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Egg Yolk Cookies
These rich, slightly cakey egg yolk cookies are just as tasty as any chocolate chip cookies.
I love a lot of meringue-based desserts like this and this. The problem is I always end up with many extra egg yolks. Besides stocking up on pie crusts and making ice creams, I wanted to try making cookies. Thanks to the wonderful friend, Google, I came across this recipe, and wanted to give it a go. But I did make a few minor changes. They turned out great. Rich, cake-like cookies. Saving this for next time I need to put the extra egg yolks to a good use.
Did I mention it’s super easy to make this recipe? You hardly need any special equipment. I did use my stand mixer, but regular electric hand-mixer will do just fine. Here is step-by-step photos.
Now, I’m going to get one last cookie for the day. 😉
Egg Yolk Cookies
These rich, slightly cakey egg yolk cookies are just as tasty as any chocolate chip cookies.
Yield: About 39 cookies
Ingredients:
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (113gr) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200 gr) sugar
- 2 1/2 cups (310 gr) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ cup (60gr) walnuts, pecans, or macadamia nuts, optional
- ¼ cup (60gr) chocolate chips,optional
Directions:
- Preheat oven 350°F (177°C).
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks and vanilla extract. Set aside.
- In large mixing bowl with paddle attachment, or using an electric hand-held mixer, beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg yolk mixture and continue mixing until well combined, scraping down the sides couple times. Stir in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Mix just until well combined. Add nuts and chocolate chips, if desired.
- Form into 1.5-inch balls and place them on baking sheets with plenty of space to spread. Flatten the dough slightly before baking. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are set.
Slightly adapted from Food.com.
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They were okay. Wouldn’t recommend, quite eggy tasting and I followed the recipe to a T. 🤷🏼♀️🙁
Hi, Laura. I appreciate your feedback, and I totally respect not everyone has the same palate. Some people are sensitive to egg taste. And these cookies use egg yolk after all. I hope they’re better after they’re cooled. Sometimes chilling takes care of “egginess” in food.
Hi. This cookie is awesome. I added orange zest. And was very nice. I needed to use up my egg yokes.
This is probably the best cookie recipe i’ve tried! I did sub the sugar for 150g white and 50g brown though… i used a light butter for lesser calories and it didn’t really taste like it lacked the fat in butter! Also i added 100g dark chocolate chips And 100g white chocolate chips… definitely one for the books! I just want to ask how you store it though? In the fridge? Freezer? Thanks!
We made an angel food cake for father’s day and so like many before me I came across your recipe because I found myself with too many egg yokes, a great predicament to be in. Thank you so much for such a wonderful chocolate chip recipe. I made it exactly how you did it except for multiplying the amount of chocolate chips a few times. They are beautiful and the texture is really nice, a great variation on the chocolate chip cookie. Definitely will be making this one again! They were a big hit.
Hi my name is Enya and it my mum’s birthday today and I had leftover egg yolks so I wanted to make her cookies. I wanted to use more chocolate chips, so I halved the sugar. The batter was very crumbly but the end result was delicious! My mum loves them! Thank you for the great recipe!
Hi, Enya. So glad your mom loved the cookies. Thank you for your feedback!!
This recipe totally rocks! I do not usually write a review but the sheer deliciousness of this recipe inspires me to let you know ,I thank you. I only made a small adjustment , I added some salt The basic recipe makes a great base for other cookies. I made lemon, walnut and and white chocolate chip. . Loved them all Definitely a keeper.
Aww, thank you SO much, Stacy, for your feedback!! I’m happy you love these cookies so much! I love your variations too! I gotta try asap!!!
Absolutely love this recipe, I substituted the white sugar & used brown sugar & added sultanas .. will Definitely make again 🙂
So glad you love this recipe, Michele. Thank you for sharing your adaptation!
5 stars for sure, every week my guy (whose Filipino) asks me to make this exact cookie, might be the perfect cookie in his opinion. It’s a fabulous tea cookie, or just a breakfast cookie for when you are on the go; I would highly recommend this recipe to anyone who isn’t into uber sweet cookies, so fabulous!!!!
Thank you, Saz, for your feedback. So happy you all are enjoying these cookies so often!! YAY!
i baked these at 3 am after making meringues for my mom’s birthday today and i don’t know if they are supposed to be a little chewy on the inside but they are ok.
Thank you for your feedback! Happy Birthday to your mom!
I’m adding a star. After a couple of days we decided they’re pretty good as milk or coffee dunkers. May make them again when I have 6 leftover egg yolks.
Thank you so much for an update, Karen! So happy you enjoyed the cookies. Next time, you can confidently make your desired tweaks and create the best version for you and your family.
Surprisingly they came out good. I never have chocolate chip cookies raise up that high. This was great.
I accidentally used almond essence instead of vanilla, but delicious! Just like amaretti biscuits. Yum! Great easy way to use up yolks after making chocolate mousse!
That sounds delicious. I’ll try with almond essence too. Thank you for your feedback, Sarah!
I think they turned out the way they should have but I’m not a fan. Didn’t have chocolate chips so used 3/4 C chopped pecans. VERY bland. Maybe tomorrow they’ll be better. I like to make recipes the first time as printed but should have followed my instinct to add 1/2 tsp salt.
I tried these because I had leftover yolk. They came out really chalky. Maybe it was user error though but I measured and followed it exactly.
Hi, Sally. Bummer your cookies didn’t come out right. So many people tried and loved the cookies, and I didn’t hear anyone say they’re chalky. Did you measure the flour by volume or weight?
My three star rating is based on personal taste. The recipe is fine and I think they turned out the way they are supposed to – cakey and not too sweet. The ratio of butter/sugar to flour is less than most cookie recipes these days. Thats probably a good thing. Be prepared for a less sweet/rich end result. I like them, just not loving them.
Hi, Liz. Thank you for your feedback. I’m glad you found my description of the cookies accurate, as I try to do my best to describe the final result accurately to set proper expectations. 🙂
I should probably add that after I made them my husband declared them his favourite!
Oh that’s so awesome. Glad he enjoyed those cookies! 😉
Very easy recipe , next time I’m adding lemon zest, but original flavor delish.
So happy you tried and loved the cookies, Mara. Thank you for your review!
I had leftover egg yolks from making Sicilian almond cookies so this was a perfect recipe. I added Nutella an cut the butter and sugar to compensate. They came out great.
Hi, Ida. I love Nutella addition. Definitely trying that next time. Thank you for your feedback!
Oh wow, they are delicious. How many calories are there in this recipe?
Excellent recipe. I had to modify it slightly. I don’t use baking powder so I substituted with 1tsp bread soda. And I didn’t have any cream of tartar so I used 2tsp of lemon juice instead. I didn’t use nuts or choc chips only because I didn’t have any.. I did a third of the batch with no extras. Another third I used finely chopped crystallised ginger and the third batch I used raisins. They turned out great, all set for my small visitors today., Thanks
Yay, so happy you tried and liked the recipe. Thank you for sharing your adjustments and feedback, Niamh!
I was looking for a way to use up the egg yolks after a recipe that only used the whites. Yummy! I admit to using a Tbs of vanilla instead of a tsp – but that’s my usual procedure as I love vanilla. I also added a little nutmeg. Making these as gifts for friends who are gluten free so I used the King Arthur Measure for Measure flour and they were great
That’s awesome, Meg. So glad you liked these cookies. These are sure a great way to use up leftover yolks! And thank you for sharing your changes!
I just made these. I had egg yolks left from a white cake I made yesterday and looked for recipes to use them. So glad I found this recipe. The cookies are wonderful. I love that they are not overly sweet. The caky texture is perfect in my opinion. For those who like a sweeter cookie, a drizzle of glaze would be all you need.Thank you for the recipe.
Hi, Debbie. Thank you for sharing your feedback. So happy you loved these cookies!! And glaze is a great idea to add an extra touch of sweetness.
Thank you for this recipe. I had leftover eggs yolks and did not want to throw them away, and i needed to make chocolate chip cookies so – double header!!!
Yay, so glad you came across this recipe. Win-win for sure! And thank you so much for sharing your feedback, Ida!
Makes delicious cookies, quickly. You may wish to skip the salt if you’re British; maybe a sign that our diets have less salt in them these days. There’s a linger of salt after eating. Otherwise, texture is lovely .
Thank you for your feedback, Adam. Glad you liked the cookies!
I did not have unsalted butter when i made these. I used regular butter and did not add salt. You might try that in the future with these. I thought my cookies turned out very well. I did not notice any after taste of salt.
Thank you for the recipe- a great way to use up egg yolks. Loved the cakiness, I didn’t have any choc chips so added raisins. Will definitely use this recipe again.
So glad you enjoyed the cookies, Jane. Thank you for your feedback.
I made these cookies a few weeks ago. The recipe worked well, yielding a somewhat cakey texture, but the cookie was tasteless. I may use this recipe again, but if I do, I will add more flavoring like the original recipe calls for. The tiny note at the bottom of the recipe states that this was adapted from a recipe on food.com, essentially just leaving out flavorings. Not a good change IMO.
Hi, Anne. Thanks for your feedback. Yes, definitely try the original recipe. I just didn’t really care for those additional flavors when I tried.
Can you freeze the dough and make them later on?
Hi, Trine. I’ve never tried freezing the dough, but I don’t see why you couldn’t.
I have left over yolks and saw this recipe of your. But the outcome doesnt look good. I followed all the procedures and amount of ingredients. It doesnt flat out, wish i could show you how it looks like to know what goes wrong.
How did you measure the ingredients? You can submit the photo through this page: https://www.sweetandsavorybyshinee.com/from-your-kitchen/
I followed step by step but the cookies doesn’t separate out, it stay as shaped.
Hi, Karyn Foo. What do you mean by “cookies doesn’t separate out”? Did you mean they didn’t spread and flatten on its own? If so, did you flatten the cookie dough balls slightly before baking?
Sain bn uu ? Cream of tartar gdg ni yu yum bol? Yugaar orluulah ve?
Sain, sain bn uu? Cream of tartar gej nuntag tsagaan yum bdiin. Bhgui bol hiihgui bj bolno.
I really dig your blog Shinee. Going to try this one. Egg yolks make baked goods so yummy!
…matt
Thank you, Matt! I’m so glad you like my blog. 🙂 I love these cookies. Definitely give it a try!