White Chocolate Black Raspberry Cookies
Crispy edged, chewy centered cookies made with fresh black raspberries and white chocolate chips. The berries break down in the oven and create tiny flavorful jammy bits within the cookie.
Every June, black raspberries appear on the tables at my local farmers’ markets and I have to resist not taking too many home. This isn’t a berry I grew up with and the novelty, even after a decade living where they are native and grow wild, has not died down for me. I love the way they taste fresh, though they aren’t as tart as a red raspberry, and I adore the color they can impart on a bake (see this pie crust I made with them years ago) but I also love the challenge of creating something new and different.
Because black raspberries aren’t widely grown or available, there aren’t a lot of recipes that use them. Mostly you’ll find jam recipes. Five years ago when I had (ahem) bought too many of them and really wanted them to count I made you this black raspberry swirled cheesecake. This year I wanted to challenge myself to do something that wasn’t jam based, and incorporate them whole.
Recipe Origins
I have tried making raspberry chocolate chip cookies before but they were always a disaster. The cookies turned far too cakey and soft due to the excess water and after a few attempts, I gave up and decided it wasn’t worth it. In coming up with ideas to use my black raspberries, I considered that they are smaller, carry less water, and could possibly hold up in a cookie. It turns out, I was right! I did have to tweak my cookie dough base recipe a few times to accommodate the berries but honestly – these turned out better than expected. I have never before gone for anything that wasn’t the chocolate bits in a drop cookie but for these, I just want the intense berry flavor right there in the middle of the cookie!
The cookie base for this recipe is an adaptation of my bakery style chocolate chip cookies: you’ll see lots of similarities and a few changes. Instead of aiming to make the cookies chewy, I knew they would have some extra water in them from the black raspberries so I aimed for cookies that were crispy. This meant bringing more granulated sugar into the mix and reducing the brown, doing without the extra egg yolk and reducing the butter and flour by just a bit. You can make these with bread flour (like the bakery style ones) but I did like them with all purpose (higher protein count) more.
Lastly, we use a bit of starch to toss the berries with so that the cookie turns a bit jammy where those berries cook.
Recipe Ingredients
Butter: if using salted butter, you might want to reduce the salt in the recipe. I like a good quality butter with a higher butterfat percentage for cookies.
Sugar: a combination of fine granulated and brown sugar. One provides the crisp and crunch, the other moisture and a chewy texture. I prefer light brown sugar here as we are veering toward a crispy cookie (away from soft) in order to get a chewy texture.
Leavening: both baking powder and baking soda. The former helps the cookies puff and crack, the latter is what causes the spread.
Flavorings: I have the standard salt and vanilla. For the salt use fine sea salt or something similar. If your cookies are ‘too salty’ chances are your salt was not the right type.
Egg: I normally call for a large egg but in recipe testing found that when I opted for a slightly smaller one the cookies turned out better. Less water and moisture added to the dough.
Flour: don’t use a low protein flour here, opt for something that’s on the higher end for all purpose flours like 11% or more. Bread flour can work too.
Black raspberries: they should be fresh and preferably cold so they don’t break up so easily when mixed into the dough.
Starch: I use tapioca starch (also known as tapioca flour) but cornstarch works too. This will cause the water leaking out of the berries to become jam-like.
White chocolate: I used guittard’s white chocolate chips but you can also chop up a white chocolate bar (make sure the ingredients list cocoa butter). Other chocolates would work too though I haven’t tried them!
How to make Black Raspberry Cookies
Melt the butter
Whisk in the sugars (granulated and brown) and heat the mix again
Add the vanilla and salt , whisk until shiny and thick, then let cool
Crack in the egg and whisk well
Stir in the flour and leavening
Add the white chocolate chips and stir to combine.
Toss the black raspberries with the starch – gently and carefully
We’re going to be very careful adding the black raspberries: I want you to do your best to fold them in rather than stir, this will reduce the amount of them that burst (many will burst – that’s ok!)
As soon as they are mostly incorporated, set the bowl in the fridge to chill for half or a full hour – leave it uncovered
Preheat the oven to 350 F and line two cookie pans with parchment paper (a bit of grease will keep it in place)
Carefully scoop the cookie dough – use a disher or ice cream scoop so the cookies are evenly portioned – onto the prepared pan. I do 2 tablespoons of dough per cookie:
These will spread so leave some space between them, I will bake about 5 on each tray.
Bake the cookies until the edges are golden brown and the centers are not doughy (shiny)
If they have a wonky shape, use an upside down bowl to scoot them back into a circle.
Let them cool on the pan.. Then dig in!
Questions you might have
Can I use a different berry?
I urge you not to. While it may seem that raspberries are interchangeable here, they actually carry a lot more water and will make the cookies quite messy and soft.
How should I store the cookies?
NOT in an airtight container – this will make the entire cookie go soft. Leave them on the counter and cover them with a tea towel. They’ll stay nice and chewy.
Can I make the dough and bake the cookies later?
This dough is a little sensitive because of the excess water and the fragile berries, so I don’t recommend leaving the dough longer than an hour to chill in the fridge. If you really must make them ahead of time, try this: make the dough and portion the cookies onto the pan, then set the tray in the freezer. The cookies don’t have to have space between them for freezing. Once completely solid, you can transfer the dough balls to a container for longer storage in the freezer.
When it’s time to bake, let the dough defrost in the fridge. Ideally the dough is cold going into the oven.
Recipe for Black Raspberry Cookies
Black Raspberry Cookies with White Chocolate
Ingredients
- 140g or ½ cup plus 2 TB unsalted butter cold is fine
- 100g or ½ cup light brown sugar
- 100g or ½ cup fine granulated sugar
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract pure
- 1 egg at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 230g or 1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon tapioca flour/starch or cornstarch to toss the berries in
- 100g or half a pint black raspberries
- 100-125g or ¾ cup white chocolate chips or chunks
Method
- Note: this cookie dough needs time (30-60 minutes) to chill in the fridge, plan accordingly.
- Set the butter in a heatproof bowl and warm it in the microwave until it’s half melted. Add the sugars, light brown and granulated, and whisk to combine. Return the bowl to the microwave for a full minute then add the vanilla and salt, and whisk the mix until it turns glossy and thick. Let cool.
- Add the egg and whisk until incorporated. Switch to a rubber spatula and add the baking powder, baking soda, and flour. Stir then add the white chocolate chips and combine.
- Separately, toss the black raspberries with the starch. Add them to the dough and now very carefully, using a folding motion (not stirring), incorporate the berries. Don’t overdo it, stop when they are fairly evenly distributed.
- Set the bowl in the fridge for about 30 minutes so the dough can chill.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to portion the dough onto the prepared pans: leave enough space between each dough ball as these will spread.
- Bake the cookies until the edges are golden brown and the middles are matte (not shiny or doughy looking), for about 12-13 minutes. If they are misshapen, use an upside down container to scoot them into a circle.
- Store leftover cookies on a plate or tray, covered only with a tea towel.
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