These chewy blueberry chocolate chip cookies are loaded with fresh blueberries and dark chocolate chunks with just a hint of orange zest and flaky sea salt to top them off. They're easy to make — no mixer required! — and have the perfect balance of sweet, tart, bitter, and salty flavors.
I used my spiced chocolate chunk cookie recipe as a base for these blueberry chocolate chip cookies. The technique is slightly different; I opted for a mixer-free method to give the cookie a denser, chewier texture. With less air incorporated, these cookies will also spread out less when you bake them, which is better for accommodating the blueberries.
This is also relatively small batch cookie recipe, using only one stick of butter and one egg to make 25 cookies! And if you have leftover blueberries, consider making my easy-peasy mini lemon blueberry muffins!
I usually use slightly wrinkled blueberries when I'm making these cookies, but if I'm shopping for berries specifically to use here, I look for smaller blueberries, as they tend to be sweeter and easier to mix into the cookie dough.
I use a microplane to remove the zest from a large naval orange until I have about a teaspoon. The orange zest complements the sweet-tart flavor of the blueberries, but if you prefer a less intense orange flavor, you can use less zest or even omit it entirely.
Bar chocolate that I chop by hand is my favorite for these blueberry cookies. I used Ghirardelli 72% dark chocolate.
Fresh vs. Fresh Dried Blueberries
The secret to a good blueberry chocolate chip cookie? Drying the blueberries in the oven before you mix them in. This does take a bit of time — 2 to 4 hours — but is so worth it! You can do this up to 3 days before making the cookies, just store them in an airtight container in the fridge.
Drying the blueberries does two important things. One, it intensifies the blueberry flavor, and two, it removes a lot of moisture from the blueberries (blueberries are about 85% water!). When I tested these cookies without drying the blueberries, it was really unpleasant to bite into a wet blueberry in the middle of a chewy cookie. And the moisture made the cookies spoil faster.
By partially drying fresh blueberries, rather than buying dried blueberries at the store (which are more like raisins) I can control how much moisture leaves the berries before I add them to the cookies.
I find that drying the blueberries by about 25% gives the perfect blueberry texture and flavor for making blueberry chocolate chip cookies. This step can take anywhere from 2-4 hours. Bigger blueberries will take longer to dry than smaller ones, so yours may be fine after 2 hours or you might need the full 4 hours.
Making The Cookie dough
Toward the end of the blueberries' time in the oven, I take the egg out of the fridge and melt the butter. This gives the butter time to cool and the egg time to come to room temperature, which makes mixing the dough much easier. This is also when I do my mise en place (measuring all the other ingredients so they're ready to go).
I always melt the butter in the bowl I plan to mix the cookie dough in. Everything else will be added to this bowl, so I use a bowl that feels comically oversized to give myself plenty of room to mix.
When the bowl is cool to the touch and the butter is still liquid but has just started to solidify around the edges, I know it's ready to start mixing.
I use a spatula to gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until the flour is almost incorporated. A few streaks of visible flour should still remain.
I finish by adding the chopped chocolate and dried blueberries and mix just until combined. Some blueberries might burst at this stage, but I do try to avoid it. The flour streaks will finish mixing in along with the blueberries and chocolate.
I use a 2-tablespoon scoop to portion the cookie dough onto a parchment-lined quarter sheet pan. I always try to get an even distribution of blueberries and cookie dough in each scoop.
And to get the perfect chocolate puddles on top of my cookies, I top each cookie dough ball with a few chocolate chunks before baking.
Immediately after baking, I sprinkle the cookies with a pinch of flaky salt and let them cool on the pan for a few minutes, before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
For perfectly round cookies, use an overturned glass or ring cutter to scoot the cookies into shape while they're still hot. I like to use one of these round cutters (pick one that is just slightly larger than your cookies).
💭 Have More Baking Questions?
I've rounded up answers to common baking questions and how-to guides, including:
- Ingredient swaps and FAQs
- Why my recipes are written in grams and not cups
- How to quickly bring eggs and butter to room temperature
- Ingredients I use (salt, flour, yeast, etc.)
- Step-by-step guides for bread and baking techniques
See my baking techniques & troubleshooting guide and ingredient swaps and FAQs for more!
📖 Recipe
Blueberry and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies with Orange Zest
Recipe Notes
- Resting and drying time is combined. 2-4 hours to dry the blueberries, then at least 2 hours in the fridge for the cookies to chill before baking.
- You can dry the blueberries up to 3 days in advance. Store them in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use.
- Yes, you can use chocolate chips instead of chopped chocolate in the cookie dough. However, this will change the way the cookies hold their shape in the oven. You won't get melty chocolate puddles on top or delicious hidden pockets of chocolate inside. Chocolate chips and store bought chocolate chunks have emulsifiers and stabilizers in them to help them keep their shapes in the oven. A hand chopped chocolate bar does not.
- To get chocolate puddles, save about ¼ of the chopped dark chocolate and use it to top the cookies after you scoop them. Or just chop more chocolate to use for topping!
- To freeze: Arrange on sheet pan in freezer. Once frozen, transfer to airtight bag or storage container. To bake from frozen you may need to add 1-2 minutes to the baking time.
Ingredients
- 120 grams blueberries (about 85 grams dried / ¾ cup, about ½ cup once dried)
- 113 grams unsalted butter (1 stick / 8 tablespoons)
- 80 grams brown sugar
- 80 grams white sugar
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 160 grams all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon diamond crystal kosher salt (use half as much if using a different brand)
- 113 grams dark chocolate bar (hand chopped)
- flaky sea salt (optional, for topping)
Instructions
- Dry the blueberries: Preheat oven to 200°F. Arrange blueberries on lined sheet pan. Place on middle rack for 2-4 hours, shaking pan occasionally. Blueberries shouldn't burst, but will wrinkle and shrink slightly. You aren't turning them into raisins, just removing about 25% of the water content.
- Melt, then cool the butter: Melt butter in 15-20 second bursts in a large microwave safe bowl. Let cool for 20-30 minutes, until bowl is cool to the touch and butter has just barely started to solidify around the edges.
- Whisk: Add both sugars and whisk vigorously, 1-2 minutes. The mixture should be lighter in color, have a slightly gritty, paste-like texture, and will hold its shape when you stop whisking. Then, add the egg, vanilla extract, and orange zest. Whisk vigorously for another 1-2 minutes until very pale, smooth, cohesive, and glossy.
- Stir: Add the flour, salt, and baking soda. Switch to a spatula and stir until dry ingredients are almost completely incorporated. Then add blueberries and chopped dark chocolate and gently fold until evenly incorporated and no dry bits of flour remain in the bowl. Try not to burst any of the blueberries.
- Scoop: Use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop to scoop the cookie dough onto a lined sheet pan. This can be a little fiddly so just be careful as you scoop to make sure you're getting an even distribution of blueberries in every scoop. The blueberries might burst a little (that's okay) and you want to make sure you don't accidentally scoop a cookie that is mostly blueberries or it won't hold together in the oven.
- Chill: Cover cookies and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours (ideally overnight) prior to baking. You can even freeze the dough balls and bake from frozen. Chilling the cookie dough is NOT optional. If you skip this step, the cookies will spread out into thin, crispy puddles in the oven.
- Bake: Preheat oven to 375°F. Arrange cookies on lined sheet pan with about 2-3" between them (I can usually fit 10 cookies on a sheet pan). Bake for 9-11 minutes, until edges are browned and tops have mostly set. Top immediately with flaky salt. Let cool on sheet pan 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.Optional flair: To get perfectly round cookies, use a round cutter or overturned glass to scoot them into shape while still hot out of the oven.
Melissa says
I was hesitant about the combo in this cookie - but figured I'd give it a try because I've loved every other recipe that Rebecca has done. This did not disappoint. The only complaint I have is that we did not double the recipe! We are making them again this weekend, they barely lasted the night.
Rebecca Eisenberg says
Thank you for trusting me!! I'm so relieved I did not steer you wrong. Enjoy your next batch! 🙂
Ann says
I read a novel in which the heroine made a batch of blueberry chocolate chip cookies with orange zest, so I googled it and found this one. This recipe was a bit more involved than ones I usually make to say the least. I did cook my large blueberries at 200° for four hours (they were not dry but did reduce by almost half) and did melt the butter and let it cool, which is not something I usually do with cookies. The recipe was good, a somewhat typical chocolate chip cookie recipe, however, I was excited to be adding the orange zest. Unfortunately, the orange zest was hardly noticeable, and I would suggest at least doubling the amount. I might try it again with dried blueberries to save time, softened butter instead of melted and doubled orange zest.
Liz says
I have wanted to make these cookies for a long time. I wanted to roast the blueberries the night before so they could cool before I added them to the dough. Unfortunately, they were so tasty, we ate them all and cookie making was postponed. The next time around I roasted 2 pints of blueberries and the cookies did get made. I had to refrigerate the dough overnight because I ran out of time to bake them, but they are AMAZING!! Not your everyday throw together cookies, best for a special occasion.
Megan says
My new obsession! I’m not a huge fan of orange flavor, personally, so I omitted and added more nutmeg/some cinnamon instead, and they are so good 🤤 If you like orange, then I’m sure they’re even better!
Rebecca Eisenberg says
So glad you liked them even with the swap! Orange isn't always for everyone.