8.01.2008

paradise cafe

lately i have been wanting to have a chocolate chip cookie from paradise cafe, but because of the sparse locations of this cafe, it's difficult to make that happen. i just recently ate a mrs. fields cookie and i just about died because it was so good. the highlight of my trips to this bakery and cafe are the cookies. the many different types of cookies. from oatmeal to chocolate chip, you name it...they are the best cookies i have ever eaten. i have been wanting to find the recipe to their chocolate chip cookie, but usually never could find it. then one day, i found it. i don't know how, but i did. i haven't tried out the recipe to see if it works or is anything like the cookie yet.

Paradise Bakery and Cafe Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

1 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 12 ounce bag semi-sweet chocolate chips

preheat oven to 375* . cream together butter and sugar. beat in eggs and vanilla. in a seperate bowl, combine flour, salt, and baking soda. gradually beat into butter/sugar mixture. add chocolate chips and stir in. spoon and drop onto ungreased cookie sheet. bake 9 minutes.

98 comments:

Dr. Geoff Ricchio D.C said...

There is a much better dessert than what you are blogging, and that is the "Banana Foster Creme Brule" It is devine and far better than any "cookie" mass manufactured by these corporations. To get this divine dessert, look in the mirror and ask that person to make it. She makes it with the 3 Ricchio Words! Blub...Blub....Blub....Blubb

Love,
Chef Gluteus Maximus

Jenn said...

definately not a paradise bakery cookie. sorry :( kind of tastes like the flour ratio is too much and not enough brown sugar.

Anonymous said...

I actually loved this recipe. It will be my new go to recipe for cookies. I would suggest cutting back on the amount of chocolate chips however. My first batch came out tasting like just plain chocolate cookies. Other than that, they are great!

Anonymous said...

Jenn did you pack the brown sugar?

Anonymous said...

Funny, that's the exact same as Martha Stewart's Chewy Chocolate Chip recipe.

Liz said...

I've never heard of Paradise Bakery so I don't really know what you you were going for there.... but I just tried your recipe last night and it is wonderful! My family said they were the best i've made in a long time. I love how the cookies stay soft and chewy. Thanks for the yummy recipe! :)

Amy said...

Just made and tried this recipe myself, and although they are good I wouldn't say they are Paradise Bakery cookies. My 6 year old tried them and said, "Theses are good...but a little too floury." Made me laugh. I'd have to agree with her, and I even packed the brown sugar.

Anonymous said...

I agree the cookies stay soft and chewy. It will be my go to Choc Chip recipe. It is also a easy recipe to make. I don't like to bake, but it was fun to make these because it was easy and they turned out soft and chewy. Did you measure your flower correct??

Jennifer Jones said...

Had to change up the recipe a bit, didn't have a full cup of butter and used two tablespoons of shortening and cut the morsels to 10 ounces instead. Left the flour at what was requested and getting ready to make a batch now. I guess we will see in 9 minutes :)

Anonymous said...

I never heard of Paradise Cafe so I did a search and I am so confused...they look almost identical to a Panera Bread. Even the names of many of the sandwiches and menu items are the same and the font and set up of the stores look the same. ?? Am I missing something? Just curious..as I love Panera but never had Paradise.

Anonymous said...

Paradise Bakery was bought by Panera. They used to have different menus but now have identical. I live part time in Atlanta (Panera) and part time in Phoenix (Paradise). I always miss the cookies from Paradise though!

Anonymous said...

These are so good! I did exactly what it says, and its a great, chewy, and soft cookie! I can't stop eating them! (Probably going to gain 10 pounds:) Haha! Everyone must try them, and yes, I packed the brown sugar, because it makes it better and makes the flour not taste overpowering! :)

Anonymous said...

How many cookies does this recipe make?

Krisstan said...

I made just over 4 dozen cookies from this recipe. They are VERY good cookies...I was careful to measure ingredient properly and packed the brown sugar. The results are a soft, cake-like, chocolate chip cookies. Will definitely be using this recipe again. Thank you for sharing

Jessica T said...

I made 20 (large, apprx 2.25" dia., Paradise-sized) cookies from this recipe. I upped the brown sugar to 3/4c (packed) and used a large All-Clad steel baking pan (9 per batch).

In order to be even remotely like Paradise's cookies, you must take the sheet out of the oven as soon as the edges firm up at 8-9 minutes (the cookies will look puffy and partially unbaked). Remove from oven, allow to sit for 1-3 min on the pan, then transfer to wire rack.

If the edges are brown and you get a cake-like consistency, you have overbaked it.

A good cookie recipe and easy, though I'm unsure if it's really like Paradise's. However, my husband liked them, and I would make this again in a pinch.

Jennie Brown Stephens said...

These are my family's favorite cookie!! We make them all the time. Just pulled the final batch out of the oven a few minutes ago. In my opinion, these are BETTER than paradise bakery because my kids and I made them together, and I made a whole batch for about the price of 2 cookies from the bakery!!! YUM!! thanks for posting such great recipes!! Oh, found you on pinterest

lori kay said...

I thought the cookies were awsome! And iv made several different recipes. I did not think Thay were too floury at all,one thing iv learned about cookies is if the recipe calls for a lot of flour,I will put in tiny bits of flour when i combine them together. It dose take me forever, I will put some in about eight times and mix for a while between them. When the flours all gone I will them mix for at least five min before adding chocolate chips. This seems to come out the perfect cookie.

Anonymous said...

This recipe is a great one. Although I may have cooked the 1st batch a little too long, after tweeking they were great. I did not use a full cup of butter. Instead I did half butter and half shortening. It worked out great!!

Anonymous said...

I am making these right now and the first two batches are very , very good> I read every one's comments and measured out flour by weight and used a GLUTEN FREE ALL PURPOSE flour, Every one loved them. I will be making these often.

Anonymous said...

I made these last night and it was a huge hit! I ended up making 2 batches and they are all gone already! On the second batch I added vanilla instant pudding(dry) and it made a huge difference in the texture. didnt effect the taste what so ever!! will be making tons more!!

Anonymous said...

Not sure what I did wrong but they were soooo flat. Looked nothing like the picture. Tasted ok but something wasn't right. Any suggestions?

Anonymous said...

I agree. It's an okay cookie. Too much flour. Definitely not a Paradise cookie.

Anonymous said...

The cookies turned out paper thin and taste like dough. I have baked over 50 different chocolate chip cookie recipes and this one was by far the worst. Don't know what went wrong but I will never make this recipe again.

Anonymous said...

This recipe is almost the same as the one on the Nestlé Toll House choc chip bag. They should know. :)

Anonymous said...

I was so excited to make these but they came out as regular floury Choco chip cookies. :( I want gooey!

Anonymous said...

Yuck. Was looking for another cookie recipe comparable to the NYTimes cookie recipe. This was an epic FAIL. I agree with the other commenters, too much flour. not gooey or chewy at all.

Anonymous said...

Just made mine and they went flat in the oven and filled my cookie sheet (looks like really thin brownie!) followed recipe all the way. Not happy :(

Anonymous said...

these were thin and runny the first time i made them so i tweaked it the second time by replacing eggs with 1/4 veg oil and only used 3/4 butter instead of the whole cup and then I stacked the dough high on my pan so very little of the dough was touching the pan and they turned out so soft just like paradise!

MacKenzie said...

Good tasty dough. Tunny, flat and hard as cookie

Anonymous said...

Cookies taste good however, they are flat! I mean reeeeally flat. I measured everything correctly, packed the brown sugar....not sure what happened. Seems to be a problem others are having as well.

Anonymous said...

To anonymous, if you melted your butter too much, it would cause your cookies to be flat. Need to soften at room temperature just until your finger leaves an indentation.

Anon said...

These are just Nestle Tollhouse Cookies, I compared the recipes. My cookies looked NOTHING like the picture. Too buttery/greasy, and flat with the chips all clumped in the middle. (I know how to bake. I pack the sugar and soften the butter). And it is obviously mini chocolate chips in the picture, but that was not specified in the recipe. And the ones in the picture are thick, not flat. Very disappointed. Seems like a hoax. If you're going to post a picture with a recipe, at least they should match.

Anonymous said...

A bunch of haters,you guys are!!!! Just made the cookies,I don't care where they are from- they taste great!! My family loves them,nice and thin,golden brown.Thanks

Anonymous said...

Hey, can you use M&M's instead of chocolate chips?

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Oh such angriness over cookies! I now know to never post a recipe.

I thought they were very good and even if they didnt turn out "picture perfect" its not the person who posted this recipes fault.

It just cookies people. Pull it together.

ryanne said...

Did anyone let the cookies sit in the fridge for a little because they were runny?

Sara said...

Um, Hi. You all might be crazy. These cookies tasted exactly like Paradise Bakery chocolate chip cookies! I packed the brown sugar and ended up adding about another 1/2 c. flour so the dough was more firm. Delicious. Thanks for the recipe!

Anonymous said...

I have been looking for an amazing chocolate chip cookie recipe for years and years and years. These are perfect!! I followed the recipe but used 3/4 tsp soda since Martha's recipe said 1/2 and this said 1 so I went in the middle. I used some of the dough for drop cookies and the rest for cookie bars for a party. Thank you for sharing this recipe and sorry for all of the people complaining, sheesh!

Christense Andersen Jiang said...

Guys, this is the Nestle Tollhouse recipe. The only difference is that it has half a teaspoon less salt and the Nestle recipe uses the same amount ot sugar (totally half a cup) but they use half white sugar and half brown sugar. Google it if you don't believe me. It's a good recipe, but it's not exactly rare.

KeriLynn said...

LOVE this recipe. Yum! Thanks!

jessicascheesecake said...

I haven't even made these yet but I'm getting ready to and seeing all these negative comments is really annoying. Even if i make these and they don't turn out great our they are flat doesn't mean that the person who posted it is at fault, not everyone likes the same kind of cookie and things don't always turn out the same for one person as it did for another.

Anonymous said...

My cookies turned out fluffy like mini cakes.. Any idea on what I could have done wrong?

Anonymous said...

Dang! How did everyone get such vastly different results? Some say it was too floury, some say they were too runny, some say they were perfect... I was thinking about making these, but now I'm so conflicted!

GreatNess91 said...

I was afraid to make them too but I choose this one because it looked fast & simple.

I gradually added the dry mix & everything as stated in the directions i only had mini chocolate morsels so they had to do.

i've gotta say, I dont know if the mini chips did it but they came out PERFECT!

while the 1st batch was in the oven, i found about about a quarter cup of normal sized chocolate chips. I added 3 on top of every cookie the moment they came out of the oven & that small detail made them better!

crunchy on the edges & chewy in the middle. my new ultimate chocolate chip cookie secret recipe:) Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Does it make a difference if you use self rising flour instead?

Anonymous said...

After reading through the comments I had to know which camp I was in, and ours were flat and...shiny, and crunchy like potato chips :( I made these with my 3-year-old and the good news is that he liked them anyway. But, they're not the fluffy, chewy chocolate chip cookie I prefer...

Anonymous said...

These came out perfect on my first try. I am kind of a chocolate chip perfectionist and I am known for my cookies.
Clearly you can give the same recipe to a 100 different people and have different results.
I always make sure my butter is soft but not melted... if melted you have already set yourself up for a flat cookie.
You have to sift your flour or you could end up with way more then what you measured and never ever over mix after you add flour to butter mixture.
My cookies are a little crispy on the edges and a gooey yumminess in the middle... as they should be!
Good luck everyone!

Desirae said...

These turned out pretty good for me. I didn't use about an eighth of a cup of the flower I was supposed to. And I added an extra 1/4 C of brown sugar. Turned out perfect. My husband is a big cookie guy, and he liked them and gave me permission to continue making them ;]

SugaMomma said...

Well they are out of the oven, I got a lil scared because they were puffy/cake like but they settled more. I followed the recipe except I only used 2/3 of the chips. I am not disapointed but I will try Desirae's way with a little less flour and a little more brown sugar and see how it turns out! I did at first try only 2 cups flour but then figured it might make a runny/flat cookie. Thank you! This will probably be my go to recipe as well:)

marie said...

I folloed the recipe pretty much to the T except I used less chocolate chips (I like a little less chocolate chips and a little more cookie) and they were amazing.. If your cookies are coming out flat you either used melted butter or mixed the dough too much.. Great recipe thank you for sharing!!

Xella said...

I absolutely love this bakery and your recipe is just beautiful. Have to try these cookies soon!

Anonymous said...

Just made these and it wasn't chewy, to much flour, and came out rock hard...Followed directions to the T...Wouldn't recommend, my own opinion...Sorry...

Anonymous said...

I also thought the amount of flour was far too much so I left out 1/2 cup, dropped 2 tablespoon sized balls and baked for 11-12 minutes. They turned out great.

Anonymous said...

Made these tonight with my daughter and I was very disappointed. Tasted more like a chocolate chip scone than cookie. Flour ratio is way off. Will not make them again.

Unknown said...

I love the way these cookies taste and from reading all these comments I made sure I packed the brown sugar and carefully measured the flour and everything. But for some reason my cookies never flattened out, they stayed the same shape as when I spooned them only the cookie sheet. They cooked all the way through thou and like I said taste super super über good so whatever happened to the, it didn't effect anything other then shape!

Anonymous said...

I feel obligated to comment on these delicious cookies after reading all the negative comments. I personally have attempted to make the Netle recipe numerous times only to be disappointed. I made the NY times recipe everyone raves about and while they were tasty , they were to crispy for my liking. This recipe turned our PERFECT! They are chewy and delicious! Best I've iver made. The only change I made was I used 3/4 c brown sugar. All you hates out there evidentially either used self Rising flour if they were cake like, or melted butter if flat. Thanks for the recipe!

Madison Feldman said...

Hello. I used crisco and not butter for this recipe. I love paradise bakery and could point out their cookies from almost anywhere. They came out absolutely amazing and tasted so similar to paradise!! Thanks so much for posting this

http://preppybutnotperfect.blogspot.com/

Madison

Anonymous said...

I don't quite understand the negative comments, thought this was the best (and quickest!) chocolate chip cookie I've ever made. It's simple, delicious, and easy. I tried the infamous NY Times recipe, which is much more intense, and actually liked this one better. Thanks for the recipe!

Anonymous said...

I just got done making them. I noticed the batter seemed thin so I added some extra flour. The cookies taste ok but seem to be lacking the chewy texture and they don't look anything like the picture. I am an avid baker and things always turn out pretty well, so I know it wasn't me. We are still enjoying them but I don't think it will be our new cookie recipe. I still enjoyed them. Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Just made these with a few tweaks. Used 2 cups of AP flour and 1/4 cup of Whole Wheat flour. Used 1/2 cup of room temp. butter and 1/2 cup of coconut oil (solid). Also added 1/4 cup chopped walnuts. Baked for 12 minutes. These are the best Chocolate Chip Cookies I have ever made, and I make a lot of them.
They are a little flat compared to the photo, but it is OK with me because they are delicious!

Anonymous said...

Holy cow! I have been searching for the perfect soft and chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe. THIS IS IT!!!!! My daughter made them tonight and she rocks with KBER! Love that girl! Thanks for the diggs yo!

Unknown said...

Best chocolate chip cookies I have ever made or eaten! Seriously! Making them for the second time this month for valentines day :)

cookiepro said...

man- kinda super bummed my came out so bad.. I too am an avid baker and these came out looking like crepes :(

Anonymous said...

Is this recipe a joke? I just made these and I should have listened to the negative comments - mine turned out like flat little watery crepes accented with chocolatey pimples. I even peeled off a corner to see if they were tasty regardless...nope, not so much. Save your ingredients and try something different - these suck.

Anonymous said...

Hi - Thanks for the amazing recipe- my family says their the best they had :) Will be making them again. The first time I made them I added the full package of butter, but I realized the recipe only called for 250g...my cookies were really flat like the previous poster talked about.

Anonymous said...

I found a link to this recipe on Pinterest and decided to give them a whirl. I added about half a teaspoon of cinnamon to them - amazing! I also put a little bit extra vanilla in, and it gives the cookie a real smooth flavour. I also used self raising flour instead of plan flour & baking powder, as I am out of baking powder, and they turned out fantastic!

Anonymous said...

Made these and they were great! I took the advice of a previous comment and let the cookies set up in the pan for 1_3 minutes. I also noticed that when I used a dark cookie sheet the cookies didn't spread out as thin as the cookies that were baked on my lighter sheet.

Christine Milton said...

These cookies were amazing! Not sure what everybody else who was complaining about these did wrong. Mine looked like the picture. I just saved some of the chocolate chips and added them a few minutes before they were done. I also packed the brown sugar, and used pure cane sugar instead of white. Make sure the oven is hot before you put your cookies in...that might be the reason some peoples cookies were thinner. But my husband who is a chocolate cookie expert said this recipe is a repeat!

Unknown said...

This is my 2nd time making these, and this time I did it 9 minutes like u said, but i did 3/4 cup white, 3/4 brown sugars, and they turned out better!!

Anonymous said...

I have made this recipe about 10 times in the past year. They are my go-to choc chip cookie. The only thing I change is to use a little less choc chips than called for, and a few times I've added chopped walnuts for my husband.

They are delicious!! I've had people call me just to tell me they loved the cookies I made. Not floury. Not flat. Maybe the unlucky bakers need to whisk the flour (I don't bother sifting), or get a new box of baking soda...

ok said...

About how many cookies does this recipe yield?

Anonymous said...

Panera bought paradise bakery a little over a year ago. Panera then changed some of paradise's menu items to make the two restaurants more similar. Paradise still has much better cookies though.

Katie said...

Just finished making these...really good cookie recipe! Um, I ate four before I could finish transferring the first batch to the cooling rack. ;o)

I did increase the brown sugar to 3/4 cup per a previous recommendation above. Also, I baked mine at 350 for 7 - 8 minutes.

Thanks for the recipe!

Unknown said...

Paradise Bakery is owned and operated by Panera which is why the menus are similar.

Anonymous said...

AMAZING cookie recipe...I am not certain why other people's cookies didn't turn out as well (but I wish those who didn't agree, were a little nicer with their comments!!) Mine turned out PERFECTLY- I followed the recipe exactly, baked for 9 minutes...and had the most amazing chocolate chip cookies...I have been asked for the recipe over a dozen times already! Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

I made 3 batches of these cookies. The first bitch didn't look done so I left them in 3 minutes longer. This batch looked cooked, however tasted floury. The cookies left in for 9-10 minutes looked undone, however settled and stayed soft and gooy. the ingredients ratio was exactly the same for the 3 batches, just the timing made a difference in the flour taste

Anonymous said...

Just made these cookies and they were a bust! The dough taste great, but the cookies are completely flat!

Anonymous said...

Awesome!!!! Not sure what everyone's problem is. I followed the recipe and voila!!!! Yum yum yum yum

Anonymous said...

Love love love these cookies! Made 5 batches for xmas! My family loves them!

Lisa D said...

I also had a problem with the cookies going flat. I would refrigerate the dough next time. Overall, a pretty good cookie!

Unknown said...

These cookies are good every time I make them I change the flour amount to 2 cups and the cookies are runny or flat only if you do not let the butter soften over night or at least 6-8 hours. Delicious recipe

Anonymous said...

Did you forget the baking soda or use some that was too old?

Jennifer said...

I made these last night . I took the butter right out of the fridge and started the recipe. I used two cups of flour maybe a little more. Was not very accurate on that. The cookies are fantastic. I love them and I'm no professional in baking. My husband loved them too.

Candy said...

I LOVE this recipe. Just made them myself and they are delicious. Only suggestion I'd like to add though is when telling what to mix and how, to say mix sugar and brown sugar. Since it only states to mix together the butter and sugar, I completely forgot about the brown sugar and left it out...luckily though it's still fluffy and delicious. Thank you

Anonymous said...

Made these yesterday. Absolutely awesome! Not flat. Soft and chewy. Baked @ 365 370 for 9 min. Removed from oven and allowed to sit on cookie sheet for a few minutes before removing to completely cool.Followed recipe exactly. Been baking cookies for 40 years. Probably the best choc chip cookie I have ever made. Husband agrees. Added 1 cup chopped roasted pecans.

Anonymous said...

The cookies are wonderful. I prefer the texture that results from softened butter vs. melted butter, and I prefer 3/4 cups each of white and brown sugar. Even so, these cookies turned out beautifully and I'm happy to share them with new neighbors. :)

Anonymous said...

So I made the mistake of ignoring all the posts that the cookies turned out flat and runny because I assumed others were just melting their butter to much or measuring incorrectly. I bake a lot, and mine turned out flat as anything with little lumps of chips sticking up. The taste is fine, but they definitely were NOT AS ADVERTISED. I softened my butter just a little, and packed my brown sugar. Just didn't work. What a waste of ingredients. Made me sad.

Unknown said...

I just made these into cookie bars...hoping they're ok 😃😊

Anonymous said...

the cookie bars turned out great...
P

Unknown said...

the cookie bars turned out great...

Unknown said...

I just made these into cookie bars...hoping they're ok 😃😊

Rena said...

I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out perfect. Wondering if those who said they were too floury packed the flour instead of spooning it into the cup. And if those with flat cookies used margarine instead of butter?

Emily said...

I've never had a cookie from Paradise Bakery, but it seriously was THE BEST chocolate chip cookie we've ever made! My kids keep asking me to make them again. Thanks for the great recipe!

heidiandy said...

I find to get a more paradise cafe cookie that if i use half wheat flour and half white it has the depth of flavor that paradise has

Anonymous said...

don't know if these actually taste like paradise bakery and cafe cookies but they are SO good and i'll be writing this recipe down to use forever

Anonymous said...

My family loves the cookie. It was thin (my butter was too soft) but I LOVE the texture difference from the outside of the cookie from the middle. Thank you for sharing.

The Nerdy Baker MN said...

So this recipe is flawed and will not produce what is pictured as many have pointed out. A few suggestions to get a better cookie:

1. Use Mini Chocolate chips - that looks like what's in the picture and I'm guessing what was used based on recipe proportion.
2. Flip proportions of brown (1 cup instead of 1/2) and white (1/2 instead of 1) sugars - higher proportion of brown makes a better tasting cookie, and the additional molasses/moisture from the brown sugar is needed for the proportion of flour used.
3. Use 1/2 bread flour (or 1 and 1/4 cups to make it easy for this recipe) or more to get a more cakey cookie (I also like the suggestion by the person that used half regular APF and half whole wheat flour too...using half Spelt flour is also really good in Chocolate Chip cookies).
4. Make sure you are creaming your butter and sugars until they are light and fluffy - not just till combined. You want to get air and volume in there - You will need to mix/beat for 4-5 minutes.
5. I'm gonna guess there's a possibility that these cookies were made with 1/2 or all vegetable shortening and not all butter. Shortening will give you a different structured cookie -- depending on proportions and mixing, all-butter cookies tend to go more flat. Also making sure your butter is soft enough but not too soft as someone suggested and also always have your eggs come to room temperature as well.

Unknown said...

Easy recipe and was an automatic hit!