Spike Chocolate Cookies With Bourbon For A Richer Taste

The word cookies, on its own, is enough to get the attention of most people. Make those cookies into chocolate cookies, and you are guaranteed to draw a crowd. Chocolate cookies have so much to offer, with an enticing dark color and a lingering cocoa-y flavor. However, if you are a true chocolate fiend, you may often wish that the chocolate flavor came through even more intensely. If you have one of these refined palates, we have the solution. For a richer, stronger chocolate flavor in your next batch of cookies, all you need to do is add a splash of bourbon.

Bourbon and chocolate have always been a beloved pairing, and not just because of the way their tastes complement and contrast one another. The two ingredients also happen to share many of the same molecular flavor compounds, like vanillin, meaning that adding one to the other can help to amplify and enhance the tasting notes that are already present. This elevation of the chocolate in cookies is further benefited by the fact that the alcohol in the spirit will cook off during the baking process, meaning that the treats can be enjoyed by loved ones of all ages.

There are several ways to incorporate bourbon into a batch of cookies depending on the level of flavor you are looking to get from the spirit. By far the simplest approach is to just add a few tablespoons of your bourbon of choice into the dough as you are making it — in which case we recommend doing so when combining your wet ingredients as you would a traditional flavor extract like vanilla. For a stronger, boozier bourbon presence in your cookie, try instead adding bourbon-infused mix-ins that will retain a purer flavor. For example, we like to add bourbon-soaked cherries to make chocolate bourbon cherry cookies. We also recommend trying bourbon caramel or other bourbon-soaked fruits.

Adding bourbon into your chocolate cookies, or any cookie — like bourbon biscotti — is also a great opportunity to mix in some other ingredients that will enhance the dessert even further. Instant espresso powder, for example, pairs well with the flavor of bourbon and also is known to deepen the flavor of chocolate. Chopped nuts or toffee bits will also echo some of the tasting notes brought to life with this technique, all while adding a delectable crunch.