This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Many years ago, my husband Jack had a friend who once worked for Entenmann’s – the company that sells their popular baked goods at supermarkets across the United States. One day, she handed Jack a hand-written recipe for the famous Entenmann’s chocolate chip cookies! The recipe was written to make an industrial-size batch of 1,320 one-ounce cookies. Jack placed the recipe in a folder of various, saved recipes from his food-service days – never tested and pretty much forgotten about – until now!
A few weeks ago, Jack was looking through his old recipe folder and rediscovered that hand-written recipe. After reading through the recipe, Jack decided to try it out – converting it to a smaller yield better suited for a home cook. Converting a recipe that uses ten pounds of sugar, four dozen eggs and eight pounds of butter is not as easy as you would think – but with a little trial and error, Jack was able to reduce it down to make 5 ½ dozen, one-ounce cookies.
We made two test batches (the first was a little too salty and over-cooked) but the second – we think we’ve got it right! A combination of two different sugars (granulated white sugar and brown sugar), plus molasses, as well as a short bake time seem to be the key to making these copycat Entenmann’s chocolate chip cookies super soft and moist – just like the Entenmann’s version you can buy at the supermarket. (I’ll even go so far to say that these cookies taste better!)
We’re not 100% certain that hand-written recipe given to Jack all those years ago was the REAL recipe from Entenmann’s – but they sure taste like it! In fact, when I brought some of these copycat Entenmann’s chocolate chip cookies to share at my daughter’s dance class this past week, one of the moms commented that they reminded her of Entenmann’s (without knowing that these were supposed to be a copycat version)! As soon as she said that – I knew we had a winning recipe. Enjoy!
We love seeing what you made! Tag us on Instagram at @afamilyfeast or hashtag #afamilyfeast so we can see your creations!
Copycat Entenmann’s Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 10 tablespoons butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 tablespoons molasses
- 2 cups flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix two sugars until combined. Add eggs and beat until pale in color, about one minute. Add butter, vanilla and molasses and blend about 30 more seconds.
- In a small bowl, sift flour, salt and baking soda and add half to the wet mixture. Mix well and add second half of flour mixture. Mix again. Add chocolate chips and mix just long enough to incorporate chips into mixture.
- On parchment-lined cookie sheets, drop one ounce spoonful’s of batter leaving a few inches between drops.
- Bake for about 6 ½ minutes (give or take depending on your oven). When you remove them, they will not look completely cooked so don’t be tempted to cook them longer. (The Entenmann’s cookie is a soft cookie.) Also, only bake one pan at a time in the center of your oven.
- Slide parchment off pan and let cookies cool on the parchment on your counter until completely cool. Don’t be tempted to remove them or touch them until they have cooled completely.
- Once cool, using a sharp edged spatula, gently pry them from the paper. Remember, they will be soft but if cooled properly, be firm enough to handle.
Last Step! Please leave a review and rating letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business thrive & continue providing free recipes.
You may also enjoy:
Chocolate Chip Caramel Crumble Bars
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars
I used the copycat recipe for Entenmann’s chocolate chip cookies and these are the best cookies that I have ever made. I have reclaimed the title in my house as “The Best Cookie Maker”. These cookies are amazing. These cookies are crispy on the outside and have a soft middle. Seriously, they are amazing!
Thanks Cory – so glad the cookies are hit!
I managed to get 3 dozen plus 3 (39 cookies) vs. the suggested 5 1/2 dozen (66 cookies). What might I have done incorrectly? I weighed the first few cookies to 1 oz on a scale and then eye-balled it for the rest, so I don’t think I was way off on weight. Though I carefully spooned the flour into a two cup measure so it was lightly filled, not packed, my cookies came out more on the cakey side than Freihofer’s should. My husband, who like another commenter, would eat a whole box of Freihofer’s at an unsupervised sitting, thought there were too many chocolate chips (hard to believe!). What might you suggest I did incorrectly so that I can try again? I am fairly confident of my measured size, but as hubby points out, “The cookies are not flat like Freihofer’s” and don’t have the slight snap of a Friehofer
Hi Kathleen – The recipe we shared was for copycat Entenmann’s cookies, not Friehofer’s. While I believe the two companies have merged in recent years, Entenmann’s cookies were/are soft and doughy, not with a slight snap – so perhaps you are comparing these to a different cookie. In terms of the yield, I can only guess that our cookies were smaller in size. It’s been a while since we’ve made the recipe but the next time we do, we will confirm the yield.
Hi Martha,
Wow the see are awesome and really reminded me of Entimens as soon as I took a bit. They we deceivingly cakey in appearance right out of the oven but settled during cooling into a beautiful cookie.
I do a lot of copycat recipes because we live in a secluded rural area and cravings must be met:)
These were great!
Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed the cookies Jamie!
These are really good, but I don’t see or taste any similarity to Entenmanns. Going to try it again, thanks for sharing your recipe!
Thanks for your feedback Kevin.
I HAVE ve to try this recipe. The ingredients in entamans says palm oil artificisl vanilla and lots of additives. I personally prefer butter. My husband wanted me to make entrmans cookies and to me tgey miss that butttery homemade taste so tgese are a nice compromise. But I thinknthis recipe was either adapted for a more homemade taste or it was the origional recipe before it was mass produced
Hope you enjoy the recipe Anne! (Yes – I’m sure it’s an older version of the recipe too!)
The yes my husband loves my homemade buttery treats but he says sometimes hes just has a nostalgic craving for packaged cookies that have been around forever. But then he goes to the store and says they just dont taste the same. Im guessing butter and other flavorings got expensive and Entamanns went I think from a novelty special occassion sort of thing to an everyday snack so they made it cheaper so people would but them often. But its also understandable if the person who got tge recipe adapted it to have that homemade fresh buttery taste.I know in the 80s they used the hydrogenated fats i suppose to replace that pricey butter and I guess people didnt like the taste that much and then people started to worry bout hydrogenated fat being unhealthy. I remember ecerybody said eating enemans was worst tgen eating cakes with butter and lard. Now they replaced it I guess with palm kernal oil which gives no flavor.
Hello–quick question about these cookies (great recipe, by the way!)
I made them today, actually just finishing, but upon their completion of taking them out of the oven, my cookies were very cakey looking and not as soft and Entemenn’s like as I thought. I completed everything as stated, including the bake time, but still so different. Granted, the cookies are good, just not what I thought.
Hope you can help! Thanks in advance.
Hi Meghan – Without being there it is very hard to say why your cookies came out so differently! I’m guessing it was the flour? We spoon the flour into our measuring cups so it’s lightly filled and not super packed…more or packed flour might result in a more cake like consistency? Not sure! I’m glad you liked the cookies but I’m sorry it didn’t turn out exactly right for you! Martha
Question – my cookies were undercooked in the middle and really dark…. what kind of molasses did you use? I have Blackstrap molasses? I was hesitant to leave them in too long because of the directions. The first couple attempts at baking them they were puffy. So i let the dough sit over night and attempted again today and they were undercooked in the middle but the edges were done.
Anyhow, I rarely have cookies turn out so it’s me. Not the recipe. But maybe you can help 🙂 Thanks… and the kids didn’t complain, they would eat anything with chocolate 🙂
Hi Nicole – we used the Grandma’s brand molasses which we found at our local supermarket (nothing fancy)! Maybe try adjusting your oven temperature to a little bit hotter? It’s possible that the temp could be off just enough that you aren’t cooking the middle enough. Hope that helps! Thanks for writing to us and keep us posted if you try the cookies again! Martha
I’m with you. Mine looked nothing like her pic. I may have over-mixed the wet ingredients. Mine fell flat and were undercooked in the center, too. I’m going to try again, but remove half the molasses. Great recipe! I go through those Entenmanns boxes in a single sitting if no one is there to see the evidence. 😉
Thanks for the feedback on the recipe Jaime! We’ll test the recipe again on our end just to confirm that the instructions are correct.
How fun! And what a neat story! I love hearing stories of where recipes came from! These cookies sound fabulous! Makes me wish I had some time today to make them!
Thanks Kathy! I know…this time of year is a little crazy! Hope you have time soon!
I opened your email just in time. My husbands cookie jar is almost empty and when I told him I would baking cookies today, he requested just plain ole chocolate chips. I’ve been baking too many “special” cookies lately and he just wants “regular” cookies!
Thanks for sharing!
Have a fab-u-licious day!
You are very welcome Tina! I hope you both enjoy the recipe!!
These cookies remind me of my childhood. Growing up in New York, we always had a blue & white box of Entenmann’s on our kitchen counter. Whether it was coffee cake, raspberry danish, or box of chocolate chip cookies, my family and I devoured the entire contents of the box in a day. Moving to Massachusetts in the 80’s was a challenge at first, since we didn’t know if we would find our beloved Entenmann’s. Eventually, Entenmann’s started being sold at our local supermarket. My father was ecstatic!
I tasted Martha’s cookies, and right away I thought, “Entenmann’s!” I was brought back to a time when I would come home from school and pop these “bad boys” in my mouth. Her cookies were delicious!
This weekend, I will travel to Long Island to visit family and friends as we celebrate an early Thanksgiving. I plan on bringing a batch of these copycat cookies. I can’t wait to hear what people think, especially my brothers. I’m sure they are going to react the same way I did.
Thanks Martha and Jack for bringing back some special memories.
Thank you Jen!!! Love this story!!