Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: Deep, rich, decadent chocolate flavors. For serious chocolate lovers only!
Texture: Thick, rich, soft, and gooey.
Ease: Very easy! More like making brownie batter than cookie dough.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: These cookies are heaven in cookie form if you love chocolate as much as I do!
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These Soft Batch Double Chocolate Chip Cookies are truly a chocolate lover’s dream come true, in easy-to-make cookie form!
Imagine a fudge brownie in cookie form. They’re insanely rich and sinful, and that sprinkling of salt on top balances everything out into chocoholic bliss.
Just one cookie is enough to satisfy any chocolate craving – although don’t be surprised if you can’t stop at one!
These Double Chocolate Chip Cookies are for serious chocolate lovers only. Anyone who simply likes chocolate may think these are “too chocolaty” … but that phrase doesn’t exist in my vocabulary 😉
Sprinkle of Science
How to Make Soft Batch Double Chocolate Chip Cookies
Shaping the Cookie Dough
Once you shape the balls of dough (don’t worry – they’ll hold their shape), flatten the balls with the palm of your hand to encourage the cookies to spread evenly in the oven. Using a stainless steel spring-loaded cookie scoop will make portioning the dough easier and faster!
Elevate Your Cookies with Flaky Salt on Top
If you like a salty-sweet flavor combination, sprinkle the cookies with a little flaky sea salt right after baking. I love the way the salt elevates the chocolate flavor and helps cut the sweetness of the cookie!
If that’s not something you prefer, feel free to skip this step.
What Type of Cocoa Powder For Double Chocolate Chip Cookies?
Use unsweetened cocoa powder in these Soft Batch Double Chocolate Chip Cookies. Unsweetened cocoa is also known as natural cocoa powder. Learn more about Natural vs Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder here.
Most grocery store brands only contain a low percentage of fat. I recommend using a cocoa with a higher fat content, for richer cookies with a deeper chocolate flavor and the best texture. Read more about fat in cocoa powders here.
Be sure to measure your cocoa powder correctly. If you add too much cocoa, your cookies will be dry and hard, instead of soft and chewy. I like to use a digital kitchen scale, but if you don’t have one, use the spoon and level method.
What Type of Chocolate for Double Chocolate Chip Cookies?
I prefer using semi-sweet baking bars in the base of the cookie dough. Feel free to switch this up and use dark chocolate, but just note that your cookies will be a little less sweet than intended.
You can also change the semi-sweet chocolate chips, and use some milk, dark, white, or even peanut butter chips instead. Nuts (such as walnuts or pecans) are also a great option. Just be sure to keep your mix-ins to the same total volume/weight as written in the recipe, for best results.
Does This Double Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Need to be Chilled?
Chilling the dough is not required for this recipe, but if time permits, chilling the dough for 24-72 hours does result in cookies that are thicker, chewier, and more flavorful.
Take a look at HTH reader Mike G.’s experiment below! He found that the chocolate flavor is enhanced slightly after an overnight chill. If you prefer your cookies a little denser and fudgier, he recommends baking them straight from the fridge; otherwise, allow them to come to room temperature before baking. Baking time will remain the same.
Can I Make These Double Chocolate Chip Cookies Ahead of Time?
Yes! Shape and flatten the dough balls and wrap them in plastic wrap or move them to an airtight container, with layers of parchment or wax paper between layers of cookie dough, before chilling for up to 2 days.
If you need to prep these cookies further in advance, see the freezing instructions just below.
Can I Freeze These Soft Double Chocolate Chip Cookies?
Yes! Soft Batch Double Chocolate Chip Cookies freeze well. Place the portioned cookie dough balls in an airtight container and freeze for up to 6 weeks. Allow them to thaw overnight in the fridge, or for 30-60 minutes at room temperature, then bake as directed below.
Check out my How to Freeze Cookie Dough article for step-by-step instructions (and how to bake from frozen).
More Cookie Recipes You’ll Love:
- Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Black & White Chippers
- Marbled Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Copycat Fudge Rounds
- Chocolate Coconut Cookies
- Chocolate Peppermint Cookies
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Ingredients
- 6 ounces (170 grams) semisweet chocolate
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons whole milk
- 1/3 cup (67 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup (67 grams) light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (127 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (21 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder*, sifted
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder, optional
- 1 1/2 cups (255 grams) semisweet chocolate chips
- Flaky sea salt, for finishing, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the chocolate and butter in 30-second bursts, stirring between bursts, until melted and smooth. Allow to cool before mixing in the eggs, milk, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sifted cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder. Add the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture and stir until just combined. Gently stir in the chocolate chips.
- Use a large 3-tablespoon cookie scoop to place the batter on the prepared baking sheets. Flatten slightly. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until set but still gooey. Sprinkle with sea salt, if desired. Allow to cool before serving.
Hi, does this batter is liquid?because mine is a bit thick liquid..it cannot be shaped or mould into a ball. Your other recipe is thicj and can be shaped into a ball..please help! 🥹
Hi Sophie! I’m sorry to hear that your cookies aren’t going to plan! This dough is normally super thick! Was an ingredient possibly accidentally missed, mis-measured or substituted? Even seemingly small changes can impact the recipe in surprisingly big ways. I hope you give these cookies another try sometime – they really are amazing! Good luck and Happy Baking!
thank you for your yummy recipes. would love to try this. I have a question, the buttermilk used h for this recipe is powdered buttermilk?
Hi Godie! I’m not sure which recipe you mean, as these Soft Batch Double Chocolate Chip Cookies don’t contain buttermilk – but I hope this article on Buttermilk here will clarify your question. Happy baking!
I love all your recipes!! Thank you!
My question- you’re so good with the break down of why every ingredient is needed! With that being said , may I use Raw milk for the milk in your recipes?
Thank you:)
Hi Ashley! So glad to hear that you enjoy Tessa’s recipes and Baking Science tips! We haven’t tried using raw milk in any of our recipes, so I can’t say for sure how that will work! Let us know how it goes if you give that a try 🙂
these cookies were a hit best cookies
I was craving these so I whipped them up and they did not disappoint!! So devine, and they were just as good cold the next day!
I know you said you hate substitutions and I TOTALLY respect that 🙂 . I just ordered your Ultimate Cookie book so I haven’t received it yet , but I was wondering if I can use this recipe and add caramel and chopped pecans to make “Turtle Delight” cookies ?
Hi Simone! While Tessa does hate substitutions, changing up your mix-ins in a cookie is totally acceptable 😉 I would recommend adding your chopped nuts and caramels and reducing the chocolate chips by about the same amount, so the mix-ins stays about the same at 1 1/2 cups total. Let us know how it turns out – and we hope you love your cookbook!! 🙂
I made these cookies and they were awesome. I’m a chocoholic so they were right up my alley. I do have a question though. The recipe calls for unsweetened cocoa but it doesn’t specify Dutch Processed or regular unsweetened cocoa. I used regular unsweetened cocoa. Does Tessa have a preference in this recipe? And would a good rule of thumb be to only use Dutch Processed if the recipe calls for it?
Hi Linda! Yes, the rule of thumb is to only use Dutch processed/Dutched cocoa if a recipe calls for it specifically. Unsweetened cocoa is the same thing as natural cocoa. They have different levels of acid and therefore react differently in recipes, based on the other ingredients in a recipe (particularly leaveners). You can learn more about both types of cocoa, and their differences, in Tessa’s article here! I hope that helps! 🙂
Can I use instant coffee granules instead of expresso?
Hi Gail! We haven’t tried that, but it could work – it just definitely won’t give the same flavor that the espresso powder will, because espresso powder is much more concentrated than instant coffee. Let us know how it goes 🙂
I’ve made these twice now, they taste amazing but both times I’ve tried, the cookies don’t seem to be flattening out in the oven – they stay very thick. I haven’t used a scoop but I did put the batter in the freezer for a couple hours then cut individual pieces up and rolled into a ball by hand being careful not to make them too big. They still taste so good but maybe I need to perfect my process of splitting the batter!
Hi Jessica! I’m glad you still enjoyed these cookies, but I’d love to assist you with troubleshooting why these cookies may not be spreading as they should! Firstly, how do you measure your flour? By weight using a digital scale, or by volume using cups? Weighing vs. measuring by volume can have a huge impact on your baked goods. It’s so easy to accidentally add too much flour if measuring by volume, and too much flour can have a huge impact on any baked goods, and this could definitely be why your cookies didn’t spread well. Tessa talks about how best to measure ingredients in this article here. Another issue could be your leavening agents may not be fresh. If your baking powder or soda are not fresh, this can impact the cookie’s ability to rise and spread properly. Tessa talks about how to test for leavener freshness in this article here! Lastly, what type of pan are you baking on? Different materials of pans conduct heat differently, so some will cook the bottom quickly, and not leave the cookie appropriate time to spread out gently and evenly. Tessa demonstrates this with lots of pictures in this article here! If none of these issues may be the culprit, and you’re still not seeing any spreading, I would suggest simply squashing each dough ball down before placing it in the oven, to give it a kick-start in the spreading process! If you have any other thoughts, or would like to troubleshoot any further, please feel free to reach back out to us here, or by emailing [email protected]! 🙂
These are delicious cookies, reminds me of brownies. I had one issue, the batter was thick, sticky and was hard to form a round cookie. I put the batter in the fridge hoping that this would help but not really. Any idea what I did wrong?
Hi Dorota! This batter is a perfect mix of the texture of both brownie and cookie batter. It’s going to be a bit thicker and possibly a little sticky, but it should definitely hold its shape when placed on the baking sheet using a cookie scoop. How did you place your cookies on the baking sheet, with a cookie scoop or another utensil? How was the texture of your fully baked cookies, did they bake up well?
Hello Emily,
Hi Emily,
Thank you for replying.
I did us a cookie scoop and when I pressed on it to release the cookie batter, it didn’t want to come out.
The cookies baked up very well and they were delicious.
I thought maybe there is something I did wrong or something I can improve for the next time.
Thank you
So glad they baked up beautifully! You’re welcome to place the batter in the fridge for a longer period of time to see if that helps to release the batter, but if that doesn’t seem to help, you could always very lightly spray your scoop with cooking spray to help the dough from sticking. This is a slightly older recipe of ours (2017) and may be one we need to revisit just to update the instructions and add some helpful tips throughout. I appreciate your feedback!