These tiramisu cookies are made up of soft and chewy espresso-flavoured cookies with a layer of lush mascarpone cream and a dusting of cocoa powder on top. They taste just like tiramisu but in cookie form!
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Notes from the baker
Tiramisu is one of my favourite desserts ever and these tiramisu cookies come pretty close! They have all the components that you love about tiramisu - espresso flavour, soft cookies, dreamy mascarpone cream, and cocoa powder dust.
These cookies are truly so good and they're easy to make. If you're in the mood for a decadent and dreamy cookie, this is it!
Why you'll love this recipe
- Soft and chewy espresso cookies. The cookies are fragrant with coffee flavour and aroma and delicious even on their own. They get even softer after mingling with the mascarpone topping.
- Rich and creamy mascarpone cream. This version of mascarpone cream doesn't need any eggs or double boiler to make so it's so easy to whip up.
- Tastes exactly like tiramisu. It has all the flavours and even texture of classic tiramisu. If you love tiramisu, you'll love these cookies!
Tools
- Electric hand mixer - I always use a hand mixer for recipes involving softened butter or cheese. It makes creaming and mixing so much faster and easier.
- 4-tablespoon cookie scooper - This is my go-to size of cookie scoop for large bakery-style cookies. I wouldn't go any smaller than a 3-tablespoon scoop unless you want to make mini cookies. Use a cookie scoop ensure all the cookies are the same size and it's also mess-free especially if your dough is soft and sticky.
- Baking sheet - You can use any baking sheet or baking tray to bake your cookies on.
- Offset spatula - You'll need an an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to spread the mascarpone cream on top of your cookies. You can also use a piping bag with the tip cut off to pipe the cream on for a different look.
- Fine mesh sieve - You'll need this to dust the cookies with cocoa powder.
Ingredient notes
As always, the full recipe card with ingredient amounts and instructions is at the bottom of this post! Keep reading for more details on each ingredient or skip ahead to the recipe.
- All-purpose flour
- Instant espresso powder - This is a finely ground powder that adds a strong espresso flavour without adding any liquid to the cookie dough. You want to use the instant kind that you mix with water for espresso, not ground up coffee beans which won't dissolve in water. Instant coffee also works if you prefer a lighter coffee flavour.
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Unsalted butter - This should be softened to room temperature to make it easier to mix.
- Granulated sugar
- Brown sugar
- Egg - This should also be at room temperature to prevent the batter from curdling.
- Vanilla extract
- Mascarpone cheese - This is a very soft cheese with a mild flavour that is essential for making tiramisu. Cream cheese would be a suitable substitute but it has a slightly different flavour and you'll need to add a bit more whipping cream to achieve the same consistency as mascarpone.
- Whipping cream - You can use whipping cream for a lighter cream or heavy cream for a richer, thicker cream.
- Powdered sugar
- Cocoa powder - For dusting on top!
Tips for making the best tiramisu cookies
- Use room temperature ingredients when indicated. This is important for the butter and eggs to combine seamlessly and prevent the mixture from curdling.
- Don't under or overwhip the mascarpone cream. Underwhipped cream will be too soft to hold its structure on top of the cookies. Overwhipped cream will make it too thick to spread nicely. It should have a similar consistency to buttercream frosting - thick but spreadable.
- Top with cocoa powder right before eating. The moisture from the mascarpone cream will darken the cocoa powder and make it a bit wet shortly after being in contact. The will still be the same but if you want your cookies to look fresh even after storing for a day or two, add the cocoa powder right before serving.
Storage
These tiramisu cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Let them come back to room temperature before eating.
The cookie dough and unfrosted cookies can be frozen in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 1 month. I wouldn't recommend freezing the cookies with the mascarpone cream on top.
Frequently asked questions
Baking by weight is much more accurate than volume. When using US standard cups, ingredients like flour and sugar can easily be overpacked into the cup causing you to add too much of certain ingredients. Recipes with weight measurements are also easier to scale to smaller or bigger batches without dealing with weird fractions. To measure by weight, you simply need a kitchen scale which you can usually pick up for less than $20.
Small measurements are given in tablespoons and teaspoons because most kitchen scales are not accurate under about 10g. Tiny amounts like a ¼ teaspoon may not register accurately unless you have a drug scale. Mixing these measurements is a common practice among other recipe sites and commercial kitchens.
More cookie recipes to try
- Gingerbread Latte Cookies
- Gingerbread Cheesecake Cookies
- Pistachio Cream Cookies
- Chewy Ginger Cookies
- Earl Grey Sugar Cookies
Recipe
Tiramisu Cookies
Equipment
- 1 offset spatula, or piping bag
Ingredients
Cookies
- 180 g all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons instant espresso powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 115 g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 100 g granulated sugar
- 50 g brown sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mascarpone Cream
- 200 g mascarpone cheese
- 100 g whipping cream
- 50 g powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, for dusting
Instructions
Cookies
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Flour mixture: In a medium bowl, stir together flour, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Butter mixture: In a large mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer to beat the softened butter until very creamy. Add the granulated sugar and brown sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until smooth.
- Combine flour and butter mixtures: Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until just combined.
- Scoop dough: Use a 4-tablespoon cookie scooper to scoop out the cookie dough onto your lined baking sheet, leaving about 2-3" in between each dough ball for spreading.
- Bake: Bake cookies for about 11-12 minutes or until the edges are set. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting them.
Mascarpone Cream
- Mix: In a medium mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to beat the mascarpone cheese to loosen just until creamy. Add the whipping cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract and whip until the mixture thickens, about 5 minutes. When you tilt the bowl around, the mixture should barely or very slowly move.
- Spread cream onto cookies: Use a cookie scoop to portion the mascarpone cream onto each cookie and use an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to spread it around and create a swirl design in the cream. You can also use a piping bag to pipe the cream onto the cookies if you prefer.
- Dust: Use a small fine mesh sieve to dust cocoa powder on top of each cookie to finish.
Alice Tran
this was an ER nursing potluck favorite and was completely emptied out after 20 minutes! I love the recipe so much thank you thank you thank you 😀
Felicity Isada
I need to let you know, I made these cookies as a birthday gift for my friend and I've never received higher praise from the people who got to try it. I only made one substitution because I had brown sugar splenda instead of brown sugar but followed the recipe exactly otherwise. The texture and flavours were unmatched to anything I've ever baked- thank you so much.
Hania
Hello, I was just wondering if could I use cream cheese instead of mascarpone cream for the frosting?
Rubab
hello! i’m making these now. question - as the cookies are cooling, can i refrigerate the mascarpone frosting ? Thank you
Chasity Rodriguez
Am I able to make them smaller and shorten the bake time or do they need to be big?
Sherry Woolley
Stuck exactly to the recipe & came out DELICIOUS! Definitely 5 stars!
Jody
Will cream cheese work in place of mascarpone?
Gail Ng
It can work but it'll be a thicker frosting and cream cheese is bit more tart/has a slightly different flavour than mascarpone.
Hania
Yeah I was also wondering the same, I'm going to make this recipe tomorrow and I'll let you know how the frosting turns out with cream cheese instead of mascarpone cream.