Coffee Cookies with Real Coffee Beans

With real coffee beans mixed into the dough, these coffee cookies pack a powerful punch of caffeine!

I participate in a few cookie swaps every holiday season. Homeschool cookie swaps, friend cookie swaps, coworker cookie swaps. All the cookies.

My favorite one is an online cookie swap called Houseful of Cookies. It was created by my dear friend Natasha – but we'll get into all that in a minute. I'll share her awesome holiday recipe plus dozens of others, so stick around! For now, allow me to introduce you to the zany baked good that is my coffee cookies.

I've seen a few recipes for coffee cookies rolling around, but I'm not a fan of most that I've tried. They either use a very small amount of brewed coffee to qualify as “coffee cookies” (weak) or they actually use espresso beans (therefore NOT counting as coffee cookies!). I hold firm on this. I'm something of a coffee cookie purist.

My coffee cookies actually use coffee beans in the recipe. Real, traditional coffee for real, traditional coffee cookies. Okay, there's nothing traditional happening here. We're totes wingin it. I should note that this recipe packs a serious wallop of coffee. If you like to spend your day popping espresso beans covered in dark chocolate, you are HARDCORE and this recipe will totally be for you. If not…welllll…go try my butterscotch cookies. They will make you infinitely happy.

This mixture tends to be a bit dry, almost shortbread-like, so I like to keep a little spray bottle of water on-hand and wet it if necessary when rolling it into balls to bake. The glaze is totally optional, but I like to add it because it gives the cookies a nice coffee-and-cream effect and also gives me a handy way of adding coffee beans on top so that people can easily identify these as coffee cookies at the cookie swap.

READ: don't give these cookies to children. Or do, if you're up for some fun. Whatevs.

What is Houseful Of Cookies?

Houseful of Cookies is an annual, virtual cookie hop, hosted by Natasha Nicholes of Houseful of Nicholes. She really likes playing on the “Houseful” theme when there is more than one of something, and since there's more than one cookie…here we are. Each year, she gathers a bunch of us from the internet to bake up our epic cookie creations and share them with all of you! It's a fun time, and we all have dealt with butter, flour, and various flavorings to bring you our goodies each year. This year, we present to you, our cookie hop.

Houseful Of Cookies Participants

Brownie Cookies – Houseful of Nicholes
Chocolate Rolo Surprise Cookies – Good Girl Gone Redneck
The Perfect Christmas Sugar Cookies – Love, Jaime
Cake Mix Santa Cookies – Dairy Carrie
Candy Cane Cookies – Brooklyn Active Mama
Chocolate Dipped Peppermint Shortbread Cookies – Honest & Truly
Gingersnap Cookies – Divas With A Purpose
Decorated Ugly Sweater Cookies – 100 Directions
Minnie Christmas Headband Cookies – Cutefetti
Birds Nest Cookies – My Crafty Life
Cranberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies – Kenya Rae
Gluten-Free Russian Tea Cakes – Day by Day in Our World
Not His Mamma's Tassies – Heather Spins a Yarn
Molded Peanut Butter Cookies – This Mamas Life
Not Your Mama's Milk & Cookies – Life of a Ginger
Peanut Butter Marshmallow Chocolate Chunk Cookies – Mama Harris' Kitchen
Coffee Sandwich Cookies with Browned Buttercream Filling – How Was Your Day?
Butterscotch Cornflake Cookies – Omadarling
Toffee Bits Cookies – This Worthey Life
Fruitcake Cookies – Sugar, Spice, & Glitter
Keto Almond Joy Cookies – The Crunchy Mommy

Would you ever make coffee cookies?