Looking for a delicious way to use up extra egg yolks? Try these egg yolk cookies! They’re rich and slightly cakey with just the right amount of chew.
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I’m obsessed with meringue-based desserts like macarons and angel food cake!
But the problem is I always end up with extra egg yolks. Besides stocking up on pie crusts and ice cream, I wanted to try chocolate chip cookies!
I came across this cookie recipe and decided to give it a go. I made a few minor changes, and they turned out great.
Why you’ll love this recipe:
If you’re an avid baker, you know that many recipes call for egg whites instead of whole eggs. Don’t throw out those extra yolks!
Chocolate chip cookies are a quick and easy way to use them up. These buttery cookies are …
- Light and chewy
- Easy to customize
- Perfect for freezing
- Made with pantry staples
Egg yolks cause the cookies to puff up for a rich but soft-baked chocolate chip cookie! They pair especially well with a cup of coffee with sweet cream cold foam!!! (Any Starbuck’s fans here?)
Key Ingredient Notes:
- Egg yolks – Egg yolks have a higher fat content than egg whites which creates a soft texture in chocolate chip cookies.
- Unsalted butter – Butter provides structure and makes the cookies tender and moist!
- Sugar – Along with sweetness, sugar encourages the cookie dough to spread.
- All-purpose flour – The thickness and texture of a cookie depends on the amount of flour it contains. The right ratio produces a melt-in-your-mouth cookie.
- Mix-ins – Chocolate chips and nuts are the ultimate cookie combo, but the sky is the limit. White chocolate, sprinkles, M&M’s, peanut butter chips, or chopped caramels are great options!
How to make egg yolk cookies:
Egg yolk cookies are easy to make, with no special equipment necessary. I used a stand mixer, but a hand-held electric mixer works great too!
1. Make the dough
- First, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. This process creates tiny pockets of air that puff up in the oven creating a chewy cookie!
- And in another small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and vanilla extract.
- Add the egg yolk mixture to the butter mixture. Beat until well combined. It’s important to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula to incorporate all the eggs.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Avoid overmixing the cookie dough! Overmixed dough can result in flat and dense cookies. Add the chocolate chips and walnuts.
2. Shape and bake
Using a medium cookie scoop, form cookie dough balls and place them onto a lined baking sheet.
Be sure to give the cookies space so they can spread. Flatten them a little before baking.
Tip
Cookie scoop helps to shape uniform sizes and makes the process super fast!
Bake the cookies for 8-10 minutes. The edges should be set while the centers still look under baked. If the entire cookie looks done when it comes out of the oven, it’s overbaked!
Tips for Success:
- Make sure your butter is room temperature. If you forget to leave it out, microwave the cold butter in 5-second intervals until slightly soft.
- I encourage weighing the flour for accuracy to prevent dry dough, which is often caused by adding too much flour.
- The cookies will set up as they cool. Let them cool for a few minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
- Resist overbaking the cookies. The centers will still look slightly wet or underdone when you remove them from the oven.
- Line the baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat to prevent the cookies from sticking. Silicone baking mats are reusable and easy to clean!
Make-Ahead Tips:
- While not necessary, feel free to make the cookie dough up to two days in advance. Store in the refrigerator then bake as directed.
- Freeze pre-scooped cookie dough balls for easy baking! Simply scoop the cookie dough onto a sheet pan then place it in the freezer. Transfer the frozen cookie dough to a freezer bag and freeze. Bake the cookies from frozen, 1-2 minute longer.
Storing Tips:
- Before storing the cookies, let them cool down completely.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container, at room temperature, for up to 4 days.
- Store baked cookies in the freezer too! Place the cooled cookies in a freezer bag and freeze for up to three months.
- Let the egg yolk cookies thaw at room temperature or microwave one cookie in 5-second intervals until warmed through.
FAQs:
There are numerous recipes that call specifically for egg yolks. Custard, ice cream, mayonnaise, carbonara, hollandaise sauce, coconut cream pie, chocolate pudding, crème brulee, and chocolate chip cookies are all great recipes to use those extra yolks!
No, you don’t need to chill the cookie dough. Chilling cookie dough prevents it from spreading too thin. These cookies are the perfect thickness already!
Cookies continue to cook and set up as they cool. If you leave the cookies in the oven too long, the cookies will harden too much. Cookies should look slightly underdone in the middle so they set up soft and chewy.
More ways to use egg yolks:
There are numerous recipes that you can use extra yolks! Try one of these delicious recipes next time you need to use them up.
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Egg Yolk Cookies
Ingredients
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup (113g) unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 cups (310g) all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder Note 1
- ½ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
- ½ cup (60g) walnuts, pecans, or macadamia nuts optional
- ¼ cup (60g) chocolate chips optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven 350°F (177°C).
- In a small bowl, whisk 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, about 2 minutes.
- Add the egg yolk mixture and continue mixing until well combined, scraping down the sides couple times.
- Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Mix just until well combined.
- Add nuts and chocolate chips, if desired.
- Using a medium cookie scoop, 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.
Tips & Notes
– Before storing the cookies, let them cool down completely.
– Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.
– Store baked cookies in the freezer too! Place the cooled cookies in a freezer bag and freeze for up to three months.
Nutrition
I had to use up some egg yolks so found this recipe. My kids and I made them together…so super easy and quick to make. I have printed the recipe out so I can use it again and again.
I also used gluten free flour and they still worked out totally okay!!
Yay, so happy you tried and enjoyed this recipe, Megan!! And I’m glad it works with gluten-free flour as well. Thank you for your feedback!
Dough turned out very dry, from reading other comments I now know that this recipe requires flour to be measured by weight. Didn’t see that mentioned in the recipe or the video. Disappointed to have wasted these ingredients.
Hi, Ang. It’s not that you *have* to weigh the flour, but it’s more about you have to measure it correctly! If you properly measured the flour by volume, you wouldn’t have any issues. But it is really easy to mis-measure flour with cups (and some recipes are more forgiving than others). I find this tutorial on how to properly measure dry ingredients super helpful.
I really hope you’ll learn to measure flour properly and won’t rate perfectly working recipes (that I worked hard to create) with low star ratings because you didn’t measure the flour correctly.
Have you tested this recipe using oil instead of butter? My husband & I do not eat dairy.
Hi, Christine. No, I haven’t tried this recipe with oil. Let me know if you do.
I made a half batch of them with Country Crock Plant Butter and cooked 6 to try since batter seemed awfully dry. Dry indeed. I added 2Tbs of water being unsure of how adding more of the plant butter or applesauce could effect it. The water helped with the dryness but the cookies did not have any melt down from the scoop shape.
Hi, Teri. Thank you for your feedback. How did you measure the flour? If you measured by volume, it’s possible to accidentally add a bit too much flour. If you’ve watched my video, my dough isn’t too dry. But you do need to flatten the dough balls, as these cookies don’t spread as much. This was included at the end step 7 in the recipe, and I also showed in the video.
In Australia we have diary free spreads – nutalex is a brand that works well. I find it still cooks up well!
Thanks for sharing that tip, Megan!
Made these today, used up some homemade candied peel. They’re scrumpy.
I whisked the egg yolks/vanilla until light in colour and foamy, and found they cooked better at the top of the oven. Would definitely make again.
Thank you for your feedback, Sally.
I don’t Twitter or do Instagram.
👩🍳 I DID do the recipe but substituted 1/2 sugar with light brown sugar. Also used ground up semisweet baking chocolate squares partially mixed through the dough.
Turned out delicious!
So happy you tried and loved the recipe, Regina. Thank you for your feedback.
Tastes good! Easy. My mix was very dry. I ended up adding approx 1/8c milk before choc chips.
Thank you for your feedback, Esther!!
Excellent Recipe,easy and delicious. Thank you very much
You’re welcome. I appreciate your feedback, Heidemarie!
Hi,,,I have a couple extra yolks, so I decided to try out your recipe, 1/3 only – without the cream of tartar as I didn’t have it then. The cookies came out beautifully.. my friends love them. Soon I’m going to try the full recipe. Thank you!!!
Yay, so glad you loved the cookies. Thank you for your feedback, Theresia!
I made these just as written, with choc. chips but no nuts. They did not spread at all. Perhaps I made them too big, as I only got 24 cookies. But they are not very sweet at all and I had to bake them about 20 minutes, they just wouldn’t brown. Maybe it’s my oven. Would never make again, very disappointed. But I had 6 yolks to use up so I gave ’em a try.
Hi, Rhonda. Bummer, the cookies didn’t turn out as expected. Thank you for feedback though.
Hi.. thank you for the recipe. May I know how many grams of egg yolks? Thank you.
Hi, Izzati. I’ve never weighed the egg yolk amount. I’ll update the recipe when I do.