These delectable coal cookies will have you wanting to be on Santa’s naughty list! Made with black cocoa and a smooth buttercream center, they taste like gourmet Oreos. Recipe includes a how-to video!
Christmas Coal Cookies
Switch things up on Santa and give HIM coal this year! These coal cookies are unique and tasty, if not particularly pretty, cookies that you need to try this Christmas season. They make fun (and cheeky!) cookies for Santa, but can also be a sweeter way to give your kids coal for Christmas 😉
Despite their… let’s call it “rustic” appearance, these cookies actually taste incredible. I like to think of them as soft and tender, gourmet deluxe Oreos. They are made with black cocoa (just like my homemade Oreo cookies!) and filled with a not-too-sweet vanilla frosting.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy: While there are a few steps, each one is straightforward and easy. We’ll simply whip together the buttercream, make the dough, assemble, and bake.
- Unique: They’ll stand out among your usual Christmas cookie suspects like gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies, and thumbprint cookies. I have a few more unique Christmas cookies at the bottom of this post too.
- Tasty: The combination of cocoa and vanilla buttercream is familiar and oh so irresistible. If you are a fan of anything Oreo (like my Oreo pie!), you will love these cookies!
- Fun: Like my dirt cookies, coal cookies are a fun treat that kids from one to 92 will enjoy. Everyone will be wanting coal for Christmas this year!
Ingredients
There are a few important ingredients I’d like to go over before we get started. If you want to head straight to the recipe instead, keep scrolling!
- Black cocoa powder. You really need black cocoa for this recipe (I linked to the one I use in the recipe card!). Don’t substitute a different cocoa powder (like natural or Dutch process cocoa), or your cookies will look more like manure than coal (sorry!).
- Cake flour. Cake flour makes for thicker, more tender cookies. I use it in many of my gourmet cookie recipes that require more structure to hold in their for fillings, like my strawberry pop tart cookies or chocolate lava cookies.
- Unsalted butter. You will need this for both the filling and the cookies. Make sure your butter is properly softened before you begin. Note that if you only have salted butter, you will need to reduce the salt in the dough to ¼ teaspoon and remove it entirely from the filling.
- Eggs. Only two today. Use my trick to quickly bring eggs to room temperature if you forget to set yours out ahead of time!
- Vanilla. This flavors both our cookies and the buttercream filling. For the filling, you can use regular vanilla extract (homemade vanilla works great!) or clear vanilla. Clear vanilla will give you a more pure white filling and artificial flavor though, which is actually closer to what an Oreo (or Ding Dong cake) filling tastes like.
SAM’S TIP: For a peppermint twist, add some peppermint extract to the filling! I recommend using ¼-½ teaspoon in addition to the vanilla.
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Coal Cookies
Make the filling
Beat the butter with an electric mixer until smooth, then gradually stir in the sugar until incorporated. Do this on low speed so you don’t fling sugar everywhere (ask me how I know 🙄).
Add in the vanilla and salt, scrape the bowl, and mix one more time. Give yourself a taste-test as a reward. Drop 2 teaspoon-sized scoops unto a wax paper lined baking sheet (I have a 2-teaspoon cookie scoop (affiliate) that makes quick, tidy work of this!) and pop in the freezer to chill for at least 20 minutes. While the dollops freeze, make your dough.
Make the dough
Creaming the sugar and butter until light and fluffy is important, you want to spend a few minutes (1-3) with your mixer on high speed to properly cream things. This will help make sure the cookies maintain the height and structure that we’re aiming for.
Keep in mind this is a pretty thick, stiff dough (it needs to be in order for them to maintain their shape and hold in that filling!). Make sure you add the dry ingredients to the wet gradually, otherwise it won’t incorporate properly and you’ll be leaving me a comment asking me why the dough is so dry and crumbly and you can’t work with it. 😉 Just go slow and keep on mixing!
Assemble the cookies
You’ll want to use hefty 3 Tablespoon portions of dough. Roll these into smooth balls, then make an indent in the center with your thumb. Add a frozen buttercream dollop to the indent and form the dough around it so no filling shows through.
Roll the dough between your palms again until smooth. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling, then place in the freezer to chill for 30 minutes. This chilling period is important so that the cookies don’t spread too much and maintain their coal-ish figure.
Bake
Bake for 10-12 minutes. It can be tricky to tell when a cookie this dark is finished baking, but you don’t want to overdo it! The edges should be set and it’s totally fine (if not desirable!) if the centers still seem a tad underdone (this ensures they stay nice and soft, and remember that the filling doesn’t actually need to cook so it’s not like they have to actually cook through!).
These cookies are pretty fragile when they are still warm, so don’t try to move them (or eat them!) until they have had time to cool.
You’ll also want to wait until they’ve cooled completely before you break into them, not only will the filling seem separated and oily (and be super hot!) when warm, but the cookies themselves might seem underdone.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can, but it’s not my preference. Your cookies just won’t be quite as tender. The best substitute I’ve found is actually to use a blend of all-purpose flour and cornstarch, use 3 cups (375 grams) of flour and 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch.
This recipe will technically work just fine with any Dutch cocoa (since black cocoa is a Dutch processed cocoa!), but the color won’t be near as dark. As a result, the cookies look a bit less like coal and a bit more like something even more unappetizing 😉 Stick with the recipe for best results!
I usually can’t find black cocoa in my grocery store, so I buy my black cocoa here on Amazon (affiliate).
No. The amount of sugar in the buttercream stabilizes the butter, so the cookies don’t need refrigeration. Store them in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy within four days.
I can’t wait to hear what you think of these!
Enjoy!
Let’s bake together! Subscribe to my newsletter to be notified of all the newest recipes, and find my free recipe tutorials on YouTube 💜
Coal Cookies
Ingredients
Filling
- 6 Tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter softened
- 1 cup (125 g) powdered sugar
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅛ teaspoon table salt
Cookie
- 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened
- 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature preferred
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 ½ cups (395 g) cake flour (see note)
- ⅔ cup (80 g) black cocoa powder (see note)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoons table salt
Recommended Equipment
Instructions
Filling
- Place butter in a medium-sized mixing bowl and use an electric mixer to beat until it is smooth and creamy.6 Tablespoons (85 g) unsalted butter
- Gradually add sugar, stirring on low speed until fully incorporated.1 cup (125 g) powdered sugar
- Add vanilla extract and salt and stir to combine. Use a spatula to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl and stir again.¼ teaspoon vanilla extract, ⅛ teaspoon table salt
- Line a baking tray or large plate with wax paper. Scoop filling by 2 teaspoon-sized scoops (11g) and drop onto prepared tray. Place in freezer while you prepare your dough (filling must chill for a minimum of 20 minutes).
Cookies
- In a large mixing bowl, use an electric mixer to beat butter and sugar together very well, until light and fluffy.1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter, 1 ½ cups (300 g) granulated sugar
- Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat together again to thoroughly combine.2 large eggs, 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- In a separate, medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour, black cocoa, baking powder, and salt.3 ½ cups (395 g) cake flour, ⅔ cup (80 g) black cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ¾ teaspoons table salt
- Gradually add dry ingredients into wet (I do this in 3 or 4 parts), stirring after each addition until ingredients are thoroughly combined.
Assembly and Baking
- Scoop cookie dough by 3 Tablespoon-sized scoop (64g) and roll gently between your palms. Use your thumb to press an indent all the way into the center and press one frozen filling dollop into the center. Use the cookie dough to completely conceal the filling, and roll gently between your palms to create a smooth, even ball of dough. Place in freezer to chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375F (190C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- When the dough has finished chilling, remove from freezer and place on prepared baking sheets, spacing cookies at least 2” apart. Bake in preheated 375F (190C) oven for 11-12 minutes. Allow cookies to cool completely on baking sheet before enjoying!
Notes
Black cocoa
I usually can’t find this ingredient in my local grocery store so I buy it here from Amazon.Flour
If you want to substitute all-purpose flour instead of cake flour, use 3 cups (375g) all-purpose flour plus 2 Tablespoons of cornstarch.Storing
Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 4 days.Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
LISA
My son asked for coal for Christmas. This was perfect. They are delicious. They remind me of Oreos, but better!
Sam
I’m so glad everyone enjoyed them so much, Lisa! 🙂
Stella
Mine didn’t turn out like coal, but they sure did taste good! I made about forty and my family had three left 😂
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
We’re so happy they tasted good regardless 😊
Eddie Hawkins
I spent over an hour reading up on your cooking of these cookies to give to my nieces and nephews. Before they went into the oven they looked just like yours. I followed the instructions as you wrote them but when I got them out of oven they were big flat round cookies. Their beautiful coal shape was gone. Everyone at the party ate them not knowing they were to look like coal. I am very sad that their features fell thru. Where did I go wrong and why b4 the oven trip they looked like a lump of coal but after baking they lost their beauty?
Sam
Hmm did you make any substitutions? Did you weigh your flour?
Brittany
These cookies are amazing! My husband’s exact words were “I’ve never been impressed by a cookie, I’m impressed by these!” Absolute killer of a recipe.
Sam
I’m so glad you enjoyed them so much, Brittany! 🙂
Kara Soto
Some of mine broke open and the icing came out 🤦🏼♀️ not sure what I did wrong but they taste delicious 😂
Emily @ Sugar Spun Run
Oh no! This usually happens when the filling isn’t quite centered. We’re so happy they still tasted good though!
Ashlea Yerkes
Made these cookies an hour after they were posted and OH MY WORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sam’s recipes never disappoint. They are delicious and so cute! I made a triple batch and going to gift them 🙂
Sam
This is so wonderful to hear, Ashlea! Thank you so much for trying my recipe and letting me know how it turned out! I really appreciate it! 💕