Triple Chocolate Chunk Cookies: Soft and Chewy Cookie Recipe

You’ve got questions? I’ve got answers! If you have a question you don’t see listed below, please drop them in the comments section. I’m happy to help when I can! 

These are YOUR cookies, so of course you are free to use one variety of chocolate or more in this triple chocolate cookies recipe, depending upon your personal preference. However, using a variety of three types of chocolate creates a more complex flavor profile and interesting texture. It’s what makes these cookies truly “triple chocolate.” But it’s important to note that while I love the combination of cocoa powder with dark and semi-sweet chocolate, you can use any combination you love, such as milk and white chocolate.

Below are six common varieties of chocolates you can use in this triple chocolate chip cookie recipe. But, keep in mind, you’ll want to use varieties that complement each other, such as semisweet and dark or bittersweet for the ultimate triple chocolate cookies.

• Semisweet: Semisweet chocolate is typically in the 55-60% cacao range. It’s a great option if you are looking for that classic chocolate cookie taste – deeply chocolatey and sweet, but not too sweet.
• Milk Chocolate: With about 40% cacao, this is a sweeter, silkier, and more indulgent cousin of the semisweet chocolate. If you love milk chocolate chips, I suggest pairing it with dark or bittersweet to balance the flavor, otherwise your cookies may be overly sweet.
• Bittersweet: Very dark and intensely chocolatey (about 70% cocoa), with just a hint of pleasant sweetness, bittersweet and semisweet chocolate can be used interchangeably. However, bittersweet has a deeper flavor and a touch less sweetness. If you are looking for the chocolate flavor to really shine in your cookies, I suggest using a combination of the two!
• Dark: With a cacao content of 70% and above, dark chocolate has a complex, slightly bitter flavor that true chocolate enthusiasts love. If you adore dark chocolate chips, I suggest pairing it with just a little bit of milk chocolate to balance the flavor.
• White: White chocolate contains no cacao – it’s simply made of cocoa butter and sugar. It’s delightfully sweet and creamy with a subtle vanilla flavor. White chocolate chips tastes great in this recipe if you are looking to make inside out chocolate cookies!
• Unsweet: Unsweet chocolate is very bitter, slightly chalky and crumbly in texture. This variety is typically used in combination with another chocolate. This cookie recipe uses unsweetened cocoa powder.

• Bars: Chocolate bars are easy to find and extremely versatile! They also happen to be my favorite chocolate for cookies. You can easily chop the bars into chunks and fold them into cookie dough or melt them to use for dipping your cookies! Using chopped chocolate bars in cookie dough will create a more decadent cookie with gooey pockets of melty chocolate!
• Disks: As the name suggests, chocolate disks, also known as chocolate wafers, are small, disc-shaped pieces of chocolate. Baking disks are difficult to find and typically used for melting and preparing glazes and ganache. However, they are also great in cookies, with one caveat – you need to roughly chop them first – if you don’t, the disks tend to be a little too big for standard-size cookies. Using (chopped) chocolate wafers in cookies will create a gooey chocolate cookie with melty pools of chocolate. (Note: Disks would be my favorite type of chocolate; however, they are a bit hard to find and a little pricy. But, if you can find them on sale, try them out as they’re worth it!!)
• Chips: Chocolate chips are a classic option for cookies; however, they aren’t my first choice. Chips contain preservatives which prevent the chocolate from fully melting, plus those preservatives give the chocolate a slightly waxy texture. If you love the look of classic chocolate chips in your cookies, make sure you use a high-quality brand that uses minimal ingredients. I love the following brands: Hu (granted they are gems, not chips), Callebaut and Guittard.

When it comes to cocoa powder, you have two options for this recipe – you can use natural cocoa powder, or you can use a combination of natural cocoa powder and Dutch process cocoa powder (I use Hershey’s special dark).

• Using natural cocoa powder only: If you stick to using just natural cocoa powder your cookie will be delightfully thick – think, bakery-style thickness. (Remember, this is because the acidic natural cocoa powder will react with the baking soda giving the cookies plenty of rise.)
• Using a combination of cocoa powders: If you use a combination of cocoa powders your cookies will have a more complex chocolate flavor and your cookies will be more on the normal side as far as thickness – they will definitely be much thicker than a thin and crispy cookie!
  Take away: I have made these cookies both ways (with just natural cocoa and with a combination of cocoa powders) and both varieties get rave reviews! Honestly, it depends on your personal preference. Using a combination will give you a richer chocolate flavor; however, using just natural cocoa will give you a thicker cookie.

Both the dark brown sugar and the granulated sugars play a crucial role in this triple chocolate chocolate chip cookies recipe texture. While you can try reducing it slightly (by about 10-15%), please note that you will change the cookie’s structure and taste.

Chilling the triple chocolate chip cookie dough is crucial for preventing excessive spreading; however, it also develops flavor The chill time allows the flour to hydrate and the fats to solidify, resulting in thicker, chewier cookies with a more complex taste.

If your cookies look more like pancakes than delightfully puffy hockey pucks, that’s obviously no good. See my simple tips for baking up thicker chocolatey cookies every single time:

• Don’t soften your butter in the microwave. Let your butter come to room temperature out on the counter. Room temperature butter should give slightly if you gently press it with your finger, but still hold its shape. Never microwave the butter to soften it as it will cause your cookies to turn out flat.
• Chill your cookie dough longer. Cold cookie dough bakes up thicker cookies than warm cookie dough, so always chill your dough for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
• Never grease your cookie sheets. Greasing your cookie sheets will cause the cookies to spread too much and turn flat. I recommend using silicone baking mats or parchment paper instead.
• Bake one cookie sheet at a time/ Baking too many sheets of cookies at once can negatively impact your cookies. Always bake just one pan of cookies at a time in the center rack of your oven.

For traditional chocolate chip cookies, you can tell when the cookies are done baking by their color, as the edges will be slightly golden.

However, you can’t go off of visual cues when you are baking dark-colored triple chocolate cookies recipes. This chocolate chocolate cookies are done baking when the outside edges feel dry to the touch and look set – the middles of the cookies should still be soft to the touch and look underdone!

To test for doneness: If you are having doubts, use your finger to very gently press the center of the cookie – if your finger leaves a slight indentation the cookies are done. Just remember, it’s always better to under-bake this triple chocolate cookie recipe than to over-bake it.

Absolutely! You can freeze the triple chocolate chip cookie dough balls for up to 3 months. Or alternatively, you can also store the baked cookies in the freezer for up to 2 months.