Soft Tiramisu Cookies are thick, chewy coffee cookies topped with a creamy mascarpone frosting and dusted with cocoa powder. Soft cookies that taste like your favorite Italian dessert!
Tiramisu is a classic favorite Italian dessert made with layers of pastries dipped in coffee, cream, mascarpone, and cocoa powder. These soft and chewy cookies taste just like tiramisu, but are easier to make and serve!
Why you’ll love these cookies:
- Unique. Not very many cookies are made with mascarpone cheese. Although many of the cookie ingredients are basic and simple, these cookies are distinctive enough to stand out!
- Easy to make. Most of the ingredients are basic cookie ingredients that you likely have in your pantry.
- Perfect for a party or bake sale. Not only are the cookies delicious, but they are beautiful too! The dusting of cocoa powder on the top is pretty, but you can kick it up another notch by adding some chocolate shavings too.
Ingredients in Soft Tiramisu Cookies
COOKIES:
Butter – Make sure to use real butter, and make sure that the butter is softened to room temperature before adding to the other ingredients.
Sugars – You will need brown sugar and granulated sugar. Make sure the brown sugar is fresh and soft. The recipe calls for light brown sugar, but if you want a richer, deeper flavor, you can use dark brown sugar.
Egg – One large egg will bind all of the other ingredients together.
Vanilla extract – The higher the quality of the vanilla, the better.
Instant espresso powder – You just need a tiny bit of espresso powder to add the deep coffee flavor to the cookies. If you like all of the other flavors of tiramisu, but not the coffee, you can leave this out.
Heavy cream or milk – Heavy cream will make the cookies richer, but any type of milk will provide the extra liquid that the cookies need.
Flour, baking powder, and salt – The baking powder acts as the leavening agent in the cookies so it mustn’t be old or expired.
CREAMY TIRAMISU FROSTING:
Mascarpone cheese – Soften the mascarpone before mixing with the other frosting ingredients. If you’ve never tried mascarpone, you need to give it a try at least once because it gives you that true tiramisu flavor! If needed, you can swap this out with cream cheese. Cream cheese is a little bit saltier, so you may need to add a little bit more powdered sugar to taste if you use it as a substitute.
Powdered sugar – This provides the sweetness for the frosting. You can add a little more or less depending on how sweet you’d like the frosting to be.
Vanilla extract – Vanilla extract adds a little bit of extra flavor to the frosting. Again, the higher the quality, the better!
Heavy cream – You can add a little bit more or less depending on how thick you prefer the frosting to be. If you are going to pipe the frosting, you’ll want to make sure it is thick enough to hold shape.
DUSTING:
Cocoa powder – Just a little bit of cocoa powder dusted on top of the frosting will give the cookies that classic tiramisu flavor. You can use your fingers or a spoon, but it’s easier to get the cocoa distributed evenly and lightly if you use a duster!
Finely grated dark chocolate – This is completely optional, but more chocolate is always a great idea. And it makes the cookies even prettier too!
How to make Soft Tiramisu Cookies
The full recipe instructions are below, but here are a few tips for making perfect cookies every time!
Spend a little bit of extra time creaming the butter and sugars (should be at least 2-3 minutes) and then spend another 2-3 minutes after adding the eggs and vanilla.
Whisk the dry ingredients together separately before adding to the butter mixture. Once you combine the two, only mix until they are combined – do not overmix.
Using a cookie scoop is the easiest way to get all of your cookies to be the same size and shape! Lining the cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper helps the cookies to bake evenly and also makes the cleanup way easier!
Any time you use cream cheese or mascarpone in frosting, beating it for a few minutes before adding the other ingredients will help everything to blend better. If you skip this step, it may be harder to get the frosting completely smooth.
Make sure the cookies are cooled completely before putting the frosting on top. You can spread it on with a knife or use a piping bag to make it look a little fancier.
Storing and Freezing Tiramisu Cookies
These cookies can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. The cookies can be frozen, but they freeze better without the frosting and cocoa powder dusting. Freeze the cooled cookies in a Ziplock bag until ready to use, then thaw and frost them according to the recipe instructions.
HOW DO YOU SOFTEN BUTTER TO ROOM TEMPERATURE?
The best way to soften butter is to set it out for a few hours before you make your cookies. Since most of us (or maybe just me!) aren’t that prepared or don’t think that far in advance, there are a few tricks to softening butter perfectly in just a matter of minutes.
My favorite way to soften butter is in the microwave. It’s definitely fast, but you do have to be very careful not to melt it. Just put the whole stick of butter in the microwave (as long as it isn’t wrapped in foil!) and microwave for about 6-7 seconds. If the butter is still really cold, try another 5-7 seconds and check it again. You may need a few intervals, and if the butter is starting to feel soft, you can shorten the final interval to just a few seconds to make sure it doesn’t start melting.
I actually prefer to use the defrost setting on my microwave – I don’t know exactly what that mode does differently, and it takes a little bit longer (closer to 30 seconds), but it seems to be easier to get the butter to soften without melting.
More delicious cookie recipes to try:
- Part of what makes these cookies so delicious is the frosting. If you love frosting on cookies, you need to try these Frosted Snickerdoodles or Frosted Lemon Sugar Cookies.
- Cookies made with chocolate are some of our favorites! If you’re a chocolate lover like me, you can’t go wrong with these Double Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies or Double Chocolate Chip Pudding Cookies.
- Want to try a cookie recipe that is a little more unique than most? These Maple Bacon Cookies are made with bacon grease and maple syrup! Cheesecake Stuffed Funfetti Cookies are easy to make, but are so distinctive and fun!
Soft Tiramisu Cookies are thick, chewy coffee cookies topped with a creamy mascarpone frosting and dusted with cocoa powder.
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