Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
The Best Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies Recipe – These sweet, soft, and perfectly crumbly butter cookies are loaded with crunchy walnut pieces and mini chocolate chips for a decadent, delightful treat.
Why We Love This Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies Recipe
Chewy cookies, crispy cookies, soft and light and fluffy cookies… We’ve got fantastic recipes for whatever kind of cookie you are craving!
Personally, I am a big fan of treats that are loaded with goodies. Sweet, salty, and/or earthy ingredients take cookies to the next level of deliciousness! And what could be better than a bit of all three?
This Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies Recipe incorporates ground walnuts and mini chocolate chips into a soft, crumbly butter cookie base. The texture and luxurious buttery flavor are so good! Kind of like homemade Pecan Sandies, but with walnuts.
As far as chocolate chip cookie recipes go, this one is one of my favorites. It has a deeper flavor thanks to the ground walnuts in the cookie and more texture with a large walnut on top! If you are a nut fan like me, you are going to go crazy for these easy walnut chocolate chip cookies!
These are great for all kinds of events like holidays, birthday parties, and weekend treats! Our recipe makes a large batch of 48 freezer-friendly cookies, so it’s perfect to make ahead for special occasions or to keep craveable snacks on hand.
Ingredients You Need
Walnut cookies with chocolate chips use simple, pantry staples! Here’s what you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter – softened, for that delightful buttery taste
- Granulated sugar – white sugar or other preferred sugar, such as coconut
- Light brown sugar – to get just the right deep, sweet earthiness
- Vanilla extract – essential to bring together the cookie flavors
- Salt – balances the sweetness
- All-purpose flour – or your preferred GF-friendly baking alternative
- Mini chocolate chips – your choice of semi-sweet or dark chocolate
- Ground walnuts – store-bought or home-ground
- Walnut halves – raw
How to Make the Best Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Set out several large baking sheets and line them with parchment paper.
Set out an electric stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a large bowl and a hand mixer. Add the softened butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and salt to the mixer. Beat on high to cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
Pro Tip: It usually takes 3 to 5 minutes to cream the mixture properly, but has a huge impact on the texture of the cookies. Stay patient!
Meanwhile, grind 1 cup of walnut pieces in a food processor or blender. Grind long enough to create a fine walnut crumble or flour, but not walnut butter! Save all the prettiest walnut halves for the tops.
Once the butter mixture is light and fluffy, scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula. Then turn the mixer on low and mix in the dry ingredients: all-purpose flour and ground walnuts.
When the mixture is smooth, mix in the mini chocolate chips. As soon as they are well incorporated, turn off the mixer, so as to not over-mix the dough.
Use a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop, a cooking scale, or a spoon to measure out 1-ounce balls of dough. Roll the balls tightly and place them on the parchment-lined baking sheets 2 inches apart.
Tip: Wash, dry, and lightly butter your hands to smoothly roll the dough balls.
Then press a walnut half in the top of each ball, pressing down until the cookie is about 3/4 of an inch tall.
Get the Complete (Printable) Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies Recipe + Video Below. Enjoy!
Bake the cookies for 15 to 18 minutes. Check at the 15-minute mark…
The centers should be barely cooked through but not doughy, and the edges should be just slightly golden and crisp.
Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets for at least 5 minutes to continue firming.
Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Enjoy!
Tips & Tricks
- Don’t over-mix the cookie dough! The trick to that soft, chewy texture is to only mix the cookie dough until everything is just combined. Over-mixing can result in a tough cookie!
- These cookies will look underdone when you take them out of the oven! The outsides should just be starting to color and the inside will still be quite soft. They will cook more on the hot baking sheet when you take them out of the oven, and will set even more when on the cooling rack!
- You can make pecan chocolate chip cookies by simply replacing the ground walnuts and walnut halves with pecans here!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can make these amazing cookies with pecans!
Substitute all-purpose flour with your favorite GF baking mix.
It might be odd to see a cookie recipe like this without eggs, but that is because this cookie base is more like a shortbread cookie than a classic chocolate chip cookies! This gives it that crumbly, buttery texture that is to die for.
You certainly leave out the mini chips for purely walnut-tastic treats.
This is a LARGE recipe that yields 48 cookies (which accounts for all the butter). You can half it, or store some of the cookie dough in the freezer for later.
Roll the raw cookie dough into a log shape, wrap it in plastic, and transfer it to an airtight container or zipper bag. Keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw the dough in the refrigerator overnight, then unwrap and continue the recipe as instructed.
Baked cookies will keep well for up to 5 days at room temperature. To freeze, wrap each cookie in plastic wrap, then place them all together in an airtight zipper bag. Keep in the freezer for up to 3 months, and defrost on the counter or in the fridge overnight.
Looking For More Scrumptious Cookies? Be Sure To Also:
- Blueberry White Chocolate Chip Cookies
- Brown Butter Brown Sugar Cookies
- The Best Monster Cookie Recipe
- Compost Cookies
- Almond Butter Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookie Recipe + Video
Ingredients
- 2 cups unsalted butter softened (1 pound)
- 2/3 cup granulated sugar
- 2/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1 cup ground walnuts from 1 heaping cup pieces
- 48 walnut halves for tops
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Set out several large baking sheets and line them with parchment paper.
- Set out an electric stand mixer. Add the softened butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and salt to the mixer. Beat on high to cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. *It usually takes 3 to 5 minutes to cream the mixture properly, but has a huge impact on the texture of the cookies.
- Meanwhile, grind 1 cup of walnut pieces in a food processor or blender. Grind long enough to create a fine walnut crumble or flour, but not so long you make walnut butter! Save all the prettiest walnut halves for the tops.
- Once the butter mixture is light and fluffy, scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula. Then turn the mixer on low and mix in the all-purpose flour and ground walnuts. When the mixture is smooth, mix in the mini chocolate chips. Once they are well incorporated, turn off the mixer, as to not over-mix the dough.
- Use a 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop, or a cooking scale, to measure out 1 ounce balls of dough. Roll the balls tightly and place on the baking sheets 2 inches apart.
- Press a walnut half in the top of each ball, pressing down until the cookie is about 3/4 of an inch tall.
- Bake the cookies for 15 to 18 minutes. Check at the 15 minute mark. The centers should be just barely cooked through but not doughy, and the edges should be just slightly golden. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheets to continue firming.
Amazing recipe – so delicious! I made your recipe last week, definitely making it again!
These Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies are so soft and delicious! The BEST cookie recipe, we love making these!
These cookies are addicting! Thank you so much for sharing!
My dad loves walnuts, so I made some of these cookies for him. They were a huge hit!