Marbled Black and White Cookies

Can’t decide between chocolate and vanilla? With these marbled black and white cookies, there’s no need to choose! Two different kinds of cookie dough are marbled together with swirls of black cocoa, white chocolate, and flaky salt for a decadent twist on the classic chocolate chip!

I’ve been meaning to make a marbled cookie recipe for a while, but when the time came around, I had the idea to use black cocoa powder. The result is this decadent, melt-in-the-mouth cookie that combines everything you love in the classic chocolate chip cookie with the taste of chocolatey Oreos and flaky salt to finish! All you have to do is make a simple cookie base, divide it in half to make two separate doughs, and marble them together. This has quickly become my go-to cookie, and I can’t wait to share with you how I make them!

What is Black Cocoa Powder?

Cocoa powder is made from separating the solids from cocoa beans and cocoa butter, then grinding them into a powder. There are several different types of cocoa powder, each with its own taste, processing method, and acidity, but here’s a quick breakdown:

1. Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder. This is probably the type you’re most familiar with—think of the classic Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder. This cocoa is the least processed of all types and is typically the lightest in color and highest in acidity/bitterness. Because of it’s high acidity, most recipes pair it with baking soda to react and leaven their baked goods.
2. Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder. Compared to natural cocoa, dutch-processed is much lower in acidity, since it’s been treated with an alkaline solution to neutralize the pH. As a result, it has a richly smooth chocolate taste and darker, almost reddish-brown hue. Since most of the acidity has been removed, a lot of dutch-processed cocoa recipes rely on baking powder as a reactant.
3. Black Cocoa Power. This, of course, is the type we’re using today. Of all of the types of cocoa powder, black cocoa is the most intense Dutched powder you can find (basically an extreme version of dutch-processed cocoa powder). As a result, it has a very low acidity but an intense chocolate flavor that’s reminiscent of an Oreo.

Marbled Cookie Ingredients and Substitutions

Aside from a few special ingredients, you probably have everything for these cookies on hand! Here’s what you’ll need:

• Unsalted butter. The higher-quality butter you use, the higher-quality your cookies will taste. I personally love to use Kerrigold!
• Light brown sugar and granulated sugar. Using a mix of both ensures that the cookies have a rich, chewy interior and crispy edge.
• Eggs. To bind the cookies together.
• Vanilla extract. In baking, vanilla acts somewhat like salt and enhances the flavor of your baked goods! If you don’t have any, you can omit it, but I almost always add a dash to all cookie recipes.
• All-purpose flour. For structure. I haven’t personally tested this recipe with gluten-free flour yet, so I can’t advise you on how it will turn out
• Black cocoa powder. If you can’t find any, I recommend trying your local Whole Foods or buying it online—here’s the link to the brand I used. If needed, you can substitute this with dutch-processed cocoa powder.
• Baking soda. Make sure it’s baking soda and not baking powder—these are two different ingredients that produce entirely different results in baked goods.
• Kosher salt and flaky salt (for garnish). To enhance the flavor, balance the sweetness, and add texture.
• Semisweet/milk and white chocolate. Use any brand or percentage you prefer. The milk chocolate will go with the plain cookie dough while the white chocolate goes with the cocoa dough—almost an “inside-out” cookie effect!

How to Shape Marbled Cookies

I promise that the swirl looks a lot more complicated than it actually is! To shape the cookies, there are two different methods you can use:

1. Scooping. Using a 1-ounce cookie scoop, alternate scooping between the plain and chocolate cookie doughs until the scoop is full. Try not to mix the dough too much, otherwise you won’t retain the marbled effect!
2. Stack and roll the cookie dough. Using a ½ tablespoon measure, scoop out 2 vanilla cookie dough balls and 2 chocolate cookie dough balls and individually roll them between your hands until smooth. To shape the cookies, alternately stack the dough balls (vanilla-chocolate-vanilla-chocolate) and roll between your hands to marble the dough together and create a cookie dough ball. While a little more involved, this method will produce a cleaner marbled cookie as seen below.

Can I Make the Cookies Ahead of Time?

Yes! I discovered this hack several years ago and have never gone back. If you don’t feel like baking off a full batch of cookies, just store your leftovers in the freezer and bake whenever you get a desire for a freshly-baked sweet treat! Here’s how to do it:

1. Scoop the dough as normal. Once the dough is made, portion them out with a cookie scoop and line them on a lined sheet pan (no need to space them apart—you won’t be baking them).
2. Freeze for one hour. Place the cookie sheet in the freezer for at least one hour—this lets the dough set.
3. Store in plastic bags. Place the cookie dough balls in an airtight Ziploc bag and store them in the freezer for up to 6 months.
4. Bake as needed. When ready to bake, preheat your oven, take however many cookies you want to bake out of the Ziploc bag, and bake from frozen per recipe instructions (no need to thaw!). You might need a minute or two of extra cook time, but be careful not to overbake.

Cookie Baking Tips and Tricks

For the most part, cookie recipes are pretty simple and straightforward, but here are some of my top tips to get perfect marbled cookies every time!

1. Evenly divide the cookie dough in half. To get the marbled effect, you need to divide the cookie dough base in half—one will stay plain while the other gets black cocoa and white chocolate. I recommend using a kitchen scale to get an even amount, but you can eyeball it if you need to—it doesn’t have to be exact!
2. Make sure the butter is not hot. If the butter is too hot when mixing with the sugar, you’ll get a cookie with a shiny, crackled top similar to a brownie. While this isn’t a deal breaker, it’s not what we want in a cookie!
3. Chill the cookie dough. When you chill cookie dough, the flour has a chance to fully hydrate and develop flavor. The longer you chill the cookie dough, the more flavor it will have—I like to refrigerate it at least overnight, you could leave it for as long as 5 days.
4. Don’t overbake. The cookies should be golden brown on the edges but underdone when you take them out of the oven, since they continue to cook while cooling on the baking sheet.
5. Browning the butter. If you don’t like the taste of brown butter or don’t want to take the extra step, just replace the entire butter amount with 1 cup of melted and cooled butter.

Be sure to tag me on Instagram if you try this recipe—happy baking!!

Still hungry? Check out these other cookie recipes!

• Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe.
• Perfect Peanut Butter.
• Rosemary Shortbread Cookies.