Tiramisu Cookies

These delicious, coffee-flavored tiramisu cookies are the perfect after-dinner treat, dessert table addition, or compliment to your morning cup of coffee. A delightful twist on the classic Italian dessert, this easy tiramisu cookie recipe combines espresso powder and sweet mascarpone frosting topped with cocoa powder. No matter how or where you eat them, it is sure to be something that everyone will love!

Jump to:

• 🌟 Why this is the best Tiramisu Cookies recipe
• 📝  Ingredient notes
• 👩‍🍳 How to make this recipe
• 🍫 Flavor Variations & Substitutions
• 🎓 Expert tips
• 🥣 Equipment notes
• ❓Recipe FAQs
• 🍪 More Cookie Recipes
• Tiramisu Cookies

🌟 Why this is the best Tiramisu Cookies recipe

1. It is the most delicious - This recipe only uses the highest quality ingredients and the best technique to provide the most delicious, tender tiramisu cookies.
2. It is easy to make - The instructions are simple, easy to follow, and require no special expert skills. Even beginners can make it!
3. No fancy ingredients or equipment is required - You can find all the ingredients needed for this recipe in your pantry or local grocery store. Likewise, no special or professional equipment is needed.
4. It is a thorough, detailed guide - Unlike other tiramisu cookie recipes that are very short and speed through the steps, this one dives into the details and the science behind baking flawless cookies every time.

📝  Ingredient notes

For the Cookies

1. Unsalted Butter - Always use unsalted butter when baking, as it gives you complete control over the amount of salt in the recipe. The butter must be at room temperature to make blending with the other ingredients easier.
2. Brown Sugar - Brown sugar gives the tiramisu cookies a delicious, molasses-like flavor that pairs great with the coffee flavor. For a deeper, rich flavor, use dark brown sugar. For a lighter flavor, use light brown sugar.
3. Granulated Sugar - Regular granulated sugar adds sweetness to the cookies while offsetting the espresso powder's bitter flavor.
4. Egg - You will need one whole egg to help give the cookies their shape and structure. Like the butter, the egg must be at room temperature before beginning.
5. Flour - In this recipe, I use regular, all-purpose flour. To avoid unwanted lumps, be sure to sift the flour first.
6. Espresso Powder - Instant espresso powder will give the tiramisu cookies their signature coffee flavor. Use espresso powder with a fine, powdery texture for the best results.
7. Salt - Salt is an essential ingredient in baking recipes to balance the sweetness.
8. Baking Soda - Baking soda provides texture and will help the cookies rise. See my baking soda substitute guide for more options (such as baking powder) if you don't have any at home.

🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post

For the Mascarpone frosting

1. Mascarpone - Only use mascarpone cheese with a minimum of 41% fat content for the best taste and consistency. Anything lower may result in watery frosting. Many substitutes exist if you do not have mascarpone, including a homemade recipe in my mascarpone substitute article. You do not need to bring it to room temperature; however, it does need to be very cold.
2. Heavy cream - The heavy cream will provide stability to the frosting. That said, it needs to be high-fat content for it to hold its shape. In this recipe, I use 36% fat heavy cream. Like the mascarpone, the heavy cream needs to be very cold.
3. Powdered sugar - A small amount of powdered sugar will provide a light, sweet taste to the frosting. Be sure to sift the sugar first to avoid lumps or grainy texture. 
4. Cocoa powder - I recommend Dutch-processed, unsweetened cocoa powder for the best color and flavor.

🛒 You’ll find detailed measurements for all ingredients in the printable version of the Recipe Card at the bottom of this

👩‍🍳 How to make this recipe

1. Step-by-step process of making the Cookies

1. Use an electric hand mixer to whip the room-temperature butter with brown and granulated sugar. Whip for a few minutes.
2. Mix in the room-temperature egg just until combined.
3. Sift in the dry ingredient; flour, espresso powder, salt, and baking soda. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the dry ingredient mixture with the egg and sugar mixture just until combined. Do not overmix.
4. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
5. Divide the dough into ten evenly-sized balls and place them onto the parchment paper. A digital scale will come in handy to ensure equal sizes. I recommend baking only five cookies per sheet to provide sufficient space between each cookie to spread.
6. Place the lined baking sheets in the refrigerator and let the cookie dough rest for an hour.
7. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 175 C / 347°F. Do not use a fan.
8. Once the cookies have chilled for a full hour, place them in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
9. Remove the cookies and let them rest for a few minutes. Then, carefully remove them from the parchment paper and move them to a cooling rack to continue cooling. The cookies will continue to set as they cool.
10. Once the cookies have completely cooled, prepare the frosting.

💡 Top Tip: For a nice, crackly cookie surface, do not soften the surface of the tiramisu cookie balls. The rougher the dough, the more crackly the surface will appear!

2. How to make the Mascarpone frosting

For more details regarding ingredients and method, visit my mascarpone frosting recipe.

1. Place cold heavy cream, mascarpone, and the sifted powdered sugar into a bowl.
2. Start whipping the mixture using the electric hand mixer. 
3. Whip for just 2-3 minutes until it becomes fluffy.

💡 Top Tip: Do not overmix, or the frosting will become runny. During the mixing process, it is crucial to observe the cream to avoid overmixing it.

3. How to make and assemble

1. Move the mascarpone frosting into a piping bag fitted with a nozzle tip. I recommend using a Wilton 2A Round nozzle tip.
2. Pipe the frosting on top of the cookies.
3. Just before serving, dust the cookies with a generous amount of cocoa powder.

💡 Top Tip: Wait until you plan to serve the cookies before dusting the frosting with the cocoa powder. If you do it too soon, the cocoa powder could melt into the frosting.

🍫 Flavor Variations & Substitutions

With liqueur - Give the coffee an extra kick by adding coffee-flavored liqueurs such as Kahlua or other complimenting liqueurs such as brandy, amaretto extract, hazelnut extract, rum extract, limoncello, or marsala wine.

With spices - Intensify the flavor with spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, or cardamom.

Different flavored mascarpone - Give the mascarpone cream a different flavor profile by adding vanilla extract or using chocolate-flavored mascarpone instead. Place another cookie on top for tiramisu sandwich cookies!

With chocolate chips - Love chocolate? Add texture and extra chocolate flavor by adding white chocolate or milk chocolate chips to the dough.

Matcha Tiramisu - Omit the coffee altogether and make healthy matcha tea cookies as I do in my matcha tiramisu recipe.

🎓 Expert tips

1. Always use room-temperature butter and egg for the best results and easy incorporation into the recipe. It is also best to first sift the flour and powdered sugar to remove lumps.
2. Do not skip the chilling time in the recipe, as they may result in very flat cookies.
3. For gooey, fudgy cookies, remove them from the oven as soon as they reach the end of the baking time.
4. To avoid having the cocoa powder melt into the frosting, dust the cookies with cocoa powder just before serving them.
5. Always use the equipment the recipe indicates (i.e., electric hand mixer versus rubber spatula) to avoid overmixing the batter or frosting. Avoid using a stand mixer, as it can overmix very quickly.

🥣 Equipment notes

For accuracy and consistency, it is always best to use a digital scale to measure your ingredients. Likewise, a digital oven thermometer will help to ensure that your oven is at the correct temperature to achieve the best results, as some oven brands can vary by a couple of degrees.

An electric hand mixer is necessary to whip together your wet ingredients with the sugar, as well as to beat the ingredients of the frosting. You need a rubber spatula to fold the sugar mixture with the remaining dry ingredients.

To shape the cookies as shown in this recipe, use a piping bag with a Wilton 2A Round nozzle tip. A cooling rack will come in handy once you remove the cookies from the parchment paper.

❓Recipe FAQs

🍪 More Cookie Recipes