Chocolate Espresso Bean Cookies

A grown-up twist on the classic childhood favourite, Chocolate Espresso Bean Cookies are loaded with coffee flavour, sugary goodness, and of course, lots of crushed chocolate covered espresso beans! These are delicious just as they are, or dust them lightly with good cocoa powder to make them just a little bit more special!

CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO BEAN COOKIES

A short while ago, I partnered with our local restaurant and pizzeria in a Wednesday night family meal deal special. Rideau Restaurant & Pizzeria supplied the meal, and Lord Byron’s Kitchen supplied a prize pack and of course, a little dessert. I prepared a cookie filled with sprinkles for the kids, and these Chocolate Espresso Bean Cookies for the adults.

I think the whole process was just as much fun for me as it was for the winner. Although, I did stress a little about the prize pack, because that’s what I do – I stress over everything. I put together some Lord Byron’s Kitchen swag, including a reusable tote bag, a t-shirt, a water bottle, and the two types of cookies. I didn’t think it was enough, so I threw in a bottle of gin and a $25 grocery gift card. Always better to give too much than too little, right?

Making the cookies put me in my element. I love baking, and you know how much I love to bake cookies with sprinkles! When I was thinking about what to bake for the adults, I just thought about what I’d like for dessert after a delicious meal. One can never go wrong with coffee, but I knew a cookie with coffee extract just wouldn’t cut it, so I included the chocolate covered espresso beans. I thought they were delicious – not too much coffee flavour, but just enough!

CAN SO MUCH COFFEE BE TOO MUCH COFFEE?

For some people, there’s such as thing as too much coffee. I have yet to feel that way! Because of the espresso beans and the coffee extract, you might thing there would be too much coffee flavour in the cookies.

I thought so too initially, but to be perfectly honest, I thought the coffee flavour was quite subtle. And, it worked so well in contrast to the sugar. Coffee extract is not easy to find in stores. Although, on many occasions, I have found it at Walmart and Target. I always use the Watkins brand, because it’s the easiest one to find. You can buy it online too, if you can’t find it in stores.

If you don’t have it or if you want to use something else, you can most certainly go right ahead and use vanilla extract. Vanilla, chocolate, and coffee all work very well together. If I did not use coffee extract, I would have most likely used a coffee flavoured liqueur in its place.

CHOCOLATE COVERED ESPRESSO BEANS

You can buy these from a specialty store or online, but I have found that the best place to source them is Starbucks. They stock and sell little packets for under five dollars. Two packets is all you need for this recipe. I always buy three packets, because I know I’m going to eat quite a few before I get to the baking part. I just want to make sure I have enough left for the recipe!

Crushing espresso beans is not a task that should be completed with a food processor or the good old trusty resealable bag and a rolling pin method. It’s too easy to over crush them. You will want to crush them to resemble small pebbles, not sand.

The best way to crush espresso beans is to use a mortar and pestle. I literally add one bean at a time to the mortar and firmly crush it with the pestle. One at a time might seem ridiculous, but it’s a great way to get out your frustrations, if you have any! Now, if you don’t have a mortar and pestle, you can certainly chop them with a knife. Place them onto a cutting board and chop until the beans are broken down into tiny bits.

SHAPING THE COOKIE

Even though these are indeed prepared with a sugar cookie base, they do bake up much like a shortbread. What I mean by this is that there isn’t much rising or puffing up in the baking process. They are a great cookie that really keeps it shape quite well. So, however they look when they go into the oven, will be close to what they look like when they come out!

Here’s how I get all thirty two cookies from this batch of cookie dough to look the same. Once the dough is prepared, I use a cookie scoop to portion the dough into even amounts. I roll each scoop of dough into a ball and place it onto a the prepared cookie sheet. Be sure to leave a good two inches of space between each ball!

Next, I use the bottom of a drinking glass to press the cookie flat. Use a drinking glass with a very flat bottom. A whisky glass works great for this. Dip the bottom of the glass into all-purpose flour and gently tap off the excess. Place the bottom of the glass onto the cookie ball and press down until the cookie is about a quarter inch thick. Repeat with all cookies, being sure to dip the drinking glass into the flour each and every time.

HERE’S WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

1. Flour – Regular all-purpose flour is good here. No need for anything fancy.
2. Baking Powder – A very small amount is used just to balance out the cookie, but not enough make it rise too much.
3. Salt – Salt is used in baking to essentially elevate the other flavours. If using salted butter, do not add salt.
4. Butter – All good cookies need butter! It also acts as a binding agent in this recipe.
5. Sugar – There’s a lot of sugar in these cookies, but it is a sugar cookie! Don’t worry about it being too sweet. The salt and the coffee will offset the sweetness.
6. Eggs – Along with the butter, the eggs will bind everything together. It also helps to smooth out the batter, making for a melt in your mouth cookie.
7. Coffee Extract – This is a coffee flavoured cookie, so coffee extract makes sense. If you don’t have coffee extract, use coffee liqueur or substitute it with vanilla extract.
8. Espresso Beans – I used chocolate covered espresso beans, but you can use beans without the chocolate. Also, espresso powder would work in this cookie, but only use a tablespoon of it.
9. Cocoa Powder – It’s completely optional, but it adds more chocolatey flavour and makes the cookies look better too!

HOW TO MAKE CHOCOLATE ESPRESSO BEAN COOKIES:

This is really a simple recipe. Let me outline the steps for you. In a large bowl, use a hand-held mixer to beat together the butter and sugar until creamy and light yellow in colour. (About 4-5 minutes.) You can use a stand mixer too, of course. Add the eggs one at a time and beat into the butter and sugar mixture. Finally, beat in the coffee extract.

Sift in the flour, salt, and baking powder. Beat into the wet mixture until well combined. Lastly, add the crushed espresso beans and just beat into the cookie dough until well mixed through.

Portion the cookie dough into heaping tablespoons. Roll into a ball and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Press down on each ball until ball is flattened to just a 1/4 inch thick. (I used the bottom of a drinking glass.) Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes before transferring to a wire cooling rack to finish cooling. Once completely cooled, you can dust with cocoa powder if you wish.

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