Do you know who Donna Kelce is?

She’s Travis and Jason Kelce’s mom. Which brings me to ask … do you know who Travis and Jason Kelce are?

I understand you may not. If you’re not 1) From Cleveland OR 2) A fan of football OR 3) A fan of Taylor Swift, the Kelce boys may not be on your radar. (And if they’re not – they’re brothers from Cleveland Heights, Ohio who now are in the NFL. Travis Kelce is currently dating Taylor Swift).

But we’re talking about cookies! Not football. Anyway, these cookies went famous after Mama Kelce was seen giving her sons a container of them before last year’s Super Bowl, and also gave the Today Show anchors a sample when she was on air with them. But it wasn’t until my phone sent me a link with the headline to this recipe a week ago that I first heard of them.

My phone suggests links based on my click habits – and surprise surprise, most of the links are baking OR running related. I normally would’ve tossed this recipe aside – who needs another chocolate chip cookie recipe – but I had book club and realized that would be the perfect venue to taste them!

I pretty much made this recipe to the T with the exception of two areas – I didn’t have Ghiradelli chocolate chip cookies (I used a combination of Nestle, Trader Joe’s and Target, because that’s what I had) and I didn’t have cold cream butter – I used Costco unsalted butter. I admit that I was unsure if I’d like them – I’m more of a big doughy cookie fan, and also don’t love cinnamon mixed with chocolate.

What was the verdict from my taste testers – my family and book club ladies?

They were a hit! Some guessed the cinnamon, others couldn’t even tell it was in there. Likewise, I was surprised with how much I enjoyed the texture – they weren’t big doughy cookies but they were crispy and chewy in just the right way.

Would I make them again?

Maybe – they were good but there were a few extra steps and ingredients required that aren’t in my typical cookie recipe AND they require time to sit so they may not become my go-to cookie in a pinch. But they were good enough to share and my kids loved them!

Mama Kelce’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

(originally shared from the Today Show website)

Here’s what you need:

• 1½ cups sweet cream butter (3 sticks) (I used regular old unsalted butter)
• 1½ cups packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 large egg and 1 egg yolk
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking soda, stirred/dissolved in 2 Tablespoons of hot water
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup cake or pastry flour (I had 1 cup of cake flour leftover from baking a birthday cake for my daughter)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 1 cup Ghirardelli white chocolate chips (I used Trader Joe’s and Nestle chips)
• 1 cup Ghirardelli milk chocolate chips (I used Target’s brand)

Here’s what you do:

1. Melt butter in microwave. When just melted, pour into mixing bowl or stand mixer and pop in the fridge to cool for 5-10 minutes.
2. When cool, add brown and white sugar to butter mixture and mix for 4 minutes.
3. Scrape down sides of bowl and add egg and egg yolk, vanilla and dissolved baking soda/water mixture. Mix for about 1 minute.
4. In a separate bowl, add all purpose flour, cake flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt, and mix to combine. Slowly add this mixture about 1/2 cup at a time to the mixer, scraping down sides.
5. Add all chocolate chips and stir with a spatula.
6. Place the dough in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, but ideally overnight. NOTE – I shaped my dough into balls BEFORE refrigerating — Donna has you scoop out the batter after refrigerating. I like my method because then when it’s time to cook, there’s no wait – you just put the cold dough balls on your baking sheet.
7. When completely refrigerated (I had mine in the fridge for 2 days before baking), preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
8. Place dough on a cookie sheet topped with parchment paper. They spread out a lot so leave around 3 inches between each scoop.
9. My cookies were pretty big, and they were done around 14 minutes. I suggest checking around 12 minutes.