This is a copycat of Australia’s most famous chocolate chip cookie – Byron Bay Milk Choc Chunk Cookies. They’re big, crunchy, buttery and generous on the chocolate! At $3.50 for a single biscuit, they aren’t cheap – so save a ton by making them yourself!
BONUS: They stay 100% crunchy for 2 whole weeks! (Possibly longer – I caved).
Chocolate Chip Cookies – Byron Bay Copycat!
Australia’s most famous cookie are Byron Bay Cookies. They come in all sorts of flavours, and three of the most popular ones are White Chocolate Macadamia Cookies, Triple Chocolate Fudge and the chocolate chip cookies.
They’re sold at cafes all across Australia, and they are without a doubt the most well known cookie brand. While sometimes you find them individually packaged and sold at grocery stores for around $2.50 each, most cafes will charge $3.50 to $4 for a single cookie.
Which means a dozen of them cost $42…. or you can make them at home for around $7!!
These chocolate chip cookies stay 100% crunchy for 2 whole weeks!
What they taste like
These cookies are crunchy but it’s a soft, buttery crunch – sort of like Shortbread Cookies, except not as sandy/crumbly. The mouthfeel is what’s quite unique about these thick cookies – most crispy cookies this thick are noticeably rougher and drier (rice flour is the secret ingredient here that specifically achieves this).
There’s generous chunks of chocolate littered throughout, and the really great thing is that they stay 100% crunchy just like they’re freshly made for up to 2 weeks!!! (Probably longer, I just couldn’t hold out any longer).
Ingredients for Byron Bay Chocolate Chip Cookies
Here’s what you need to make these cookies. The ingredients are basically a replica of the ingredients disclosed on the Byron Bay Cookie packets, with minor tweaks to achieve the same mouthfeel and flavour using ingredients available to home cooks (eg. things like cultured dextrose, emulsifiers and soy lecithin that normal folk like us can’t get).
Just a note on a few ingredients:
Rice flour – this is the secret ingredient to give these crunchy cookies a sort of “velvety” mouthfeel which is unique to Byron Bay Cookies and one of the reasons people love them so much. You can substitute with more flour – the cookies still work out perfectly but the mouthfeel is “rougher” (still extremely delicious and this is what I use if I don’t have rice flour). Cornflour/cornstarch also works but the texture becomes more crumbly like Shortbread but the mouthfeel is drier than shortbread;
Yolks – we use 2 egg yolks in these cookies to give them richness.
Leftover egg whites – Here’s my list of what I do with them and all my egg white recipes can be found in this recipe collection;
Softened butter – you need softened butter for these cookies so they whip up creamy and smooth. If you’re like me and always forget to leave it out to soften, or if it’s so cold that it just never softens even if you leave it out all night, you’ll love this trick: microwave a jug of water for 3 minutes, then remove and put in a plate of diced butter and just leave it. The residual heat softens the butter perfectly. Never try microwaving butter to soften it – it doesn’t soften evenly, you will always end up with melted pockets which will affect the success of the recipe;
Brown and white sugar – each of these bring something different to the cookie. White makes them crispy while the brown sugar adds flavour and adds softness to the crunch; and
Chocolate – Byron Bay calls their chocolate chip cook “Milk Choc Chunk Cookies”, being that they’re made with a darkish milk chocolate. Good quality milk chocolate for baking isn’t readily availably, so I’ve taken the liberty of using dark chocolate instead. If anything, it makes them even BETTER with a more intense chocolate flavour! Use chips or chunks if you prefer.
How to make Byron Bay Chocolate Chip Cookies
And here’s how to make them – pretty standard really. We need the chill time to make the cookies sliceable and also to stop them from inflating when they bake (yep, tried to shortcut it and ended up with sumo cookies).
Cookie emergency? No beater?
No worries! Make these super easy Chocolate Chip Cookies instead (they’re soft and chewy, no chill time).👍🏼
Ahh, it’s a good moment when you pull them out of the oven.
I know, I know, you want to grab one right away while it’s hot and the chocolate is all melty and glistening but WAIT!! We have to let them cool on the tray so they become nice and crunchy. It’s worth it!!
Use the cooling time to think about the people in your life who will be lucky enough to put one in their gob. Think very carefully – there are only 12 of them, which makes them exponentially more valuable than most cookies that make a couple of dozen in a single batch. These are very, very special Chocolate Chip Cookies! 😉 – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Byron Bay Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 175g / 12 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter , softened (6.2 oz, Note 1 – softening tip!)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar (light or normal, not dark)
- 1/3 cup white sugar , caster / superfine
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 egg yolks , at room temperature (Note 6 for using leftover whites)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract/essence
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup rice flour (sub with plain/all purpose flour, Note 2)
- 1 1/2 cups flour , plain/all purpose
- 200g / 7 oz dark or semi-sweet chocolate block , chopped into pretty small pieces (Note 3)
Instructions
- Place butter, salt and both sugars in a bowl. Beat on speed 5 for 1 minute until it’s soft, creamy and fluffy.
- Add yolks and vanilla – beat for 1 minute until well incorporated.
- Add baking powder, rice flour and half the plain flour. Beat until you can’t see flour anymore, then add remaining flour and beat again until incorporated.
- Mixture will be fairly clump and thick, but if you press between your fingers, it should stick together (rather than being dry and crumbly).
- Use a wooden spoon to stir chocolate through.
- Tip out onto a work surface then press together into a 22cm / 9″ log. Wrap in cling wrap or paper, twisting to seal the ends.
- Refrigerate 1.5 – 2 hours (Note 4).
Baking:
- Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan).
- Line 2 trays with baking/parchment paper. Put one shelf in the middle of the oven, and the other underneath.
- Remove from fridge, unwrap.
- Use a serrated knife to slice into 1.75cm / 2/3" thick slices. Saw carefully through choc chunks. If it falls apart on edges, just press if back together, no big deal. Place 6 on each tray.
- Bake 10 minutes. Turn oven down to 170°C/340°F (150°C fan), switch trays (Note 5)
- Bake for a further 15 minutes until surface is light golden and edges are a bit golden.
- Remove from oven and cool completely on trays – this makes them crunchy.
- STORAGE: Keeps for at least 2 weeks in an airtight container – they stay 100% crunchy, just like they’re freshly made.
Recipe Notes:
- cut into 1 cm cubes (or for US sticks, slice 1/3″ thick) and place in single layer on small plate
- place 2 cups water in a microwave proof jug or bowl. Microwave on high for 2 – 3 minutes until just before boiling
- working quickly, remove jug, put plate in microwave and shut door, DO NOT TURN MICROWAVE ON! Leave for 10 minutes – the residual heat in the microwave will soften the butter perfectly!
- if still not soft enough (eg cut too big, microwave has lower power), then just repeat (but for round 2, check after a few minutes)
Nutrition Information:
For Cookie Monsters
Life of Dozer
“Everybody” thinks I bundle Dozer up in jumpers just because I’m a crazy dog lady / for my own amusement. And while both these hold true, the main reason is because it holds in his fur and sand which means marginally less littered all over the house.
Honestly, I seriously reckon it reduces sweeping by almost half. You should see how much fluff/sand poofs out when I pull the jumper off him (outside of course!!!)
Made these tonight – used Countdown FreeFrom gluten free flour as it has rice flour in it
Superbe recette, c’est la recette que je cherche depuis longtemps ; mais j’ai un problème, pourriez vous me donner l’équivalence des poids des ingrédients de français.
merci beaucoup.
Hi Nagi girl, These chocolate chip cookies are amazing and so yummy. Followed the recipe and did not change a thing. Turned out delicious.
This is one of the only recipetin recipes I’ve made that I wasn’t the hugest fan of. Mine came out very shortbready so I’m also willing to just assume that they weren’t as good because I messed something up and with that said, I still ate a few of these so couldn’t have been too bad lol I wonder what it was that I might have gotten wrong. Always irks me so much when baking doesn’t work out right and I have no clue what went wrong to learn from it.
Byron Bay Cookies are typically a lot more shortbread-like than regular cookies so it sounds like you nailed it!
Hi Nagi, if I have my oven set to fan forced, do I still need to rotate the trays please? These sound so good that I don’t want to stuff them up!
How are you going with finalising everything for your book? Can’t wait for it to come out in time to give my closest friends a copy for Christmas.😊
I have now made the white choc macadamia ones and these choc chunk ones. They are both divine! I used a natural sweetener in the white choc ones, so these ones taste a bit sweeter as I used castor sugar.
I struggle with my electric beaters when mixing the ingredients, as the stuff flies out the bowl everywhere. I am only a novice here lol. I need a splatter shield for beaters. Is that even a thing?
These are delightful!! Didn’t know what I was trying because I have never had the original and my general preference is a soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie. They do stay crispy for at least a day – that’s how long they lasted in my house, haha. I will be adding to my holiday baking list. Great recipe, thank you!
Can’t believe how good these cookies are. Way worth the effort and wait, and way better than the original. thank you!!
Really lovely biscuits! Has anyone found out if they stay crunchy for two weeks? They were gone by the end of the first day at my house.
After sending a wordy comment to the blog, I noticed directions to comment on the recipe itself. My apologies. My question: Is there a gluten-free option for this recipe? Thank you!
So good, I don’t think I should make them again. I need to get them out of the house.
Better than the original, you are so clever Nagi.
I really loved this recipe, although I definitely wish I could try the original to see how mine compare, but they’re more than 16,000 km away from me. I’m quite proud of mine though. They’re delicious.
My first attempt came out a little darker on the bottom than would be ideal, possibly as a result of having used dark brown sugar (it’s all I had!) and possibly because my oven is a baby apartment oven. I’ll be trying again today with light brown sugar! (actually they were still very tasty, especially a few days later)
Very nice crispy cookie, used chocolate chips and a chopped up chocolate bar instead. Will definitely make again, thank you for the amazing recipes.
These were nice cookies and they looked impressive! Thanks for this recipe Nagi 😊
If I only used plain flour, would adding in some desiccated coconut work for adding texture?
Hello idol Nagi, your recipe is always good. Thank you for sharing.
I made these for my grandchildren as a treat. Wow, they have demolished them in a week, with Nana being careful to allow 2 per day.
I used a mix of dark and Caramilk chips which stood up to the taste test. Thanks Nagi, you are my go to recipe site.
Hi Nagi,
When I was a child a local grocery store used to have a “cookie club” for kids where you could pick up a cookie when you were shopping with a parent by just asking the bakery staff. It was my absolute favourite cookie as a kid, like a shortbread and chocolate chip mashup – my two favourite cookies. Eventually I got older and it probably dissapeared along with the grocery chain and I always remembered those cookies! Well, all these years later you have brought it back – and all along it was a Byron Bay style cookie! (Or pretty darn close)
I used regular Lindt 70% dark chocolate bars and had no trouble with the chocolate turning into a melty mess. I will give them a go with semi sweet baking chocolate next time as my youngest found the dark chocolate a bit rich but they were still excellent! I used Bobs red mill stoneground white rice flour and no gritty mouthfeel at all. These are excellent, anyone who says otherwise should see a doctor 😉 – I kid of course!
Thanks Nagi!
Holly
Holly, did you use just 1/2 cup of the Bob’s rice flour, or substitute the 1 and 1/2 cups all purpose flour as well? Thank you!
Hi Linda,
I followed the recipe exactly (1.5 cups AP flour and .5 cups rice flour). If you are trying to do a gluten free version I personally think it might work to just use a GF blend that already contains rice flour. I would use that at 2 cups and give it a go. I have some friends that are GF and I know they sub bobs GF blend 1 to 1 for almost everything and usually have good results. Hope you have success, it’s a great cookie 😊
Advice to anyone with multiple sizes of chocolate: don’t use cubes from a bar for more than 30% of the mix because the cookies fall apart. These cookies are my favourite of every kind I’ve baked and I’ve made them on three separate occasions in the past month.
So good! I recommend making a double batch. I have not been to Australia so don’t know how they compare to the original. But oh my goodness! Definitely a keeper.