These Passover Chocolate Chip Cookies are now a “holiday classic,” made with love every Seder to share with family and friends. It’s such a simple recipe, but somehow magical. The combination of matzo, brown sugar, butter, honey and vanilla creates a cookie that tastes every bit as good as a traditional flour cookie. Read through the comments if you don’t believe me! This recipe is a keeper.
This recipe his always a popular one on my site during the lead up to Passover, so I felt it deserved fresh new photos. I originally obtained the recipe from an organization called the Jewish Outreach Institute (no longer in existence) and their “Mother’s Circle Cookbook,” which shared recipes from women of various backgrounds raising Jewish children. It was submitted to the book by Mother’s Circle member Kathy Kersul-Wiener. Of the recipe, she writes:
After several years of suffering through store-bought Passover “treats,” I decided that I’d better learn to make them myself. I think the secret to this recipe is that the chocolate chips overwhelm the matzo.
These cookies are chocolatey, buttery and decadent, I would even go as far as saying they are the BEST Passover cookies. The original recipe calls for 3 cups of chocolate chips, which made the cookies too sweet for my taste. I have adapted the recipe by reducing the amount of chocolate chips to 2 cups, which is more than enough chocolate for our family’s taste.
For those of you wondering what matzo cake meal is, it’s simply matzo that has been ground very fine into a powdery texture. Most grocers with a kosher or jewish food section carry it during Passover. If you can’t find it, just grind up some matzo meal in your food processor until it becomes powdery like flour.
All of the other ingredients should be pretty easy to find. Enjoy, and Chag Sameach – Happy Passover!
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Food Photography and Styling by Kelly Jaggers
Passover Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks)
- 1 1/2 cups brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups matzo cake meal
- 1/4 cup matzo meal
- 2 cups chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the butter with brown sugar, honey, vanilla and salt. Add eggs and mix well.
- Mix in cake meal and matzo meal.
- Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Press down slightly to flatten.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes until slightly golden. These are great when slightly warmed, dipped in a cold, frothy glass of milk. Yum!
Arielle says
This recipe was amazing. I made it last year and intend to make it again this year. No one even knew that they were Passover cookies. You couldn’t even tell! They were a huge hit in my house!
Melissa says
Can the dough be made in advance and frozen?
Tori Avey says
Melissa, I’ve never frozen this dough and because it’s made with matzo I’m honestly not sure how it will work. It may be fine, but I can’t promise anything.
Helena says
This recipe is amazing! You would never know they are for passover. My kids couldn’t get enough. Thankyou
Jill says
The cookies appear soft, light, and thick in the photos. Mine came out very crispy and flatter than pancakes. Was there supposed to be baking soda or baking powder in the recipe?
Tori Avey says
Hi Jill– they should look like they do in the picture. Did you accidentally leave out the egg? The recipe contains no baking powder or baking soda. Many have had fantastic results with this recipe so I’m wondering if you might have inadvertently left something out.
Terry J says
Mine did, too. I didn’t leave anything out. But I did use gluten free matzo cake meal. Was that the problem? Taste was wonderful, but they look awful.
Mary Kanowitz says
I have been cooking all day so I’m a little fatigued and completely forgot the eggs in this recipe. The cookies turned out INCREDIBLE! They’re a bit flat, of course, but still a hit! Thanks, Tori! You make this convert look like a rock star on all holidays. 🙂
Tori Avey says
Thanks for writing Mary!
Pam says
Do you chop the almonds or grind them into almond meal?
Tori Avey says
Pam there are no almonds in this recipe, I’m not sure what you’re referring to?
Arielle says
I just made these cookies in preparation for my Seder on Saturday evening. They are amazing and they were so easy to make! You’d never know they are for Pesach! Thank you for posting this recipe! I know my family will love these cookies as much as I do!
Marsha Myerowitz says
WOW, Torey!!!! I made these last year and thought they were fairly good. But today I made them with TWO cups of brown sugar and THREE cups of chocolate chips, and they are FANTASTIC!!!! I could not believe the difference a half cup of brown sugar made, plus the extra cup of chocolate chips, of course!! I am throwing away my old recipe for sure!!!
Tori Avey says
Glad to hear you like it Marsha! 🙂
shira says
I never have expectations for Passover dessert recipes, but this was not bad…made two batches…we’ll be 30 people for the weekend…
Cheryl says
Just found this recipe, looking forward to making it. Going out of town before Passover, coming home the night before seder, so I am thinking of making the dough and freezing them unbaked. Will bake them when we get home so they will be freshly bakes for seder. Any experience with freezing the dough? Wondering if I should defrost them before baking or bake from frozen? Thanks.
Brandi says
My kids ate all of them! Making more for their Hebrew school party and Rosh Hodesh meeting.
Deb says
We just made these and they were awesome!
Tori Avey says
Great Deb! Glad to hear it. 🙂
Rose Garten says
My daughter just made these for Pesach. We didn’t have quite enough matzo cake meal so we just substituted matzo meal. I worried because they seemed a little gooey and spread out really bad on the pan. After letting them cool I am ecstatic to say “They taste just like regular chocolate chip cookies!” If someone had handed me one and not told me they were KP I would not have known any different. This is definitely going into to our keep file for Pesach!
Jeana says
I read the great reviews of these cookies, then ran out and bought all of the ingredients so I could take them to last night’s Seder. I followed the recipe exactly and they turned out awful. First of all they didn’t look perfect like the photos show them and they were dry and just not good. I wasn’t about to take them to the Seder and had to come up with a quick substitute. I threw out all of the cookies and am not happy to have wasted money and time on these.
Tori Avey says
Hi Jeana– that is odd, as so many readers have had great experiences with these. I can’t help but wonder if you made a mistake in following the recipe. At any rate, I’m sorry they didn’t turn out better for you.
Holly Kaplan Jaroslaw says
Made these this weekend for my kids to have during Passover. So good!!
Myra says
Hi,
These look yummy! Can I make them ahead and freeze them?
Thanks!
Tori Avey says
Hi Myra, I have never frozen these particular cookies but regular chocolate chip cookies freeze just fine, so I imagine these will too! Put them in a ziploc bag and suck out as much air as possible before freezing.
Frida Kiguelman says
Beautiful recipe! Really want to try these this for Pesach but really need a Pareve recipe, do you think if I sub pareve margarine, equal parts, this will do? Thanks so much, the children will be so grateful!
Tori Avey says
Hi Frida– yes, margarine will work fine. If you read up in the comments you’ll see that other readers have tried that with good results.
Kathleen says
I just made the cookies but used gluten free matzah meal and they are great!! Thanks for the recipe,Tori.
Tori Avey says
Great to hear they work with gluten free matzo meal too!
Marsha Myerowitz says
Thank you for answering my first message. Next time I will try adding a little bit of granulated sugar, but not much. I think mine are smaller because I used a measuring Tablespoon. Did you use a regular tablespoon, the kind we eat with? When I make cookies that call for using a teaspoon, I do use a real TEA spoon, and not a measuring teaspoon. Could that be it? At any rate, who cares? This way, I can eat more cookies because they are small, and not feel guilty, right? I never weigh myself during Pesach anyway.
Marsha Myerowitz says
I don’t get it! I made this exactly the way you say, and I didn’t get 2 dozen cookies, I got 5!!! I used a measuring tablespoon, is that why? Anyway, they are much better than the recipe I have used for two decades, but I think they could be a little sweeter. Should I use extra honey or extra brown sugar? I rolled a few in granulated sugar, and they were better. Also, could I substitute granulated sugar for all the honey? Or do you feel that would change the flavor too much? Many people say honey is healthier, so maybe I should stick with it. Thanks for all your wonderful recipes and ideas! I am still getting comments about your apple challah that I made for Rosh Hashana.
Tori Avey says
Hi Marsha 🙂 I’m not sure why you got 5 dozen cookies, that is very odd. Are you sure you didn’t accidentally use a teaspoon instead of a tablespoon?? Anyway, I’m glad they turned out yummy! I wouldn’t sub the honey, but if you want to add additional sweetness to the batter you can add some granulated sugar while creaming the butter, honey, etc.
Marsha Boswell says
Hi! I just made these for the fourth year in a row and wanted you to know I changed something. I am not a fan of honey, so this year I wanted to make the cookies with white sugar instead (I still used the same amount of brown sugar). I Googled and found out that I should use 2 1/2 Tbsp. sugar in place of 2 Tbsp. of honey, and 1 tsp. of water, so I did. They are even better than before!!! I wanted to make them early and freeze them. They will be in our basement chest freezer so I am not tempted to sneak in there and take some before Passover! My husband had one, and he loved it! Forgot to say that I used three cups of chocolate chips.