Chocolate Sugar Cookies are a rich and chocolatey take on a classic holiday dessert made with unsweetened cocoa powder and espresso powder.
This chocolatey take on Classic Sugar Cookies is a great addition to your Holiday Baking. It’s a simple, quick recipe that’s kid-friendly and fun to decorate.
When it comes to holiday baking, Sugar Cookies are a definite staple. This Cookie Recipe makes perfectly soft, chewy sugar cookies, but changes them up by adding chocolate. The chocolate gives the cookies a new, richer flavor while still keeping the classic Sugar Cookie texture.
Along with the cocoa powder, there’s espresso powder mixed into the dough. The coffee brings out the best notes in the chocolate flavor and makes them even more delicious. It also makes them perfect not just for dessert, but as a sweet treat to enjoy along with a morning (or afternoon!) cup of coffee.
Chocolate Sugar Cookies make great edible gifts, treats for a holiday party, or cookies to leave out for Santa. They’re perfect to bake around the holidays or in advance. You can make Chocolate Sugar Cookies months ahead of time and store them in the freezer so they’re ready for Christmas. This is an easy way to take some stress out of the holiday season. Include this Chocolate Sugar Cookie recipe in your next cookie exchange or Christmas Cookie Box for a fun twist on a classic favorite cookie.
How to Make Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a stand mixer cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add in the egg, vanilla extract, and espresso powder until smooth.
- Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture on the lowest speed setting until just combined.
- Add a heaping tablespoon of rolled cookie dough per cookie to the sheet, 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 8 minutes for soft cookies or 10 minutes for crunchy cookies.
- Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the baking sheet.
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Frequently Asked Questions
It’s absolutely necessary to soften the butter before starting the recipe. Let the butter sit out for a few hours in advance. Don’t put it in the microwave. This will melt parts of the butter without softening it all the way through.
When you combine the butter and sugar, mix them long enough that the combination becomes fluffy. This should only take about 2 minutes. Be careful not to overmix the cookie dough when you add in the dry ingredients.
Adjust the baking time depending on if you want the Chocolate Sugar Cookies to be more crunchy or chewy. Leave them in for 10 minutes for crunchy cookies or 8 minutes for soft cookies. If you take the cookies out at 8 minutes they’ll look underdone, but after sitting for 5 minutes on the baking sheet they’ll be perfectly chewy.
When giving cookies as a gift, you want to bake them as fresh as possible before wrapping and gifting (see the tips below on preparing the dough in advance). Make sure they are cooled completely, and package them in tissue paper to keep them from cracking. If your gift box or tin is not air tight, wrap the entire box in a clear plastic bag and tie with a decorative ribbon. Then your gift wrap also serves to help keep the cookies fresh!
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Decorations and Toppings for Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Just like with regular sugar cookies you can make a fun activity out of frosting and decorating these chocolate cookies. It’s a great way to keep your kids busy with something fun over winter break. Here are some of our favorite ways to top Chocolate Sugar Cookies.
- Frosting: For the frosting, you can either use Traditional Sugar Cookie Frosting, Buttercream, or go for double chocolate with a creamy Chocolate Frosting. If you use sugar cookie or buttercream frosting you can divide it into a few small bowls and put different food colorings in each.
- Decorations: The obvious way to decorate sugar cookies is with a variety of festive sprinkles. It’s always nice to put out a few different varieties for your kids to choose from. You can also use crushed candy canes, red hots, mini marshmallows, and mini M&Ms.
Can I make Chocolate Sugar Cookies Ahead of Time?
Absolutely! If you want to store baked cookies in advance, simply freeze them sealed in an airtight container with pieces of parchment paper separating layers. Then just defrost at room temperature before serving. You can also store the unbaked cookie dough in the refrigerator or freezer and bake them fresh when you are ready to prepare gifts or serve to your holiday guests. To store unbaked cookie dough, roll the dough balls and place them in a single layer on a baking sheet. Cover and refrigerate up to 1 day before baking. Alternatively, place dough balls in the freezer for 1 hour to harden before transferring to an airtight container and freezing for up to 3 months.
Variations on Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- Cocoa powder: If you want a more mild chocolate taste in these Sugar Cookies use Dutch-processed cocoa powder.
- Chocolate Chips: To take the chocolate to the next level, add in some melty chocolate chips. Semi-sweet, dark, milk, or white chocolate would all taste amazing.
- Mix-ins: For some delicious mix-ins try adding in some nuts like pistachios, pecans, walnuts, or almonds. You could also add dried fruit like cranberries or cherries. Some other options are crushed peppermint candies, sprinkles, mini marshmallows, or crushed toffee.
- Cookie Sandwiches: Use two Chocolate Sugar Cookies to make delicious Ice Cream Sandwiches with delicious Vanilla Ice Cream in the center. Roll the edges in mini chocolate chips or M&Ms for an extra chocolatey crunch.
- Flavor Extracts: In addition to the vanilla extract, try a small amount of peppermint extract, butterscotch extract, almond extract, or raspberry extract for yummy flavor combinations that taste great with the bold chocolate flavor of these cookies.
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How to Store Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- Serve: After baking Chocolate Sugar Cookies, you can keep them at room temperature for 3-4 days. Let them cool then put them in a zip lock bag or other airtight container in the pantry.
- Store: To keep the Sugar Cookies in the fridge, let them cool to room temperature then put them in an airtight container. They’ll stay good for 5-7 days.
- Freeze: Chocolate Sugar Cookies can also stay good in the freezer for up to 6 months. For best results put them in a zip lock bag and separate the layers of cookies with parchment paper so they don’t freeze together.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter , softened
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder
- 2 cups flour
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- In a stand mixer cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add in the egg, vanilla extract, and espresso powder until smooth.
- Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture on the lowest speed setting until just combined.
- Add a heaping tablespoon of rolled cookie dough per cookie to the sheet, 2 inches apart.
- Bake for 8 minutes for soft cookies or 10 minutes for crunchy cookies.
- Let cool for 5 minutes before removing from the baking sheet.
Nutrition
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Made these today! Absolutely delicious and definitely a keeper! I didn’t soften the butter at room temp, and put it in the microwave. The cookies were spread thin, however were still very yummy. My overly critical son even said “Good job mom!” which is a lot coming from him. Thank you for the recipe!!
Love hearing “critical” feedback is positive!! Appreciate the five star review Deepti!
Do I have to use expresso powder
No you don’t!