Sugar Spun Run

Sweet, simple, and from-scratch dessert recipes

Join My Facebook Page Follow Me on Pinterest Follow Me on Instagram Subscribe to my YouTube Channel

  • Home
  • Recipes
  • About Me
  • Contact
    • Work with Me
  • Subscribe
  • Home
  • Recipes
  • About Me
  • Contact
    • Work with Me
  • Subscribe
You are here: Home / Desserts / Cookies / Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

November 26, 2018 By Sam 35 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read my disclosure policy.
Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe
Chocolate Sugar Cookies

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!

Plate of decorated chocolate sugar cookies

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.

How to make Chocolate Sugar Cookies: Rolling out and cutting dough with cutter

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 1/8″ 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 1/4″ 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.

Freshly baked chocolate sugar cookie

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!

Chocolate sugar cookie with frosting

Enjoy!

For a non-chocolate version, be sure to check out my classic sugar cookie recipe!

Free E-Book

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 in star shape with white icing

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Simple chocolate sugar cookies!
Recipe includes a step-by-step VIDEO for my classic sugar cookies (with notes on making them chocolate) at the bottom of the post!
5 from 5 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: chocolate cookies, roll out sugar cookies, sugar cookies
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Chilling Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 40 cookies (will vary depending on the size of cookie cutter you used, this is the yield for 3" cookie cutters)
Calories: 120kcal
Author: Sam Merritt

Ingredients

  • 1 cup unsalted butter softened 226g
  • 1 cup sugar 200g
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract**
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 cups + 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour 265g
  • 1/2 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder 50g
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt

Sugar Cookie Frosting

  • 3 cups powdered sugar sifted (weigh and then sift) (375g)
  • 3-4 Tablespoons milk
  • 2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
  • 1/2 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 1/8" (for thinner, crispier cookies) or 1/4" (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

*Yield varies greatly depending both on how thick you roll the dough and the size of the cookie cutters that you use. This recipe can be doubled.
**You may also cut the vanilla extract down to 3/4 teaspoon and add 1/4-1/2 teaspoons of either almond or lemon extract (or just about any other extract you'd like!)
 My cookie cutters were about 3" in length, if you're using smaller cookie cutters you will need to bake for less time, keep an eye on the edges of your cookies to know when they are done.

Nutrition

Serving: 1cookie (with icing) | Calories: 120kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @SugarSpun_Sam or tag #sugarspunrun!

Plate of iced chocolate sugar cookies

Filed Under: Cookies

Related Posts

None found

Previous Post Thin & Crispy Cinnamon Maple Leaf Cookies
Next Post Potato Candy

Comments

  1. Lyndsey says

    December 20, 2020 at 9:19 pm

    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?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 20, 2020 at 11:08 pm

      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. 🙂

      Reply
      • Lyndsey says

        December 21, 2020 at 8:00 pm

        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 🙂

  2. Nix says

    December 10, 2020 at 1:36 pm

    5 stars
    Delicious, wonderful recipe

    Reply
  3. Nyaziah says

    November 7, 2020 at 11:22 pm

    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

    Reply
    • Sugar Spun Run says

      November 8, 2020 at 8:58 pm

      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. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Katie says

    October 12, 2020 at 7:41 pm

    5 stars
    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!

    Reply
    • Sam says

      October 13, 2020 at 12:55 pm

      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. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Lexi says

    April 5, 2019 at 7:53 am

    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!

    Reply
    • Sam says

      April 5, 2019 at 5:18 pm

      Hi Lexi! Unfortunately it will start to harden after a few hours so I don’t recommend trying to keep it overnight. 🙁

      Reply
  6. wendy says

    December 24, 2018 at 1:33 am

    5 stars
    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!

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 24, 2018 at 11:16 am

      I am so glad you enjoyed them, Wendy! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Nicole says

    December 16, 2018 at 9:59 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 16, 2018 at 1:44 pm

      Thank you so much, Nicole. 🙂

      Reply
    • Alan Zais says

      July 12, 2020 at 2:36 am

      5 stars
      This is an excellent chocolate sugar cookie. Thank you for sharing the recipe!

      Reply
      • Sam says

        July 13, 2020 at 9:52 pm

        I am so glad you enjoyed it so much, Alan! 🙂

  8. Meera says

    December 12, 2018 at 1:57 am

    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)

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 12, 2018 at 7:53 pm

      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!

      Reply
  9. Jerry says

    December 10, 2018 at 1:32 am

    My cookie cutter is longer then 3inches what’s a good recipe that hold together well

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 10, 2018 at 9:52 pm

      Hi Jerry! This one will hold together just fine. 🙂

      Reply
  10. Stephanie says

    December 6, 2018 at 9:38 pm

    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

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 12, 2018 at 10:48 pm

      Hi, Stephanie. I typically only suggest keeping cookies for a week to ensure freshness. 🙂

      Reply
      • Stephanie Middaugh says

        December 17, 2018 at 6:01 pm

        thanks Sam. Happy Holidays!

  11. Dawne says

    December 2, 2018 at 3:15 pm

    Can this cookie dough be frozen?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 2, 2018 at 9:46 pm

      Hi Dawne. You can freeze it. I would wrap it tightly in cling wrap before placing in the freezer. Enjoy! 🙂

      Reply
  12. Eva Heidrich says

    November 30, 2018 at 9:13 pm

    Can gluten free flour be used to make these cookies? Almond flour?

    Reply
    • Sam says

      December 1, 2018 at 12:06 am

      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. ☺️

      Reply
  13. Monika Wisenbaker says

    November 28, 2018 at 1:55 pm

    5 stars
    Hi Sam,
    Does the cookie have more like a brownie texture?

    Thank you

    Reply
    • Sam says

      November 28, 2018 at 5:57 pm

      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! 🙂

      Reply
      • Monika says

        November 28, 2018 at 9:05 pm

        Thank you! Chocolate is what I’m looking for. 😍 Will definitely be trying this. Thanks again.

      • Sam says

        November 28, 2018 at 10:19 pm

        I hope you love it!! 🙂

  14. Patty says

    November 27, 2018 at 8:56 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Sam says

      November 27, 2018 at 9:50 am

      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!

      Reply
      • Patty says

        November 27, 2018 at 6:13 pm

        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 says

        November 27, 2018 at 11:15 pm

        I am so glad the video was helpful, I love to hear that.☺️

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




The author (Sam) in blue shirt holding donut Hi, I'm Sam! I'm dedicated to bringing you sweet, simple, and from-scratch dessert recipes. My life may or may not be controlled by my sweet tooth. Send help (or chocolate). Read more about me.

Most Popular

flaky biscuit on white cloth

Easy Homemade Biscuits

Pizza dough in glass bowl, after rising

The Best Pizza Dough Recipe

Slice of yellow cake with chocolate icing on white plate

The Best Vanilla Cake Recipe

stack of 5 chocolate chip cookies

The WORST Chocolate Chip Cookies

Slice of cheesecake

The Best Cheesecake Recipe

Potato soup in bowl, with toppings

The Ultimate Creamy Potato Soup

Best Holiday Recipes!

christmas sugar cookie decorated with icing on white plate

Easy Sugar Cookie Recipe (With Icing!)

Stack of decorated gingerbread cookie men on plate

Gingerbread Men Cookies

Gingerbread slice with whipped topping

Gingerbread

cookies dipped in chocolate on marble surface

Butter Cookies

Peppermint bark fudge stacked

Peppermint Bark Fudge

Hot Chocolate Bombs

Never miss a recipe!

places sugar spun run has been featured (Women's Day, Redbook, Good Housekeeping, Country Living, the huffington post, People, Delish, MSN, TLC, Parade, Better Homes & Gardens, Buzzfeed)

Copyright © 2021 · Sugar Spun Run

Privacy Policy|Accessibility Statement