Double Espresso Cookies

 

I’ve been sitting on this recipe for quite a while. Not literally, of course. Just in the sense of putting it aside while I told you about zucchini risotto, fruity zucchini bread, and strawberry basil muffins. These cookies are seasonless and could wait until ideas with expiration dates got posted first. I couldn’t wait any longer, though, and while there may be more zucchini and fresh herb recipes to come, let’s make some cookies. With a buzz!

This is a basic chocolate chip cookie dough doctored up with some instant espresso and an extra coffee-chocolate punch from chocolate covered espresso beans. I just stirred the espresso powder in with the flour and stirred the espresso beans in with the chocolate chips. This did add caffeine to my cookies, but if you want the coffee flavor without the kick, you could use decaffeinated instant espresso or coffee, and maybe replace the espresso beans with cacao nibs or more chocolate chips.

I really found this recipe to be a good balance between a coffee-flavored treat and a traditional chocolate chip cookie. Their coffee-ness isn’t overwhelming, doesn’t make the cookies taste bitter, and still allows them to be sweet. That being said, if you want to go more intensely in the coffee direction, you could certainly add more espresso powder to your cookie dough. (Full disclosure: I fully intended to add more than the 1 tablespoon in the recipe below, but that was all I had left. Good thing it worked out!)

As far as the chocolate covered espresso beans go, I found them to be a welcome addition to a cookie. They’re crunchy, where chocolate chips aren’t. In fact, they’re crunchy in a different way than even nuts are, which is kind of a surprise if one is not expecting it. 

Overall, I love this variation in the classic chocolate chip cookie theme! My friends ate a lot of them. Since they seem to love good food, and need a lot of coffee, I’m inclined to believe that these delicious cookies get a crowd-sourced passing grade. They may not be filled with seasonal ingredients, but coffee and chocolate chip cookies are for always and forever, and there’s no point shunning them at any time of the year.

Double Espresso Chocolate Chip Cookies

This dough can be baked as soon as it is mixed, but I like to chill the dough for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours. This dough also freezes well when wrapped in a freezer-safe bag. Just thaw and portion to bake as usual.

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon fine salt

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

1 ½ (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

1 cup chocolate covered espresso beans

1. In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder. Stir together with a whisk or sift to combine well. Set aside.

2. Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer (or in another large bowl if you are using a hand-help mixer or a spoon). With the paddle attachment, beat a medium-low speed until the butter is creamy.

3. Scrape the butter down from the sides of the bowl and add the granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat at medium-low speed until the butter and sugar are well creamed and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time until the mixture is smooth. Beat in the vanilla extract.

4. Add the flour mixture a little at a time, beating until just incorporated. Stir in the chocolate chips and chocolate covered espresso beans.

5. Cover the dough in a bowl or shape it into a disk and wrap it well in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.

6. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 F. Lightly grease cookie sheets with either nonstick cooking spray, or a thin film of oil. Portion the dough out in roughly 2-tablespoon scoops about 2 inches apart on the prepared cookie sheets.

7. Bake at 375 F for about 12 minutes, or until the edges of the cookies are just beginning to brown and the cookies appear dry and set on the top.

8. Cool on the pan for about 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Repeat with the remaining dough, or freeze the dough to bake later.

Makes 50-60 cookies.

Other recipes like this one: Milk Chocolate Chip and M&M Cookies, Espresso Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins, Cappuccino Muffins, Cappuccino Coffee Cake with Mocha Crumb Topping

Espresso Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

I tried these muffins once before and was unhappy with the results. Oh, sure, I ate them all. I just didn’t think they were quite good enough to share here. They were kind of weak in texture, almost greasy from too much moisture and butter. I liked the flavor, though, so I kept them in mind.

 

I didn’t quite have the energy to think about how to tweak the recipe for these banana muffins with espresso powder and chocolate chips, so in my mind is where they stayed for a while. Then it finally occurred to me, after an embarrassingly long time, to start with my go-to banana bread recipe and flavor it with the chocolate and espresso. I could have made a quick bread loaf instead, but, since batters for quick bread loaves and muffins are reasonably interchangeable, I decided to stick with muffins.

I made a few small changes (including adding a smidge more butter) and made some mighty fine muffins. These have the all the virtues of well-balanced, moist banana muffins with the gently bitter edge of espresso. There’s lots of chocolate in each muffin, however, enough that it cannot be ignored. I like miniature chips here. It seems that they allow for a nicer distribution of little chocolate pockets in my opinion, but you could certainly have delicious muffins with regular-sized chocolate chips.

 

These muffins are really delicious, pleasantly sweet, moist and chocolaty, and used some extremely overripe banana languishing in the kitchen. Those are all good enough reasons for me to eat them. If you need an excuse to eat muffins, just remember that while these may look like little cakes, they also contain plenty of fruit plus a little of your morning (or afternoon) coffee. Good enough? I think so.

 

Espresso Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

adapted from Pastry Affair and Cooking Light magazine

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon instant espresso powder
1 egg
6 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled
¾ cup buttermilk
3 medium bananas, peeled and well mashed (about 1 ½ cups)
1 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray or line it with paper liners.

2. In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt, sugar and espresso powder. Whisk together until well combined. Set aside.

3. In another bowl, whisk together the egg and butter until smooth. Add the buttermilk and whisk to blend well. Whisk in the banana until smooth.

4. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture. Stir together until the dry ingredients are nearly moistened. Gently stir in the chocolate chips.

5. Evenly distribute the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350 F for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in a muffin comes out with a few moist crumbs but no wet batter.

6. Remove from the oven and cool about 5 minutes in the pan. Remove from the pan and cool at least 10 minutes more. Serve warm or completely cooled. Freeze leftover muffins in a zip-top freezer bag.

Makes 12 muffins

  

Other recipes like this one: Cappuccino Muffins, Peanut Butter and Banana Breakfast Cookies    

One year ago: Pasta with Prosciutto and Roasted Orange, Beef Stew with Red Wine and Mushrooms

"Ultimate" Cappuccino Muffins

It’s very rare for me to have breakfast without coffee anymore, and with this muffin recipe, I can make mine a double. That’s because these delicious little babies have a hefty dose of scalded milk with espresso powder right in the batter. I’m not saying I could eat one (or two or three) for breakfast and forgo the cup of coffee, but in the event of some kind of coffee-brewing mix-up, I could probably survive.

This recipe comes from The Ultimate Muffin Book by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough. These authors have never steered me wrong, and I love these Cappuccino Muffins. I added a little almond extract to my muffins and stirred cinnamon directly into the batter (rather than sprinkling it on top as in the original recipe) just to customize them a bit.

I think you could customize these muffins many, many other ways as well. I’d like to add some cocoa, or the chocolate chips or hazelnut flavored syrup suggested in the book. Perhaps I could also use this coffee-infused scalded milk method to flavor up other goodies like coffeecakes, pancakes, or a loaf of bread. I’ve also considered cutting the amount of butter in the muffin recipes in this book, but I don’t get much beyond considering. I’m terrified to mess with all that deliciousness.

Of course, any further variations I might try would take some long-term preparation. It just isn’t safe for me to attempt rampant creativity in the morning before I’ve had my coffee or coffee muffin. Perhaps I’ll stick to this version of the recipe for a while. I can’t imagine I’ll get tired of it any time soon. A couple of these muffins make for the breakfast of champions! Well, coffee-drinking champions, anyway.

Cappuccino Muffins
Adapted from The Ultimate Muffin Book by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough

You could use instant coffee, which might be easier to find in decaf, in place of the espresso.

8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
1 cup milk (I used 2%, but whole or skim will also do)
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon fine salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 large egg
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Prepare a 12 cup muffin pan by spraying the cups with cooking spray or lining them with paper liners.

2. Melt the butter and set aside to cool.

3. In a small saucepan, heat the milk just until boiling, stirring occasionally to prevent scorching on the bottom of the pan. You just want to go until there are a few bubbles, not a full boil. Whisk in the instant espresso and set aside to cool slightly, about 5 minutes.

4. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Whisk together to mix well.

5. In a medium-size bowl, whisk together the egg and the cooled butter until well combined. Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly to prevent cooking the egg. Whisk in the vanilla and almond extracts.

6. Add the egg and milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined and all the dry ingredients are just moistened. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each about ¾ full.

7. Bake at 400 F for about 18 minutes. You can test to make sure the muffins are fully baked by inserting a wooden pick in one. It should come out without any wet batter sticking to it.

8. Remove the muffins from the oven and cool them in the pan on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes. Remove the muffins from the pan and let stand on the wire rack until they are cool enough to eat. Store leftovers in a zip-top plastic bag for a day or two, or freeze, well wrapped, for longer storage.

Makes 12 muffins.


Another recipe like this one: Rhubarb Sour Cream Muffins (Got rhubarb from last summer in your freezer? Or is it just me?)

One year ago: Red Flannel Hash with Spicy Mustard

Two years ago: Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup