and very tasty!!
Jules Grasekamp
So glad you loved the coffee cookies Belinda! 🙂
Jules
Angie
My cookies turned out cakey... not chewy or crispy.
Jules Grasekamp
Hi Angie,
I'm sorry to hear your cookies turned out cakey. Can I ask if you measured your ingredients using cups or a kitchen scale? If using cups it's very easy to mismeasure and add too much flour, which would lead to cakey cookies. Too much baking powder or baking soda could also cause this.
Jules
Britanna
My cookies turned out good!
Jules Grasekamp
Hi Britanna,
Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed the cookies! Thank you for trying my recipe and for taking the time to let me know you liked it 🙂
Jules
Nessa
I make this as the mocha variation and my entire family loves it! I sort of got myself hooked on this recipe..
Jules
Ooh mocha cookies are so delicious! I"m so happy to hear you love the recipe - Thank you!
Chris S.
How did you make them mocha?
Jules Grasekamp
Hi Chris,
I have instructions for this in the 'variations' section of the blog post above.
Enjoy!
Jules