These Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cafe Cookies are giant, slightly crispy on the edges, soft and chewy throughout, full of chocolate chunks, and topped with flaky sea salt. With lots of experience working to get these cookies just right, I share below three secrets that I have learned to make the perfect cafe-style chocolate chip cookies.
These cookies are modeled after cookies at a local cafe (not the ultra-thick Levain cookies that are thicker than they are wide). I have had cookies like these (thick, chewy, big enough for a meal) in bakeries all over the country after traveling the US for a year. But these cookies are modeled after a bakery in New England housed in an old barn built in the 1800s.
They are often served warm from the oven, scooped off enormous baking sheets. Whenever I eat them, I think that these are not so much cookies, but rather vehicles for eating chocolate, not unlike this small batch of chocolate chip cookies. When biting into one you see more chocolate than you see cookie dough, and that’s what I wanted out of my cookie.
For White Chocolate versions of cafe-style cookies, I love these White Chocolate Pretzel Cookies or the more classic White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies.
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Ingredients:
Below are the ingredients needed to make Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Cafe Cookies along with a few important notes on some of the ingredients.
- Butter: Butter should be softened. If you do not have softened butter, place the butter in a large mixing bowl and microwave for 1 minute at 20% power. Add 30 seconds at a time, turning the butter over if necessary until softened.
- Brown sugar: Either dark or light brown sugar is fine. If you don't have brown sugar, you can make chocolate chip cookies with maple syrup, as well as other alternatives like using molasses and browned butter.
- Eggs: Use large eggs, pasture-raised if possible
- Vanilla Extract: Use real vanilla extract. If you bake somewhat regularly, consider buying a large bottle at Costco which will last you at least a year if not more.
- Baking Powder & Baking Soda: To help the cookies rise.
- Salt: To balance sweetness and bring out the flavor of the chocolate.
- Flour: Use unbleached all-purpose flour.
- Bittersweet Chocolate Baking Bars:
- I use 8oz Ghirardelli Premium Baking 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate bars, roughly chopped. This makes for an extra chocolatey cookie. These baking bars can also be used when making Flourless Chocolate Cake or for melting for Chocolate Dipped Rice Krispie treats.
- If you want a more intense chocolate flavor, use 3 bars of chocolate instead of 2. However, it can get expensive to buy 3 baking bars of chocolate for 1 recipe.
- It’s important to use chopped chocolate baking bars, rather than chocolate chips. It changes the texture and flavor of the cookie.
- It’s also important to use high-quality chocolate such as Ghirardelli or Guittard. higher-quality chocolate melts and tastes better.
- Maldon Sea Salt Flakes: This is another ingredient that can be on the pricier side, but 1 box will last you a year if not more. For the best cookies, I recommend using Maldon Sea Salt Flakes, but you can always skip the added salt at the end if needed. I use these all the time for desserts like Salted Caramel Cookies as well as savory dishes like Grandma Pie or Potato Rosemary Pizza.
See the recipe card further below for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Three Secrets to Cafe Cookies
After dozens of failed attempts, I have figured out that there are three secrets to chocolate chip cafe cookies.
- ONE. Use chopped chocolate from chocolate baking bars rather than chocolate chips. This was one of the first things I observed about my favorite bakery cookies. They always had thin slivers of chocolate and never chocolate chips. At first, I didn’t think this mattered much, and I’m generally not a fan of extra work. Why spend the time chopping chocolate if you can just use chocolate chips. Well – in this case after lots of trial and error, I discovered that it does make a difference.
Tip: Using chopped chocolate helps the cookie dough meld and stick together and shape around the shards of chocolate in a way that it does not with the chocolate chips. This affects how the cookie rises and how gooey it gets. Baking bars also contain higher amounts of cocoa butter and melt easier than chocolate chips which are designed to hold their shape rather than melt.
- TWO: Refrigerate the dough overnight. It is common to see this recommendation with drop cookie recipes. I generally don’t do this if it can be avoided. I try to minimize the extra work and effort in baking/cooking wherever possible, and most of the time I find that it doesn’t make enough of a difference.
Tip: Refrigerating, however, changes the hydration of the ingredients (the flour will absorb some of the liquid in the dough), which impacts texture and taste. It also helps the flavors in the dough, particularly the chocolate chunks, meld together. It’s like a lasagna that tastes better the next day.
- THREE: Use a quarter cup of dough per cookie. Chocolate chip cafe cookies are over-sized. I’ve found that the best proportion is ¼ cup of dough per cookie. This is a TON of dough, and it will make a huge cookie. I’ve tried on occasion doing ½ cup of dough per cookie, and while that might be a reasonable amount if you own a cafe or bakery, it can be a bit unwieldy at home. Using ¼ cup is more manageable than ½ cup, and way better than the 1-2 tablespoons that is typical for a drop cookie.
How to Make Chocolate Chip Cafe Cookies
Below are the step-by-step instructions for how to make Bakery-Style Chocolate Chip Cafe Cookies.
Note: The recipe card with instructions, ingredient list, and quantities is included further below these step-by-step photos.
Step 1. Making the Dough: In a large mixing bowl, add the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and combine. Then add the flour and combine.
Step 2. Adding the Chocolate: Roughly chop the chocolate on a cutting board with a sharp knife. I chop the chocolate into roughly even chunks, but there will be variations in size along with thin slivers of chocolate and chocolate "dust". Scrape ALL of it into the bowl with the cookie dough and combine. The variations in size add to the texture of the cookie and create thin shards of chocolate throughout for lots of layers of chocolate.
Mix the chocolate into the dough until just combined. Do not over-mix (this prevents tough cookies and the chocolate from melting before being baked.
Step 3: Shaping the Dough: Pack a ¼ cup measuring cup with dough. Remove the dough from the measuring cup and shape it into rounds that resemble small hockey pucks. Stack them on a plate with a sheet of wax paper in between. Then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Be sure to use the wax paper when stacking them, otherwise they will stick together.
Step 4. Baking the Cookies: The next day remove the cookies from the oven and place them on a baking sheet. You will be able to fit 8 on each baking sheet. Allow the cookie dough to come to room temperature. If you do not allow them to come to room temperature they will not spread as well and are more likely to get too brown on top and underbaked in the middle. The timing will depend on the temperature of your room, but to speed up the process you can leave the baking sheet on top of the oven while the oven preheats.
Bake the cookies at 350°F for 10-11 minutes. The timing will depend on how hot your oven runs, the type of baking sheet that you use, and whether or not the cookies are at room temperature. So keep an eye on your cookies to determine if they need a minute more or less. They should be ever so slightly brown on the edges, which is oftentimes hard to tell when looking at the cookies on the baking sheet inside the oven. You can pull them out slightly to get a better look. Once removed, they will continue to firm up as they cool on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with Maldon Sea Salt flakes immediately after taking the cookies out of the oven.
Expert Tip. Flaky Sea Salt: If you add the salt before baking there’s much less surface area to work with on each of the cookies. Once they are out of the oven they have spread out and you can cover more of the cookies with the sea salt flakes. Add the salt right away after the cookies come out of the oven so that they stick to the still-warm cookies.
FAQs: Common Issues and How to Avoid Them
Allow the cookie dough to fully come to room temperature before baking. They should have lost their chill, but not be melty. This will depend on the temperature of your room.
If possible, use a high-quality medium-weight baking sheet that is unlined (not non-stick or coated), and light in color. If you bake somewhat regularly it is not overly expensive and worth the investment. Nordic Ware and Williams Sonoma both sell this style of baking sheet. If you do not have one, line the sheet that you do have with parchment paper.
Ensure that your cookie dough is at room temperature, not soft or melty. If needed place the dough back into the fridge until firm. If the dough is too soft the butter will melt more easily and cause the cookies to spread.
If you tried these Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cafe Cookies or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Bakery Style Chocolate Chip Cafe Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
- 8oz high quality bittersweet chocolate bars, Ghirardelli or Guittard, roughly chopped
- Maldon sea salt flakes
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl combine the softened butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Then add the flour and combine.
- Add the roughly chopped chocolate until just combined.
- Using a ¼ cup measuring cup, portion out the dough and form into balls with your hands. Then slightly flatten each ball so that it resembles a burger slider. Stack the cookie dough rounds by placing a sheet of wax paper in between each one to prevent them from sticking. Refrigerate overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Remove the cookie dough from the fridge and let sit out for about 20-30 minutes to warm up (not too long so that they become soft, just until they lose their chill and are more or less room temperature - this depends on how cold your fridge is and how cold your house is). Bake for 10-11 minutes.
- Immediately sprinkle with Maldon sea salt flakes.
Notes
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- Refrigerating overnight helps the flavors meld together, and changes the hydration of the ingredients which impacts texture and taste.
- The cookies are done when they are ever so slightly brown on the edges, which is oftentimes hard to tell when looking at the cookies on the baking sheet inside the oven. Pull them out slightly to get a better look.
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- Add the flaky sea salt immediately after removing from the oven.
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- These cookies require more advanced planning and a little more work than other drop cookies because they're refrigerated overnight and take a little time to portion and shape. However, it’s not a ton more work and it's worth it if you’re looking for an extra special treat. One plus about refrigerating overnight is that if you have young kids or a busy schedule you can put the dough together at the end of the night and stick it in the fridge. Then it’s very little work the next day – you just pop them in the oven and you’re done!
- If you have kids and want to involve them in baking these cookies, help them scoop and dump ingredients into the mixing bowl, stir the ingredients together, or even hold their hand on a hand mixer while mixing the dough as you determine is age-appropriate.
Eva Skardal says
These cookies are the best! They were the perfect snack to bring on an afternoon trip to the beach. I am not an expert baker, but the recipe is so easy to follow. I love the step by step pictures !