I Thought One of Our Most Popular Cookie Recipes Couldn’t Get Better—I Was Wrong

As a food writer, I find myself making recipes from Allrecipes all the time. This year alone, I’ve tried everything from cheeseburger salad to chicken mole, all shared by the Allrecipes community—and all pretty delicious. I’ve learned from firsthand experience that if has a lot of 5-star reviews, it’s probably worth making in my own kitchen.

When I was making a list of the cookies I’d be making on this year’s holiday baking day, I did a quick internet search for “chocolate chocolate chip cookies” and this recipe popped up at the top of the search results. For me, it was a no-brainer to try it out.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies: A 5-Star Favorite

This Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe, uploaded by Allrecipes user Kathy, has received over 4,000 ratings on the site, most of them with five stars. “These chocolate chocolate chip cookies are made with cocoa powder and chocolate chips to guarantee chocolaty flavor in every bite,” Kathy shared. “My kids love them.” Based on the rave reviews, I had a feeling I’d love them, too.

Kathy’s chocolate cookie recipe is simple with an ingredients list full of items you may already have in your pantry. Sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and chocolate chips are all that’s needed and it yields four dozen cookies—plenty of chocolaty goodness to go around.

My Festive Upgrade

But I was on the hunt for a good chocolate chocolate chip cookie recipe for a specific reason. A lover of all things peppermint, I had picked up a package of peppermint baking chips on a grocery run and was dreaming of a chocolate cookie with peppermint chunks instead of chocolate chips. I scanned the reviews of Kathy’s cookie recipe and saw many users had substituted other kinds of chips in for the chocolate ones: Peanut butter chips and butterscotch chips were just some of the variations mentioned. I knew this recipe would be perfect for subbing in my peppermint chips for the holidays.

Mixing and baking Kathy’s chocolate cookies was a breeze, and I followed her recipe exactly, minus adding peppermint baking chips instead of chocolate. I dropped spoonfuls of dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets, baked the cookies at 350 degrees F for about 10 minutes, then cooled them on a wire rack. 

The result was a perfectly soft and chewy chocolate cookie with just the right hint of peppermint in every bite. Like many reviewers of Kathy’s cookie recipe, I was happy with my choice of substitution, and I’ll definitely be trying these cookies again with other types of chips. (I’m thinking about salted caramel chips for my next round—and maybe a chocolate drizzle on top.)

Here’s What the Allrecipes Community Has to Say

“My family absolutely loved them,” wrote one reviewer. “They were gone in less than 24 hours. I’m not a big chocolate lover at all, so I wasn’t anticipating really liking these. But I ate 10. They are the most chocolatey things I’ve ever eaten without being tooth-achingly sweet. They were just perfect.”

Other reviewers called the cookies “no-fail cookies,” “so easy to make,” and “the best cookies I’ve ever had.”

I have to agree. 

As always, trusting tried-and-true recipes from home cooks made my holiday baking day run a lot more smoothly. Plus, I found the perfect chocolate cookie recipe for any kind of flavored baking chip—one I will definitely be adding to my baking rotation and making time and time again.