Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: Perfect mocha flavor without too much sweetness.
Texture: The cookies are soft yet chewy.
Ease: Super easy, just a little messy when it comes to coating in cocoa and powdered sugar. But it’s the best kind of messy!
Pros: Delightful Christmas cookie, especially for a more adult group.
Cons: None!
Would I make this again? Yes.
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Oh how I wish I still had at least one of these small but flavorful Mocha Cookies leftover as I’m writing up this post!!
I actually created this recipe a few weeks ago. Since I’ve been making so many other Christmas recipes for you guys I haven’t gotten a chance to re-make these babies yet.
That’s the weird part about being a food blogger. I rarely make the same recipes over and over again. I’m always coming up with new ideas and experimenting with new recipes that I sometimes even forget about past favorites.
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If you like chocolate + coffee then these cookies might just become one of your favorites. They’re great for serving a crowd because they’re small and one batch yields almost 40 cookies. You could even double that if you wanted!
I’ve also made these cookies without the chocolate chips and they were still really good. But if you know anything about me it’s that there’s never enough CHOCOLATE.
More Christmas Recipes:
Be sure to check out my Christmas Headquarters page for more holiday baking recipes!
Photos by Ashley McLaughlin.
Mocha Cookies
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Ingredients
- 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup (75 grams) corn syrup
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 1/2 cups (318 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
- 3/4 cup (130 grams) mini chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup (43 grams) cocoa powder, sifted
- 1/4 cup (31 grams) powdered sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Line large baking sheets with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup on medium-high speed until very well combined, pale, and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Add the flour, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder and beat until just combined. Add in the chocolate chips. The dough should be thick and slightly crumbly.
- Shape the dough into 2-teaspoon sized balls and place on the prepared baking sheets. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes
- Place the cocoa and cookies in a large deep bowl and toss until completely coated. Return to the pans, tapping off excess cocoa. Dust with a fine coating of powdered sugar. Serve or store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
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Hello. Will it make a difference if I use dark brown sugar instead of the light?
Hi Stephy! We haven’t tried using dark brown sugar, but it would affect the appearance (darker in color), taste, and texture. That said, it could still be very delicious! Please let us know if you give it a try.
I used honey instead of corn syrup. They turned out very lovely. Soft & chewy in the middle, crunchy on the outside. Very quick and easy to make, my friends loved them. Thank you! 🙂
If I don’t have corn syrup, why can I substitute it?
Hi there! We haven’t tried this recipe without corn syrup, so I can’t say for sure!
What is the purpose of adding corn syrup instead of regular sugar to the cookie dough? BTW, I made these cookies, they baked up beautifully and tasted chewy without being overly soft. I like them a lot. Just wondering what corn syrup does in this recipe. Thank you.
Is there any sub for corn syrup?
Do you use light or dark corn syrup?:)
Can I sub instant coffee granules for the espresso powder?
Probably, though I’m guessing the coffee flavor will be less pronounced.
Hi, Tessa. Just wanted to say I made these and they look beautiful. I haven’t gotten any comments from partakers yet but I really liked the recipe. Instead of the cocoa after I rolled mine in a homemade espresso/chocolate sugar before baking. Then I did a light toss in powdered sugar and shook most of it off so they were lightly powdered but the darker cookie showed through. Hopefully they are received as well as they smelled and looked in the kitchen and I’ll get some good feedback. Thank you for the recipe! Hope you have a great Christmas!