Tanya Burr Cookies (Milk And White Chocolate)

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Tanya Burr cookies are soft, chewy, extra-large cookies filled with chunks of white and milk chocolate. They’re super easy to make and they’re guaranteed to be a hit with everyone who tries them.

tanya burr cookies with milk and white chocolate chunks in them

Does anyone else remember the early YouTube days? I first got hooked on YouTube in 2013, thanks to the baking videos that Tanya Burr and Zoe Sugg (AKA Zoella) were making at the time.

One of my favourite recipes from that time was the popular Tanya Burr cookies, and I still bake them to this day! I made her white and milk chocolate cookies for a party recently and thought they would be a great crowd-pleasing recipe to share on this blog.

I also recall seeing Zoella making Tanya Burr’s triple chocolate cookies but I can’t seem to find the video on YouTube anymore. I’ve included instructions on how to make them further down in this post or you can find the recipe amongst other delicious bakes in Tanya’s cookbook.

Ingredients you’ll need

Butter: I recommend leaving your butter out at room temperature for about an hour or so before baking, which will make it easier to mix with the sugar. If you’re struggling to mix it, you can use an electric whisk to speed things along.

Sugar: This recipe calls for caster sugar which is also known as superfine sugar for any American readers.

Egg: You’ll need 1 egg for these cookies. This helps create that soft, chewy, bakery-style texture.

Vanilla extract: Tanya’s recipe doesn’t call for this but I added it for a little extra flavour.

Self-raising flour: It’s unusual for cookie recipes to call for self-raising flour but I personally think this is what makes Tanya Burr’s cookies so great. This helps them to become light and fluffy in texture.

Milk and white chocolate: You can’t make Tanya Burr milk and white chocolate cookies without the chocolate! You can use any chocolate you like but I used Dairy Milk, Milky Bar, white chocolate buttons and some supermarket own-brand chocolate.

Tanya also notes that you may need a small splash of milk to help your dough stick together but in my experience, it’s usually fine without it.

Equipment

Here’s the equipment you’ll need for this recipe:

A mixing bowl
A wooden spoon or electric whisk. I find it much easier with an electric whisk.
Large baking tray(s). These are VERY large cookies so you don’t want to place them too closely on the tray or they’ll stick together. I usually do 4-5 per tray.
Baking paper

How to make Tanya Burr Cookies

Step 1: Preheat your oven to 180°C and line a large baking tray or two with baking paper.

Step 2: In a large bowl, cream together 200g of butter and 300g of caster sugar until pale and fluffy. As mentioned above, you can use an electric whisk if you’re having trouble mixing it fully.

Step 3: Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1 egg. Mix well.

butter and sugar creamed together with egg and vanilla

Step 4: Add 325g of self-raising flour. Mix it into the wet mixture then use your hands to press it together into a ball of dough. If the dough is too dry, add a splash of milk. If it’s too wet, add more self-raising flour.

Step 5: Roughly chop a large bar of milk chocolate and a large bar of white chocolate and gently knead the chunks into the dough.

Step 6: Divide the dough into 10 equal-sized pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Place the balls onto your baking tray, with a lot of space in between to allow for spreading. I find 4-5 per tray works best.

Step 7: Gently press the balls of dough so they’re around 1.5-inches thick. Pop them into the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.

It’s important to note that the cookies will look pale and underbaked when you first take them out. Do not keep baking them, as they’ll end up burnt and crunchy once they’ve cooled! You’ll know they’re done when they’re slightly firm around the edges.

Step 8: Leave the cookies to cool completely before removing them from the tray.

4 giant milk and white cookies on baking tray

FAQ

How to make Tanya Burr triple chocolate cookies?

If you prefer to try the triple chocolate version, use 275g of self-raising flour instead of 325g and add 75g of cocoa powder. The baking temperature goes up to 200°C but the baking time stays the same at 10-12 minutes.

Can I use American measurements for this recipe?

I’ve included the American measurements (cups & oz) in the recipe card below but please bear in mind that these are estimates. I prefer to use a food scale to ensure accuracy when it comes to baking.

How many calories are in Tanya Burr cookies?

The calories in your Tanya Burr cookies will vary, depending on the type of chocolate you use and how many cookies you make. For the standard recipe of 10 cookies, not including chocolate, there are approximately 385 calories per cookie.

How long will they last?

If stored in an airtight container or wrapped tightly in tinfoil, the cookies will taste best if eaten within 4-5 days.

Can they be frozen?

Yes, I often freeze these cookies. You can put them into an airtight container or wrap them in tinfoil and freeze them for up to 1 month. When you’re ready to eat them, let them sit at room temperature for an hour or so until fully defrosted.

Top tips

Use an electric whisk to mix the butter and the sugar together. The ratio of sugar to butter is higher than a typical cookie recipe so it can be a bit tricky to mix by hand.
Bake 4-5 cookies per tray which will leave plenty of space for them to spread without sticking together.
The cookies will look pale and underbaked when the baking time is up but resist the urge to keep baking! The cookies will continue to bake for a few minutes once removed from the oven so they will become firm once cool.

More cookie recipes:

I hope you enjoy these Tanya Burr cookies! If you find this post useful, please give this post a share using the share buttons on this page. Happy baking!