Chocolate Coffee Cookies (Reindeer Print Cookies)
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The chocolate coffee cookies include cocoa in the dough, combined with semi sweet or dark chocolate coating. The fun shape looks like a giant coffee bean or reindeer print, but whatever you call them, they’re delicious.
Tips for Baking Your Chocolate Coffee Cookies
I use instant coffee granules, but you can also use instant espresso powder.
This year I used Mount Hagen Organic Freeze Dried Instant Coffee, and was surprised by the kick. I had two small cookies after supper and was up half the night, so be warned.
For more “coffee” and less “chocolate”, stick to one tablespoon cocoa. (I prefer two, but I mention using one in the video.) Two tablespoons of dark cocoa powder gives the cookies a deeper color, closer to a real coffee bean.
Shaping and Baking the Cookies
In the video, I press the chopstick into the top of the cookie while it’s on the pan so it looks more like a coffee bean. Sometimes we press the chopstick into the cookie while holding it (since real coffee beans have the line on the flat side).
When I shared the cookies on social media, lots of folks said they looked like moose prints or reindeer tracks. Since we often make them as Christmas cookie, I officially added it to the name. You can call them whatever you like, as they are yummy either way.
Airbake cookie sheets are helpful, but not not absolutely necessary. It’s a little tricky to tell when a dark cookie is done baking, so watch your timer and don’t burn the cookies.
Dipping the Cookies
The coconut oil helps the melted semi sweet chocolate to flow more easily for coating the chocolate coffee cookies. If your melted chocolate is still a little thick, it’s okay to add a little more oil.
I prefer unrefined coconut oil for the slight coconut flavor. You can use refined coconut oil or responsibly grown palm shortening if you don’t like coconut flavor.
You can use chips, chunks or a broken up chocolate bar – your choice. Always melt your chocolate gently, with low heat. Chocolate chips or mini chips melt quicker than chocolate chunks.
If you crank up the heat too much, your chocolate can seize into a hard lump and become unusable.
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Time Saving Tips
If you are in a hurry, and don’t care about the coffee bean look, go ahead and roll the dough into a log and slice off cookies. Make the roll about 1 inch in diameter, and the slices about 3/8 inch thick. Bake as normal.
To save even more time, instead of dipping, mix a half cup of mini chocolate chips into the dough before baking. You still get two kinds of chocolate, but it’s much faster than dipping individual cookies.
PrintChocolate Coffee Cookies Recipe
Chocolate Coffee Cookies – These coffee flavored cookies include cocoa in the dough, combined with semi sweet or dark chocolate coating.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 48 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons instant coffee crystals
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 3/4 cup butter, softened
- 1 three ounce package of cream cheese, softened
- 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons cocoa
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chocolate chunks
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil
Instructions
- Combine the coffee crystals and milk. Stir until the coffee crystals dissolve. If your coffee is older and doesn’t dissolve easily, warm the milk a bit. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix butter and cream cheese until well blended. Add brown sugar, vanilla, and milk-coffee mix to the butter mixture. Stir until well combined. Add flour and cocoa and stir until blended. Cover and chill for one hour, or until dough is firm and easy to handle.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 1 inch ovals. Press a notch in each cookie with a chopstick (or something similar) so that it resembles a coffee bean.
- Place cookies one inch apart on baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until edges are firm and bottoms are a bit darker. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. You can leave these “as is”, but I recommend half dipping them in chocolate.
- To prep chocolate for dipping, melt chips together with coconut oil in a small saucepan. Dip cookies one at a time until about 1/3 to 1/2 covered, and place on wax paper or freezer paper to set. To speed chocolate set, place dipped cookies in a cool area or in the refrigerator. Makes about 48 cookies.
More Homemade Cookie Recipes
Did you know we have over 100 recipes on the site? They include:
- Chocolate Mint Sandwich Cookies
- Mom’s Best Sugar Cookies
- Easy Christmas Cookies – One Dough, Three Different Cookies
- Homemade Mounds or Almond Joy Bars
- Chocolate chip cookie dough truffles
Baking Tips for Perfect Cookies
- Set out butter in a covered container at room temp the night before baking to allow it to soften evenly.
- To measure flour more evenly, use the “scoop, level, pour” method. Scoop your flour, level the top with a butter knife, and pour it into your dough.
- Watch for lumps in your brown sugar and cocoa. Sift before use, if needed.
- If a recipe uses a lot of eggs, add them one or two at a time for easier mixing.
- If a recipe uses several cups of flour mixture, add it a little at a time to prevent flour spilling all over.
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicon mat to keep cookies from sticking and make cleanup a breeze.
- Keep cookies roughly the same size, and space them evenly on the pan. This helps to promote even baking.
- Keep in mind that cookies will continue cooking for a short time after they are removed from the oven. Cookies that are already hard when you take them out may be “one tough cookie” by the time they’ve cooled enough to eat. Slightly soft cookies will firm up as they cool.
- Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before dipping in chocolate. The chocolate mix won’t stick well to warm cookies.
- Store cookies in an airtight container with sheets of wax paper between layers so they don’t stick together. Keep at room temp for up to a week, or freeze for longer storage.
Do you have any questions, recipe requests or tips you’d like to share? Leave a comment below.
About the Author
This article is written by Laurie Neverman. Laurie grew up in the kitchen, learning baking and home cooking from her momma. At age 15, she and her mom and two sisters created Irene’s Custom Cakes & Catering. Cooking and baking was her summer job through most of high school and college.
Last updated in 2023.