The Best Chocolate Sugar Cookies Recipe
These chocolate sugar cookies are a delicious treat whether you choose to decorate them or eat them as is with a cup of coffee. Based on my classic butter cookie recipe they are soft, crisp and buttery. Also, they do not spread, making them ideal for shaped and decorated custom cookies.
The Best Chocolate Sugar Cookies
In a previous post, I shared my vanilla sugar cookie recipe with just a variation on the chocolate version. Some of you found that difficult. So, I’m just going to give you the recipe here. It’s almost the same recipe but with cocoa powder added to the recipe.
This is my go-to recipe for all decorated cookie orders. Not only do my kids love to eat them on their own, but they also do not spread making them ideal for shapes and cutouts.
As I said, the secret to making these chocolate sugar cookies is not just the recipe but the process of how I make them. Creaming the batter well will make it more airy and light. That is why though there is no leavening these cookies are not dense. If you skip the creaming you will end up with cookies that are dense and hard.
The Best Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Let’s talk ingredients and substitutes
- Unsalted butter – I like to use unsalted butter in all my baking so I can control the amount of salt. And yet, if you must use salted butter just omit the salt in the recipe.
- All-purpose flour – I always use all-purpose flour with great success. You do not need any other flour.
- White granulated sugar – As a rule of thumb, whenever you need to cream sugar and butter – always use a fine grain sugar that will cream faster. If you have to use a coarse grain sugar – just pulse it in the food processor a couple times and it will be fine. Cookies with butter and sugar that are not creamed will result in a very flaky cookie.
- Vanilla extract – I like using vanilla extract. And yet, it also has the tendency to color the dough. So, if you need a white or light color dough just add clear vanilla extract or rose essence.
The Best Chocolate Sugar Cookies Recipe
Useful Tips and Tools for Baking Cookies
- I’m not a slave to mixers but when a bake needs some good creaming method required I can’t but help insist you bring that K-Mix or Kitchen Aid from the back of the cabinet.
- A good baking tray is always ideal for baking. Try using a light colored baking trayBaking tray. Or line the baking tray with Parchment Paper
- If you aren’t going to fill or decorate these cookies a regular rolling pin will work just fine. But a Cookie rolling pin in one where you have the side spacers which will help with even rolling so all your cookies are leveled. Leveled cookies bake evenly too
- It is really important to cool cookies completely on all sides as soon as they come out of the oven. So take them off the baking tray to prevent them cooking further but place them on a Cooking rack so they air circulates on all sides which prevents steam from going back into the cookie thus…… keeping them crisp not soggy.
- Always bake cookies on the center rack of your Oven, if you have more than one tray either bake them one at a time. You can bake two trays but sometimes this can lead to the bottom one spreading too much in some cookies. You can also rotate the trays in between baking which is often helpful in some cookies.
- Most cookies usually bake between 10 to 12 minutes in general. These took me about 10 minutes. Because cookies bake quickly it is also an item that gets over-baked because we end up getting distracted at the last minute. My solution is a kitchen timer that is always set to 10 minutes default and I turn it on as soon as I place the cookies in. This has saved me many cookies in the oven because my kids always keep me busy.
Recipe – The Best Chocolate Sugar Cookies (Save/Pin)
I do have a video on how I make my Vanilla Sugar Cookies. The process is the same for these chocolate sugar cookies as well.
The Best Vanilla and Chocolate Sugar Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- 330 grams (3 cups) all-purpose flour
- 110 grams (1 cup) cocoa powder
- 228 grams ( 1 cup) unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 225 grams ( 1 cup) granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Method
Plan and Prepare
- Make sure the butter and eggs are room temperature.
- Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
Make the Dough
- Place butter and sugar in your mixing bowl and mix on medium until light and fluffy.
Do not skip this step or the cookies will be very dense. - Add eggs one at a time slowly, mixing each well until incorporated.
- When both the eggs are added. Continue mixing on medium heat for about two more minutes.
- Next, add the vanilla.
- Followed by the flour. Do not over mix once the flour is incorporated.
- Bring the dough together and divide into two discs.
- Wrap in cling/plastic wrap for at least 1 to 2 hours.
Roll the Cookies
- Once the dough is chilled, roll dough on a lightly floured surface evenly.
- Cut out desired shaped cookies and place them on a cookie sheet one inch apart.
- I prefer to chill the cookies while the oven is preheating.
- Preheat the oven to 180 C / 360 F.
- Bake cookies for about 8 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the cookies.
- When baked let cool on the tray for 7 to 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool further.
- You can eat these cookies as is or decorate them with royal icing or fondant.
Storage
- This cookie recipe can be halved or double without any issues.
- The dough can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 days, or
- Frozen for up to three months. If frozen thaw in the fridge overnight before you roll out.
- The baked cookies will stay at room temperature for up t 4 weeks but best eaten within a few days.
Don’t forget to save this recipe on Pinterest for later.
You can find a collection of my tutorials and recipes here on Pinterest.
The best Chocolate Sugar cookies recipe, chocolate sugar cookies, sugar cookies recipes, soft sugar cookies
The Best Chocolate Sugar Cookie Recipe
These chocolate sugar cookies are a delicious treat whether you choose to decorate them or eat them as is with a cup of coffee. Based on my classic butter cookie recipe they are soft, crisp and buttery. Also, they do not spread, making them ideal for shaped and decorated custom cookies.
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Rate
Adjust Servings Here: 24 Cookies
Calories: 170kcal
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins
Ingredients
- 330 grams All-purpose flour
- 110 grams Cocoa powder
- 228 grams Unsalted butter room temperature
- 225 grams Granulated white sugar
- 2 Eggs large
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
Instructions
Plan and Prepare
- Make sure the butter and eggs are room temperature.
- Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt.
Make the Dough
- Place butter and sugar in your mixing bowl and mix on medium until light and fluffy. Do not skip this step or the cookies will be very dense.
- Add eggs one at a time slowly, mixing each well until incorporated.
- When both the eggs are added. Continue mixing on medium heat for about two more minutes.
- Next, add the vanilla.
- Followed by the flour. Do not over mix once the flour is incorporated.
- Bring the dough together and divide into two discs.
- Wrap in cling/plastic wrap for at least 1 to 2 hours.
Roll the Cookies
- Once the dough is chilled; roll dough on a lightly floured surface evenly.
- Cut out desired shaped cookies and place them on a cookie sheet one inch apart.
- I prefer to chill the cookies while the oven is preheating.
- Preheat the oven to 180 C / 360 F.
- Bake cookies for about 8 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness of the cookies.
- When baked let cool on the tray for 7 to 10 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool further.
- You can eat these cookies as is or decorate them with royal icing or fondant.
Storage
- This cookie recipe can be halved or double without any issues.
- The dough can be kept in the fridge for up to 4 days or
- Frozen for up to three months. If frozen thaw in the fridge overnight before you roll out.
- The baked cookies will stay at room temperature for up t 4 weeks but best eaten within a few days.
Detailed Video on YouTube - Subscribe for more videos
Nutrition Information
Serving: 39g | Calories: 170kcal | Carbohydrates: 22.6g | Protein: 2.5g | Fat: 8.8g | Saturated Fat: 0.3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4.7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0g | Trans Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 36mg | Sodium: 112mg | Potassium: 0mg | Fiber: 1.7g | Sugar: 9.3g | Vitamin A: 0% | Vitamin C: 0% | Calcium: 0% | Iron: 0%
Tried this recipe?Mention @veenaazmanov or tag #veenaazmanov!
Love Cookies?
You may like to check out some of my other cookie recipes.
From the simple almond crinkle cookies to the best chocolate chip cookies as well as some of the most amazing shortbread stamp cookies.
Cookie Recipes by Veena Azmanov. Custard cookies, shortbread cookies, eggless cookies, glutenfree cookies, best chocolate chip
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- Best Chocolate Sugar Cookies Recipe
- Almond Linzer Cookies
What cocoa powder do you use? I went to the store and saw some unsweetened one and wasnt sure which one to get
I use regular dutch processed cocoa powder Elsa. Thanks
Hi Veena,
I made cookies using your recipe. It turned out it tastes like cardboard..very hard cookie. I don’t know what I did wrong. I mixed sugar and egg really well until it got fluffy but when I mixed flour into sugary butter, the dough was a little dense. Do you think I mixed too much flour? Or over mixed it ? I will try again if you give me any suggestions. Thank you.
Ah Mindy!! So sorry to hear this. I do this recipe all the time and they are not too dense. Could it be possible that you miscalculated the flour? Or perhaps the eggs were too small? Next time try adding less flour and make sure the eggs are large. I just checked the recipe and the butter to flour ratio is fine. Thanks
Hi Mindy,
Did you measure the flour in cups or grams? Are you aware that measurements in USA differ from those in the UK and Australia; their cup measurement is smaller than ours, so it’s best to weigh everything out in grams. I generally steer away from American recipes unless they have measurements in grams as well as cups or spoons as some recipes can turn into disasters with the different measurements.
Thank you Lyn,
Yes, It is always best to use gram measure.
The difference is very minimal though still not negligible. US cup is 240 ml while UK and AUS is 250 ml. In a small batch of cookies, the 10 grams should not have made a difference to her unless she multiplied the recipe considerably.
I try my best to give as much exact measure as possible.
Thanks for helping troubleshoot.
Hi Veeneza – I am so excited to try your chocolate and vanilla sugar cookies for Christmas this year. How thick do you roll out your cookies when making them for clients? Would 3/8 be too thick??? And how long would you bake a thicker cookie??? Thank you for sharing your talents!
Hey Rachael. I usually roll my cookies about 1/4 inch thick. I find that just right especially for my customers because they do not go hard or too crisp quickly but have a nice soft bite to it. I still bake them about 10 minutes (depending on oven temperature I’d say keep an eye form 9 to 12 minutes)
Hi Veena. I’m going to make some chocolate sugar cookies for Halloween and found your recipe. I just have one question… you say to sift the salt with flour and cocoa powder but then mention to cream it with the butter and sugar. I’m a little confused as to where I should add the salt. Thanks!
Ah Jenny. Nah it’s just add the salt to the flour and that will be ok.. Thanks I’ve corrected. Technically you can do either of the two methods
Hi Veena, just to confirm- is it 330g flour as opposed to the 3300g listed? Thanks!
Ahhh!! Sorry.. thanks – yes it was suppose to be 330. I guess people understood cause no one ever complained or had issues. Thanks so much for letting me know..
Can it b done eggless
Hey Rachana. I do have an eggless version of my cookies coming up soon. Thanks
Hi veena
I really love your work! Trying out cookies for the first time. Please help me with a vegetarian version of the chocolate cookie.
Thank you soo much
Hi Pallavi, I do have an eggless version of this recipe coming up soon. Need to test it once more before I post it.
Thanks