Crunchy chocolate chip cookie sticks, sprinkled with turbinado sugar and dipped in chocolate and sprinkles. This is a fun new way to eat cookies and would make a great addition to your Christmas cookie tray! Recipe includes a step-by-step video!
A New Way to Enjoy Cookies
I’m a big fan of finding alternative ways to eat chocolate chip cookies. I’ve shared them in cookie bar form, as fudge, as brittle, in its uncooked form (as edible cookie dough) and I’ve even shared the worst chocolate chip cookie recipe in the world.
Today I’m sharing yet another version. These cookie sticks are a fun and different way to enjoy cookies. They’re slightly crunchy, perfectly sweet, and so easy to decorate for the holidays (or customize for a party!).
They remind me a bit of chocolate dipped pretzel sticks, only sweeter. Let’s get to it.
What You Need To Make Cookie Sticks
The ingredients for today’s recipe are basic ones that you probably already have on hand. Let’s touch on a few of these briefly:
- Butter. Make sure you use butter that is softened, but not so soft that it’s melt-y or oily. It should still be slightly chilled. I use unsalted butter, but see my post on salted vs unsalted butter if you would like to substitute salted.
- Egg yolk. We omit the white because that would encourage the cookie stick to rise and spread (which we don’t want). Instead we just use the yolk to bind the dough together and keep the cookies stable but tender. You can save the egg white to make meringues!
- Corn starch. This helps the cookies to hold their shape without becoming too dry or brittle.
- Flour. I recommend all-purpose (plain) flour only.
- Mini chocolate chips. I prefer these to the regular sized-chocolate chips because the regular-sized ones are much larger and
- Chocolate and sprinkles! Not pictured (because they’re optional). While these cookie sticks are delicious enjoyed on their own, I highly recommend dipping them in dark chocolate and covering with sprinkles before enjoying. It adds a new dimension of flavor and it’s great for customizing for the holidays, making them a unique option for your Christmas cookie tray!
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
Some Notes on the Cookie Dough
When you’re preparing the dough, you might notice that as you add the flour it becomes fairly stiff and quite dry. This is absolutely by design. It keeps the cookies round and stick-shaped (they will flatten slightly on the bottoms) and keeps them from spreading.
Make sure to add your flour gradually (3-4 parts) and stir until it’s been almost completely absorbed after each addition. Adding the flour all at once will make it difficult for the liquid ingredients to properly absorb all of the dry ingredients and can create a difficult dough that requires much more effort to work together.
I do call for some brief chilling of the cookie sticks once you’ve rolled them into their shapes. This helps keep them from spreading any in the oven. The butter has been through a lot between the creaming and the warmth of your hands when rolling, so we want to give it a chance to cool and re-solidify before baking.
Tip: Have fun with decorating! I like to dip my cookie sticks in dark chocolate and sprinkles, but play around with white chocolate, crushed candy canes, festively-colored sprinkles, toffee bits, and more!
Frequently Asked Questions
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to a week and a half.
You can substitute your favorite chocolate chips! If the chocolate is too thick, thin it with up to a teaspoon of shortening. Keep in mind that this type of chocolate will take a bit longer to cool completely and become firm.
This usually happens for one of the following reasons:
1) The butter was too soft when you made your cookie dough or it was made too warm/soft from over-beating. Chilling your cookie dough longer may help in this instance.
2) The flour was accidentally under-measured (see my post on how to measure flour properly). Also, make sure you use all-purpose flour and do not use self-rising flour.
3) The cookie dough wasn’t chilled long enough or was placed on a warm baking sheet.
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Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Make sure to check out the how-to VIDEO in the recipe card!
Cookie Sticks
Ingredients
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened to room temperature
- ¾ cups (150 g) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 ⅔ cups (335 g) flour
- 1 Tablespoon corn starch
- ½ cup (85 g) mini chocolate chips
- ½ cup (100 g) turbinado or coarse sugar, optional
- 8 oz (226 g) melting chocolate I use Ghirardelli dark chocolate melting wafers, you could instead use melted chocolate chips it will just take longer for the chocolate to become firm
- ⅓ cup Sprinkles optional
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C).
- Combine butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt and beat with a stand mixer or an electric mixer until light and fluffy.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, ¾ cups (150 g) sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ teaspoon salt
- Stir in egg yolk and scrape down the sides of the bowl using a rubber spatula to ensure ingredients are well-incorporated.1 large egg yolk
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour and cornstarch.2 ⅔ cups (335 g) flour, 1 Tablespoon corn starch
- With mixer on medium-low speed, gradually add flour mixture in 3-5 parts, stirring until almost completely combined before adding more. You will need to occasionally scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl several times for this, as the mixture is fairly dry and crumbs tend to settle at the bottom of the bowl. Stir until all ingredients are combined and dough is beginning to cling together.
- Stir in mini chocolate chips.½ cup (85 g) mini chocolate chips
- Pour your coarse sugar into a shallow dish (I used a plate for ease of rolling) and set nearby.½ cup (100 g) turbinado or coarse sugar, optional
- Scoop a level tablespoon of cookie dough and roll it into a tight, smooth ball.
- Lightly flour your hands and, using your palms (not your fingers or the sticks will be lumpy), gently roll the dough out until it is about 6" long.
- Briefly roll your cookie "stick" in the coarse sugar on the plate, and transfer to a wax paper lined plate or baking sheet. Make sure the stick is as straight as possible.
- Transfer to your freezer and freeze for at least 15 minutes (to help keep the cookies from spreading). Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375F (190C).
- Once oven is preheated and dough has chilled, remove cookie sticks from the fridge and carefully place on an ungreased cookie sheet, spacing at least 1-2" apart. Bake on 375 (190C) for 14 minutes or until edges are beginning to turn golden brown (do not place any subsequent batches of dough on hot pans or they will melt and spread).
- Allow cookies to cool completely before dipping in chocolate.
Chocolate & Sprinkles
- If desired, once cookies are cooled dip in melted chocolate and decorate with sprinkles.8 oz (226 g) melting chocolate, ⅓ cup Sprinkles
- Allow chocolate to cool and harden before serving.
Notes
Storing
These cookies will keep for up to a week and a half in an airtight container. They may also be frozen for up to several months, but due to their shape make sure to freeze in a sturdy container (and not a ziploc bag where they might easily be broken).Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Recipe originally published February 12 2016, updated with improved photos, a video, and new text.
KmC
Followed recipe to a T. It’s so crumbly, no way it’ll roll into a stick. What did u do wrong?
Sam
I would double-check that you measured the flour properly (use a kitchen scale or follow instructions for properly measuring flour) and that the dry ingredients were added gradually and until fully incorporated. There is a video in the recipe card that shows step-by-step how to make it and how the dough should look, it may be helpful to take a peek at that.
Samantha
hi ya, I am using plant based butter and the biscuits are spreading a little more than yours.. do you have any advice please 🥺
Sam
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear this. 🙁 The butter may be the issue here. 🙁
Samantha
Do you have any suggestions?
Sam
Unfortunately I’m not very experienced with plant based butter, you could try adding more flour and chilling the dough for longer and seeing if that helps, but it may be that the type of butter isn’t conducive to the recipe.
Samantha
hi ya,, the first batch are very tasty! thank you!
ok so I have made a second batch and testing less butter, a tad more flour, ½ tbsp more cornflour and over night in the fridge.. I’ll let you know if it helps🥰
Samantha
hi Sam, so I’ve done a couple of test bakes and just incase anyone else is plant based here’s what I did…So for flora plant based I reduced the butter by 15g, upped the flour by 15g and added a ½ tbsp more of cornflour.. and they are great..
See the other thing I didn’t allow for but do in sourdough is different flours absorb different amounts of liquid..
I can’t see how to share my photos so I will do so on Pinterest x
Sam
Thank you so much for the feedback! 🙂
Donna Moore
Do you put sprinkles in both sides?
They look great!
Sam
Hi Donna! I just put a few sprinkles on top for decoration. 🙂
Holly Inman
Hi Sam,
I was wondering if I could make these gluten free. if they would hold their shape?
thank you
Sam
Hi Holly! Unfortunately I don’t have much experience with using gluten free flour so I can’t say for sure how it would turn out. Let me know how it goes if you try it. 🙂
Lorrie
I’ll be making these for my grandson’s class. He’s 7 and loves it when I bring treats to his class. Thank you for the recipe. 🩷
Sam
I hope everyone loves them! 🙂
Lorrie
I’m very confident that the children will love them. I mean what’s better than a chocolate chip cookie in stick form, dipped in chocolate or candy melts & rolled in sprinkles?
Sam
I agree! 🙂
Nina K
Because these have mini chocolate chips, I would imagine they would be wonderful served with a cannoli-filling style dip. I haven’t made these cookies but I think that would be such a great combination!
Sam
That would be awesome! Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Renee
is it possible to roll out the cookie dough and slice them into “sticks” if you want a more square-ish shape instead?
Sam
Hi Renee! I haven’t tried it, but I think it could work. 🙂
Renee
i am happy to report that rolling it out into a 1/4″ sheet and slicing them into sticks turned out great! i knew I wasn’t going to do well rolling them uniformly 1 at a time, so I was super pleased with the alternative. thank you for the recipe.
Sam
I’m glad they turned out! 🙂
Diane
I was wondering, instead of chocolate chips, has anyone tried with lemon or orange zest?
Sam
Hi Diane! That’s a good question. I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure how it would work.