Freeze & Bake Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
Walnut chocolate chip cookies are one of my absolute favorite cookies. I’ve tried many in my day and I have to say, this recipe is by far my favorite! Better yet, they are so easy to make and freeze so that you always have a stash of cookies ready to bake.
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This recipe/ post was originally published on September 12, 2018. It was republished on December 16, 2021 with updates.
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Story Time…
I first made this recipe several years ago to bring to a pool party. Josh had requested that I make the recipe on the back of the chocolate chip bag, but I’m extra. Despite his protests, I insisted on trying out this Levain Bakery copycat recipe from The Domestic Rebel.
Over the years, I’ve made a few tweaks to the recipe and it has become a family favorite! In fact, I made a different recipe a few months ago and Josh called them Offensive Cookies because they were such a disappointment compared to these guys.
How to Freeze & Bake Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
My favorite part about this recipe is using the freezer. It does add an extra day to the recipe, but it’s totes worth it if you like a thick, chewy walnut chocolate chip cookie. Once you have your cookie dough stored in the freezer, you can grab one or two whenever you want, bake them up, and enjoy a fresh cookie without any work.
But what’s the point? Baking cold cookie dough means the cookie doesn’t spread out as quickly and become thin and crispy. We drop the temperature a bit so that the cookie has time to bake all the way through. This gives us a thick, golden brown cookie with a perfectly chewy, gooey center.
Making the Cookie Dough
This recipe is supes easy and quick (minus the freeze time). You want to make sure your walnuts have cooled before you use them, so toast them up before you get started on the rest of the recipe. I toasted my nuts the day before because I love to split up a recipe over a few days. It makes life easy (or maybe over complicated, but what do I know?).
Pull out all of your ingredients for a little mise en place action and measure everything out. Not only will this make the process super quick, it’ll make your life less stressful because you’re not scrambling to get everything measured mid recipe. I also suggest using a cookie scoop (I love this #20 Vollrath) for perfectly portioned cookies.
Top Tips for Drop Cookies
- Use cookie scoops for perfectly portioned cookies.
- Top your drop cookies with any chunky ingredients (like chocolate, nuts, ect.) that are inside the dough.
- Cold dough won’t spread as much in the oven.
- Store cookie dough for 3 months (or maybe longer!) in the freezer.
Related Reading: 8 Cookie Tips & Tricks You Need to Know
Dark Brown Sugar vs. Light Brown Sugar
I really want to stress the use of DARK brown sugar in this recipe. It really does make a difference. Brown sugar is, more or less, white sugar and molasses. As you may have guessed, dark brown sugar has more molasses than the light version. So what does this mean for our cookies?
Brown sugar adds chew, flavor, and moisture to our cookies. By using the more saturated dark brown sugar, our cookies will have a better texture and more intense flavor thanks to the caramel or butterscotch flavor notes in brown sugar. You can absolutely use light if that’s all you have, but it makes a difference.
Interested in how ingredients play different roles in a recipe? You can find a copy of my Ingredient Glossary in the Resource Library. There are over a dozen resources in there that are completely free to subscribers!
Cookie Base
We’re totes obsessed with these freeze and bake walnut chocolate chip cookies, so naturally I’ve played around with the recipe to create more delicious recipes! My absolute FAVORITE cookie ever is my recipe for Brown Butter Espresso Chip Cookies. I’ve also used this recipe to make a giant cookie in a cast iron skillet. And my husband inspired me to make him some Chocolate Chipless Cookies. All these recipes are based off of this very recipe!
I even decided to test these out with a few allergy modifications. First, I swapped out the butter for Country Crock plant butter. Then I used my go-to gluten free flour from King Arthur Baking. For the chocolate chips, I used the Simply Delicious Nestle chocolate chips. Check them out in this Instagram post.
Enjoy!
Once you start freezing your cookie dough, there’s no going back. If you get a chance to treat yourself to these Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies, don’t forget to leave me a comment and rate the recipe. I love hearing from my fellow home bakers!
Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup chopped walnuts plus more for topping (4 oz)
- 2 cups all- purpose flour (9 oz)
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter softened (6 oz)
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar (5.5 oz)
- 1/4 cup sugar (1.75 oz)
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp vanilla
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips plus more for topping (7 oz)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place chopped walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5- 8 minutes. Shaking the pan occasionally. Watch them closely to prevent burning. Set aside to cool.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
- In a stand mixer, cream together the butter and both sugars on a low speed until combined. Scrape the bowl down once or twice as needed. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Scrape the bowl down as needed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix on low until just combined. Add the walnuts and chocolate chips. Mix on low until combined. It should just take a few seconds.
- Use a large cookie scoop to portion the dough onto a tray or baking sheet lined with wax paper. Then top each scoop with extra chocolate chips and walnuts.
- Place the trays in the freezer for at least one hour. Transfer the frozen cookie dough balls to a freezer bag or airtight container. Freeze for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325°F. Place frozen cookie dough balls on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Bake for 21- 23 minutes or until lightly golden brown.
- Let them cool on the baking sheet for 5- 10 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
Notes
- It's best to use a room temperature egg. If you forget to take it out in advance, place it in a glass and cover in warm water while you prepare the rest of your ingredients.
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Colleen
Hi there! I’m Colleen, a novice baker with a passion for learning and improving my bakes… and blunders. On Bakes and Blunders, you can find all sorts of tasty recipes that range in difficulty, but most importantly, I’ll try to explain the reason behind important steps. If you know why a recipe works, you can tweak and adapt it to suit your unique tastes, and you’ll be able to reliably produce some very delicious treats. If you love baking and want to expand and grow your skills, or if you are a casual baker and just need some pointers, my blog is right up your alley! Join me on my baking journey and we’ll learn how to make more impressive recipes together.
2 Comments
Monica
Hi Colleen! I had a meeting to go to, and everyone was expected to bring a snack. Now when it comes to cakes from scratch, I’m hopeless! But your Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies looked like just the ticket. I baked a double batch, thankfully, because they were so delicious that people were slinking off with handfuls of them. It was as if they’d discovered Davy Jones’s Locker!! 😋
The texture of these cookies is really unusual; they just kind of melted in your mouth (not just the chocolate, but the cookie part too). Mmmm..!! I think it was the cornstarch. And the extra vanilla…? It really did put it over the top. I’ve started using more vanilla in some of my recipes, and I’ve had incredible results!
Thank you for sharing this recipe… it’s a KEEPER! 😍. I look forward to more of your recipes… Keep it coming!!
Colleen
I’m so glad these worked out for you! It’s a highly requested recipe because it really has a unique taste, like you said. The cornstarch adds some chewiness which helps with the melt-in-your-mouth factor. Don’t give up on cakes though! Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, my weakness is pastry, but every time a recipe flops, try to figure out what went wrong if you can. If you don’t know what happened, drop me a line and I can help, or try something different next time and see how it goes. The kitchen might as well be a lab, so don’t be afraid to experiment!