Simply Perfect Chocolate Sugar Cookies
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 1/4 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 1/4-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 1/4-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
- 1/2 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)
- 2/3 cup (133.33 g) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) kosher salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup (32 g) cornstarch
- 1/2 cup (43 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/4 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 1/4 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 3/8-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.
Hi Allie,
You might not have tried this before, but I’d like to ask if you’ve ever made these but with peanut butter instead. Do you think it’s possible? I thought it might work if I chilled the pb and used it as a substitute for the butter, but I’m not sure if it will aerate properly. Any brainstorming suggestions are welcome! Thank you…
Hey Vicky! Thanks so much for the great question! I actually do have a similar recipe on my site that would work with peanut butter. You can find it here: https://bakingamoment.com/decorated-biscoff-cut-out-cookies-for-st-patricks-day/. For this post, I used Biscoff spread, but I have also done it with peanut butter (equal quantity) and it works great! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoy 🙂
I have just finished baking these. They look exquisite, the rolling out easy. Will continue to make these chocolate cookies. Many thanks for a great recipe.
That’s so wonderful Rosalind! I’m so happy you had an easy time rolling and I hope you enjoy the taste too! Check out this post for a great icing recipe for them!
I have made these a number of times and I thought I would stop by to say how much I love this recipe! I add a little more sugar since I don’t put any icing on them. This is my go to recipe for making cute bat cookies at Halloween. The fact that they don’t spread makes them perfect for the cookie cutter I use which imprints a design onto the front of each one.
I baked these cookies today and they came out delicious! everyone around the house loved them. The kids loved them, however my little one did not like the salt. What if I make this w/o the salt? Also, I bake in a mini oven-toaster, so will baking time be shorter or longer? All in all – indeed perfect chocolate cookies! Thank you!
I’m so happy you and everyone around the house loved them Carly! Thanks so much for the great feedback. You can absolutely leave out the salt or decrease the amount to your own taste. I’m not really sure about your toaster oven- they can all vary so much from model to model. I’d just keep an eye on them as they bake and pull them when they’re set in the middle. Good luck and enjoy!
I made this recipe as well and found it to be a little off with the “wet” ingredients. I added 3 T of evaporated milk, 1 T of powdered (confectioners) sugar, and 1 1/4 C flour, and they turned out great. They were more crunchy than soft which was fine with me. I cut them out in fluted, heart shapes for Valentines day and decorated them with royal icing – with piping and florets in pinks, reds, white, and lavender with touches of mint green. The icing added a beautiful appearance as well as an additional, small, but needed, sweet kick to these fudgy, delicious cookies!
I’m so glad you were able to make it work, Linda! Your decorations sound beautiful, and perfect for the season.
I was a little sceptical about this recipe when I was reading everyone’s comments but I just tried it (with a little more sugar than what the recipe asked for) and they turned out amazing! My first time making sugar cookies!
I’m so glad you were happy with them! Thank you so much for the great feedback 🙂
I was wondering if you have any idea if these freeze well? I’m pretty ambitious when I make Christmas cookie trays so my baking takes a couple of days. I try to make what I can ahead of time and freeze them until I need them (no more that 7 days ahead). Do you have any experience freezing these? Your blog and York cookies look amazing ?
Hi Jenn! I have frozen these cookies and they hold up very well. I usually put them in an airtight container and then wrap the container in a plastic bag. I don’t ice them first- haven’t tried doing it that way to be honest. I just freeze them naked and then decorate them after they’ve thawed. I hope that helps! Thanks for reading and for the great question 🙂
Fantastic recipe! The cookies look great and they also taste great! I also loved your notes about what makes this recipe better than other similar ones, it was really helpful and I love to understand what I am doing. 🙂
Awesome! I’m so happy you liked the recipe, Barbara! And also that you found the notes helpful. I am the same way- I like to understand the science of it all 😉 Thanks so much for the great feedback!
I wanted you to know I loved this recipe. Tickled my taste buds, delivered on texture. I added a bit extra cocoa cause i’m a fiend.
That’s so great! I’m so happy you enjoyed; thanks so much for the feedback 🙂
Hi Allie. I just finish making your perfect chocolate cookies for my daughter’s baptism. They turned out perfect, they are soft inside but crunchy outside and so tasty. To be honest I was skeptic about this recipe when I red that you put cornstarch in it. Now when they turned out perfect I have one question. Why do you put corn starch in recipe? Can I add corn starch in a simple vanilla sugar cookies too? I am asking this because I made half chocolate and half vanilla cookies but vanilla cookies turned out more dry inside then chocolate ones.
Thank you for sharing this amazing recipe with us. I love love love this cookies !!!
Yes! You absolutely can and it will help your cookies to be more tender. The cornstarch is a starch so it absorbs liquid, but it doesn’t have the natural glutens that flour does, which can make things a little tough or elastic. If you liked the chocolate ones you should try my vanilla recipe too! You can find it here: https://bakingamoment.com/how-to-bake-easy-and-delicious-cutout-cookies-with-neat-edges/. Thank you so much Jelena for the awesome feedback and I’m so happy you were pleased with the recipe! xo
Wow! I made these to go along with a batch of rolled sugar cookies- I used the same exact kind of cookie cutter that was used in the pictures. They came out so good. The chocolate flavor was spot on. These cookies definitely travel well because of their perfect texture. I am going to try making half a batch with peppermint oil to get a chocolate/mint flavor, just for fun, but these cookies are perfect as is!
That’s so great Dana! I’m so glad you were pleased with them. I love making them with peppermint- I do it every year around the holidays! Thanks so much for the great feedback 🙂
Hi Allie! So, just to be sure….if we like a crispier cookie, I use 1/4 c more unsalted butter in place of 1 tbsp oil?
Thank you!
Carey
Hey I’m so sorry for the late reply! But yes, that is right- if you like a crispier cookie you’ll just leave out the oil and do 3/4 cup butter instead. I hope that helps! Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoy Carey!
I think I may have done something wrong, the texture of the dough was superb, it was so easy to work with, I was so excited that they looked beautiful. I made the cups out of this dough and appreciated the pictures you included to show that the cracking was normal. BUT! They do not taste good at all. They taste like flour and cocoa, dry and just not good. What did I do wrong? So many others raved about these cookies. I even made a second batch thinking I did something wrong, again perfect texture, horrible taste. They all went in the trash. Please help.
Oh no- I’m so sorry to hear that the cookies weren’t to your liking! When I make them, I really like to bake them just until the edges are set, so they’re still a bit soft in the centers. Not gooey soft, but more like tender soft. This way they aren’t dry. It’s hard for me to say exactly how long they ought to be baked, because it of course depends upon the size of the cutter you are using. But usually under 10 minutes for a 2-inch diameter, 1/4″ thick cookie. And they are meant to be a bit less sweet, to balance out the flavor of all the sugary royal icing I typically decorate them with. I like them well enough by themselves, but when paired with a sweeter filling or icing they are really much tastier. I hope that helps! Thanks so much Kristy!
Thanks so much for this recipe. My four-year-old son has been asking for a chocolate cookie recipe for us to cut out with his dinosaur shapes. We made them today and they are SO morish! I could see him gobbling up the dough out of the corner of my eye as we cut out the shapes! Perfect.
Aw, that is so great! I always make a double batch of these because my boys love eating the dough too! I’m so happy you and your little guy enjoyed the recipe- thanks for warming my heart with your sweet comment 🙂
Hi, Allie! Thanks for sharing this recipe. These cookies are delicious! The amount of sugar is fine, so we can enjoy the chocolate flavour better. My five-year-old boy also enjoyed eating the dough! First time at your blog and speaking from Brazil. I’ll be back often. 🙂
That’s so great Juliana! Thanks so much for the positive feedback and welcome! I’m so glad you introduced yourself and said hello. 🙂
These cookies look amazing ! How many could you make with this recipe ?
Hi Nesme! It all depends upon the size of cutter you’re using and how thick you roll them. I just made a batch last week using a 2-inch square cutter and I ended up with close to 6 dozen cookies. They were rolled to a thickness of 1/4-inch. Hope that helps!
I was looking for a chocolate sugar cookie recipe to attempt these adorable almond-hugging bear cookies I spotted online. These sounded just right and looked simple! Definitely simple but I did have a moment of panic when the dough just didn’t seem to want to come together, even with the minimum amount of flour. A bit more butter and kneading smoothed it out though.
I love that they didn’t spread, they stay so neat and tidy. I don’t think the recipe was appropriate for the adjusting I had to do to my cut outs but I’m definitely going to make another batch to simply ice. Much easier haha. And I love the taste, deep and chocolatey is a great description! Everyone’s getting cookies for Christmas!
I’m so happy you liked them Laura! Sorry for your trouble with the dough being dry. I made a big batch of these yesterday and mine actually needed more flour so it’s interesting how much variation there can be. Thanks for the great feedback and I hope your loved ones enjoy the cookies this Christmas!
These were fab! I added 1/2 t. of peppermint extract and made them into cut-outs… they were a hit! thanks!
Yay! So glad you like them Angela!