These Cutout Chocolate Sugar Cookies are so rich and chocolatey, and they make perfect cut out Christmas cookies! With both cocoa powder and melted chocolate in the batter, this chocolate sugar cookie recipe is to die for!
Chocolate cutout sugar cookies are my new favorite Christmas cookie! These guys are intensely rich and fudgy, making them a chocolate lovers dream.
It’s the final Saturday before Christmas and I’m feeling a little bittersweet about it all.
I love the hustle bustle of the season and all of the joy and anticipation leading up to the main event. I’m always just a little bit day at how quickly the season passes, even if I do still have that childlike excitement on Christmas Eve, impatiently waiting for the morning to arrive. 😉
So while my heart is wishing these last few days will stand still, my head knows they’ll pass in the blink of an eye and that I’d better soak up every last moment.
Apart from wrapping up gifts and checking off a few more Christmas movies off of the list, the last thing I want to do is deliver a few homemade cookie tins to some close friends.
The first cookie on the list to add to the tin? These Cutout Chocolate Sugar Cookies, of course. (Along with some Maple Snickerdoodles, Maple Sugar Cookies, and some chocolate fudge thrown in for good measure. 😉)
Since it’s Christmas and we’ve all got about a thousand things to do, let’s just get right into the details.
Cutout Chocolate Sugar Cookies Ingredients:
- Butter
- cocoa powder and melted chocolate
- sugar
- baking powder, salt & espresso powder
- eggs & milk
- vanilla extract
- flour
While these chocolate cutout cookies are made with basic ingredients, the combination of ingredients create such a rich and fudgy texture.
Do I have to chill this chocolate sugar cookie recipe?
- Yes, but only for about an hour or so. Chilling the dough makes it much easier to work with, and it keeps the cookies from spreading in the oven.
What kind of melted chocolate should I use?
- I used semi-sweet chocolate. However, you can use dark chocolate or bittersweet chocolate. Using dark chocolate and bittersweet chocolate will make these cookies even richer, as the darker the chocolate, the richer the flavor.
- Personally, I loved the way the semi-sweet chocolate yielded a rich flavor that was sweet enough without being overly sweet.
What should I decorate these cookies with?
These chocolate sugar cookies are incredible on their own, so if you aren’t into decorating your cookies, feel free to eat them plain or sprinkled with powdered sugar.
However, if you want to decorate them, I would suggest using:
- Royal Icing
- Sugar Cookie Frosting
- Chocolate Ganache
- Or, you could make an icing from a combo of powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. (About 1-2 cups of powdered sugar, 1-2 Tbsp milk, and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Whisk until desired consistency is reached.)
Cutout Chocolate Sugar Cookie Recipe Tips & Tricks:
- Espresso powder enhances the flavor of chocolate without adding any coffee flavor. However, if you do not have espresso powder or would prefer not to use it, feel free to omit it.
- When rolling out the dough, you can use flour, cocoa powder, or powdered sugar to keep the dough from sticking to the rolling pin. I like to use a combination of all three, because I like that the cookies don’t pick up too much extra flour flavor.
- I usually roll the dough out to about 1/4” thick. The cookies are just the right thickness and bake perfectly.
- These bake in about 8-9 minutes. You want the edges to be firm and the centers set.
- These are a soft baked chocolate sugar cookie. The melted chocolate helps keep these cookies soft and chewy.
Happy baking! ❤️
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp espresso powder
- 4 oz semi sweet chocolate, melted
- 2 eggs
- 1-2 Tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- Vanilla Buttercream (linked below)
- Royal Icing (linked below)
- Ganache (linked below)
- With a standing mixer or a hand mixer, beat butter until light and fluffy (about 1 minute).
- Add in cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt, and espresso powder. Mix until combined.
- Next, add in melted and cooled semi sweet chocolate, and mix until combined.
- Add in eggs, beating well after each addition.
- Mix in 1 Tbsp of milk and vanilla extract.
- Lastly, add in flour and mix until all the flour is incorporated. If the mixture is too dry and the dough is not coming together, add in the remaining Tbsp of milk.
- Chill the dough for at least an hour.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (or spray with baking spray).
- On a floured surface (you can also use cocoa powder or powdered sugar instead), roll dough out to 1/4” thick. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and place them about 2” apart on the cookie tray.
- Bake for 8-9 minutes, or until edges are just firm and the centers of the cookies are just set.
- Allow to cool on the tray for a couple of minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Once cooled, decorate as desired! Or, you can leave these cookies plain or dust with powdered sugar.
Here are some other recipes you might love:
Soft Baked Cutout Sugar Cookies
Robin at Haphazard Homemaker says
I can’t wait to make these!! Yummy!
Trish says
These are so good and they’ll be added to my year round cookie making! I used a good quality baking bar(Ghirardelli’s semi sweet) and they taste like a brownie cookie. I refrigerated for an hour and mixed a little cocoa powder and powdered sugar on parchment to make rolling out easier. Thanks for the great recipe!
Chrissy says
Honestly the best sugar cookies I’ve ever had! The chocolate flavor is so good!