Winter-Spiced Chocolate Chunk Cookies
A warm winter-spiced and rich chocolate chunk cookie, with gooey chopped dark chocolate and walnuts/pecans for a toasted nutty flavor.
November and December were cookie months for me. I was on the hunt for the BEST chocolate chip cookies in the world. I was craving something soft, gooey, chewy, kind of like cutting into a molten lava cake, except in cookie form. After recalling my experiences eating all types of chocolate chip cookies and much research on cookie recipes… I think I’ve found it.
For the holidays, I gifted these cookies to my church friends. Let me share some of the responses that they gave me:
“Dude what are these amazing cookies (heart eyes emoji)”
“My suitemate loved your cookies. He said he’d only eat one and ended up eating both.”
“Your cookies were sooo good, it was so hard to stop myself from eating the second one.”
Needless to say, this is my go-to chocolate chip cookie recipe, especially during the cold season – decadently chewy, gooey, and warming.
What makes this winter-spiced chocolate chunk cookie so good?
- One of the keys is in the name – chocolate chunk, and not chocolate chip, cookies. After this recipe, I will never make cookies again with chocolate chips. Using chopped dark chocolate from a bar, and using it generously, is what gives this cookie its gooey richness.
- Key number two is treating this cookie more like a cake. Instead of using entirely all-purpose flour, I add corn starch for a more cake flour-like fine and soft consistency. That is what makes the bite into this cookie the appropriate amount of tender, rather than brittle and crispy.
- What makes this cookie so chewy is definitely the primary use of brown sugar over white sugar and adding in extra egg yolks. The more brown sugar, the chewier the cookie is. Brown sugar is regular sugar infused with molasses, therefore it acts as a source of moisture and chewiness to the cookie. Additionally, the more the egg yolks, the richer the cookie is. Egg yolks are high in fat content, contributing to the thick texture that we’re looking for.
- Lastly, it’s how the ingredients are prepared – namely, by browning the butter and toasting the nuts. Though these steps are optional, they offer deeper and more complex notes to the cookie flavor. If you want to go from “home baker” to having a more bakery-style finesse, I highly suggest incorporating these two steps.
What chocolate should you use for this cookie recipe?
In this recipe, I recommend using 60-70% dark chocolate bars. Again, we are not using chips, but cutting from a chocolate bar.
Using milk or white chocolate can throw off the overall balance of sweetness. The dark, nutty, and not overwhelmingly sweet flavor of the cookie is what people enjoy most about this cookie. However, if you really have a major sweet tooth, you can substitute the dark chocolate for milk ones with a lower cocoa percentage. You can also do a mix of dark and milk. I would not recommend substituting with white chocolate because it doesn’t melt as nicely as the other chocolates do.
What spices are in this winter-spiced chocolate chunk cookie?
For this winter-spiced cookie, I use cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, and cloves. When I hear “spiced” I almost automatically need to include these 5 power spices. These winter spices are not only associated with the cold weather but also have a warming effect on the body, which is why I love the thought of cuddling up with these cookies, a book, and a cup of hot tea.
If you’re short on the spices, add as many as you can. At the minimum, use cinnamon and ginger to get that spicy kick. If you’re feeling fancy, feel free to throw in a pinch of ground star anise.
If you try this out, please share your experience and pictures with me! Tag me @thebutterbunch_ on Instagram or email your photos to thebutterbunch.contact@gmail.com
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For step-by-step directions with more photos, check out the full blog post on Winter-Spiced Chocolate Chunk Cookies on The Butter Bunch.
Winter-Spiced Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Recipe details
Ingredients
- 1 + 1/4 cups Unsalted Butter
- 1 + 1/4 cups Light Brown Sugar
- 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
- 2 Large Eggs, at room temperature
- 2 Egg Yolks, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 3 + 3/8 cups All-purpose Flour
- 4 tablespoon Cornstarch
- 1 + 1/2 teaspoon Salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
- 2 teaspoons Ground Cinnamon
- 1 + 1/2 teaspoons Ground Ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon Ground Cardamom
- 1/4 teaspoon Cloves
- 1 + 1/2 cups Walnuts, coarsely chopped, toasted
- 3 cups 60-70% Dark Chocolate Bar, coarsely chopped (340g)
- **Check blog for 9-cookie recipe
Instructions
- Preparations: Take out the eggs to sit at room temperature. Measure out and prepare all the other ingredients. Coarsely chop the chocolate bar and pecans/walnuts in approximately 1/2 inch increments.
- Optional: Brown the butter – in a small light-colored saucepan over medium heat, melt 1 + 1/4 cups of butter. Keep stirring throughout the whole process to prevent the butter from burning. The melted butter will start foaming, and once the foaming subdues, you should smell a nutty aroma and see an amber yellow color and little speckles of brown solids on the bottom of the pan. If you don’t have a light-colored saucepan, test the color and speckles of the butter by ladling some onto a white plate. This should take a total of 6-8 minutes.Optional: Toast the nuts – preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread out the coarsely chopped walnuts/pecans on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake in the oven for 6-8 minutes, until they have a golden brown finish and smell more intensely nutty.
- Spiced Chocolate Chunk Cookies: In a large mixing bowl, mix the sugars together. With a hand mixer or stand mixer on medium speed, slowly stream in the melted butter and incorporate until smooth. Add in the eggs and yolks one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally and mixing well after each addition.
- In a separate mixing bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, salt, baking soda, and spices – cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, and cloves. In two separate batches, sift the dry mixture into the wet ingredients and hand mix with a wooden spoon or stand mixer with a paddle attachment to combine.
- Fold in toasted walnuts or pecans with a wooden spoon. Then fold in the chocolate chunks.
- Wrap the mixing bowl and place in the fridge for at least 45 minutes up to 24 hours.
- When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking tray or cookie sheet with parchment paper. Measure out 3 oz of the cookie dough (about one big handful) and form into a ball. If you refrigerated for longer than 45 minutes, you will have to pre-flatten the cookies a bit. Space out the cookie dough on the tray at least 2 inches apart. Bake in the oven for 10-13 minutes, the tops should be slightly golden brown.
- The cookies will be gooey and hard to handle once out of the oven. Let them rest for 10 minutes on the tray before moving them to cool on a rack. Enjoy warm out of the oven, or if left at room temperature, microwave for about 20 seconds before eating!
Tips
- For step-by-step directions with more photos, check out the full blog post on Winter-Spiced Chocolate Chunk Cookies on The Butter Bunch.
- https://thebutterbunch.com/winter-spiced-chocolate-chunk-cookies/
Comments
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The bomb!!
Reduced temp to 400 & baked 8 min. 1/2 batch made 18 (scant 1/4 c) cookies