Vietnamese Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies

I do a lot of cookie recipes (like my tahini or miso chocolate chip cookes) because I love how happy they make people. Because cookies, especially chocolate chip cookies, are so popular, there are like a bajillion cookie recipes out there claiming they are the best. But honestly, I don’t think there’s such thing as a chocolate chip cookie that is the best for everyone. The best chocolate chip cookie is the one that is the best one for you. And that’s what I tried to do here this week. I tried to create a chocolate chip cookie recipe that was my favorite, and I think I did it. This Vietnamese cinnamon chocolate chip cookie recipe is the best and not too sweet (according to my mom) which is the ultimate Asian compliment for a dessert.

Ingredients, Substitutions & Adjustments

• All purpose flour – The main dry ingredient in these cookies.
• Baking soda – Baking soda helps create a soft, fluffy cookie.
• Salt – Salt helps balance out the sweetness from the sugars.
• Espresso powder – Espresso powder is inherently bitter, so it helps balance out the sweetness from the sugars. It also amplifies the chocolate flavor.
• Vietnamese cinnamon – I just love Vietnamese cinnamon, and I think it makes these cookies exceptional! If you don’t like cinnamon, you can leave it out.
• Unsalted butter – Adds a nutty flavor to these cookies. As mentioned in the tips below, browning this butter amplifies the nutty flavor of the butter.
• Light, dark, and granulated sugar – Through testing, I found that the perfect chewiness (in my opinion) and sweetness come from a combination of all 3 sugars. Light and dark brown sugar make the cookie chewier and the granulated sugar helps give it that crispy edge. You can definitely only use light or only dark brown sugar if that’s all you have. Dark brown will make the cookies sweeter and chewier, and light brown sugar will result to less sweetness and less chewiness.
• Egg – Makes the cookies richer and chewier.
• Vanilla extract – Adds flavor to the cookies. Substitute with an equal amount of vanilla paste or 1 vanilla bean.
• Dark chocolate chips – I personally like using dark chocolate chips because they have less sugar than semi sweet or milk chocolate chips. And for me, it’s all about controlling the amount of sweetness in the cookie because you’re already adding so much sugar. I also think using a 4 oz chocolate bar like Baker’s chocolate bars works better because you get different sizes of chocolate which helps you get that professional chocolate chip cookie look. They also tend to melt better.

Making my Vietnamese cinnamon chocolate chip cookies

Preparing the cookie dough

These Vietnamese cinnamon chocolate chip cookies take a bit more time, but it’s worth it in the end! First, brown the butter. Heat butter over medium heat until it fully melts. Lower the heat to medium low and let it cook until golden brown and brown bits start to appear at the bottom of the pan. Pour butter into a large mixing bowl and set aside. Let it cool for 10 minutes. If it’s too hot when you use it, your cookie dough will be greasy.

Next, mix your dry ingredients. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, espresso powder, and Vietnamese cinnamon in a separate bowl. Mix and set aside. Once butter has cooled, add granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, and light dark brown sugar to the bowl. Mix. Add the room temperature egg to the bowl and mix until a smooth, brown texture. See image above for reference. Add the vanilla extract and mix.

Add the dry ingredients and gently fold into the wet ingredients. Be careful not to overmix. I would stop when there’s a little bit of flour left because you will need to mix in the chocolate chips. Add the chocolate chips and mix until incorporated. Let the cookie dough rest in the fridge for 45 minutes. You need to let the butter get cold enough so the butter won’t melt too fast which will create flat cookies.

Baking the cookies!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Prepare 2 baking sheets by covering them with parchment paper. Use a 2 tablespoon (medium sized) cookie scoop to scoop your cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Make sure there are 2 inches of space between each cookie. Bake for 14-16 minutes until the edges are light brown. Rest for 10 minutes on the baking sheet and then another 10 minutes on the cooling rack before serving.

Tips on how to make the perfect Vietnamese cinnamon chocolate chip cookies

Ingredient Tips

1. Use all room temperature ingredients – This really does matter because butter and eggs don’t like to mix together, especially when they’re at different temperatures, so having them at the same temperature helps them come together better.
2. Why are you using brown butter?  – This is one of the keys to the intense flavor of these cookies. The brown bits add so much extra flavor to the dough. Make sure to cool it down to room temperature before using because using hot butter will create for a greasy dough.
3. Why are you using both dark brown and light brown sugar? – I found that this gives a good balance of sweetness and color to the cookies. Dark brown sugar gives that nice light brown color to the cookies as well as sweetness. I found that using only light brown sugar doesn’t give it the light brown color I like. And using all dark brown sugar makes the dough too wet and too sweet. 

Method Tips

1. Mix the butter, sugars, and egg thoroughly – The biggest mistake people make is not mixing the wet ingredients properly. When you mix the wet ingredients, especially the butter and sugar, you’re really trying to incorporate/dissolve the sugar.
2. Don’t overmix the cookie dough after adding the dry ingredients – You want to mix the dry ingredients as little as possible because mixing encourages gluten formation which creates tough, chalky cookies. I like to mix the dough until there is a little bit of flour not incorporated into the dough. I then add the chocolate chips and finish mixing the dough.
3. Why do I need to rest this dough so long? – Resting/cooling the cookie dough allows the butter to solidify, so it doesn’t melt so quickly in the oven. This matters because if it melts too quickly in the oven, your cookies will spread more, creating flatter cookies. In addition, allowing it to rest makes it more flavourful. The cookie dough is sort of like marinating while it’s cooling.
4. Why is scooping your cookie dough with a scoop important? – This is important because the scoop helps give your cookies their round shape. To get the perfect round shape, scoop the dough, press it into the scoop with your hand, and then level it off so you get a flat bottom.
5. Why is cooling your cookies important? – I know it is SO HARD to not eat a cookie right away, but your cookies are still baking when they’re on the baking sheet! The center will still look soft but it will slowly get firmer as it sits on the baking sheet.

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Vietnamese Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies

Becca Du

In my opinion, THE BEST chocolate chip cookie recipe out there.

4.87 from 15 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 hr 15 mins

Cook Time 14 mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 10 cookies

Calories 199 kcal

Equipment

• Cookie Scoops
• Oven Thermometer

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 1 cup + 1 tbsp all purpose flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• ½ tsp espresso powder
• ½ tsp Vietnamese cinnamon
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup dark brown sugar
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• ½ cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

 

• Brown the butter. Heat butter over medium heat until it fully melts. Lower the heat to medium low and let it cook until golden brown and brown bits start to appear at the bottom of the pan. Pour butter into a large mixing bowl and set aside. Let it cool for 10 minutes. If it’s too hot when you use it, your cookie dough will be greasy.
• Combine flour, baking soda, salt, espresso powder, and Vietnamese cinnamon in a separate bowl. Mix and set aside.
• Once butter has cooled, add granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, and light dark brown sugar to the bowl. Mix.
• Add the room temperature egg to the bowl and mix until a smooth, brown texture. See image above for reference.
• Add the vanilla extract and mix.
• Add the dry ingredients from step 2 and gently fold into the wet ingredients. Be careful not to overmix. I would stop when there’s a little bit of flour left because you will need to mix in the chocolate chips.
• Add the chocolate chips and mix until incorporated.
• Let the cookie dough rest in the fridge for 45 minutes. You need to let the butter get cold enough so the butter won’t melt too fast which will create flat cookies.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). 
• Prepare 2 baking sheets by covering them with parchment paper.
• Use a 2 tablespoon (medium sized) cookie scoop to scoop your cookie dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Make sure there are 2 inches of space between each cookie.
• Bake for 14-16 minutes until the edges are light brown.
• Rest for 10 minutes on the baking sheet and then another 10 minutes on the cooling rack before serving.

Notes

1. Use all room temperature ingredients – This really does matter because butter and eggs don’t like to mix together, especially when they’re at different temperatures, so having them at the same temperature helps them come together better. 
2. Why are you using brown butter?  – This is one of the keys to the intense flavor of these cookies. The brown bits add so much extra flavor to the dough. Make sure to cool it down a bit before using because using hot butter will create for a greasy dough.
3. Why are you using both dark brown and light brown sugar? – I found that this gives a good balance of sweetness and color to the cookies. Dark brown sugar gives that nice light brown color to the cookies as well as sweetness. I found that using only light brown sugar doesn’t give it the light brown color I like. And using all dark brown sugar makes the dough too wet and too sweet. 
4. Don’t overmix the cookie dough – Overmixing causes too much gluten to form which creates for tough, chalky cookies. I like to mix the dough until there is a little bit of flour not incorporated into the dough. I then add the chocolate chips and finish mixing the dough.
5. Why do I need to rest this dough so long? – Resting/cooling the cookie dough allows the butter to solidify, so it doesn’t melt so quickly in the oven. This matters because if it melts too quickly in the oven, your cookies will spread more, creating flatter cookies. In addition, allowing it to rest makes it more flavourful. The cookie dough is sort of like marinating while it’s cooling.
6. Why is scooping your cookie dough with a scoop important? – This is important because the scoop helps give your cookies their round shape. To get the perfect round shape, scoop the dough, press it into the scoop with your hand, and and then level it off so you get a flat bottom.
7. Why is cooling your cookies important? – I know it is SO HARD to not eat a cookie right away, but your cookies are still baking when they’re on the baking sheet! The center will still look soft but it will slowly get firmer as it sits on the baking sheet. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookieCalories: 199kcalCarbohydrates: 21gProtein: 1gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 41mgSodium: 133mgPotassium: 83mgFiber: 1gSugar: 19gVitamin A: 309IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 43mgIron: 1mg

Keyword chocolate chip cookie recipe, Vietnamese cinnnamon chocolate chip cookies

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