These are the ultimate chocolate biscuits. They're easy to make, chewy and soft in the centre, crisp around the edges, rich and fudgy, and sprinkled with sea salt.
If you're looking for more biscuit recipes, my chewy chocolate chip cookies and chocolate chunk cookie bars are great choices. If you're baking with children, my fork biscuit recipe is always a winner!
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⭐️ Why this recipe works
- Foolproof: This recipe has been tested and refined to guarantee perfect chocolate biscuits every time. It's very similar in method to my very popular brownie recipe.
- Rich flavour: Combines dark chocolate and cocoa powder for a deep, rich chocolate taste.
- Texture perfection: Achieves the ideal balance between crisp edges and soft, chewy centres.
- Versatile: Easily adaptable for different dietary needs and preferences with simple substitutions.
🧾 Ingredients overview
- Dark Chocolate: Adds a deep, rich flavour and contributes to the cookie's moist texture.
- Butter: Gives the biscuits a tender crumb and rich flavour.
- Caster Sugar (or granulated sugar) & Light Brown Sugar: A dual-sugar approach for optimal sweetness and moisture, with the brown sugar adding a hint of caramel.
- Eggs: Bind the ingredients together, adding structure and richness.
- Cocoa Powder: Intensifies the chocolate flavour without making the biscuits too heavy.
- Plain Flour: The base of the biscuit, providing structure.
- Baking Powder: Ensures the biscuits rise properly.
- Salt: Balances the sweetness and enhances the chocolate flavour.
- Sea Salt (optional): Adds a sophisticated flavour contrast.
For precise measurements and additional ingredients, refer to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
👩🏻🍳 Here's how to make it
Chocolate biscuits recipe step-by-step
- Gather Your Bowls: You'll need two medium bowls and one small bowl to start. This helps keep your ingredients organized and ready for each step of the process.
- Combining Chocolate and Butter: Add chopped dark chocolate and diced butter to the first medium bowl. Place this bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, ensuring the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Stir occasionally, allowing the chocolate and butter to melt smoothly.
- Creating the Egg Mixture: While the chocolate and butter melt, take the second medium bowl and combine caster sugar, light brown sugar, and the eggs. Use an electric hand whisk at high speed to whip these ingredients until they're light, fluffy, and thickened.
- Combining Chocolate and Egg Mixtures: Once your chocolate and butter have melted and your egg mixture is fluffy, gently pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Stir gently to combine without deflating the air you've whipped into the eggs. The mixture should now resemble a thick, almost pudding-like consistency.
- Adding Dry Ingredients: Gently fold the dry mixture into your chocolate-egg mixture until fully combined, being careful not to overmix. The batter will thicken even further, taking on a consistency closer to a thick batter than a traditional biscuit dough.
- Preparing for Baking: Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Using an ice cream scoop, dollop the batter onto the lined tray, leaving ample space between each biscuit—they will spread considerably as they bake.
- Baking: Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over each biscuit for an extra flavour contrast, if desired. Bake in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes. Check towards the end of baking—the biscuits should have soft centres with firm edges.
- Cooling: After removing them from the oven, let the biscuits sit on the tray for about 10 minutes. They will be quite soft initially but will firm up as they cool, developing a gorgeous crackly top.
💡 Chef's Guide: Expert Tips
Drawing on a decade of experience in Michelin-starred kitchens and Cordon Bleu training, I have compiled my top tips for recipe success.
- Checking for doneness: Begin checking the biscuits for doneness a couple of minutes before the suggested baking time.
- Look for Signs: The biscuits are done when the edges start to firm up but the center remains soft. A slight underbaking is key to achieving that gooey, soft middle with a slightly crispy edge.
- Cooling is Crucial: The biscuits will continue to cook slightly and set as they cool on the baking tray. This step is vital for achieving the perfect texture.
- Chill the Dough: If you have time, chilling the dough for about 30 minutes before baking can help control the spread of the biscuits and result in a thicker, chewier texture.
- Uniform Size: Use an ice cream scoop or a measuring cup to ensure each biscuit dough portion is uniform. This helps in even baking and achieving a consistent texture across all biscuits.
- Space Out: Since the biscuits spread, leave ample space between them on the baking sheet. If they still spread too much, chill the dough for longer, or add a bit more flour to the dough to stiffen it slightly.
🍯 Storing and reheating leftovers
- Fridge: Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
- Freezer: Freeze baked biscuits for up to 3 months. Layer between parchment paper in an airtight container.
- Reheat: Refresh in a 300ºF (150ºC) oven for 5-10 minutes if desired, though they're delicious cold or at room temperature too.
❓Recipe FAQ's
Yes, but it will result in a sweeter, less intense chocolate flavour.
Absolutely! For added texture and flavour, fold in about 100g of chopped nuts (like walnuts or almonds) or dried fruit (such as cranberries or cherries) to the batter before baking.
This could be due to the dough being too cold if it was chilled for too long, or the baking powder not being active. Make sure your baking powder is fresh and consider letting the dough sit at room temperature for a bit before baking if it has been chilled.
The biscuits are meant to be soft and gooey in the centre immediately after baking. Allowing them to cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes helps them set to the perfect texture. If you prefer them firmer, allow them to cool completely.
Yes, you can substitute the plain flour with a gluten-free flour blend. Just ensure that the blend is meant for baking and includes xanthan gum if the original recipe doesn’t call for it, to help with the texture.
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
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Easy 30 Minute Chocolate Biscuits
Ingredients
- 200 g (1 cup) dark chocolate, chopped
- 125 g (½ cup) butter, chopped
- 150 g (¾ cup) caster sugar
- 100 g (½ cup) light brown sugar
- 2 eggs, medium to large size
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 130 g (1 cup) plain (all-purpose) flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Sea salt for sprinkling, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the Oven: Set your oven to 160ºC (320ºF) with a fan or 170ºC (338ºF) for conventional heating. Prepare a baking tray by lining it with parchment paper.
- Melt Chocolate and Butter: In a heatproof bowl, combine the chopped dark chocolate and butter. Place this bowl over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are fully melted and combined.
- Whip Eggs and Sugars: In a separate medium bowl, use an electric hand whisk on high speed to beat the caster sugar, light brown sugar, and eggs. Continue whisking until the mixture becomes very light, thick, and fluffy.
- Combine Wet Ingredients: Gently pour the melted chocolate and butter mixture into the whipped egg and sugar mixture. Whisk well to combine.
- Add Dry Ingredients: To the wet mixture, sift in the cocoa powder, plain flour, baking powder, and salt. Fold these in until just combined to avoid overmixing.
- Shape and Bake: With an ice cream scoop, portion the cookie dough onto the prepared baking tray, ensuring ample space between each to account for spreading. Optionally, sprinkle a little sea salt over each dough portion for an extra flavor contrast. Bake in the preheated oven for about 12 minutes. The biscuits should have firm edges and soft centers.
- Cooling: Leave the biscuits on the tray for approximately 10 minutes after baking. This allows them to set before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Storage: Once cooled, store the biscuits in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Consistency Check: The dough will be quite wet and sticky; this is expected and contributes to the chewy texture of the biscuits once baked.
- Spacing is Key: Ensure you leave plenty of space between each portion of dough on the baking tray. This prevents the biscuits from merging into each other as they spread during baking.
- Cooling Time: Allowing the biscuits to cool on the tray helps them to set properly. Moving them too early may cause them to break.
Nutrition
Meet the Chef!
Hi, I'm Debs, a Cordon Bleu-trained chef dedicated to helping you create unforgettable meals on a budget. Discover more about my journey and dive into a world of foolproof recipes designed for those who love to eat well without overspending.
milla
Lovely simple biscuit recipe.
Deborah Rainford
So happy you loved it! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment. It's so appreciated! 🙂
Ashley
If I used semi sweet chocolate chips instead of chocolate chunks and then used dark chocolate cocoa powder… would that still work alright?
Deborah Rainford
Hey Ashley. That should work out just fine! Enjoy! 🙂
Halle
this is a really well organized recipe and the brownie cookies turned out amazing
Deborah Rainford
So happy you loved it! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a comment. It's so appreciated! 🙂
Karissa
Love them
Deborah Rainford
So happy you love this recipe! And thank you for leaving a comment. It's so appreciated! 🙂
Abigail Robinson
It was really good My whole family loved them
Deborah Rainford
Amazing! So happy they're such a hit! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. It's so appreciated! 🙂
Candling
Can you please tell me if baking powder or baking soda is to be used? The recipe asked for baking powder but I heard that in recipes with cocoa, baking soda is used. BTw your recipe instructions are AWESOME!
Deborah Rainford
So happy you love the recipes. Baking powder and baking soda with cocoa powder both function as leavening agents in baking, but they interact differently with acidic ingredients like cocoa powder. Baking powder is a pre-mixed leavener containing both an alkali (like baking soda) and an acid (like cream of tartar), while baking soda needs an acid to activate. Natural cocoa powder is acidic and reacts with baking soda to create carbon dioxide and lift, whereas Dutch-processed cocoa powder is neutral and should be used with baking powder. This recipe was created using Dutch process cocoa powder so requires baking powder. Let me know how they turn out. 🙂
Andrea
Hi! Can I sub the butter for coconut oil?!
Deborah Rainford
Not recommended as it will change the texture of the biscuits.
cherry
hiii can these be made without the chocolate chunks as we dont have that on hand right now!! what could we substitute it with? more flour/ cocoa flour?
Deborah Rainford
Hi Cherry, this recipe can only be made with the chocolate chunks. They're integral to the structure of the recipe. What you can make instead is my chocolate chunk cookies, https://savvybites.co.uk/soft-chewy-chocolate-chip-cookies/
You would leave out the chocolate chunks from the recipe and substitute about 3 tablespoons of the flour for cocoa powder to end up with cookies that are chocolate all the way through without having any chocolate chunks. I hope that helps! Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Rachita
How many eggs do we need? The recipe doesn't mention that. Thanks!
Deborah Thompson
I'm so sorry! It's 2 eggs. Thanks for catching that. The recipe has been updated! 🙂