These amazing Blue Dory Cookies from the classic Block Island bed and breakfast are chocolate chunk cookies made with only four ingredients! How much better could a cookie recipe get?
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Why we love this recipe
There are so many reasons to love this completely unique chocolate chip cookie recipe. First and most importantly, they have a secret ingredient (more on that later!) that makes them addictively delicious.
Second, you only need four – four! – ingredients to bake up a batch of these scrumptious cookies.
And for anyone who has ever visited the lovely Blue Dory Inn on Block Island, Rhode Island. they are a reminder of delicious summer days.
The Blue Dory is a little bit of heaven right in the center of the tiny town. Rocking chairs on the porch, antique furniture in the rooms, walking distance to the beautiful New England beach…and Blue Dory Cookies.
Every afternoon we would come back from wherever we had been that day and there would be a plate of these warm, wonderful cookies on the kitchen table. They are chocolate chunk cookies, but they are lighter and not as sweet as your traditional chocolate chip cookie, and totally addictive.
Finally one day I asked the owner what the secret was, and she told me the only sweetener (and the secret ingredient!) was maple syrup. Which you can’t really taste in the cookie, but it is the perfect ingredient. And then she wrote out the recipe on a piece of the inn stationary, and I have treasured it ever since.
Now, I know that piece of paper says chopped walnuts, and you are perfectly free to put those nuts in if you like — I’m sure they would be lovely. But the Blue Dory cookies we had back in the day only had chocolate chunks, and so that is the only way I have ever made ’em.
Ingredients you need
Ingredient notes and substitutions
- Self-Rising Flour: Make sure you use this variety, not all-purpose flour.
- Butter: Salted or unsalted butter is fine, and if you have it at room temperature it will beat up more quickly.
- Chocolate Chunks: You can usually find these in the baking aisle.
- Maple Syrup: Use the real stuff, not imitation syrup, for the very best flavor.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities and nutritional information.
How to make this recipe
STEP 1: Preheat your oven to 350 and line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
STEP 2: Cream a pound of room temperature butter in a large bowl your mixer until it is nice and fluffy.
PRO TIP: Take the butter out of its wrapper while it is still cold from the fridge and let it soften on a plate. This way the soft butter won’t stick to the wrapper when you are trying to get it out.
STEP 3: Stir in four and a half cups of self-rising flour at low speed.
STEP 4: Add a cup and a half of maple syrup to the flour mixture in a slow, steady stream. Stir in 2 cups of chocolate chunks.
STEP 5: Drop them by scooping large spoonfuls (a tablespoon or two) of cookie dough onto a lined baking sheet. A cookie scoop is great for this if you have one. Make sure the cookie dough balls are a couple of inches apart as they are going to spread as they bake.
STEP 6: Bake them up for fifteen long minutes.
STEP 7: Let them cool on a wire rack, then eat one while it is still warm. When they are cool, store them in an airtight container. Make vacation plans. ⛱️
Recipe FAQs
Self-rising flour has a little salt and a little baking powder mixed in with a soft version of all-purpose flour, so the leavening agent (the thing that makes your cookies rise and gives them that soft and fluffy texture) is all in there. You can find self-rising flour in the baking aisle right near the regular all-purpose flour.
Technically yes, but one of the magical parts of this cookie is the big pockets of chocolate that you get from the chunks. They can sometimes be found in the baking aisle of your supermarket, and Target is pretty reliable about stocking them. When I can’t find them, I buy about six Hershey bars and break them into chunks. Oh, and milk chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate and dark chocolate are all fine – use your fave!
I promise that between the maple syrup and the chocolate, these cookies are going to be just the right amount of sweet! And it’s fun having folks try and guess what the secret ingredient is!
Pop your question in the comments section below and I will answer pronto!
What to serve with this recipe
Other cookie recipes we love!
We want to know what you think! 😋
If you try this recipe, we would love to hear how it came out for you! I’d be super grateful if you could leave a star rating (you pick how many stars! 🌟 ) and your thoughts in the Comments section.
Blue Dory Cookies
These amazing Blue Dory Cookies from the classic Block Island bed and breakfast are chocolate chunk cookies made with only four ingredients! How much better could a cookie recipe get?
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 40 cookies
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 1 pound butter
- 4 1/2 cups self-rising flour
- 1 1/2 cups maple syrup
- 2 cups chocolate chunks
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 and line a couple of cookie sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
- Cream butter in mixer until fluffy. Stir in flour at low speed.
- Add maple syrup in a slow, steady stream.
- Stir in chocolate chunks.
- Drop large spoonfuls (about one to two tablespoons each) onto greased cookie sheets 2 inches apart and bake for 15 minutes.
- Cool for 5 minutes on cookie sheet, then cool on wire cooling racks.
- Give the first one to your sweetheart with a kiss and a hug. Make vacation plans.
Notes
Self-Rising Flour: Make sure you use this variety of flour and not regular all-purpose flour. It’s easy to find in the baking aisle.
Butter: Either salted or unsalted will work fine – I tend to use salted for this recipe.
Maple Syrup: Use the real stuff! No imitation maple syrup for this recipe…look for it in the breakfast aisle of your supermarket.
Martha in KS says
When I saw Blue Dory, all I could think of was “Just keep swimming…” lol
Ha! That’s right! :)
Judy says
We make maple syrup from our land here in Wisconsin and I just had to try this recipe. I don’t use sugar and I will definitely be making these cookies again, my husband just loved them.
Judy! I’m so glad – and how wonderful that you make your own maple syrup! :)
Cassandra Klesch says
This recipe looks unique. Theinimal ingredients are om the same vein as a Russian tea cake or Mexican wedding cookie. I am definitely making these.
I hope you love them as much as we do!
Allie says
Hi! I just made these after looking for a simple cookie recipe with self raising flour. This is such an easy yummy recipe. The biggest challenge was working out how to convert into grams since I’m English and cookies are not my specialty think I made the dollops a bit big as I now have huge cookies but that’s fine by me haha! Thanks :)
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with big Blue Dory Cookies! Glad you liked them, even with the math challenges! :)
Winnie says
Oh these look great. I never had maple syrup in a cookie, so this is on my list to make. Your brown sugar cookies look yummy too, and they can be served to my hubby as he can’t have chocolate.
Kate says
Thanks Winnie! The Blue Dory cookies are some of my very, very favorites – it’s kind of crazy that such good cookies can come from so few ingredients!
April says
Hi – Could you please let me know how many cookies this recipe makes? Thanks!!
Kate says
It depends how big you make them, but I usually get around 30-35 out of this recipe – enjoy!
April says
Great, thanks so much for getting back to me!
Billie says
We stayed at the Blue Dory a lot of years ago! They served them in the afternoon & so good. Cleaning out a draw today & found Blue Dory Barnicals written on a slip of paper. When looking it up just now saw your recipe. I will have to try them. Thank you because it sure brought back great memories.
Isn’t the Blue Dory the best? And if we can’t actually live there, at least we can make their cookies! :)
T says
You know when I saw these Kate I had to try them out because I’m a sucker for CC cookies, Never made cookies with just maple syrup so I thought I would give them a try kind of expensive to make if using premium chocolates & pure maple syrup. One word of caution to all who make these make sure you use a semi-sweet chocolate not bittersweet. I made the mistake of using bittersweet chocolate mixed in with some semisweet and they tasted bitter not sweet at all. I also used unsalted butter as force of habit if you do that make sure you add 1 teaspoon or more of salt otherwise they will taste bland most cookies have salt. I added a handful of chopped toasted pecans as I was raised with pecans in my chocolate chip cookies. Different tasting that what I’m accustomed too guess I’m tainted somewhat to my old ways. They were nice but not for me guess because I was raised on toll house cookies not using maple syrup thus prefer a different texture more sweeter and with a taste of vanilla & almond flavoring. Thanks Kate
Kate says
I’m glad you gave them a try, anyway! They are definitely not as sweet as regular toll house cookies (I like that part, but that’s what makes the world go ’round :) ) and you are definitely right about using semi-sweet chocolate and not bittersweet. Thanks for trying though!
ruthie says
Not as sweet, that’s for me. The best chocolate chip cookies I ever had were when a friend forgot the white sugar when she made hers. They were not only less sweet, but they had a richer flavor, IMO — I never use the white sugar anymore.
I’ll have to try these. The idea of syrup as the sweetener is very intriguing.
Kate says
These are one of my favorite, favorite cookie recipes for that very reason. :)
Anna says
i've had this bookmarked for a while but finally have a day off and i'm baking them now. just stole one from the first batch and they're absolutely delicious. I didn't add walnuts but i can see them being a definite plus for next time. STILL CANT BELIEVE that this only has 4 ingredients?!
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Invertir en oro says
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Kate Morgan Jackson says
Hi Ernie – room temp will definitely make it easier to cream the butter. Happy baking!
Ernie says
Should the butter be cold, room temp, or does it matter?
viagra online says
You keep surprising me with your recipes, I will do this one for the weekend, my girlfriend loves pastry and sweats, I know she will enjoy this.
Kate Morgan Jackson says
Anon: Any kind of chocolate chunks will do. I like Ghiradelli but Hershey or Nestle will do in a pinch. And I only use Vermont maple syrup from my hometown, but any pure kind will do. :)