Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies (Gideon’s Copycat)

These giant chocolate chip cookies are inspired by the ones you find at Gideon’s Bakehouse at Disney Springs. Thick, rich, chocolate chip PACKED cookies that are as big as your head and will have you waiting in line for 5-6 hours just to get your hands on one.

I heard all the hype. I put my name on the list. I waited in line. I was not disappointed. But then I had to go back home to Indiana. So, I knew I had to create a copycat version that was just as good, or dare I say BETTER, than the original Gideon’s version.

First, what is Gideon’s Bakehouse?

If you’re here, you’ve probably at least heard of Gideon’s, if not already been there. There’s a lot of hype floating around about this Orlando bakery, and honestly, the experience lives up to it. The bakehouse itself is teenie tiny with a spooky vibe on the inside. It’s dark, with Tim Burton like pictures hanging on every inch of the walls. There’s a bakery case filled with giant cakes and their infamous half pound cookies. They also offer over the top cold brews like their popular peanut butter version.

It’s located in Disney Springs and ALWAYS has a line. A long one. On our last Disney trip I booked it straight to Gideons when they opened to get my name on the queue ASAP. Even tho I was there within 5 minutes of the bakery opening, I still had a virtual queue wait time of 1 hour. If you go later throughout the day, you can expect a 5-6 hour wait in the virtual queue. So my advice if you can’t get there immediately upon opening, is to go straight to Gideons when you arrive at Disney Springs to put your name in. Then, shop, eat, and enjoy your day at Disney Springs and pick up your cookies on your way out.

Unfortunately, most of us don’t live in the Orlando area and Gideon’s doesn’t ship. So how exactly are we supposed to go on with our lives without access to these amazingly indulgent cookies? Well, I put in hours of recipe testing and cookie tasting (hard job I know) to bring you this Gideon’s Bakehouse Copycat recipe that I truly believe rivals the original chocolate chip recipe and can be whipped up in your home kitchen.

Ingredients

I tried to keep the ingredients for this recipe as easily accessible as possible, but there are a couple “special” ingredients that I think make these cookies a true rival of Gideon’s.

• Bread Flour. This recipe used a combination of all purpose flour and bread flour. Bread flour isn’t hard to find, and will be located next to the all purpose at your grocery store. The bread flour helps give these cookies structure and keep them chewy rather than cakey.
• Vanilla Bean Paste. The vanilla bean paste in this recipe gives the cookies a more intense vanilla flavor and distributes those vanilla bean flecks throughout the dough. You can find it at Trader Joes, some grocery stores, or on Amazon. If you can’t find vanilla bean paste, you can substitute 3 tsp of Pure Vanilla Extract.
• Dark Brown Sugar. Another ingredient that isn’t hard to find, but one you might not keep on hand, is dark brown sugar. This will be located right next to the light brown sugar at the grocery store. Using dark brown sugar gives these cookies a more robust flavor and darker color. It also helps provide structure that keeps the cookies nice and thick.
• High Quality Butter. I highly recommend using Kerry Gold Irish Butter in this recipe, or another high quality butter like, Danish Creamery or Pulgra.

How to make Gideon’s Bakehouse Cookies at home

Make the dough

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter, granulated sugar, and dark brown sugar for 5 minutes. Be sure to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as needed. Add in the egg, egg yolk, and vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract). Mix for another 3 minutes. You want to mix the egg in very well giving the cookie dough a strong structure. Again, make sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Then, mix in the dry ingredients until just combined, careful not to over mix.

Use a rubber spatula to fold in the chocolate – 1/2 C milk chocolate chips, 1/2 C mini semi sweet chips, and the 4oz bar of chopped chocolate. The rest of the chocolate will be used on the outside of the cookies. Gideon’s cookies are notoriously huge – a half pound each to be exact. Use a kitchen scale to portion the dough into 6 large cookies – 6.5 oz each. (the extra chocolate on the outside will bring them up to about 8 oz)

Once portioned, pop them in the fridge for 10 minutes just to firm them up enough to handle them without getting your hands super sticky. While the dough firms up, add the remaining chocolate to a medium mixing bowl – 1 C EACH of semi sweet chips, milk chocolate chips, and mini semi sweet chips. I used all Ghirardelli because I love the way they get super melty, but still hold their shape.

Coat in chocolate and chill

Once the cookie dough is firm enough to handle, roll them into balls in your hands. Then coat them in the chocolate chips. Press the chocolate into the dough ensuring that they stick and cover the dough completely – except for the bottom. Leave the bottom uncoated so that the chocolate doesn’t get to hot and burn. Now for the hardest part. Place the dough balls on a parchment lined cookie sheet and chill for 24 hours. I know, I know! But, good things come to those who wait.

Bake and serve

After the dough has chilled for 24 hours, preheat your oven to 350. Place two cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet with plenty of room between them. Bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes. Remove from oven and bang the baking sheet on the counter 4-5 times to help flatten out the cookies. They will still be very doughy in the center, but they will set up as they cool!

Then, use a small rubber spatula to scoot any runaway edges back into place. Cover any bare spots with extra chocolate chips and sprinkle with flaky salt. Let the cookies sit on the hot baking sheet to cool and set up in the center. Enjoy warm! Keep any extra cookies in an airtight container for up to a week. To reheat – microwave for 10-12 seconds.

Gideon’s Bakehouse Cookie Recipe Tips

• Properly measure your ingredients. Weighing your ingredients with a kitchen scale is the only way to ensure your cookies will turn out perfect every time. If you don’t have a kitchen scale, make sure to spoon and level your flour rather than scooping it out of the bag with the measuring cup – which would likely result in using too much flour and therefore a cakey cookie that doesn’t spread at all.
• Use high quality chocolate. According to their website, Gideon’s used Ghirardelli and Callebaut. As I mentioned above, I used all Ghirardelli as it’s the most easily accessible. But, Ghiradelli, Callebaut, and Guittard are all great choices.
• Make sure your oven is properly calibrated. I tested this cookie at several different bake temps and ultimately found that 350 was best. If your oven is too cool, the cookies won’t spread and will be raw in the middle. If it’s too hot, they’ll spread too fast and have edges that are too crispy and a middle that’s barely cooked through. I’d suggest an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is correct. You can find them for $5-10 on Amazon.

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If you loved this Gideon’s Copycat Cookie Recipe, be sure to tag @buuckfarmsbakery on Instagram and leave a star rating and review below! If you want to save this recipe for later, use the button on the recipe card, or on any photo throughout this post.

For more of my best cookie recipes, check out my

• Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Blueberry Muffin Cookies
• Soft Lemon Sugar Cookies
• Bakery Style S’mores Cookies
• Espresso Chocolate Chunk Cookies