This recipe for soft double chocolate chip cookies makes the softest and most decadent chocolate cookies I have ever had! The recipe is from one of my fellow bloggers and bakers, Mimi Council. Her cookbook Cookies for Everyone is by far one of the best cookie cookbooks I have seen. All of her recipes use organic ingredients and she gives adjustments for baking gluten-free and at high-altitude!
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
You had me at double chocolate.
I’ll give you a short snippet of how I happened across this recipe for soft double chocolate chip cookies. Through the power of social media, I have become acquainted with an extremely talented baker by the name of Mimi Council. We were introduced as we both live at high altitude and Mimi has created a special feed on the FeedFeed for high altitude bakers and recipes.
Then Mimi held an exciting giveaway in which she was giving away her cookbook, Cookies for Everyone. You guessed it – I won, and the rest is history!
And, I love Mimi’s creations so much I have also tried and featured her Snow Day Cake – which is utterly divine!
Why You’ll Love These Soft Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Soft Cookies – Brown sugar is the primary sweetener in the cookies. On its own, it has more moisture content which yields a soft cookie. Combined with a healthy portion of butter, et voilà! Soft cookies!
- Rich + Chocolate – The cookies have a bold chocolate flavor because we use Dutch process cocoa. Plus – Dutch cocoa isn’t as acidic as natural cocoa.
- Easy – Cookies ready in under 20 minutes? Sold! No chilling is required with the dough.
- Classic – A double chocolate cookie is a classic and should be in every baker’s catalog! I have my own version on the blog with the gluten free doubled chocolate cookies.
- Standard Size Batch – This cookie recipe is one of few on the blog that yields a standard size batch. Like my classic snickerdoodles or chocolate crinkle cookies. Which all have a small batch version as well!
High Altitude Baking
As mentioned, Mimi and I have something in common: we both live in places of high-altitude. Now, if you are not familiar with the impact altitude can have on your baking, here’s an overview:
- High altitude baking is usually considered anything above 3,500 feet
- Because we are higher, the air pressure is lower, and food takes longer to bake. We compensate for this by adjusting bake times or increasing bake temperature.
- Liquids evaporate faster, so amounts of dry ingredients and wet ingredients might need to be adjusted.
- Gases expand more, which makes dough rise faster. Leavening ingredients like baking soda and baking powder can be decreased to compensate for this.
Cookies typically bake well at high altitude. The one adjustment for these double chocolate cookies is a reduced bake time.
Everything You Need To Make A Batch Of Double Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- Salted Butter – I love the salted butter in these cookies. It adds great depth of flavor.
- Cane Sugar – Organic cane sugar is something I love to use. But you can swap in granulated sugar if you prefer.
- Dark Brown Sugar – I recommend sticking with dark brown sugar because it provides moisture to make the cookies chewy.
- Eggs – Two large eggs.
- Vanilla Bean – I used vanilla bean paste which provides a very robust vanilla flavor. You can use vanilla extract as well.
- All-Purpose Flour – I have only tested the recipe with AP flour. But if you are looking for gluten free cookies, check out my gluten free category!
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder – Dutch process cocoa works best because it imparts a rich chocolate flavor and isn’t as acidic as natural cocoa.
- Baking Powder – To leaven the cookies.
- Salt – The salt helps balance and enhance the flavors.
- Chocolate Chips – Use any chocolate chip you prefer. I recommend semi-sweet chocolate chips.
Baking Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Cookie Scoop – Optional. Mimi (and I) use our hands to portion and shape these cookies. Though, a medium cookie scoop would also work great!
Do All Of My Recipes Include High Altitude Adjustments?
The short answer is, it depends.
While I live at high altitude, I find with a lot of my recipes, I don’t really need to make adjustments. And that is primarily due to the fact that I am making small batch desserts. The ingredients are adjusted enough that I don’t mess with them.
Although, there is one recipe on the blog – the homemade bagels – in which I did make an adjustment for altitude. I find yeasted bread can be especially finicky at altitude, so I adjusted the amount of yeast in the bagels.
If there are any altitude adjustments in my recipes, the recipe card will have a note for it. More often than not, I recommend watch the bake time.
Success Tips For Soft and Chewy Chocolate Cookies
- Room temperature butter and eggs – Always. To ensure the batter mixes evenly and the cookies bake evenly.
- Use dark brown sugar – Much like my chewy chocolate chip cookies, the brown sugar is what helps make the cookies chewy. Otherwise, you may end up with a crispy cookie.
- Bake time – As the name implies, these cookies are soft. For a crispier cookie, leave the cookies in the over a couple minutes longer.
- Use a cookie scoop – If you’d rather not get your hands dirty! The scoop will help create equal portions as well.
- Flatten the cookie dough balls – So the cookies don’t bake into chocolate mounds!
Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
- 1/2 cup cane sugar, plus more for dusting
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon ground vanilla bean (I used vanilla bean paste)
- 1 and 1/2 cups + 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, Dutch process
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F degrees and adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Line 2 baking sheets with a piece of parchment paper.
- In the working bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the butter and both sugars. Mix on low speed until smooth and there are not chunks of butter.
- Add the eggs and mix slightly – enough to break the egg yolks.
- In another medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, vanilla bean, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix on low speed until it is almost combined; you should still see streaks of flour. Add the chocolate chips and mix until a stiff dough forms.
- Using your hands, form the dough into 24 balls and place on the prepared baking sheets – leaving 1 inch between them. Flatten each ball slightly into disks that are about 2 ¼ inches in diameter.
- Bake for 11 minutes (at high altitude = 8 minutes), or until the cookies are set and cracked on the top. Remove from the oven and immediately sprinkle with cane sugar. Cool completely on the baking sheets.
- The cookies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 7 days.
RECIPE NOTES
- Gluten Free Adjustment – Replace the all-purpose flour with 1 and 1/3 cups of gluten-free flour at 375 degrees for 8 minutes, or until the cookies look set and cracked on top.
- Vanilla – I did not have ground vanilla bean on hand, so I substituted vanilla bean paste. It gives a rich vanilla flavor that complements the chocolate.
about the author ...
I'm Erin and I'm all about desserts - and a little bit of butter!
I've tested, written, and photographed hundreds of recipes on my website. Here you'll find the tastiest small batch desserts - all homemade, all simple, and all for you! Click here to learn more about me!
Baked for 12 minutes at 6500 ft altitude. Soft and fluffy. Sprinkled with powdered sugar
Thanks Kim!