Chocolate Sugar Cookies

These chocolate sugar cookies can be rolled thin for crispy cookies or thick for a soft and chewy texture. Top them with my shiny and firm, egg-free icing!

Recipe includes a how-to video!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 10

Chilling Time 2

Total Time 2 40

Servings cookies (will vary depending on the size of cookie cutter you used, this is the yield for 3" cookie cutters)

Calories 149kcal

Author Sam Merritt

Equipment

Ingredients

1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter softened
1 cup (200 g) granulated sugar
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 cups + 2 Tablespoons (265 g) all purpose flour
½ cup (50 g) Dutch-processed cocoa powder
½ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt

Chocolate Sugar Cookie Frosting

1 ½ cups (190 g) powdered sugar sifted (weigh and then sift)
1 Tablespoon Dutch cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons milk (any kind) plus more as needed
1 Tablespoon light corn syrup
¼ 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.
1 cup unsalted butter softened, 1 cup granulated sugar
Add egg and vanilla extract and beat well.
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 large egg
In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.
2 cups + 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour, ½ cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¾ teaspoon 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 (see note for classic sugar cookie frosting)

Combine sugar, cocoa powder, 1 Tablespoon 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.
1 ½ cups powdered sugar, 2 Tablespoons milk (any kind), 1 Tablespoon light corn syrup, ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 Tablespoon Dutch cocoa powder
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. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired.
Additional sprinkles for decorating
Allow frosting to harden before enjoying (this usually takes several hours)
Store uneaten cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

Video

Notes

*Yield

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.

Cocoa powder

Dutch cocoa powder will give you a better, deeper flavor. Natural cocoa powder will "work" but the flavor just isn't as good.

Bake time

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.

Sprinkles

A lot of people have asked me where I got the glitter star sprinkles for the cookies, I found them here on Amazon!

Frosting

For a non-chocolate frosting, see my easy sugar cookie icing or my royal icing recipe.

Making in advance

The dough can be tightly wrapped and stored for up to 5 days. You will need to let the dough sit at room temperature a bit before rolling if you chill it this long, as it will be very cold and prone to cracking.

The icing can be prepared several days ahead of time. I recommend putting it in your piping bag and placing that in an airtight container or bag so it doesn't dry out. If you don't plan to pipe your icing, simply pour it into a bowl and press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface.

Nutrition