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Magnolia style chocolate chip cookies on a baking rack

Magnolia Style Chocolate Chip Cookies

With brown sugar taking center stage, these Magnolia Table inspired chocolate chip cookies are filled with gooey, rich chocolate flavor and perfectly crisp edges.
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Serving Size 21 cookies

Equipment

  • Baking sheet
  • Parchment paper
  • Stand mixer (or hand mixer)
  • Whisk
  • Spatula
  • Digital Scale,
  • Circular cookie cutter or wide mouth mason jar lid (optional)
  • Wire cooling rack

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups all purpose flour (300 g)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon table salt
  • ¼ teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
  • 2 cups packed light brown sugar (400 g)
  • 1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter* cold and cubed (see notes)
  • 2 large eggs (room temperature)
  • 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract* (see notes)
  • 1 ½-2 cups semisweet chocolate chips* (170g) (see notes)

Instructions

Prepare the oven:

  • Preheat the oven to 350℉ (180℃) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Make the dough:

  • In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a mixing bowl and hand mixer) mix the flour, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder together until evenly combined.
  • Add the brown sugar and cold, cubed butter and mix on low-medium until the mixture resembles coarse sand.
  • Add the eggs and vanilla and mix on medium speed until combined.
  • Turn the mixer to high speed for a few seconds to pull the dough together and make it chunky.
  • Fold in the chocolate chips using a wooden spoon or spatula.

Shape the cookies:

  • Using a digital scale, weigh out 50 grams of dough and use your hands to form the dough into balls. (For larger, bakery style cookies, make 80 gram dough balls.)
  • For best results, freeze the dough overnight before baking. If you have less time, chill in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.

Bake:

  • Place the dough balls on the lined baking sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes for the 50 gram cookies or 12-15 minutes for the 80 gram cookies. The tops of the cookies should be lightly browned. (Bake times are calculated with frozen dough. Bake for 10-12 minutes if using room temperature or refrigerated dough. )
  • (Optional) For a beautifully circular cookie, carefully swirl each cookie using a round cookie cutter or wide mouth mason jar lid as soon as the cookies are removed from the oven.
  • Cool the cookies on the baking sheet for 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining dough.

Storage:

  • Store the cookies in a tightly covered container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Notes

Ingredients
  • Using cold butter makes for chunkier dough and less spreading.
  • You can use salted or unsalted butter. I prefer to use salted butter since the recipe calls for a low amount of salt.
  • You can swap the vanilla extract for Mexican vanilla for a richer flavor.
  • For bursts of chocolate flavor and dimension, I use ½ cup mini chocolate chips and 1 cup of chocolate chunks.
Technique
  • Measure the flour and brown sugar in grams using a digital scale for the most accurate consistency in batches.
  • Do not switch the soda for powder. Even though “soda spreads and powder puffs”, this recipe relies on baking soda because it reacts to the acidic molasses in the brown sugar to produce carbon dioxide bubbles.
Storage
  • These cookies can be frozen for up to 1 month. Heat in the microwave for 10 seconds to warm up.
  • You can also freeze the cookie dough balls for up to one month.