Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

These Double Chocolate Chip Cookies are thick, chewy, and indulgent! They’re rich and fudge-like, with just a hint of salt to make the chocolate pop! An easy recipe made in under 45 minutes!

Calling all chocolate lovers, do I have the cookies for you! These double chocolate cookies are filled with chocolate flavor in every bite. They are rich, soft, and chewy with pockets of melty chocolate chips. A little salt amplifies and balances the chocolate. Basically, these Double Chocolate Chip Cookies taste like fudgy brownies and chocolate chip cookies were magically combined into one.

These brownie-meets-cookie hybrids also pair well alongside these brownie cookies or this easy one-bowl brownies! For more double chocolate cookies, you can make these chocolate thumbprint cookies!

Ingredients & Substitutions

• All-purpose Flour
• Cocoa Powder: I use Dutch-processed cocoa powder. It has a rich, deep flavor and a darker color. You could also use natural cocoa powder.
• Kosher Salt
• Baking Powder
• Dark Chocolate: I like to use anywhere between 55-65% dark chocolate pistols. They melt beautifully and have a great flavor. The best substitute here would be to chop a semi-sweet chocolate bar into larger pieces. You could also use bittersweet or even unsweetened chocolate.
• Light Brown Sugar
• Granulated Sugar
• Unsalted Butter
• Large Eggs: The eggs add fat, moisture, and leavening. The fat from the yolk adds richness and helps keep the cookies chewy, which is why I also use egg yolks in the best pumpkin spice donut recipe! Eggs also emulsify the batter and keep everything texturally perfect.
• Vanilla Extract
• Chocolate Chips: I am picky about my semi-sweet chocolate chips. I want them to be just sweet enough and have a high-quality texture. Sometimes, the additives that allow chips to keep their shape once melted and cooled can affect the taste and mouthfeel. I also love Guittard, but they aren’t always available.
• Maldon: Maldon salt is optional, but it will enhance the cookies’ flavor.

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations on This Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Nuts. Fold in toasted and cooled walnuts, pecans, almonds, or peanuts for added texture and a nutty contrast to the deep chocolate. My white chocolate macadamia nut cookies use a similar approach if you want inspiration for nut-to-dough ratios.
• Mix-In Swaps. Replace the semi-sweet chocolate chips with peanut butter chips, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, or a mix of dark and white chocolate for a different flavor profile. M&Ms, chopped Reese’s, Snickers, or Twix pressed into the tops before baking work just as well.
• Seasonal Flavors. Add peppermint extract in place of vanilla for a Christmas-ready cookie, or swap in almond extract for a nutty, aromatic variation.
• White Chocolate and Cranberry. Swap the semi-sweet chips for white chocolate chips and fold in dried cranberries for a tart, sweet contrast to the cocoa base. My White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies show exactly how that combination plays out if you want a dedicated recipe.
• Skillet Cookie. Press the dough into a cast iron skillet at room temperature and bake until the edges are set, then top with ice cream straight from the oven.

Professional Tips

• Do not overcream the butter and sugar. Cold but pliable butter mixed briefly with the sugars keeps the dough dense enough to bake up thick and fudgy. Fully creamed butter incorporates too much air, and the cookies will spread flat rather than hold their height.
• Cool the melted chocolate before adding it. The chocolate should feel just warm to the touch, not hot, before it goes into the dough. Hot chocolate added to eggs will begin to cook them, which changes the texture of the finished cookie and can leave you with scrambled bits in an otherwise perfect dough.
• Chill the dough until firm before baking. The dough is very sticky at room temperature, and the cookies will spread more than intended if you bake them warm. Thirty minutes in the refrigerator firms everything up and is the difference between a thick, fudgy cookie and a flat one.

How to Make Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Use these instructions to make the perfect double chocolate cookie every time! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, Dutch-process cocoa powder, baking powder, and kosher salt in a bowl and set it aside.

If your cocoa powder is lumpy, sift it. You don’t want any pockets of unmixed cocoa in the finished dough, which would bake into a bitter, dry spot in the cookie.

Step 2: Melt the chocolate. Melt the chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Stir after each 15-second interval. Continue until the chocolate is fully melted.

Step 3: Cream butter and sugar. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together on medium speed just until the mixture looks combined and slightly lightened. The butter should be cold but pliable when you begin: firm enough to hold its shape but soft enough to give when pressed.

Step 4: Add the eggs one at a time. With the mixer on medium-low, add the eggs one at a time, beating for about 20 seconds after each before adding the next. Then add the vanilla and beat just to combine.

Step 5: Stream in the melted chocolate. Pour the melted, cooled dark chocolate into the mixer bowl while the mixer runs on low. Beat until the batter is fully combined, smooth, and a deep, uniform brown.

The chocolate should be cool enough that it does not melt the butter: if it is too warm, the fat breaks, and the dough turns greasy. Room temperature is the target.

Step 6: Add the dry ingredients and chocolate chips. With the mixer on low, add the sifted dry ingredients and mix until just combined, then fold in the chocolate chips. Stop the moment you no longer see streaks of flour.

Step 7: Chill the dough. Cover the bowl and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes, until it is firm enough to scoop cleanly. Because the dough is so sticky when freshly mixed, chilling makes portioning much easier and also helps the cookies hold their shape in the oven.

The dough can be wrapped and refrigerated for up to one week, or portioned and frozen for up to one month. Bake directly from frozen, adding 1 to 2 minutes to the bake time.

Step 8: Scoop and flatten. Using a large cookie scoop or kitchen scale, portion the chilled dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart. Press each one down slightly with your palm. Sprinkle with Maldon salt if using.

Even portioning matters here: cookies that are different sizes will bake at different rates, and the smaller ones will overbake before the larger ones are done.

Step 9: Bake until matte and cracked. Bake at 350°F conventional or 325°F convection for 7 to 8 minutes. Because the dough is such a deep, dark color, the usual visual cues do not apply. Watch for two things instead: the edges should look set and the tops should be fully matte with visible cracks. A center that still looks glossy or wet needs another minute. Pull the cookies as soon as the shine disappears entirely, even if the centers look soft. They will firm up as they cool.

Step 10: Cool on the pan. Let the cookies rest on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack. They are fragile right out of the oven and will hold together better once that resting time is up. The texture continues to set as they cool, moving from fudgy and molten to that thick, chewy, brownie-like bite, which I love.

Recipe FAQs

Before You Go

If these rich, fudgy double chocolate chip cookies made it onto your regular rotation, I hope you find something equally worthwhile to bake next. Browse more ideas in my Cookie Recipes or make these Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies!