My 1-Ingredient Upgrade for Better Chocolate Chip Cookies

It works wonders for other sweet treats too.

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

My husband says chocolate chip cookies are one of the reasons he married me—my chocolate chip cookies are delicious. My kiddo and his friends can eat two dozen in a single sitting.

While I could wax poetic about measuring the ingredients with a scale instead of a scoop or the importance of using good chocolate, the real reason my chocolate chip cookies taste so good is a secret ingredient: dark rum.

Ever since I read Marcel Desaulniers’ cookbook, "Death by Chocolate Cookies," I’ve used his mother’s secret ingredient. In Mrs. D’s Chocolate Chip Cookies, the author calls for adding two tablespoons of dark rum to the batter. I tried it once and never looked back.

Why Adding Rum Makes Better Chocolate Chip Cookies

What I found when I added two tablespoons of rum to any chocolate chip cookie recipe is that the cookies didn’t taste strongly of rum—most of the booze gets cooked out in the oven—but all the other flavors in the cookies were so much more intense.

The chocolate tasted more chocolatey, the brown sugar tasted more caramel-y, and the vanilla was more vanilla-y. The cookies had an overall warmth, an oomph, to them that they didn’t have before.

Though I like dark rum, it’s not always in my liquor cabinet so I’ve tried using different spirits in my chocolate chip cookie batter. I love adding whiskey, as I’m more of a whiskey gal personally, and I’ve also tried cognac, white rum, Scotch, rye, and American single malt.

That said, my two favorite spirits to use in this way are dark rum and whiskey, particularly bourbon, but all have been good. No matter the booze you choose, your cookies will take on an extra dimension.

How To Add Rum To Your Cookie Batter

A shot of booze doesn't just make chocolate chip cookies taste better. I’ve added spirits to brownie batter, and the brownies also tasted amazing, with the same intensity of flavors that the cookies have. I’ve even added bourbon to oatmeal cookies and cinnamon whiskey to snickerdoodles. It really does make a noticeable (and delicious) difference.

To incorporate booze into your cookie batter, add the spirit at the same time as the vanilla extract. This is usually when you add the eggs to the sugar and butter mixture, before the dry ingredients are mixed in.

A little goes a long way. Though Mrs. D.’s recipe calls for two tablespoons, I often just use one or one and a half tablespoons. However you measure it, though, your cookies will have a distinct flavor upgrade.

Simply Recipes / Mark Beahm

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