Mama Kelce’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Is All We Need for Game Day

Chocolate chip cookies are a pretty scrumptious snack no matter how you bake them. But it’s always fun to freshen up your favorite recipe. There’s now a recipe making the rounds that has a sweet celebrity connection. Don’t shake it off—we’re talking about Mama Kelce’s best chocolate chip cookie recipe!

Who is Mama Kelce?

“Mama Kelce” is the nickname of Donna Kelce, whose two sons are well-known NFL players. Jason plays center for the Philadelphia Eagles, and Travis plays tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs.

But it’s Travis who’s scoring big headlines these days, thanks to reports that he’s dating musical superstar Taylor Swift. That’s unconfirmed by the couple, but Swift has been spotted alongside Mama Kelce attending Chiefs games and cheering him on.

What makes her recipe the best?

Traditional chocolate chip cookies use semisweet chips only. But why stop there? Mama Kelce’s recipe, as shared on the Today Show, uses both milk chocolate chips and white chocolate chips, and she recommends tasty Ghirardelli brand for the chocolate. She lists pecans as an optional ingredient, which is fair—some snackers hate nuts in their cookies, while others go nuts for that crunchy addition.

Mama Kelce also includes a teaspoon of cinnamon for spice, and she melts the butter before adding it, while traditional recipes simply soften and cream the butter with the sugar.

But perhaps the most unusual step in Mama Kelce’s recipe is that she includes a cup of cake or pastry flour along with 2 cups of all-purpose flour. Cake flour is finely milled, and has a low protein content, perfect for making light, tender cakes—and cookies.

@kristen.morello drop everything now and go make these cookies ❤️ #mamakelce #donnakelce #traviskelce #jasonkelce #tayvis #taylorswift #taylorandtravis #cookies #chocolatechipcookies #baking #87 #taylor ♬ All Too Well (10 Minute Version) (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault) – Taylor Swift

Mama Kelce’s ‘Best Chocolate Chip Cookies’ Recipe

You’ll likely have most of these ingredients on hand if you bake regularly, but double-check the pantry for cake flour, plus white and milk chocolate chips.

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cups sweet cream butter
• 1-1/2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda, dissolved in 2 tablespoons of hot water to activate (microwave water first, then stir in baking soda to dissolve)
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup cake or pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup Ghirardelli white chocolate chips
• 1 cup Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips
• Optional: 1 cup pecans

Directions

Step 1: Prepare butter mixture

Melt butter in the microwave in 20-second increments. (Don’t over do it!) Pour into a mixing bowl or the bowl of stand mixer. Let cool for 15 to 20 minutes.

 Step 2: Mix in sugars, eggs, vanilla and dissolved baking soda

Add brown and white sugar to the butter mixture and mix for 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and mix for 30 seconds. Then, add dissolved baking soda.

Step 3: Whisk together dry ingredients

In a separate bowl, add all-purpose flour, cake or pastry flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, and mix to combine.

Step 4: Finish the dough and chill

Slowly add the dry ingredients to mixer 1/2 cup at a time, scraping down sides. Add all chocolate chips and pecans, if desired, with a wooden spoon.

Put dough in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, but ideally overnight.

Step 5: Drop dough onto a cookie sheet

When it’s time to bake the cookies, preheat oven to 350°F.

Before baking, let the dough come to room temperature. Scoop dough onto a cookie sheet, leaving 2 inches between scoops, 5 minutes before baking.

Step 6: Bake

For small cookies, bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly golden around edges. For larger cookies, bake for 13 to 15 minutes. If you touch the top of the cookie and it bounces back instead of indenting, that means it’s ready.

How good are the chocolate chip cookies?

I made the cookies from Mama Kelce’s recipe, and while I wouldn’t say they are the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had, they’re still delicious. Without even knowing there was a single teaspoon of cinnamon added, my husband tasted that added spice immediately. And there was definitely a caramely, toffee-like taste to the dough, which I enjoyed.

The dough was extremely easy to work with—probably because I refrigerated it overnight, then let it come to room temperature before scooping and baking. The cookies do spread a great deal, so perhaps consider making them smaller than you normally would. I played around with the baking times given in the recipe and 11 minutes per batch worked best for me.

But the recipe has a number of steps that slowed me down. I don’t normally have cake flour, so had to buy some (here are ways to use up the rest of the box). Ditto white chocolate chips—I always have regular chocolate chips on hand, but had to head to the store for white chocolate chips.

Melting the butter and dissolving the baking soda didn’t take long, but were steps I don’t normally take. (And you have to wait for the melted butter to cool, which is time-consuming.)

If you want cookies swiftly, this isn’t the recipe for you, due to the long refrigeration of the dough. But if you’ve got plenty of time, and want to try a recipe that throws some twists into the standard chocolate chip cookie recipe, I’d say this recipe is a touchdown.