I am so in love with these darn chocolate lava cookies! What is it about a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie stuffed with decadent, rich, melted chocolate that makes it so irresistible?? Especially when topped with vanilla ice cream. These are one of Kev’s favorite homemade treats, and he usually asks me to make them at least once a week. They are so simple to whip up, and such a treat! Let’s make some right now :)
All you really need for these fabulous cookies is your favorite cookie dough and a bag of chocolate chips. My favorite cookie dough just happens to be Picky Palate’s, and it works perfectly for this recipe, but you could just as easily use a store-bought mix or even refrigerated cookie dough. Slice and bake cookie dough would be so simple here! But my heart will always belong to Picky Palate’s cookie dough. It absolutely can’t be beat in flavor and chewiness!
Since these cookies are absolutely gushing with delicious rich chocolate, my favorite chocolate chips for this recipe are the Hersey’s Milk Chocolate chips. I did a side by side taste test with these and a few of the other milk chocolate chips available in my grocery store, and these by far had the most prominent rich chocolate flavor. Next time you’re at the store, grab a couple of bags and have a chocolate chip taste testing of your own! They’re all good, so you definitely won’t have a problem using them up — you really can’t go wrong with milk chocolate :)
Now let’s make some chocolate lava cookies! Using half the cookie dough, grab a 1.5-2 tbsp scoop of dough (I used a Pampered Chef Medium Scoop for this) and flatten it out a bit.
Place the flattened cookie dough in the bottom of a well-greased standard sized muffin tin. Now depending on how much cookie dough you eat (in my case, I think it’s an abnormally high amount), you’ll have enough for 10 or 11 cookies. I start with 10, and add the 11th later if I have enough dough leftover.
Now for our gooey, rich milk chocolate filling. Place 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips in a Ziploc bag, and seal shut.
Lay the Ziploc bag flat in the microwave, spreading out the chocolate chips in a single layer. Microwave for 30 seconds. Remove bag and flip, microwaving for an additional 10-15 seconds until all the chips are softened.
Cut a small tip off the Ziploc bag and layer over the cookies. If you have any leftover chocolate, save it — I’ll show you what to do with it in a minute.
Heaven help me.
Scoop and flatten the remaining dough, and place on top of your lava cookies.
If you’ve got enough dough leftover, you can make one more cookie… or eat it as is! Your choice! :)
Bake these in a 350 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes, until the edges are just browned. As soon as they come out of the oven, you may want to run a knife around the edges to make for easy removing later. Cool completely before removing from the tin, running a knife around the edge to help loosen.
Now here’s how I like my cookies. Cooled, soft, and so perfectly chewy. I could eat about a million and a half of these.
But here’s how Kevin likes his cookies.
Warmed in the microwave for 10 seconds, topped with vanilla ice cream, and drizzled with chocolate sauce. You can use any leftover melted chocolate here!
Mama mia.
Chocolate Chip Lava Cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups (210 grams) all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 (11.5 oz) bag milk chocolate chips (I prefer Hersheys)
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a standard size muffin tin with cooking spray. Place 1/2 cup chocolate chips in a Ziploc bag, and seal shut. Lay the Ziploc bag flat in the microwave, spreading out the chocolate chips in a single layer. Microwave for 30 seconds. Remove bag and flip, microwaving for an additional 10-15 seconds until all the chips are softened. Set aside to cool.
2. With an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Add egg and vanilla and beat until well combined. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to the wet ingredients and beat on low speed until just combined. Add the remaining chocolate chips (1 cup) and stir to combine.
3. Using half the cookie dough, scoop 1.5-2 tbsp of dough, flatten it out a bit, and place in the bottom of the muffin tin. Repeat for a total of 10 cookies. Cut a small tip in the corner of the Ziploc bag, and gently squeeze a layer of chocolate over the cookie. Scoop and flatten the remaining dough and place on top of the chocolate layer. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, until the edges are just browned. As soon as they come out of the oven, run a knife around the edges to make for easy removing later. Cool completely before removing from the muffin tin, running a knife around the edge to help loosen.
These are good as mini muffins, too! Try baking at 350 for 9 mins. Enjoy!
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137 Comments
Amanda they look soooo good! I love Jenny’s dough, too. It gives great results and I love that you made these in a muffin tin. Last week I made some deep dish chocolate chip cookies in my whoopie pie pans but they were “single layer”. Love that you doubled yours up, with that hot fudge sauce in the middle. Swoon!
You have the most delicious recipes – this is an absolute must try :D
I can’t wait to try different combos of cookies and fillings!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Latest: Coffee Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Yes, how fun would that be! :) I have been wanting to try a peanut butter cookie with chocolate in the middle… And a chocolate cookie with peanut butter in the middle! :)
Yummy! Yummy! Can’t wait to bake such cookies! thanks for this recipe.
I was just thinking how it must be time to bake some choc chip cookies. Hello presto! I’m so not gonna bake just any choc chip cookie now. This I gotta try (on Thursday when both my kids are at school and preschool!!!). Thanks!
I’m with Kevin, that cookie with ice cream and chocolate source sounds amazing!
I have to admit that I gain some serious weight since I started to read your blog. I am completely addicted to your recipes (and photos!): something with chocolate and more chocolate with chocolate on top of the chocolate :)
Keep them coming, I will start to workout some other day.
Yum…again.
Ohhh yes! I’m a sucker for anything chocolate chip. How good do these look! Imagine some Nutella in the middle of one of those :)
Deliciomo! Looks absolutely sinful! ;-) Yummy! Can’t wait to try…
Wow! Does anyone know the calorie count in these bad boys?..guess u could just eat cookies for a day, who’s in? LOL. Definitely gonna try this one thanks Amanda.
I made something similar with muffin top pans and solid chocolates in the middle and they turned out amazing! I guess I’ll have to give these a try to see which method is better. Research calories don’t count right?
looks so innocent on the outside and then BAM! the lava comes out…i better hide this one from my hubby or he’ll expect them tonight :)
oh man – this looks AMAZING!
What a great recipe right before Valentine’s Day! The presentation is spectacular…a must try recipe for sure!
YUM!
Drool.
anything with gooey chocolate in the middle is a total win in my book. And I’m definitely with ya-that extra cookie dough would go right into my mouth :)
How do you stay so thin eating things like this? I’m really curious since I love sweets but am struggling to lose weight.
Hey, no fair, I’m trying to loose weight not add to it. LOL have to say these look amazing, and would be perfect for that special little treat once in awhile. I’m getting ready to forward this recipe to my brother as he is a chocolate cookie crazy fan. THANKS.
Heaven help us and our waistelines! These look so scrumptious.
I just fell in love.
Goodness gracious, those look so yummy!
Yep-I’m making these today! Thanks for the recipe!! I can not wait to start baking!!
Oh my gosh. That is all.
You always make the most decadent desserts. This looks amazing!
Oh my! These look scrumptious. If I weren’t on a dairy-free diet, I’d be making these ASAP.
Please don’t think you can’t enjoy amazing treats like this in a dairy-free way! My son has life-threatening food allergies to dairy, peanut, and egg and I have not found a dessert yet that I can’t replicate or imitate in a way that is both safe for him and yummy for everyone (no one even notices they’re vegan unless I tell them). There are delicious dairy-free chocolate chips as well as dairy-free buttery spreads suitable for baking. Oh yea, even delicious non-dairy ice creams out there to top it off. I will definitely be making a dairy-free version of these ASAP.
Delicious! Beats paying $8 for one at a restaurant. Not to mention I love pampered chef products!
Oh YUM. Chocolate chip cookies and ice cream. Two perfect ingredients together. I just gained 5 lbs drooling over these. They look so yummy. I am going to put this on my Valentine’s Day dinner menu. Thanks!!
WOW, those look amazing! I just showed my husband and he said “man, she comes up with some good recipes!” :) I can’t wait to make these, thanks for sharing!
My husband and I sometimes stop at Red Lobster just to have these for dessert! I’ve been trying to figure out how to make them for years!! So thank you! He’s gonna have one good Valentine’s Day surprise without a trip to Red Lobster. :)
AMAZING! so easy! so fun so yummy!
Holy Moly! YUM!!!!!!!
Holy cannoli. These look insane. Will definitely make them in the near future.
Have a lovely day! :)
i’m such a huge sucker for chocolate chip cookies already and then you do this. amazing. you always want to make me eat the screen.
I’ll be making these this week!!! They look awesome! Thanks a million for this recipe.
Talk about over the top…this is it certainly. My daughter is in her 20′s and would take this over a birthday cake any day.
I do have one concern though…you refer to a cookie dough by another blogger. You mean the same recipe I’ve used for years? That’s a pretty standard recipe, I don’t see how it could actually be attributed to anyone; way too generic in my book.
Wow, this looks pretty tasty. Especially with that big fat scoop of vanilla ice cream on top!!
This is the only time I am thankful my oven is not working! I would make this and eat them ALL! Yummy! The only problem will be when it gets fixed and I go crazy baking and eating!! Treadmill, here I come…
OMG.
that is all.
Oh.my.deliciousness. This look amazing –I think I found my Valentine’s Day dessert!
Oh yum! I’m supposed to be losing weight!
These look amazing! I want to make them right now! Love the pics
Tried these tonight, usually things I see on other peoples blogs don’t turn out for me, but these turned out PERFECT!! Thanks for the great recipe–so yummy!
wow! I wish I had one of those lava cookies right now! I love chocolate chip cookies and love this idea!!!!! YUM
These look great! will be pinning it for later! I just got back from the gym so now will have something to keep working for on my free day!
Amanda, I wish you lived next door! Seriously, you make the most amazing desserts! Am I too far from you:-( I have to make this.
Oh My. Goodness.
These look DELICIOUS!!
I have to try them sooooon.
they look amazing- both your way and kevin’s way!
These look amazing! But, I have one question. I do not have a microwave. Do you now how I could melt the chocolate on the stove top?
put chips in a metal bowl that fits inside ( but not to bottom of) one of your pots. fill bottom of pot– up the sides of the bowl a bit– with water. heat over med high, stirring constantly. best if the bowl has a lip to hold it up on the edge of the pot.
this is otherwise known as (& sold at a high price as a set in stores as ) a double boiler.
the trick is to heat the water in the pot so it melts the choc in the bowl– w/o getting any water in the choc, or boiling pot dry.
I just pinned these because they look so amazing. Yum! I can’t wait to try them.
O my goodness ,I hungry just looking at pics!
I get your posts through my email and for some reason I can’t pin from them? Any reason why? I want to pin these yummy things (Which I am making on my “free day” sunday) Please help, I would love to make sure I can always track this recipe. Thanks for the help.
Awww Amanda, you posted these on my birthday. I think that’s a sign. :)
Wow..this has made me want to lick my screen, now that is the first time I ever said that! Thank you so very much for sharing!
Goodness gracious. I need to make more cookies, obviously. These are on the list.
WOW these look down right decadent. They might have to be added to the Valentine’s Day menu ;)
These photos look so good we could eat them! We can’t imagine how good they taste in real life!
I wish I wasn’t watching my diet.
OMG! These cookies are bananas!!
Kill me now – these look SOOOOO good!
These look to die for! I’m going to have to make these soon.
These look SO good! I can’t wait to make them. Question though, a 10 oz bag of chocolate chips is equal to 1 and 1/4 cups I believe. So if we use 1/2 cup for the molten lava center, we would have 3/4 cup remaining for the dough, right? It says 1 cup will be left over in the directions, so I wanted to clarify just in case that was an error :)
You’re right, Mimi! The Hershey’s milk chocolate bags are actually 11.5 oz, not 10 oz. I’ll change that right now! :) For me it worked out just right — 1/2 cups for the molten lava center and just a tad more than 1 cup leftover for the cookies. :)
other than melting chips in a PLASTIC bag–I’ll have to give this recipe a try.
after all, there is no such thing as too much chocolate!
I have been looking for a molten lava chocolate chip cookie recipe for so long, and yours looks delicious. I will definitely be trying it out! :)
What would happen if you used hot fudge instead of melted chocolate chips in the center? I looove hot fudge…
I bet that would be awesome! I love putting hot fudge in brownies, so I be it would be perfect in these cookies :)
Your cookies look incredible! I love the concept of using a muffin tin to make these… I have featured this post in today’s Friday Food Fetish roundup. Let me know if you have any objections and thanks for the inspiration
These are gorgeous and simple to make. I can imagine adding some nuts for that extra bite! THANX for sharing the recipe.
So, can you pop these in the microwave later to melt the chocolate again if you don’t eat them immediately? Or will the chocolate stay soft?
This is a silly question….It loooooks absolutely DELISH! What camera did you use to take the pictures?
These look beyond amazing!! Thank you for sharing!! Do you mind if I add this recipe to my blog? I will be sure to give you credit and link your blog to my post. Let me know…Thanks again!
These look beyond amazing!! Thank you for sharing!! Do you mind if I add this recipe to my blog http://www.weekdayeatsandweekendtreats.com? I will be sure to give you credit and link your blog to my post. Let me know…Thanks again!
OH YUMMY!!!!! i can just taste them
oh. my. gosh. they look delicious!
oh sweet gumdrops! these look fabulously sinful! i can’t wait to make these!
Hola!!
Estoy haciendo la receta :) solo cambie el relleno de chocolate, por dulce de leche!!
Esta en el horno en este momento….solo queda esperar
Muy lindo el blog <3
Saludos desde Argentina!
Agus
I just made some, they just came out of the oven I cannot wait to taste them they look soooo yummy!!!
How would you recommend baking these without a muffin tin?
Just made these and all i can say is: wow wow wow! Genius!
These look ridiculously yummy!
oh my goodness! must try this soon!!
These look amazing!! I tried to make them but the dough came out crumbly- is that how it is supposed to be?
Mmmmmm! I will definitely try to make these!
Yummm! Thanks for sharing!
This is such a great idea. I love all the new inventive ways peeps are coming up with these days for mixing cooking tools. I can definitely think of a few ways cookie cups could be dabbled with ;-)
So excited to try these, so simple but I’m sure they have a decadent taste. Thank you for sharing your talents.
Ok I wanted to try this when I first saw it post but now after having made the I have become a fan, it looked easy enough simple ingredients and now I’m a rockstar to the kids thanks Kevin and Amanda.
OMG! These look absolutely fabulous. I’m going to see if I can come up with a really low fat version.
I had one of these at Red Lobster the other day and it was the best thing I’ve ever had. So glad I found this! Pinned it!
Oh my… as if I wasn’t already craving chocolate right now… :D
Oh my gosh! Those look soooo good! I will be trying this recipe this week-end for sure!
Deliciomo! Looks absolutely sinful!
Everything you make looks delicious! Can I please be your taste tester ;) I will be making your Easy Homemade Ice Cream without a Machine recipe tonight! Thanks for all the yummy recipes.
I made these tonight and they didn’t get cooked all the way through. I put them back in the oven and they got burnt on the top. I followed your instructions! What did I do wrong?
Your oven may not be heating evenly. Could be that you need to place the rack lower in your oven as it sounds like more heat may be coming from the top.
I think I just died a little inside.
Oh my heavens. These are just amazing!
These look amazing! Great article and brilliant photos!
Looks awesome!.
Yum! My family is already half in love with Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes, so I am going to test these chocolate chip lava cakes on them! Great photo How-To as well.
Oh my lord, my mouth is watering! Can’t wait to make these for the kiddos (and for me of course!) Great photos, BTW!
I’ve never made lava cookies but I did attempt a Hot Chocolate Souffle once that didn’t turn out well…but it did make a delicious Lava cake with vanilla ice cream :)
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS RECIPE! We are all college students and this made our friday night!! :D :D :D