Simply Perfect Chocolate Sugar Cookies
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Simply the perfect chocolate sugar cookies! With a soft & tender center, crisp edges, and no spreading whatsoever as they bake.
How was your Thanksgiving?
Mine was great! I worked my heiny off, you guys. I mean, wow. Like, 3 straight days on my feet. One recipe after another, nonstop. I was a machine! Everything was made from scratch, right down to the French-fried onions on the green bean casserole. It was awesome, and there was TONS of food. I had a great time in the kitchen with my mom and brother-in-law, and it was great to see everyone, especially my brand-new baby niece!
We got home on Friday evening, just in time to have a day and a half with the other side of my family. So nice. And Sunday I was all over town looking for the Christmas tree, and then setting it up and decorating it. I'm so happy we are now officially in the Christmas season!
For a lot of reasons, but mostly because COOKIES.
Cookies are my favorite thing ever to bake, and I wish I posted more cookie recipes than I have been. I'm going to try to make that up to you guys over the next few weeks. Starting with these chocolate sugar cookies.
What do you call this kind of cookie? Is it a sugar cookie? A butter cookie? A roll out cookie? A cut out cookie? A decorated cookie? I wasn't quite sure what to call it but hopefully you get the idea.
Last year at this time I got waaaaaaay into these. I'm sure you can imagine that it was a perfect outlet for my complete compulsion/neurosis/obsession with pretty food. They are so much fun, I loved coming up with unique designs and perfecting my decorating skills. You can waste all sorts of time playing with icing and toothpicks and sugars and sprinkles. But today I'm keeping it simple and sharing my favorite recipe for the cookie part.
And this is more than just a recipe, friends. While in the throes of my cookie obsession, I did a lot of research and experimentation with different techniques, because I'm sure you can imagine, I wanted the most perfect result. So here's everything I learned. There's no one I'd rather share it with than you 😉
The flavor of the cookie is very chocolate-y. I am not one to shy away from bold chocolate flavor. If you've read my Simply Perfect Chocolate Cupcake post, or my Simply Perfect Brownie post, then you already know this about me. These chocolate sugar cookies have a deep, dark, chocolate flavor from all the cocoa (almost like an Oreo).
It's a little less sweet. I do enjoy eating this cookie plain, but I think it's even more important not to overdo the sugar when you're dealing with a cookie that's going to be iced and/or sprinkled with sugar. (If you need an icing recipe for them, I've got one right here.) It's all about balance, yo.
Also, the texture of these chocolate sugar cookies is tender, yet sturdy. They come out of the oven with a little softness in the center, and a little more crunch around the edges. After a few days, they tend to lose the soft quality, so if you prefer a crunchy cookie, you will like that. They make a great gift, because of how sturdy they are. You can pack them up and ship them, and rest assured that they will arrive in one piece.
The dough is great to work with. It holds together so nicely, so you don't have crumbly crumbs all over your kitchen floor. You don't need to sprinkle your work surface with flour (hallelujah!). Not only does this cut down on the cleanup, but it allows you to re-roll the scraps without them getting tough. And they bake up so beautifully, without spreading, AT ALL. This is the whole key, people. The edges are PERFECT.
You may notice that this recipe looks a little different from a lot of other cookie recipes out there. Without getting too long-winded, here's a quick rundown of why I do what I do:
- Cold butter: Chilling the dough helps prevent spreading. Using cold butter and working quickly eliminates the added step of chilling. Cutting it in small cubes helps it to incorporate more easily.
- Oil: Oil keeps the cookies moist/soft. If you prefer a crunchier cookie, you can replace the oil with an additional ¼ cup of unsalted butter.
- Mix on low speed for the minimum time required to incorporate the ingredients. Make sure the mixture is smooth (no lumps of butter), but don't cream until fluffy. Whipping in a lot of air will contribute to spreading.
- Leave out the leavening: there is no need for baking powder and/or baking soda. Leaveners make baked goods rise, puff, and spread. Omitting the leavening allows the edges to remain neat and clean, and the cookie lays flatter. The texture is still tender because of the ratio of fats to sugar and flour, but the cookie is sturdier.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch lends tenderness and a softer texture, and helps the cookies to hold their shape during baking.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: Gives a deep, chocolate-y flavor. Use the best quality you can get your hands on. I prefer natural cocoa powder to an alkalized/Dutch process, such as Hershey's Special Dark. This brand will yield a darker color, but a less intense chocolate flavor.
- Flour quantity may vary. The longer the dough sits, the more it will dry out, so use more flour if you're rolling/cutting right away; less if you plan to keep the dough in the fridge for a while before baking. I usually roll and cut right away, so I put in a cup and a half to start, then add more by the tablespoon until it starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
- Rolling the dough between two layers of parchment is cleaner and prevents toughness. Bench flour is not necessary with this method, and scraps can be re-rolled and utilized.
- Baking at a higher temperature "sets" the edges, allowing the cookie to hold it's shape better.
And just a few words about bake times and yield:
- Baking times will vary based upon the size and thickness of your cookies. For this post, I rolled the dough to a thickness of ¼-inch (using rolling pin rings) and cut 2-inch diameter cookies. They baked for 9 minutes. Larger or thicker cookies may require a longer bake time. The cookies are done when the tops take on a dry appearance, and the edges are firm. The centers may still be slightly soft.
- Yield will vary based upon the size of your cookies. For this post, I rolled the dough to a thickness of ¼-inch (using rolling pin rings) and cut 2-inch diameter fluted circles, and the batch yielded 46 cookies.
If you want to read more about how to make the most perfect roll out, cut out, butter/sugar cookies for decorating, check out this post I wrote last year. Also there's a really great vanilla cookie recipe there.
I hope you enjoy making these chocolate sugar cookies with your loved ones! I was intimidated by roll out/cut out/butter/sugar/decorated cookies, for the longest time, until I figured out this method for making it all much more manageable.
PS- If you are looking to stock your recipe box with some really stellar basic recipes, you came to the right place! I've been baking for, ahem, 20-some odd years, cough-cough, so I've played with lots of recipes. Check out these other recipes from my "Simply Perfect" series:
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Simply Perfect Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup (113.5 g) cold unsalted butter, (1 stick), cut into small cubes
- 1 tablespoon oil, (light/neutral flavor such as canola, grapeseed, or light olive oil)
- ⅔ cup (133.33 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- ¼ cup (32 g) cornstarch
- ½ cup (43 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 ¼ cups (156.25 g) all-purpose flour, (you may need as much as 2 cups)
Instructions
- Cream the butter, oil, sugar, vanilla and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, just until the mixture is smooth. (Do not over beat, as this will incorporate air into the dough, which may lead to spreading.)
- Add the egg and mix just until incorporated.
- Mix in the cornstarch, cocoa powder and 1 ¼ cups of the flour.
- Continue adding flour until the dough gathers itself into a ball and pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl. (You may not need all the flour.)
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Roll the dough to a thickness of ⅜-inch, between two sheets of parchment paper. (Rolling pin rings will help you to achieve an even thickness.)
- Cut shapes using a cookie cutter.
- Bake on parchment-lined baking sheets for 9 to 12 minutes, or until the cookies look dry on the surface, and feel firm around the edges and set in the middle.
- Cool completely, then decorate with royal icing.
Wow! I have to try these for Christmas! Hope to convince Santa to be more generous! 🙂 🙂
Ha ha, right! You've got the right idea. Thanks for reading and commenting, Ana-Maria! Enjoy the season!
they do look absolutely perfect
Thanks Heather! They took a lot of trial and error, but I think I finally have the result I was after. I'm so happy you enjoyed! Thanks for stopping by; hope you're having a great week 😉
Your Thanksgiving sounds wonderful!
And I LOOOVE these cookies! So pretty and chocolatey!
Thanks Kayle! They are my favorite for sure. So versatile! I'm glad you enjoyed <3
These look indeed like perfect cookies !
I bet they taste absolutely delicious
Thank you, they are my favorite for sure! Next time I'll be posting an idea for how to jazz them up a little bit, so stay tuned! Thanks so much for stopping by, Sketched Chef! 😀
I've been looking for the perfect sugar cookie recipe for months and I think I've got the perfect one one! Seriously, these look so perfect! Lovely edges, I adore that they don't spread, mine always do :---(
Can't wait to try these this season! The more cookies, the merrier ;D
I couldn't agree more, Consuelo! I wish there were more hours in the day for baking cookies 😉
Allie Allie Allie!!!!!!! I am going crazyyyyy over these cookies!!!! Seriously, these look S-C-R-U-M-P-T-I-O-U-S!!!!!!!! I love how this is simple but still has this elegance to it that just makes it soooo perfect for the Holidays and plus this makes for such an excellent gifting idea! Absolutely love the tips that you've provided in the bottom half of the post! *-* *-* *-* <3 ^.^
So glad you enjoyed, Samina! Thanks so much for the awesome feedback. Hope you're having a fun week!
These look delicious Allie! I am making these for sure to enjoy over the holidays!
Thank you Liz! I hope you like them as much as I do! Enjoy 🙂
These beauties look amazing!!! I'm totally in a cookie-make-mood (just made my first batch on sunday 🙂 and I will definitely add this recipe to my to-do-cookie-list! 🙂 Have an amazing day dear Allie!
xox Amy
You too, sweet Amy! And thank you so much! Hugs to you...
I love this recipe. I'm not a big fan of sugar cookies, but when they are chocolate then I can be interested. I love that these are extra chocolaty (I might try special dark cocoa powder). I bet they would make great sandwich cookies too.
Me too, Joybee, and I think you must have read my mind about the sandwich thing... stay tuned! 😉
Allie!
I've been meaning to email you to see how your holidays went! Sounds like you had a fabulous time and wow, on your feet for 3 days?! Awesome. I cheated and bought store bought pies because I was making everything else. Never again. Pies weren't great. Blah.
OK, oh my gawd, these cookies are perfection. Pinned and totally going to bake these. . like I was telling Nancy, my "must bake ASAP" list is ever growing. . I'm going to gain like 10 lbs. . but I'm with you. . I love baking over the holidays. . with Christmas music on in the kitchen! 🙂 happy holidays!
Me too, Alice! Love holiday baking and my list is ever-growing too. I wish there were more hours in the day! Thanks for the pin, friend 🙂
Can't wait to try these! I'm always looking for a new chocolate roll-out recipe!
Gorgeous photos too!
I hope you enjoy, Lizy! Thanks so much for stopping by. And thanks for the sweet compliment 😉
Whew, what a tiring yet incredible Thanksgiving you had, Allie! It sounds wonderful. All I want to do during the holidays is spend time with friends and family, cook/bake and most importantly, EAT 😉 Girl, I love Christmas so much, I can't even. And I totally agree with you - the best part is the plethora of cookies coming our way. I'm definitely going to try these cookies - they look PERFECT. I love your description of them: not too sweet and super chocolatey. I'll bake them with a mug of hot chocolate nearby and Christmas songs blasting on the stereo.
Oops, I forgot to tell you how pretty these photos are!
Can I come over??? That sounds like my idea of a perfect afternoon 😉 Thanks so much for the awesome feedback, Nancy! Enjoy the season... xoxo
I'm so glad to hear you had a great Thanksgiving Allie 🙂 These sugar cookies look so gorgeous and super tasty! I love how perfect and pretty they came out 🙂 Pinning - thanks so much for sharing this great recipe and all these wonderful tips 🙂
My pleasure, Kelly! I love having fellow baker friends to trade secrets with! You're the best 🙂
I officially love your Simply Perfect series, because everything is so... perfect! These are no exception. I typically hate roll out cookies (the work! the mess!) but I think I am going to give these a try if I have time. They look doable and sound utterly delicious - you had me at "deep, dark chocolate flavor".
Thanks, Nora! I think you will have fun making these, they are about as easy as cut-out cookies get! I like to get through the baking part as quickly and painlessly as I can, so I can get on to the fun part~ DECORATING! 😀 😀 😀
In the notes you say you rolled to 1/4 in but in the recipe it says 3/8 in just curious why the difference. I do prefer a chewier cookie so would 3/8 in be better for that?
If you like them softer definitely try rolling them a little thicker. Good luck!
Simply gorgeous, simply superb my friend. I have to try it this holiday season. I love baking sugar cookies but always get stuck with dry bad batches. So glad you shared this with us. And your pictures are stunning as always.
Thanks Zainab! I hope you enjoy this recipe. It tastes so good by itself, but even better with icing! Thanks so much for the sweet compliments... xoxo
I made your recipe for these cookies when you featured it on yingmomyangmom, and they were superb! I made star shapes for my sons pre-k class, then iced them. I also added a few drops of peppermint oil to the batter for that extra Christmassy kick. Awesome recipe, thanks B.O.P.! Xoxo
I remember when you made them, Mo, and they were so beautiful! You did such an amazing job. I'm so happy you liked the recipe, thanks for the comment! xoxo
Who doesn’t like homemade bread! This is just perfect, too! Making naan was on my 2013 bucket list of to-do recipes. Not because I think it will be tricky, but I just keep putting it off. I don’t know why?! Yours looks delish! Pinned and ziplisted! The step by steps are super helpful, too! Thanks for taking the time!
Oh my gosh, my pleasure! I had been meaning to make homemade naan for ages too. I couldn't believe how simple it was once I finally got around to it! I hope you enjoy, and thank you so much for pinning and saving! xo
Can we use powdered vanilla instead of vanilla extract ? Plz answer quickly!!! I like these cookies shape
Absolutely Mariam! That should work just fine. Hope you enjoy, & thanks for reading!
I made these! They are wonderful. I did use softened butter. That way I roll sheets of dough easily between parchment paper. Then I lay the sheets in the freezer or fridge. That way I put nice chilled dough in hot oven. Works for me. I used almond extract. I "frosted" with marshmallow fondant. They were a hit! Thanks
So glad you were happy with them Kim! Thanks for the great feedback!
Hi, I've made these cookies a few times....works great as a biscuit & marscapone cream stack with fresh fruit. Great to find a recipe where the dough is so easy to work with & holds its shape. Can I adapt this recipe for a non chocolate version? Can I just replace cocoa with a little extra flour or ground almonds? Thank you.
Hey Sara- if you're looking for a vanilla version you can just use this: https://bakingamoment.com/cutout-cookies-neat-edges/. It's also linked towards the end of this post. Good luck!