Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

For summer holidays, our family usually does makeshift picnics where we roast hot dogs over a campfire at someone’s house. We just bring whatever we’ve got in the house, and it is nice to just spend time with family.

I decided that since I had some time yesterday, I would make cookies to take along. I found a recipe a while ago on Pinterest, and I have to say, it is probably one of my favorites! You can find the original recipe here, but I made a few adjustments of my own to it.

The first thing I did was gather all of the ingredients.

Then, I mixed my dry ingredients in a stainless steel bowl: 1 ¾ cup flour, ¼ cup cocoa powder, 1 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, 2 tsp cornstarch, 2 Tbsp instant coffee (the only instant coffee I had in the house was Starbucks), and ¼ tsp sea salt. I whisked them together so they were combined well.

I set the dry ingredients aside and started on the wet ingredients. I melted ½ cup or 1 stick of unsalted butter in the microwave. I put it in a glass dish and set it for 1 minute, and when I got it out of the microwave, it was completely melted.

I poured the butter into my mixing bowl, and then added ½ cup granulated sugar and ¼ cup brown sugar. I turned the mixer on until they were combined pretty well.

I dissolved 2 Tbsp instant coffee in 1 Tbsp hot water. It was very thick and dark, and it smelled so good!

Then I added one egg, ½ tsp vanilla (not in the original recipe), and the coffee mixture, and ran the mixer until everything was combined.

I began to add the dry ingredients. I added them a third of the mixture at a time, so that the flour and cocoa did not go “Poof!” all over everything. My messy-baking-self has had that happen a number of times!

The dough is pretty thick to begin with, and you could just stop there. If you want, you could add a little bit more flour at the end, just to ensure that the cookies are nice and thick when they come out of the oven. I usually do that every time I bake cookies. I am not a fan of flat, crunchy cookies!

Last, I mixed in the chocolate chips. Really, the best part, if you ask me! The recipe called for one cup of chocolate chips. Well, I had an open bag of regular chocolate chips and an unopened bag of mini chips. I finished off the regular bag and then opened the bag of mini chocolate chips. I poured a heaping cup of chocolate chips because, well, why not??

Once everything was mixed together, I lined two baking sheets with silicone baking mats. I must admit, I was a little timid about using these for the first time. In my mind, they would melt in the oven. Well, they do not, and I do not bake without them now! They make removing the cookies from the pan so simple, and clean up is quick and easy! No more scrubbing burnt on chocolate chips!

I rolled the dough into approximately 1 inch diameter balls. I fit a dozen on each baking sheet.

I put the first batch into a preheated 350 degree oven. I set the timer for 10 minutes. When I got them out of the oven, I checked the bottoms to see if they were burnt. Thankfully, they were not!

I put the second batch in the oven and set the timer for 10 minutes as well. After leaving the first batch cool for about 5 minutes, I took them off the pan and set them on a cooling rack.

Naturally, I had to taste test one! They were so good! But I thought they could be baked a little less, so the inside would be a little more moist. I took the second batch out of the oven after 9 minutes of baking. And honestly, they probably could have come out after 8 minutes and still been baked through. So, depending on the size of your cookies, the baking time could be 8-12 minutes. My advice is start on the low side, check them, and then if they need baked longer, they can always stay in the oven.

These cookies were a big hit at our family picnic! They go great with a big, warm, yummy cup of coffee! In all, I made 25 cookies. Two did not make it out of our house! And we had no leftovers to take home.

So, if you are a chocolate and coffee fan, give these cookies a try! My family loved them! I hope yours will too! Feel free to comment and let us know how they turn out!

For those of you who would like to make these cookies, here is the condensed recipe:

Ingredients

1 ¾ cup flour

¼ cup cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons cornstarch

¼ teaspoon salt

½ cup unsalted butter

½ cup sugar

¼ cup brown sugar

1 egg

½ teaspoon vanilla

4 Tablespoons instant coffee granules

1 Tablespoon hot water

1 cup (heaping) chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with silicone mat (if you’d like).

Whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, salt, and half of the coffee granules.

Melt butter.

Dissolve the remaining half of the coffee granules in 1 Tbsp hot water.

Mix butter and sugars until combined. Add egg, vanilla, and coffee. Mix until combined.

Add dry ingredients, a third at a time. Mix until combined. Add extra flour to make dough thicker, if you so desire.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Roll into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheets.

Bake for 8-12 minutes.

Let cool for 5 minutes, and then place on a cooling rack.

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