How to make simple Chocolate Sugar Cookies! These cookies bake up beautifully with defined edges (no spreading!) and the best flavor! The recipe includes my favorite easy sugar cookie icing (it’s not royal icing)!
This recipe is a richer, chocolate version of my favorite, well-loved sugar cookie recipe. I’ve included notes on how to make them thicker for those of us who love our cookies soft, and thinner for thin & crispy fans. Be sure to check out the easy how-to video just below the recipe!
Chocolate Sugar Cookies
It’s officially (chocolate) sugar cookie season!
I hope everyone had a wonderful, filling Thanksgiving surrounded by their favorite people. I also hope you are just as excited as I am about all of the Christmas baking and candy-making recipes that I have planned for the upcoming weeks. I’ve been working on so many holiday recipes, and I’m especially excited to be sharing today’s chocolate sugar cookies.
Based off my faithful original sugar cookie recipe, this is a solid, reliable cookie base that won’t spread in the oven and delivers perfect cookies every time.
Many of the tips that I shared over in my original sugar cookie recipe still apply here, but I wanted to reiterate a few regarding the thickness of your sugar cookies.
How to Make Sugar Cookies Thinner and Crispier
This may sound pretty obvious, but to make your cookies thinner and crispier all you need to do is roll your dough thinner. I’ve found that about ⅛″ is a good thickness for thin cookies that have a nice, crisp texture when they’re finished baking. Keep in mind that very thin cookies will likely need to bake for less time in the oven, so keep an eye on them (you don’t want your edges to turn too dark or it means they’ve burned!).
How to Make Sugar Cookies Thicker and Softer
Even though I just shared my 100% addictive thin & crispy Maple Leaf Cookies, thick, soft cookies have always been my preference, especially when it comes to sugar cookies. For thicker cookies, I recommend rolling your dough about ¼″ thick. You also want to be sure that you don’t over-bake them in your oven, or they’ll be crisp when they cool. I’ve found that about 10-11 minutes is the sweet spot for my soft sugar cookies.
Make sure you let your cookies cool completely before removing them from the cookie sheet as the thicker, softer cookies are a little fragile when warm and may break if you try to move them too soon.
Tips for Making Sugar Cookie Frosting
I’ve never been a fan of royal icing. I never cared for the taste and always thought it was a pain to make, so last year I perfected a simple (egg white-free) non-royal icing frosting.
It makes for a smooth and shiny, easy to work with icing that is almost impossible to mess up. If you find that it’s too thick when you’ve mixed all of your ingredients together, you can simply add more milk (about a teaspoon at a time) until the proper consistency is reached. Conversely, if your frosting is too thin, you can add more powdered sugar until it’s thickened.
I do recommend sifting your powdered sugar if you plan on piping your frosting. Sometimes powdered sugar has clumps in it that don’t break up when you’re mixing your ingredients together, and left unsifted these can clog your piping tips while you’re decorating. There are few things as frustrating as trying to pry a pocket of sugar out of your piping tip so you don’t have to dump out the whole bag and start over!
Enjoy!
For a non-chocolate version, be sure to check out my classic sugar cookie recipe!
Treat yourself to a FREE E-BOOK!
How to Make Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Be sure to check out my video at the bottom of the recipe! I actually filmed this video on how to make my original cookie recipe, but I do talk about how to make the cookies chocolate as well. I think it will still be helpful here as the technique is almost identical.
Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened (226g)
- 1 cup sugar (200g)
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract**
- 1 large egg
- 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour (265g)
- ½ cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (50g)
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
Sugar Cookie Frosting
- 3 cups powdered sugar sifted (weigh and then sift) (375g)
- 3-4 Tablespoons milk
- 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Additional sprinkles for decorating optional
Instructions
Sugar Cookies
- Combine butter and sugar in a large bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until creamy and well-combined.
- Add egg and vanilla extract and beat well.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
- Gradually add dry ingredients into wet until completely combined.
- Lay out a large piece of plastic wrap and transfer half of the dough onto the wrap -- it will be pretty sticky!
- Cover with clear wrap and mold into a disk. Repeat with remaining cookie dough in a separate piece of cling wrap. Transfer cookie dough to the refrigerator and chill for at least 2-3 hours.
- Once dough has chilled, preheat your oven to 350F (175C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Generously dust a clean surface with flour and place one unwrapped cookie dough disk onto the surface. Lightly flour the dough and roll out to ⅛" (for thinner, crispier cookies) or ¼" (for thicker, softer cookies). Continue to add flour as needed both on top of and beneath the dough so that it doesn't stick.
- Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes and use a spatula to transfer shapes to prepared baking sheet. If you don't intend to frost your cookies with the icing listed below, you can instead sprinkle them with sanding sugar at this point (before baking).
- Bake on 350F (175C) for 9-11 minutes (may need more time for larger or thicker cookies, or less for smaller or thinner ones).
- Allow cookies to cool completely on cookie sheet before moving and frosting.
Sugar Cookie Frosting
- Combine sugar, 2 Tablespoons of milk, corn syrup, and vanilla extract in a medium-sized bowl and stir until combined. If your frosting seems too thick, add more milk, about a teaspoon at a time, until the frosting is thick but pipeable. If you accidentally add too much milk, add powdered sugar until desired texture is reached.
- If coloring the frosting, divide into bowls and color as desired at this point.
- Transfer frosting to a piping bag with a piping tip (I used Wilton 5), or place in a Ziploc bag and snip a small piece of the corner off (this technique is not as neat, but this will still work, just take care that the frosting isn’t so thick that it breaks open the seam of the bag when you are squeezing).
- Pipe frosting on cookies and decorate with sprinkles, if desired.
- Allow frosting to harden before enjoying (this usually takes several hours)
- Store uneaten cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.
Notes
Nutrition
Lyndsey
Could a buttercream frosting be used with this cookie instead? My family are not fans of royal icing. Would buttercream bee too much for this cookie?
Sam
Hi Lyndsey! The buttercream will be a little sweeter but if that’s what you prefer that’s fine. It won’t quite set the same as this frosting so I wouldn’t recommend trying to stack them. 🙂
Lyndsey
Thank you so much Sam for your response and help! I am excited to start baking with this recipe! Thank you for creating this recipe and helping 🙂
Nix
Delicious, wonderful recipe
Nyaziah
Hi. Can this be frozen for more that 2 hours? I want to make the dough and then go to work. I don’t have the best track record with cookies
Sugar Spun Run
Hi, Nyaziah! You will want to chill your dough in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours, longer is fine. Be sure you wrap the dough well so it does not dry out. I hope that you enjoy your cookies. 🙂
Katie
These were simply delicious! I tried your sprinkle cookie recipe last week and it was a hit so this week I made chocolate pumpkin cutouts using this recipe. I went for the thicker cookie and baked them for 10min and oh man were they fudgy and delicious!!!! I was going to frost them, but they were so good by themselves that I opted to serve these on top of scoops of vanilla ice cream. My daughters loved them! 2 for 2 on recipes from your website. Can’t wait to bake next week!
Sam
That is so awesome, Katie! I am so glad everyone has enjoyed everything so much! I can’t wait to hear how the next one goes. 🙂
Lexi
Hi! Can I make the frosting one day ahead? And if so, can I store them in the piping bag? How should I do it please? Will use it for party and I have no time during/before the party. Thank you soooooo much!
Sam
Hi Lexi! Unfortunately it will start to harden after a few hours so I don’t recommend trying to keep it overnight. 🙁
wendy
Made the cookies last night. They were much easier to make than I expected. Iced them this evening. I have never iced cookies before. They were fun and easy to pipe and flow. Your directions were spot on! I think this will be added to our cookie repertoire. Thank you!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed them, Wendy! 🙂
Nicole
Just an FYI…When using a Ziploc bag to pipe…I have found using a FREEZER BAG works the best. It’s a thicker plastic and the seems are stronger.
Sam
Thank you so much, Nicole. 🙂
Alan Zais
This is an excellent chocolate sugar cookie. Thank you for sharing the recipe!
Sam
I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Alan! 🙂
Meera
Hi, could the dough be chilled overnight if I wanted to prep the dough one night and bake them the next evening? (For a school function so thinking this might too much to do all on one school night)
Sam
Hi Meera! Absolutely. It will be pretty firm after chilling all that time so it may need to sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes or so to soften enough to be rollable without cracking. Enjoy!
Jerry
My cookie cutter is longer then 3inches what’s a good recipe that hold together well
Sam
Hi Jerry! This one will hold together just fine. 🙂
Stephanie
Can I make the cookies ahead of time and store them without freezing them? I’m thinking of doing them this coming week and pulling them out of the fridge on Xmas Eve
Sam
Hi, Stephanie. I typically only suggest keeping cookies for a week to ensure freshness. 🙂
Stephanie Middaugh
thanks Sam. Happy Holidays!
Dawne
Can this cookie dough be frozen?
Sam
Hi Dawne. You can freeze it. I would wrap it tightly in cling wrap before placing in the freezer. Enjoy! 🙂
Eva Heidrich
Can gluten free flour be used to make these cookies? Almond flour?
Sam
I am sorry, Eva. I am not familiar with using those flours so I can’t be certain if it would work. If you try it out, let me know how it works. ☺️
Monika Wisenbaker
Hi Sam,
Does the cookie have more like a brownie texture?
Thank you
Sam
Hi Monika! It does not, it’s much like a regular sugar cookie only chocolate. I do have this brownie cookie recipe, though, if that’s what you are looking for! 🙂
Monika
Thank you! Chocolate is what I’m looking for. 😍 Will definitely be trying this. Thanks again.
Sam
I hope you love it!! 🙂
Patty
I was just wondering does this frosting spread nicely on the cookies, rather than piping? Also is this frosting softer than Royale icing, which seems to get too hard for my taste.
Sam
It’s not really a great spreading frosting, I think it’s a bit too thin for that. It could work, but the results wouldn’t be very neat. And yes it is softer than royal icing, it dries hard but not brittle or crunchy like royal icing. It has a firm finish (the cookies are stackable) but it gives easily to your teeth. I hope that helps!
Patty
Hey Sam, thanks so much for answering my question, it definitely helps! I also watched your video on piping the frosting on the cookies. It looks super easy…I will be giving it a try this year for sure.
Thanks again,
Patty 😊
Sam
I am so glad the video was helpful, I love to hear that.☺️