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.
Could you prepare the dough ahead of time and freeze it?? I plan on a LOT of Christmas cookies and getting a head start on some would be great
Yes, that would be great. Always nice to get ahead on stuff like that. You definitely can, but I would recommend using just a bit less flour if you go that route. I've noticed that the dough becomes drier as it sits. If you do find it to be too dry or crumbly after it thaws, you can just pop it back into the mixer and moisten it back up with a few teaspoons of heavy cream. Hope that's helpful Kailyn! Have a great holiday!
Wonderful, thank you! Separate questing, do you think dutched cocoa would be fine?
Yes, you can use Dutched cocoa if you prefer. It will yield a different and unique flavor, similar to an Oreo. Hope you enjoy!
I can't wait to make these for a Christmas party this week! I'm doing a naught/nice theme by dipping half in orange chocolate and the other half in chili chocolate 🙂
Yay! I love those ideas! Sounds fantastic. Have fun baking and enjoy the party Tarisa!
I made these today using Hershey Special Dark Cocoa. These were amazing! It took my cookie stamp very well. Since I was not going to frost them, I added an extra scant 1/4 cup of sugar. These will be added to our yearly goodie tray to the neighbors. Very good, very chocolaty!! Thank you!
That's fantastic Debbie! I'm so glad it worked well with the cookie stamp. And that was smart to add a little more sugar since they weren't being iced. Thanks so much for the great review!
I like the look of this recipe but I'm worried about the cookie's being to soft. I'd like to use the recipe to make a chocolate gingerbread house for the holidays, so the cookies would be large squares instead of small circles and they would need to be able to stand up and support weight of icing and candies. Would this recipe work or is there some tweaking I could do to make it work? Such as adding more flour to get a sturdier dough. Thanks so much!
Hey Marli! So funny you should ask that- I actually used this dough to make gingerbread houses last year. I made 2- they stood about 10 inches high. I gave one to each of my boys to decorate. They had so much fun and the houses stood up great. We had them displayed for probably about 3 weeks. Good luck and I hope you enjoy!
Where is the recipe
My apologies Mary! There is a glitch on this particular post that I am working to get to the bottom of. I have a request in to my support team and am waiting for them to get back to me. On the back end of the site, the recipe code is all there but for some reason it is not displaying. Hopefully it will be sorted out by the end of the day. So sorry!
I just discovered your site. Read all about your Simply Perfect Chocolate Cookies. They look delicious and I would love to make them but I cannot find the recipe on your site. Can you tell me how I can get it. Thank you.
My apologies Dale! There is a glitch on that particular post that I am working to get to the bottom of. I have a request in to my support team and am waiting for them to get back to me. On the back end of the site, the recipe code is all there but for some reason it is not displaying. Hopefully it will be sorted out by the end of the day. Sorry!
What can I add so that the cookies aren't as dry?
I made these the other day. They were perfect. I wanted to make them again but i can't find the recipe anymore 🙁
My apologies! There is a glitch on that particular post that I am working to get to the bottom of. I have a request in to my support team and am waiting for them to get back to me. On the back end of the site, the recipe code is all there but for some reason it is not displaying. Hopefully it will be sorted out by the end of the day. Sorry!
The recipe showed up again, thank you 😀 i’m about to put the second batch of these cookies in the oven in a few minutes. I love the recipe so i’m making some more. Last time i made them, they were gone by the end of the day
Oh wow! That's great! Sorry for the glitch with the recipe but I'm happy you were finally able to access it. Thanks for the 5-star rating! Enjoy!
Is there any way to help if it is tough and crumbly?
Hey Katie! If you accidentally add too much flour, or if the dough sits a little too long and gets dry, you can moisten it back up with a few teaspoons of heavy cream. Good luck!
Hi I love this recipe for choc biscuits I would like to use it as a cookie cake in a heart or a square don't have a lot of time to experiment will it cook the same and hold shape in a larger size and shape. It's for a birthday cake with rasberry cream and passionfruit curd.
Any tips would be great been baking forever but My hands don't work so well lately and if these hold easily I'll be super happy
Thanks in advance
Kylie
Hi Kylie! Larger cookies generally take longer to bake. The shape should still hold but depending on the size you will probably need to bake it longer. Good luck!
Allie, Does the cornstarch absorb the moisture in the cookie dough and possibly making a dry cookie?
Well, I certainly wouldn't be including in all my cookie recipes if I thought that was the case! Lol... the cornstarch is not an addition, but rather, it subs in for some of the flour. It provides structure just as flour would, but without gluten so the cookies are more soft and tender.
Hi Allie, I enjoyed your cookies a ton. My kids ate the hole entire batch. I made them for my son's birthday and they were so succesful that all the moms wanted the recipe lol. They were quite moist but not very sweet which was a superb fit with the icing.
I'm so happy to hear that Isabelle! I also like the balance of not-too-sweet cookie with the sugary royal icing. Thank you so much for the positive feedback!
This is the GREATEST COOKIE RECIPE!! I’ve been using it for decorates cookies for years and I will never even ATTEMPT another recipe!!! For vanilla cookies I use 2 cups of flour to substitute the cocoa for chocolate. They are perfect Everytime.
So glad you've been happy with them Stephanie! Thank you so much for the great feedback!
I wanted to make Minnie Mouse bow cookies, but didn't want to use black icing (too repulsive for me!:)
So I had this idea of using a really dark chocolate cookie dough for the cookies, and then icing them with only red and white icing.
I googled for a recipe, and was delighted to find a recipe on Baking a Moment! I made the cookies - and they came out perfect!
So thanks for this recipe and for an amazing website!
I'm so happy it all worked out for you Sarah! Your cookies sound totally adorable. Thanks so much for the great feedback!
I made these cookies the other day and love them. If I want to make them now for Christmas would you suggest that I decorate and then freeze or freeze without frosting and decorate closer to Christmas? I plan on making these and your No Spread Sugar Cookies. So happy I found you and your recipes. Happy Holidays!
Hi Kathy! I'm so happy you found me too! I would probably recommend freezing them without the frosting, just because I'd worry that the colors might run as they're thawing out. Do you know what I mean? Like, if there is frost on top as it melts it might mess up your beautiful designs. I hope that's helpful! Happy Holidays to you as well!
Allie,
You are too kind....my cookies are far from beautiful. I'm still practicing the decorating...and having issues with Royal Icing. I still haven't been able to get it perfected...but I keep trying. Thank you again!
KathyD
I'm sure that's not true- they're beautiful because you've put your heart into it! Royal icing takes practice but once you get the hang of it, it's so rewarding. It all has to do with how thick or thin your icing is. There are lots of great tutorials online. Check out Sweetopia, Sweet Sugarbelle, and Lila Loa, and Glorious Treats. They taught me everything I know! Keep up with it and enjoy the process!
These look delicious and I am eager to try them! However, I have some concerns about the cornstarch. Would substituting ground flaxmeal have the same effect?
Hey Amanda! I'm so happy you like this recipe! I have not really tried adding ground flaxmeal, so I can't say for sure if that would be a good substitute for cornstarch. If you don't want to use cornstarch, you can leave it out and just add a little more flour. The dough won't be quite as easy to work with, but it will still work. Hope that's helpful!
Hello, I want to try this recipe out but I don't have a stand mixer. I'm afraid to try to with a hand mixer because I tried the vanilla simply sugar cookie of yours and followed the recipes and instructions (but with a hand instead of stand mixer) and the dough never really came together. I ended up having to add milk and water to get it to stick enough to roll out and found the cookie itself to be pretty unimpressive for all that work. So would I be able to turn out these beautiful cocoa sugar cookies without a stand/paddle mixer?
Thanks a latte 🙂
Hey Brooke. Sorry you found the cookies to be unimpressive. If you didn't enjoy them, then you probably won't like these either.