Gideon’s Bakehouse Cookie is nearly half a pound, and this copycat is just as decadent with bakery-style cookies packed with three chocolates and topped with sea salt.
If you prefer thinner, crispier bakery-style cookies, you’ll love these Bakery M&M Cookies!
Gideon’s Bakehouse Cookie Recipe Copycat
Gideon’s Bakehouse began as a small bakery in Orlando’s East End Market, quickly gaining fame for its nearly 1/2 pound cookies. This iconic bakery has earned international acclaim, being hailed as having the best cookies in Orlando and even on Earth. Trip Advisor named Gideon’s cookies as “One of the Five Foods You Have to Eat in the U.S. Before You Die.“
The creator is the only person who knows the entire recipe, stating on Instagram, “No one alive, outside of myself, knows the complete recipe. Every Gideon’s Cookie is handmade from scratch and takes over 24 hours to prepare. The Original Chocolate Chip Cookie took 15 years to perfect.” These cookies are known for their overload of multiple types of chocolate chips and a strong vanilla flavor from real vanilla beans in the dough.
While I can’t claim this recipe is an exact replica, I’m offering you a gooey, thick, and massive bakery-style cookie you can make at home—no long lines required! This cookie is ridiculously rich, thick, chewy, and seriously overloaded with chocolate.
Quick Tip
Not sure about a chocolate-covered, nearly 1/2 pound cookie? Try our regular-sized chewy chocolate chip cookies instead!
Gideon’s Bakehouse Cookie Speciality Ingredients
- Cake flour gives the cookies a soft, tender crumb and chewy texture when combined with all-purpose flour. Homemade versions do not work the same, so skip substitutes.
- Vanilla bean paste adds bold vanilla flavor and those signature specks. If unavailable, use extract, though the flavor will not be as strong.
Quick Tip
Not famililar with Giedeon’s Bakehouse? It’s a one-of-a-kind place you simply must visit!
The Three Types Of Chocolate In These Cookies
Once the dough is mixed, three chocolates are added, then the dough balls are rolled in the blend for that signature chocolate-coated look Gideon’s is known for.
- Milk or semi-sweet chips: I use Guittard® or Ghirardelli®. Milk makes a sweeter cookie, while semi-sweet balances it out.
- Mini chips: Semi-sweet minis complement the larger chips.
- Heath bits: Crushed toffee bits aren’t in Gideon’s original cookie but add incredible flavor. I can’t make these without them now.
Quick Tip
Beyond the three types of chocolate mixed in the dough and covering the top of these Gideon’s Bakehouse Cookies, we also like to add a touch of sea salt flakes which cuts through the sweetness, intensifies flavors, and adds a nice salty-sweet flavor dimension. Maldon’s Sea Salt Flakes are our favorite!
Gideon’s Bakehouse Cookie Recipe Tips
- Use fresh ingredients. For the softest and best possible bakery-style cookies, use fresh, soft brown sugar and fresh baking agents.
- Let the melted butter stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to cool down. If the butter is hot, it will melt the brown sugar and cause greasy cookies that spread more than intended.
- Measure the flour correctly. If you pack in too much flour, these cookies will puff up and end up more cakey, rather than soft and chewy. Spoon flour into the measuring cup and level with the back of a table knife. If you press a measuring cup into a bag/container of flour you’ll pack in a lot more than intended.
- While it’s not necessary to use a food scale to make these cookies, you’ll be surprised at what a difference it makes. The more even the sizes of cookies, the more perfectly they will all bake. Plus, they’ll all look so nice — like straight out of a bakery!
- Speaking of a beautiful bakery-esque appearance, here’s another tip: Working quickly, right out of the oven, use the back of a large metal spatula to press the edges of the cookies in towards the center. This not only improves the texture (thicker and chewier center), but it also makes the cookies more professional looking. You’ll need to work quickly, as the cookies set up fast and resist being pressed inwards after sitting out for more than a minute or two.
- Leave ample room on the baking sheet. These cookies are ginormous! They spread a good amount on a cookie sheet which is why we typically only bake 2-3 cookies at a time on a standard-size cookie sheet.
Chilling The Cookie Dough
Gideon’s Bakehouse Cookies take 24 hours to make because they allow the dough to chill overnight. This intensifies the flavors (especially the vanilla bean flavor) creating an even more delicious cookie.
For the closest possible Gideon’s Bakehouse Cookie experience, chill the dough for around 24 hours. If you’d rather not chill the dough that long (we get it, you want those cookies ASAP!), chill the cookie dough balls for 45 minutes up to 1 hour instead.
Storage
Gideon’s Bakehouse Cookies: Storage
- Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature; they’re best within 3-4 days but last about a week. For an ooey-gooey treat, microwave leftovers for 7-15 seconds.
- Freeze cookie dough as opposed to baked cookies (see next bullet point).
- Freeze cookie dough instead of baked cookies. Drop dough balls on a sheet pan, freeze until solid, then store in an airtight container for up to three months. Bake directly from the freezer, adding extra time until the edges brown and the center remains soft.
Quick Tip
Number 1 tip: Slightly under-bake Gideon’s Bakehouse Cookies. Over-baking ruins the taste and texture. The cookies will continue to bake on the pan after they’re out of the oven, staying soft and gooey before firming up into a perfect chew.
More Cookie Recipes
- Maple Cookies with a maple glaze
- Magic Cookie Bars with a graham cracker crust
- Salted Caramel Cookies with a cream cheese frosting
- Gingersnap Cookies with the perfect blend of holiday spices
- Avalanche Cookies no baking required!
Gideon’s Bakehouse Cookie Recipe Copycat
Video
Ingredients
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup light brown sugar tightly packed
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt reduce if using table salt or if sensitive to salt
- 1 cup cake flour see note 1
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup chocolate chips semi-sweet or milk chocolate; I like milk chocolate
- 1 cup mini chocolate chips
- 1 cup English Toffee Baking Bits
- Flaky sea salt optional, for a salty-sweet treat!
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, combine the chocolate chips, mini chocolate chips, and toffee baking bits. Stir to evenly mix. Set aside for now.
- Melt the butter in a very large, microwave-safe bowl. Once melted, let stand to fully cool, about 5–10 minutes. Hot butter will melt the sugar and make the cookies flat/greasy. Once butter has cooled to room temperature, use a whisk or wooden spoon to stir in the light brown sugar. Mix until smooth and integrated. Add the egg and vanilla paste or extract. Stir again until smooth.
- Add in baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Again, stir until smooth. Add the correctly measured (see note 2) cake flour and regular flour and mix until just combined. Dough will be thick! Don’t overmix. Gently stir in 1 and 3/4 cups of chocolate chip mixture until combined.
- Form 6 cookie dough balls. Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup, pack dough into the cup to get an accurate measurement. Alternatively, weigh the dough on a food scale; each ball should be around 155 grams (5-1/2 ounces). You should get 6 cookie dough balls.
- Press the remaining chocolate chip mixture generously onto the top and sides of the dough balls (but not the bottoms of the cookies where they’ll burn.) It’s okay if you don’t use all the chocolate chips; set aside leftovers to press into the tops of the cookies after baking. Place the chocolate-chip-coated dough balls on a parchment-paper-lined plate or sheet pan, cover, and chill for 45 minutes up to an hour. Or place in an airtight bag/container and chill for 24 hours (Gideon’s chills their dough for 24 hours).
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Line a pan with a silicone liner or parchment paper; don’t line with foil. Place 2–3 dough balls at a time on a sheet pan, giving the cookies plenty of space to spread. Bake for 15–23 minutes, erring on the side of underbaking to keep them soft and chewy. (I like them right around 16–17 mins.) The cookies will “bake” a little more out of the oven as they set. Visual cues: edges should be slightly browned and tops should not be wet/gooey looking.
- Remove the tray of cookies from the oven and, working quickly, immediately press the edges of each cookie slightly inward with the back of a metal spatula. Press any remaining chocolate chips/toffee bits onto the tops of the cookies. Allow cookies to cool on the tray for 10–15 minutes before using a metal spatula to transfer them to a cooling rack. If you like salty-sweet flavors, add a few flakes of salt on top while the chocolate is still a bit gooey.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
LOVE these cookies. Ive made them as is and theyre the best. Im on a time crunch, and can only chill for about 12 hours. Is it still worth it?
Also, i want to make 2 dozen so planning to make a double batch and make them half the size as instructed. Do i need to know any other tips to make that work?
You should be fine with a 12 hour chill time! You can make them smaller for sure just adjust the bake time to be shorter and watch closely to make sure they don’t over bake.
I just tried Gideon’s this past week so I’m excited to see how your recipe matches up! Could you please please please try and do their lemon poppyseed cookie copycat!
YAY!! Can’t wait to hear what you think! I will definitely look into it! 🙂
Made the cookies for the family and they were delicious! Would do without the toffee next time, however. It added a crunch that wasn’t necessary in my opinion 🙂 otherwise everything else was just like Gideon’s bakehouse!
I am so happy to hear this! Thanks so much Kari! 🙂
I would have refrigerated the dough before forming balls. My dough wasn’t dense enough. Cookies didn’t come out at thick as I hoped for and a bit over sweet. Still hunting for the perfect Gideons cookie.
Hey Tricia, step number 5 is ALL about chilling the dough! It’s vital to making these the right consistency! Hope you can give them another chance, I think you’ll be blown away!
These are great and delicious! You might’ve mentioned it in the write-up but is that 1200 calorie number per cookie or per batch made?
Hi, did you experiment with the banana bread chocolate chip recipe yet?
Made two batches; one exactly like the recipe listed and another with no toffee chips and only a larger amount of the chocolate chips (Ghirardelli Milk and Semi-sweet). The ones with only the chocolate chips turned out much better and were extremely similar to the Gideon’s cookies. Vanilla paste does make all the difference! Baked only what we could eat in one sitting and kept the others refrigerated till baking. Absolutely awesome chocolate chip cookies! Thank you so very much for the recipe!
I am so thrilled to hear this! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
They turned out great! I did refrigerate 24 hours! Definitely am going to make more!! Thanks for the recipe!
I am so happy to hear this! Thanks Beth! 🙂