Chewy Chocolate Cookies are the best fudgy soft cookie recipe with intense chocolate flavor. Ready in just 20 minutes with basic ingredients!
This chewy dark chocolate cookie recipe is just as easy and tasty as Cake Mix Chocolate Cookies, but made completely from scratch. Chocolate Cookies are sure to be a new favorite Cookie Recipe for your family!
Sometimes when your inner chocolate lover comes out, a Chocolate Chip Cookie is simply not enough. You need one that is more chocolaty, more chewy and fudgy, like a soft and tender bakery style choco cookie. These homemade Chocolate Cookies have all that rich, intense chocolate flavor you are craving and they only take 20 minutes before you get to take that first warm, gooey chocolatey bite.
These chewy Chocolate Cookies are simple baked treats with basic ingredients. They are made similar to Chocolate Brownies with unsweetened cocoa powder and butter so you get rich, decadent fudgy chocolate down to the last crumb. They are so chocolatey you don’t need chocolate chips or chocolate chunks but feel free to get choco-crazy with add-ins to really satisfy your cravings.
These cookies go great with a cold glass of milk, one dunk and they will be melting in your mouth. Serve them all year round or make them your new favorite cookie for Santa. For decoration, top them with Buttercream Frosting or dust with powdered sugar. For an extra special treat, there are quick instructions at the bottom of this post to make your own homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches with these amazing Chocolate Cookies.
Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: Natural vs. Dutch Process
To get richer dark chocolate color and flavor, use Dutch processed unsweetened cocoa powder. The difference between natural cocoa powder, like Hershey’s or Ghirardelli, and Dutch process is that “Dutched” cocoa powder has been alkalized. Basically this means that the cocoa powder is less acidic and the cocoa is darker. They use Dutch processed cocoa powder in Oreo cookies. If you used Dutch process, swap your baking soda with baking powder.
How to Make Chocolate Cookies
- Prep: Preheat your oven and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Butter: Cream the butter and sugar, then beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla and mix until smooth.
- Dough: Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt, then mix into the creamed butter mixture until a dough just forms.
- Scoop: Scoop large spoonfuls of dough onto the cookie sheets about an inch apart.
- Bake: Bake cookies until the edges are just set. Cool for a few minutes, then finish cooling on wire racks.
More Chocolate Cookie Recipes
FAQs for Chocolate Cookies
The cookies should be slightly firm around the edges but still slightly soft in the center. They will continue to set as they cool on the baking sheet, so it’s important not to cook them too long or they won’t have that delicious soft and chewy texture.
It can be easy to over bake Chocolate Cookies. To bake cookie dough evenly, line a light baking sheet with parchment paper. A dark cookie sheet heats up faster, so if you don’t have a light one, stack two pans and line the top with parchment paper.
Whether to use regular unsweetened cocoa powder or dutch-process cocoa powder depends on how intense you want the chocolate flavor. Dutch process cocoa is extra dark, yet slightly less bitter so that will give your cookies more of an Oreo taste, where regular cocoa will give them a hot chocolate flavor.
One possibility is that the butter was too soft or melted, causing the dough to spread excessively during baking. Another reason overmixing the dough or handling it too much makes the dough warm which also causes spreading. Finally, if your baking soda isn’t fresh they could be flat.
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Key Ingredients
- Butter: There is lots of butter in these rich, fudgy cookies. You want to use soft butter but don’t use melted butter or your cookies will be flat. If the dough seems really wet, pop it in the fridge to chill before baking so they don’t spread.
- Sugar: Two cups of sugar seems like a lot but the extra sweetness is needed to balance the bitterness in unsweetened cocoa powder. Sugar also makes your cookies nice and chewy.
- Eggs: These cookies have plenty of egg so they are rich and fudgy, almost like a brownie inside. Make sure they are room temperature so they mix easily, creating air for puffier texture.
- Vanilla: Vanilla extract enhances the overall taste of the chocolate cookies and complements the chocolate flavor, bringing out the warm notes in the cocoa.
- Flour: Regular all-purpose flour gives the cookies their characteristic texture and helps them hold their shape during baking. They have the right amount of gluten for soft, thick cookies.
- Cocoa Powder: Unsweetened cocoa powder is responsible for the intense chocolate flavor in the cookies. It also adds a rich color and when mixed with the soft butter and eggs, it gets a fudgy texture.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda is a leavening agent that helps the cookies to rise so they are fluffier despite the fudgy center and they are tender and soft.
- Salt: A little bit of salt enhances the flavor of the cookies by balancing the sweetness and intensifying the chocolate taste.
Can you make Chocolate Cookies ahead of time?
Yes, you can definitely make Chocolate Cookies ahead of time, either by baking them and freezing for a couple months or freezing the dough for even longer.
- To freeze unbaked cookie dough, start by rolling your dough into even balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Freeze in single layer for at least 30 minutes, or until the dough balls are frozen.
- Transfer frozen dough balls to a freezer safe bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 2 months.
- Bake cookies straight from freezer for about 2 minutes longer than normal.
Variations
- Chocolate Chips: Mix in your favorite kind of chocolate chips, like dark chocolate chips or semisweet chips, to give your cookie bursts of chocolaty flavor. For a creamier bite, try white chocolate chips.
- Chocolate Chunk: Chop up Hershey’s chocolate candy bars into large chunks and stir into your batter. It’s fun to do a mixture of milk chocolate bars and Hershey’s Cookies and Cream bars.
- Peanut Butter: Chocolate and peanut butter taste amazing together. Mix in a handful of peanut butter chips and chopped peanuts for a delicious peanut butter cup flavor.
- Other Mix-ins: For crunch in every bite, mix in chopped walnuts, almonds, or other nuts into this chocolate cookie dough. Some more tasty ideas to mix in are chocolate candy, dried berries, or Marshmallows.
- Brownie Cookies: Use brown sugar to make these more like Brownie Chocolate Cookies. Replace half of the white sugar with brown sugar. For gooey brownie cookies, reduce the butter to ¾ cup and increase to 3 large eggs.
Easy Chocolate Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
- You will need 24 small baked Chocolate Cookies, cooled completely.
- Allow Vanilla Ice Cream or Chocolate Ice Cream (or another favorite flavor) to soften on the counter until it is soft enough to spread but not melted.
- Place a small Chocolate Cookie in each cup of a 12 cup muffin tin.
- Using a cookie scoop, top each cookie with a small scoop of ice cream (about 2-3 tablespoons).
- Press the remaining cookies on top of the ice cream. Freeze for 1-2 hours, until solid.
Easy Delicious Chocolate Desserts
How to Store
- Serve: Chocolate Cookies are okay at room temperature for up to 2 days. Store in an airtight container.
- Store: Keep cookies longer in the refrigerator. Place in a sealed bag or container and store for up to 1 week.
- Freeze: Freeze baked cookies for up to 2 months. Allow cookies to cool completely before putting in a freezer safe bag.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups butter , softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth.
- Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.
- Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended.
- Drop by spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
- Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven.
- Cool for a couple of minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
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Nutrition
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Anytime is a good time, especially with a “Cookie Monster’ in the house ??
But my favourite time is for Christmas ?
I would bake cookies everyday if I could! My whole family loves cookies! Our favorite times to bake cookies are on the weekends when we have more time!
ANYTIME is my favorite time to make, bake and eat cookies !
Favorite time to bake cookies is on a rainy day!
My favorite time for cooking cookies is Chrismas time. I cook six varieties and make about 300 cookies as gifts for family and friends. Keep up the good work.
Anytime is a good time to bake cookies! At Christmas my family bakes a different cookie for each of the twelve days of Christmas. This year I learned how to freeze cookie dough. How much fun we will have when when we pick a few cookies to bake, maybe a few from each batch for a cookie plate.
Enjoy your site and trying new recipes. Thank you.
Loved the chocolate cookies. I added crushed walnuts to the recipe and they were soooooo good. ??
I prepare the cookies before dinner, so we can have them for dessert. Yum!!
I like to bake cookies just about any time. just not in the evening or later. unless I have a roll of homemade slice and bake cookie dough in the freezer. then it’s a go! I would love to win the chef’s knife! Thanks, for the opportunity. I appreciate all you do. Thanks ,so much.
My best time to make/bake Cookies is Anytime!
I like to bake cookies at Christmas. It gets me in the holiday spirit. I used to do all my cookie baking the day after Thanksgiving! Then I felt like I was all set for the holidays
Really appreciate the dutch cocoa explanation! Thank you.
All your recipes turn out great for me. I most love baking cookies at Christmas and Valentines. Thank you, Tammy.
Thanks, Tammy!
These chocolate cookies looks delicious. I was salivating as I read the recipe thinking how it would be to eat them. I would love them n the evening with a glass of milk!
Hi Sabrina! Any time is cookie making time! But, my favorite time of year to bake cookies is Christmas! Looks like I will be adding a new Chocolate Cookie recipe to my collection! Happy New Year!
Hope the recipe works out well for you! ?
My favorite time to bake cookies is whenever I’m craving cookies!
My favorite time to bake cookies is all year round! If I was forced to pick I would say around the Christmas holiday.
My favourite time to bake cookies is Christmas
Same here!
I try to bake cookies a few times a month. Can’t waitnto try these.
Thanks
My favorite time to bake cookies is after breakfast that way the cookies are ready for the children’s after school snack and the aroma lingers in the house all day!
I love that idea!
Love your book! and my favorite baking time is 4:00 am.
Thanks, Marshelle!
I do most of my cookie baking on the weekends, due to my weird work schedule. ? Would it be possible to substitute a 1-for-1 gluten free flour? These look so yummy!
Thanks, Jennifer! If the gluten-free flour you’re using includes a binder such as xanthan gum, then it should work to substitute it directly. If not, you may have to add binder to the recipe.
Chocolate cookies are always great! The best time to bake chocolate cookies is anytime!
I love to cook whenever my granddaughters are here
My favorite time to make cookies is in the morning because I can eat them throughout the day.
Great recipe! Love the chocolate!
My favorite time to bake cookies is anytime there is reason to celebrate (birthdays, engagement, new job, etc) or when there is time to support and encourage (illness, death of family member, loss of pet, hospitalization, etc). Gifting baked goods is a wonderful way to extend yourself to others while letting the recipient know you care.
Great recipe. I found the dough a bit dry and address 2 Tbsp of oil and it worked out very well.
I followed this recipe exactly, and baked them at 350° for 9 minutes in a gas oven (I live at sea level). They came our flat and greasy. After the 1st sheet, I added 1/4 Cup additional flour and again baked for 9 minutes. They looked good when they came out of the oven, but flattened as they cooled. They looked better than the 1st ones, but still not soft or anything like a bakery cookie. So, I added another 1/4 Cup of flour, and the dough became dry enough I could roll it into balls. Again I cooked the 3rd batch for 9 minutes. Finally, the result I was expecting. If I made this recipe again, I would reduce the butter, or increase the flour to 2 1/2 cups.
Beware, non US bakers! The metric conversion for cocoa is wrong. You have 10.5 grams. Should be 75 grams. Great cookies!
Made vegan followed recipe but made these additions/changes:
Make 4 chia eggs (4 tbs chia seed and 12 tbs water) let rest 10 min. Mix that in to creamed butter/sugar same as you would for eggs. I added 1/2 tsp baking powder and 2 extra TBS flour. Also made it healthier by adding 12 Almonds crushed which were mixed into the flour. Added less sugar I went with 1 cup. Went 3/4 cup on butter. Also added 1.5 TBS coconut oil.
taste good but SUPER fattening. Super greasy.
Love this recipe easy to follow love the results
I was a little concerned about this recipe because the final product was more of a consistency of frosting than cookie dough but they are fabulous. I used a large ice cream scoop and they turned out perfectly.
I made these tonight and they were so good! So I tried it again but, I added a bit of spice, ginger, cloves, cayenne pepper. I also added 1 tsp almond flavor. I did that because I used 1 1/4 canabis butter and 1/4 Cristo shortening.
It worked perfect! No after taste of canabis or smell.
MAJOR good recipe thanks
These cookies turned out great! I did add chocolate chips. They taste delicious and look great!
With a few minor changes, 1 C. Butter,
2 egg yolks, 1/4 C. Cornstarch included in the 2 C. flour, 2 top. baking powder.
Bake in convection oven at 325 for 10 min.
Cookies stay puffed…not at all flat.
Want added is good.
Your metric conversion is messed up. It should be 105 grams cocoa powder but it says 10.5.
I highly recommend cutting the recipe in half unless you are planning on sharing with the whole neighborhood. They will go flat because of all the butter, they will be mushy when you take them out but once they are cooled off; they will be chewy. These would be good with peppermint extract. I added edible flowers to mine. Overall, they are good but I don’t think I will use this recipe again. Wayyyy too much butter.
Absolutely Delicious!!! even after a couple day they stay chewy and they arent too chocolaty either!!!
This recipe didn’t call for baking powder although I’m pretty sure it needed it. My cookies came out 100% flat. I took them out of the oven and they were mushy so I put them back in for 3 minutes. Still flat, still mushy. I didn’t know what to do, so I left them on the cookie sheet for a few minutes just as the recipe says, but they stayed mushy and flat. I just threw them away because at that point they were trash. I love baking and do it often. This recipe looked really yummy so I thought I’d try it but it didn’t work.
did you use enough baking soda? mine turned out great and it was my first time baking cookies from scratch!
I made some changes but these were like chewy brownies. Excellent! I substituted 1/4 cup cocoa butter for the butter, and 1 cup country Crock plant butter. I also added a heaping teaspoon of instant coffee. Mine got quite flat, but are chewy. I sprinkled then with powdered sugar. These really are good. I try to eat cruelty free. I use pasture raised eggs.
Very good website. Brilliant KFC copy cat. But the metric conversion was a tad off I think and so the cookies were blobs. However, still would try this again.
Thanks.
Why wouldn’t you follow the recipe with imperial measurements?
My cookies were fabulous
OKAY, THIS ONE IS ACTUALLY AMAZING AND WORKED PERFECTLY. Finally found a recipe that doesn’t require too much or too little ingredients
I don’t usually leave reviews on recipes but I had to for this one. These cookies are insanely delicious—they will absolutely become a staple for me and my family!
I liked them they tasted like brownies and I added chocolate chips but they came out very flat
The cookies tasted great; however, flat as a pancake. So I added 1 1/2 T of flour and 1/2 t of baking powder to the second batch. I also rolled them into a small ball. At least the second batch isn’t totally flat. I will have to continue to experiment to great the right amount. I think this recipe would be better to put in a pan and cut up as brownies although they would be really thin brownies. I think the recipe is definitely missing the right amount of ingredients and baking powder.
I love these cookies. If you’re a chocolate freak like most of us, please give these a try. They’ve definitely become one of my regulars. Easy and delicious. Who could ask for anything more?
Easy and awesome! These are now a regular cookie with holiday cookies but will make them throughout the year. Everyone loved them!
Delicious
Very yummy cookies. I divided the batter into 3 bowls and added leftover health bar pieces and Andes mint pieces and peanut butter chips I leftover from Christmas cookies.
The cookies are delicious. However, instead of the 24 that I expected, the recipe made about 5 dozen! A bonus actually.
How much butter do I use?
Put three scoops of whole butter !!!