Spiced Holiday Chocolate Chip Cookies

'Tis the season for holiday baking, so let's step up our typical cookie game with these spiced holiday chocolate chip cookies! Along with warm spices, these soft and chewy cookies feature browned butter and fresh orange zest for a festive twist. Serve on a platter at your upcoming holiday get-together or package these cookies to offer as homemade gifts — everyone always loves these spiced-up chocolate chip cookies.

Course Desserts

Cuisine American

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 9

Chilling Time 30

Total Time 59

Servings cookies

Calories 263kcal

Author Amanda McGrory-Dixon

Equipment

Mixing bowls
Hand or stand mixer
Parchment paper
Baking sheets
Wire racks

Ingredients

1 cup salted butter
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg preferably freshly grated
⅛ teaspoon cloves
⅛ teaspoon allspice
1 cup dark brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest about 1 orange
2 teaspoons vanilla extract or paste
2 eggs room temperature
2 tablespoons bourbon
2 cups chocolate chips equivalent to a 12-ounce bag

Instructions

In a small skillet over medium heat, melt the butter until it begins to foam. Continue to cook and stir frequently until it turns amber in color. Remove from heat and pour into a small bowl. Scrape the brown bits into the bowl with the melted butter as well. Allow the mixture to solidify but remain as soft as you would use for typical cookies. To speed up the process, you can place in the refrigerator. If you’d like, you can also do this a few days in advance and store in room temperature to keep soft. Butter is perfectly safe kept at room temperature.
Stir together flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt and spices in a small bowl. Set aside.
Cream together the solidified brown butter with dark brown sugar, white sugar, orange zest and vanilla extract in a stand mixer or mixing bowl with hand mixer until light and fluffy.
Scrape the creamed butter off the side of the bowl. Add one egg with the bourbon and beat until combined. Repeat with the second egg. Once both eggs are combined, scrape the dough off the side of the bowl again.
Add a spoonful or two of the flour mixture at a time and stir until incorporated. Repeat until all the flour mixture is combined into the dough. Stir in chocolate chips.
Chill the cookie dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Heat oven to 375 degrees. On a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, form the dough into golf ball-size dough balls. The large size will keep the cookies extra soft. If you’d like, top with additional chocolate chips.
Bake for nine minutes. Allow to cool on the baking sheet for a couple minutes and then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container. Enjoy!

Notes

If you don't have time to make browned butter, you can always use softened butter as you would with regular chocolate chip cookies. They will still be absolutely delicious. Prep time is based on allowing the brown butter to solidify, so you can significantly reduce this by using softened butter.
The bourbon adds a nice depth of flavor, but the cookies don't come out tasting bourbony. Just pretend bourbony is a word. If you don't want to use bourbon, just add a couple tablespoons of water if using brown butter.
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

Nutrition