Chocolate Sugar Cookies are easy to make and perfect for holiday decorating! These cut out sugar cookies have slightly crisp edges with chewy, chocolatey centers!
If chocolate isn’t your thing, check out my traditional Sugar Cookie Recipe!
Table of Contents
I’m a sucker for a cut out sugar cookie. You can make them as simple or complicated as you would like! And today we’re taking the traditional sugar cookie we all know and love…and making it chocolate!
Sugar cookies are great for decorating, but sometimes that classic sugar cookie flavor just doesn’t cut it. That’s where these easy chocolate cookies come in. Whether you want to frost them or not, it’s easy to make these cookies look amazing!
You can dust them with powdered sugar, slather on some homemade frosting or even drizzle them with melted white chocolate. There are so many possibilities!
I love the versatility of these chocolate sugar cookies. This is a cut-out cookie recipe, so you can use all kinds of fun cookie cutters for them! If you like crispier cookies, make some stars or snowflakes, as the edges are thinner and will crisp up a bit more. If you want them to be more soft, use a circular or heart-shaped cookie cutter.
Another awesome thing about these buttery cookies is the simplicity of the recipe. It calls for classic sugar cookie ingredients plus cocoa powder. So easy! And you can whip up the dough in under 5 minutes! If you like dark chocolate, use dark cocoa powder, but I find they are chocolaty enough with regular unsweetened cocoa powder.
These cookies are made with minimal ingredients. I all but guarantee you already have everything you need to make them!
- Butter – Use unsalted butter.
- Granulated Sugar
- Egg
- Vanilla Extract – Make sure to use pure vanilla extract.
- Kosher Salt
- Cocoa Powder: You’ll need some cocoa powder for the batter and some for dusting the baking sheet.
- All-Purpose Flour
This recipe is stress-free and beginner friendly. Just make the dough, chill it in the fridge and bake your cookies!
- Cream Butter & Sugar: In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar together for 1 minute, until fluffy.
- Add Wet Ingredients: Add in the egg, vanilla and salt and mix for another minute until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Add Dry Ingredients: Turn the mixer to low and add in the cocoa powder and flour, mixing until combined and uniform in color.
- Roll Out Dough & Chill: Place a piece of parchment paper onto a baking sheet and lightly dust the parchment with cocoa powder. Place the dough onto the parchment paper and flatten it with your hands. Place another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness. Place in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Heat Oven: Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line another baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Remove Dough From Fridge: Remove the baking sheet from the fridge and peel the top piece of parchment paper off of the dough. If you need to roll the dough out further, do it now, to ensure uniform thickness.
- Cut Cookies: Using a cookie cutter, cut the shapes out of the dough out and place them onto the newly prepared baking sheet, 2 inches apart.
- Bake: Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are just set on top. The longer you bake them, the crisper they’ll get.
- Let Cool: Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
- Don’t Cheat on the Chill Time: Let your cookie dough chill in the fridge for a full hour. The chill time is important because it helps the cookies cut cleanly and hold their shape.
- Let Cool Completely: If you plan to frost your cookies, let them cool completely first or the frosting will get too melty. If you want to eat them plain you can enjoy them while they’re still warm.
- Use Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder: If you want your cookies to have the richest chocolate flavor possible, Dutch-processed cocoa powder is definitely the way to go.
Decorating Ideas
- Top with Frosting: I love topping my chocolate sugar cookies with homemade Royal Icing or Buttercream Frosting!
- Add Sprinkles: If you’re serving these cookies for a celebration or holiday, throw on some festive sprinkles to fancy them up.
- Dust with Powdered Sugar: Give your cookies a classic look by sprinkling them with powdered sugar.
- Drizzle with Chocolate: Whether it’s white chocolate, milk chocolate or smooth dark chocolate, it’s gonna taste amazing on these cookies!
Once the icing has set, store your cookies in an airtight container at room temperature. They’ll stay fresh and delicious for up to 5 days! If you want to store them for a few more days, just pop the container in the fridge.
These cookies are freezer-friendly in every way. You can freeze the dough before making them or store them in the freezer once they’ve cooled completely.
How to Freeze Sugar Cookie Dough
Once you’re done making your dough, you don’t have to roll it out and make the cookies right away. If you want to freeze it for later use, divide it into two pieces and flatten them into discs. Then, wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze them until you’re ready to bake your cookies.
Before rolling out the dough, you have to let it thaw in the fridge and then come to room temperature on the counter. Once it’s reached room temperature, proceed to step 4 of the recipe. You’ll need to chill the dough again once it’s rolled out on the pan.
How to Freeze Sugar Cookies
You can freeze these sugar cookies whether they’re iced or not! Just make sure they’re completely cool and the icing is set before you do so. Layer them between pieces of parchment paper and freeze them in an airtight container for up to 3 months. When you want to eat your cookies, just thaw them out in the fridge and enjoy!
Print
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 13 minutes
- Yield: 24 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These rich and chewy Chocolate Sugar Cookies are super chocolatey and easy to decorate! They’re an irresistible weeknight treat or holiday dessert made with just 7 ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 3/4 cups cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the butter and sugar together for 1 minute, until fluffy.
- Add in the egg, vanilla and salt and mix for another minute until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Turn the mixer to low and add in the cocoa powder and flour, mixing until combined and uniform in color.
- Place a piece of parchment paper onto a baking sheet and lightly dust the parchment with cocoa powder. Place the dough onto the parchment paper and flatten it with your hands. Place another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to 1/4-inch thickness.
- Place in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line another baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- Remove the baking sheet from the fridge and peel the top piece of parchment paper off of the dough. If you need to roll the dough out further, do it now, to ensure uniform thickness.
- Using a cookie cutter, cut the shapes out of the dough out and place them onto the newly prepared baking sheet, 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are just set on top. The longer you bake them, the crisper they’ll get. Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
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PIN for later:
Lady….if the sugar cookie recipe didn’t cement our sisterhood, these sure as heck did. I am struggling to find the right words to describe how delicious and easy these were, but imma give it a go. Moist, perfectly flavored, beautiful texture, gone quickly. For starters! Just wow, Shelly. I rarely follow recipes exactly, I’m a bit of an ingredient snob, but I do not deviate from your cookie recipes, they are quite literally no-fail. I wanted to show pics but between gift tins and such they were gone the same day! Maybe next batch as I’ve been receiving requests for more. I added a drizzle on top for decoration using cocoa powder, evap. Milk, and powdered sugar (no specific ratio) mixed well and piped from a baggie corner. Thanks for making our holidays tastier, and providing warm memory-making goodies for us to bake. HUGS!!!
Thank you so much for this review!!! So so glad you liked them!
These are fantastic!!! I cut them out Linzer Tart way filled with fig jam and some with strawberry jam!
Could these be sliced instead of rolled out?
Yes!
Yay–thank you!!
I sliced mine from a log and they were gorgeous. I burnished (rubbed smooth) the outside of the log before cutting and the edges has a smooth shiny finish when baked.
Can these be made into Spritz cookies? Thanks
The dough might be a little thick to get through a cookie press. You could add some milk to thin it out, but I have never tried it! If you do, report back!