Chocolate chip cookie meets snickerdoodle in this perfect holiday cookie combination!
Chocolate chip cookies are probably my favorite dessert of all time, but I love a good snickerdoodle. They are buttery on the inside and the texture on the outside from the cinnamon sugar is something unlike most other cookies. The only thing that could make a snickerdoodle better? Chocolate chips of course!
I based this recipe off of my chewy vanilla sugar cookies. I love the soft and chewy center of those cookies. There is no cream of tartar as there often is in snickerdoodles, but since this is a twist on a classic I kept the base recipe as is with a mix of baking soda and powder. There isn't as long of a chill time required for this recipe, and the other key changes are the addition of chocolate chips and of course rolling the dough in a cinnamon sugar mixture.
In these cookies, there are two ingredients I would encourage you to splurge on if you're looking to. Butter and chocolate. For butter, I would use a European style or cultured butter. Especially since there isn't brown sugar in this recipe, the butter offers a lot of flavor in the dough so I love to use Plugra for a cookie like this. I also always think a high quality chocolate is worth it. Any chips will do, or even chopped chocolate if you'd like, but my favorite pick for this recipe is the classic semisweet chocolate chips from Guittard.
I do recommend using a stand mixer if you have one but a hand mixer would work well too. If you don't have either available to you, you can use a spatula and ensure you spend extra time creaming your butter and sugar together and that your butter is truly soft at room temperature.
I love the option to freeze dough and bake later, but because these cookies are rolled in sugar that gets a bit tricky. Baking from frozen in this case could also lead to a much thicker cookie. I would instead recommend baking and freezing the fresh baked cookies, or sharing with loved ones to ensure the full batch gets enjoyed within a few days. They do stay fairly soft for a few days if stored in an airtight container but I always think that fresh baked is the best!
For scooping your cookie dough, I love these scoops from Cook'n Feel (I use the medium scoop usually for cookies) or this large scoop from Oxo.
Ingredients:
Cookie dough
1 stick (half cup) unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (6 oz) semisweet chocolate chips or chocolate of choice
Cinnamon sugar mix
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Total time: About three hours including chill time
Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Chill time: 2-6 hours
Bake time: 14-16 minutes
Equipment:
Stand mixer with paddle attachment*
Spatula or large spoon
Plastic wrap
Cookie sheets
Scooper (2 1/2 to 3 tablespoons)
Parchment paper
*You can use a hand mixer instead. A spatula can work too but I recommend using a mixer if you have one.
Cooking instructions:
Place your butter and granulated sugar into your stand mixer with the paddle attachment secured. Note: if your butter is not at room temperature already, you can either place it first into the microwave for 5-10 seconds, or mix your stand mixer at a low speed for 30-60 seconds until your butter is softened.
Bring your stand mixer slowly from a low to high speed and allow it to combine the butter and sugar for 2 minutes.
Pause your stand mixer and scrape down the sides of your butter and sugar mixture as well as your paddle attachment to ensure that no pockets of butter and sugar go unmixed. Add in your egg and vanilla extract, then slowly bring your stand mixer back to a high speed and allow it to combine your mixture for another 2 minutes. Pause, scrape down the sides of your mixture and paddle attachment again, and mix for another minute.
Scrape down your sides again as well as your paddle attachment and add in your dry ingredients, flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Start your mixer at a slow speed. Bring it up to a medium speed, mixing until almost incorporated, about 30 seconds.
Pause your mixer and add in your cup of chocolate chips. Turn your mixer back on at a low to medium speed to fully disperse your chocolate chips and to bring your dough together without overmixing.
Chill your dough for at least two hours up to six hours. You can either cover your dough in the stand mixer bowl or transfer it into plastic wrap.
Once your dough is firm to the touch (at least two hours in the fridge) remove your dough from the fridge and mix your cinnamon sugar mix ingredients in a small dish or bowl.
Use a cookie scoop or large spoon to portion out your dough. It should make about 12 cookies, 2 1/2 - 3 tablespoons per cookie. Space out your dough onto two or three lined cookie sheets, I used parchment paper.
Roll each cookie scoop in your cinnamon sugar mix and ensure the dough is fully covered.
Place your cookie scoops back into the fridge to firm up and preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Bake your cookies for 14-16 minutes until lightly golden around the edges. Allow them to cool and enjoy!
Note: your cookies will be a little thick, but if you want a thicker style cookie, you can bake at 350 instead for 12-14 minutes. I prefer baking them at 325, but both options were great!
If you don't plan to enjoy your cookies the day they're baked, make sure to store them in an airtight container in the fridge or at room temperature. Once fully cooled, you can also plastic wrap your baked cookies and place them into an airtight container and into the freezer to enjoy another time.
Carb and serving info:
Servings: 12 cookies
Carbs per serving: 35
Carbs for full recipe: 419.6
Note: Carb information is calculated based on the specific ingredients I used to cook with to help guide my own insulin to carb ratio when dosing before I eat my home cooked recipes.