What’s better than a chocolate chunk cookies? How about Raspberry Almond Chocolate Chunk Cookies?! These soft, moist cookies have a delicious almond flavor, tons of tart and tangy dried raspberries, and huge pockets of semi-sweet chocolate chunks. You may never make regular chocolate chip cookies again!
Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Almonds and Raspberries
As regular readers might know, I’m more than a little obsessed with freeze-dried fruit, especially raspberries. (Not sure how to use freeze-dried fruit in desserts? Check out these cookies, these bars, or this buttercream!)
Freeze-dried raspberries
So it had been my plan to add my favorite to a chocolate chip cookie recipe for awhile, but when the time came, I thought they might need something more. Something to give them a little extra dimension…so I added almond paste
The almond paste
Special Ingredients You’ll Need
→ Almond paste is a soft paste, usually found in a bar shape, made from ground almonds, sugar, and a bit of oil. It has a delicious almond flavor so if you’re an almond lover like me, you’ll LOVE desserts made with almond paste! It can usually be found in the baking aisle of the grocery store.
In this recipe, the almond paste adds not only flavor, but also a wonderful texture. It keeps the cookies soft and moist for DAYS. If you’re tired of your chocolate chip cookies going a bit stale after a day or two, give this recipe a try and see if you don’t fall in love with adding almond paste to your cookies!
→ Freeze-dried raspberries are very different from regular dried raspberries. Rather than being super-sweet and chewy, they’re crunchy and taste JUST like a tart, tangy raspberry! I love using freeze-dried fruit because it can be added whole to some desserts, like cookies, or it can be ground into a powder in the food processor and used to flavor frostings and other soft desserts.
Freeze-dried fruit can be found near the dried fruit/nuts at Trader Joe’s and in many large grocery stores, and can also be easily purchased online. It should be kept in an airtight container or bag, because it will start to get soft and chewy once it is exposed to air.
How to Make Raspberry Almond Chocolate Chunk Cookies:
- Combine the almond paste and 2 types of sugars in a mixer, and mix until it looks like coarse crumbs.
- Add the butter, then mix until it looks light and fluffy.
- The egg, yolk, and vanilla are then mixed in until well-incorporated.
- Whisk the flour, corn starch, baking soda, and salt together in a small bowl, then add the dry ingredients to the mixer.
- Mix on low speed until just a few streaks of flour are left, then finish mixing by hand.
- Now for the good stuff! Add the chocolate chunks, freeze-dried raspberries, and chocolate chunks.
- Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours–overnight is good too!
- Scoop the cookies into large balls, and bake them at 350 F for 10-12 minutes. Let them cool a bit, then devour!
Chocolate Chunk Cookie Tips and Tricks:
- If you can’t find almond paste, you can substitute marzipan. Marzipan is made with almond paste, and has a similar flavor and texture. It does have added sugar, however, so your cookies will be sweeter than if you had used paste.
- No chocolate chunks? No problem! Swap in semi-sweet chips instead, or mix it up and use milk, white, or dark!
- This recipe is made to be used with freeze-dried raspberries, so swapping in fresh is not advised in this recipe.
- You CAN use other freeze-dried fruit, though! Try it with strawberries or blackberries instead!
🍪More Fun Cookie Recipes You’ll Love:
Raspberry Almond Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Ingredients
- 4 oz almond paste soft, cubed
- 5 2/3 oz brown sugar (3/4 cup), lightly packed
- 1 3/4 oz granulated sugar (1/4 cup)
- 6 oz unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1 large egg at room temperature
- 1 large egg yolk at room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 9 oz all-purpose flour (2 cups)
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chunks (1 cup)
- 3/4 cup almonds toasted, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup freeze-dried raspberries
Instructions
- Combine the almond paste, brown sugar, and granulated sugar in the bowl of a large stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Turn the mixer to low and mix the almond paste and sugars together, until the paste is worked into the sugar and the mixture is coarse crumbs.
- Add the butter, and cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about 1-2 minutes. Add the egg, yolk, and vanilla extract, and beat until combined.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, corn starch, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the mixing bowl and turn the mixer to low, mixing until just a few flour streaks remain. Turn the mixer off and mix the dough the rest of the way by hand, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the chocolate chunks, chopped almonds, and freeze-dried raspberries, and stir them in until everything is well-mixed.
- Wrap the dough tightly in cling wrap, and refrigerate it until firm, about 2 hours. (Dough can be made several days ahead and kept in the refrigerator until ready to bake.) Once the dough is firm, preheat the oven to 350 F. Scoop the dough into large (1 1/2”) balls, and place on a parchment-covered baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until cookies are puffed and starting to brown around the edges. Remove from the oven and let cool at room temperature on the baking sheet.
Recipe Notes
Measuring Tips
Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.
Want to learn more about baking measurements and conversion?
Yummy!
I just recently found your website and I’m excited about all of the recipes. Especially this one. I have been wanting to add fruit to cookies to balance the sweetness with tartness but I don’t like dried fruit! I never thought about freeze dried! Duh, Kim! I have been wanting to do a chocolate chip, strawberry (I’m obsessed with strawberries), and pistachio (I’m allergic to almonds) cookie for a while and now you’ve shown me how. I wonder how cinnamon chips and peaches would be. Like peach cobbler in a cookie? The possibilities are endless now. Baking is how I deal with the stress of my job because, let’s face it, sugar is bliss. I’m so glad you shared this! I can’t wait for this weekend to try it out!
Hi Kimberly, I am thrilled you found my site! I love your idea of combining the cinnamon chips and peaches and hope to hear about your results. Good luck and happy baking!
This recipe looks like the bomb.When I was looking for a chocolate chip raspberry cookie recipe , this one is the one my honey was interested in.We used white. chocolate chips instead. and you can get The raspberries at Trader Joe’s.The dough is in the fridge.Can’t wait to nom nom these!!!
For some reason my cookies don’t spread out. Taste good
Hi Jane, I am thrilled to hear you like the taste however I am sorry to hear that the cookies didn’t spread. I would love to help you troubleshoot, however it is hard to know what could have gone wrong without more details about the ingredients and procedure. I find the baking sheet has a big impact on how the cookies will spread. Did you by chance use a dark, light, or glass cookie sheet? Another thing that comes to mind is that the longer the ingredients are beaten for can get some air incorporated and that will help them to spread more while baking. My first thoughts are that it could have been a combinations of these two things. Feel free to send me an email, and I would love to troubleshoot further with you!
Hello, I made them and my cookies didn’t spread either. They taste good, but didn’t flatten, mine are more of a thick cookie. Look nothing like yours do. I had to make the almond paste from scratch, never again.. oooffff.. Not sure what I did different. I made them two different times, came out the same way both times.
Hi Mollie, I am so sorry to hear they didn’t work out either time for you. I am glad that they taste good, but that is disappointing. I would love to help you troubleshoot, it is hard to know what went wrong exactly without more details about the ingredients and procedure. I find the baking sheet has a big impact on how the cookies will spread. Did you by chance use a dark, light, or glass cookie sheet? Another thing that comes to mind is that the longer the ingredients are beaten for can get some air incorporated and that will help them to spread more while baking. My first thoughts are that it could have been a combinations of these two things. Feel free to email me, and I would love to troubleshoot further with you! Thanks for your feedback!
I was very disappointed in this cookie. The cookie did not flatten as shown in the picture and they were very dry. I bake a lot and have never used corn starch in baking cookies before, could this be the problem? Should it have been baking powder or cream of tarter instead?
Hi Donna, I am sorry to hear that the cookies didn’t work out, That is disappointing! Corn starch in smaller amounts will actually help with the tenderness of the cookie. Since it interacts with some of the protein in the flour it can actually create a nice tender baked good when used. Fun fact, you can actually make your own cake flour by combining all purpose flour and corn starch which is pretty cool! I would love to help you troubleshoot, there are a few reasons that cookies can turn out differently. Some of the first things we look at are what color of pan you used? Was it dark, light, or even a glass pan? Then the second thing we look at is how long you mixed it for? The longer you mix the more air is incorporated which can play a part into how the cookies will spread. Feel free to email me, and I would love to troubleshoot further with you!
This look so delicious my mouth is watering <3
Hi Marie, thank you so much!