Yield: 11 large mocha marble cookies // Total Time: 1 hr. 15 min. // Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links.
It wouldn’t be Fresh Bean Bakery if we weren’t using some coffee in a recipe! These mocha marble cookies feature a vanilla dough, espresso dough, and a chocolate dough all wrapped up into one delicious, thick and chewy cookie.
Recipe notes for mocha marble cookies:
Measuring the ingredients
My recipes are all written in grams because it is a more accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements. Here is my favorite kitchen scale, and here’s an article about why I use a kitchen scale, and why you should too!
Room temperature ingredients
It is important that the butter, eggs, and buttermilk are at room temperature so that they incorporate properly with the rest of the ingredients. Take out the butter, eggs, and buttermilk at least 30 minutes before starting the recipe. If you are in a hurry and need some tricks to getting room temperature ingredients quickly, you can check out this post here!
Chilling the dough
I know, this part is super annoying, especially when you are craving dessert! We are using our hands to roll up the dough, which is going to make it super warm and more likely to spread and end up thin and crispy if we were to bake it right away. Chilling the dough for at least 20 minutes ensures that the dough cools down and ends up nice and thick after baking!
How to get perfectly round cookies
If your cookies come out of the oven a little misshapen, don’t panic! Rarely do any cookies come out perfect. The way to fix this is to take a bowl or biscuit cutter that is slightly larger than your cookies, and swirl the cookie around in it on the baking sheet right when it comes out of the oven. This will put your cookie back into a perfect circle!
Ingredients and substitutions
All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness.
Baking powder: for helping the cookies rise and giving them that chewy, cakey center.
Salt: for balancing and bringing out the sweetness of the dough.
Baking soda: for helping the cookies rise and giving them those crispy edges
Unsalted butter: for tenderizing the cookies. You can substitute in salted butter, just be sure to omit the extra salt in the dough.
Light brown sugar: for adding moisture, flavor, and sweetness to the cookies.
Granulated sugar: helps the cookies maintain their moisture and sweetens them.
Egg: for binding the dough together and adding moisture. An extra egg yolk in the dough helps to enrich it!
Vanilla: for flavor. I use and love this vanilla extract!
Instant espresso powder: It wouldn’t be mocha without some coffee! Use your favorite instant espresso powder here.
Dutch process cocoa powder: for adding the chocolate part of the mocha and for coloring. I recommend using dutch process over natural cocoa because you will get darker and more pronounced colors, however, you can certainly use natural cocoa if that is what you have on hand.
Want more pronounced color differences in the mocha marble cookies?
If you would like the colors to stand out more, I would recommend using black cocoa for the chocolate dough in place of the dutch process cocoa. Still use dutch process for the espresso dough, though. You will get super pronounced colors this way!
How to marble the cookies
After dishing out the dough, we will split each dough ball in half. Alternate adding each split dough ball and flavor into your hand, then use your hands to roll the dough into a ball. Each cookie will turn out perfectly unique!
Can I make the dough ahead of time?
Yes of course! Most cookie dough gets better with time. You can make the dough and keep it tightly covered in the fridge for up to 48 hours before baking. If you are looking to make the dough even further in advance, it can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 2 months before baking.
Can I double this recipe?
Of course! Simply double all the ingredients in this recipe to make 22 delicious large mocha marble cookies
How big are these mocha marble cookies?
These are larger than the standard sized cookies. We will use a 1.5 tbsp. cookie scoop to dish out each flavor, making the cookies 4.5 tbsp. each. If you would like a more standard size cookie, you can use a 1 tbsp. scoop for each flavor. If you do this, you should end up with 16 cookies!
How to store mocha marble cookies
These cookies will definitely be the best on the day that they are baked. However, they will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. For longer term storage, you can freeze the baked cookies or the cookie dough.
Tools and ingredients
Cookie Sheet: I absolutely love USA pan products because of their great quality. I use their cookie sheet which is always the perfect size for all of my small batch cookies!
Silicone baking mat: parchment paper will always do the job for cookies, but I like to use a silicone mat when I can to try to cut down on waste. This is the one I use.
Cookie scoops: I have gone through a lot of cookie scoops in my baking journey, and these ones have lasted me the longest without breaking. Plus they are dishwasher safe! In these cookies I use the 1.5 tbsp. scoop.
Vanilla: I love using Rodelle vanilla extract. Not only is it a great quality product, but it’s on the lower end of the price that vanilla can be! This is the one I use.
For a full list of tools, equipment and ingredients that I use and love, you can check out this page here.
Did you make these mocha marble cookies?
If you made these mocha marble cookies I would love to see them and know your thoughts! Please leave a comment and review down below, and tag me on Instagram @freshbeanbakery. If you have any questions about the recipe I will gladly do my best to answer them in the comments below!
Mocha Marble Cookie
Ingredients
- 315 g all purpose flour
- ¾ tsp. baking powder
- ¾ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. baking soda
- 226 g unsalted butter room temperature
- 200 g light brown sugar
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp. vanilla
- 3 tbsp. dutch process cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp. instant espresso
Instructions
- If desired, weigh your mixing bowl so that you can precisely divide the dough into 3 parts later in the recipe. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugars on medium speed until light and fluffy (3 min.)
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula, then add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Beat until well combined (1 min.)
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Stir together just until no flour streaks remain, being careful to not overmix.
- Divide the dough into 3 equal parts, keeping 1 part in the bowl of the stand mixer. To the dough in the mixer, add in the espresso and 1 tbsp. of cocoa. Beat the mixture together just until combined.
- Remove the espresso dough from the mixer and add in another third of dough. To that, add the remaining 2 tbsp. of cocoa and beat the mixture together just until combined.
- Use a 1.5 tbsp. cookie scoop to dish out each flavor of dough. Then, use a knife to split each cookie ball in half.
- Alternate adding each flavor to your hand, six pieces total. Roll the dough into a ball. Repeat until you have used all of the pieces.
- Chill the dough in the fridge for at least 20 min. to allow it to firm up and avoid over-spreading in the oven.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Place the cookie balls at least 2" apart from each other to allow room for spreading. Bake for 15 min.
- Serve and enjoy!
Katie says
Where is the recipe? Maybe I’m confused, but this page and the print recipe link take me to coffee cake muffins, not cookies? Thanks!!
Erin says
Hi! I’m not sure why that happened. It should be fixed now, thank you!