Like my regular sugar cookies, these chocolate sugar cookies are soft and thick with crisp edges and a nice smooth top for decorating. Use cookie cutters to cut this chocolate dough into shapes, and after baking and cooling, you can decorate them with cookie decorating buttercream, royal icing, or this super easy cookie icing.
I originally published this recipe in 2016, and I’ve since updated it with new photos and more success tips to ensure every batch turns out to be the best chocolate sugar cookies you’ve ever had.
Bakers, you know I aim to bring you only the very best when it comes to sugar cookies. (I solemnly swear on my cookie cutters.) They need to hold their shapes in the oven, have a nice flat surface for decorating, and, obviously, taste amazing! So, in the mid 2010’s, developing a chocolate version of this popular recipe was not a task I took lightly.
Why You’ll Love These Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- Soft & thick centers with lightly crisp edges
- Rich chocolate flavor (not dry or bland!)
- Holds shape beautifully for cookie cutters
- Smooth surface for decorating (I used cookie buttercream and naturally-colored sprinkles)
- Make-ahead-friendly dough for easy planning
One reader, Abbey, commented: “These are one of my go-to recipes for cookie orders. People love them! It’s like a brownie in cookie form. These are the ones that get requested most often. ★★★★★“
Another reader, Pam, commented: “These rolled out well, baked up perfectly, and were SO delicious! My family and friends went crazy for them, and I’ll be making them again soon. Who wouldn’t love a ‘brownie cookie?’ ★★★★★“
Another reader, Peggy, commented: “My kids have labeled these Brownie Cookies because they taste like the perfect combination of a cutout and a brownie. They were so easy to make and very sturdy like your gingerbread cookie recipe. We used the easy glaze and just did a quick drizzle over the top. This is a great addition to my cutout cookie rotation. ★★★★★“
Key Ingredients & Why They Matter
With only 8 ingredients in this recipe, each and every one has an important job to do:
- All-Purpose Flour: Provides structure so the cookies hold their cut-out shapes.
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder: The star of the show! You can use natural or Dutch-process for slightly different flavor profiles. See the section below on this.
- Baking Powder: Gives a slight lift without puffing too much (important for flat tops!).
- Salt: For flavor balance.
- Butter: Unparalleled for buttery sugar cookies. Make sure it’s properly softened to room temperature. And if you’re a baking beginner, check out my tutorial on how to cream butter and sugar.
- Granulated Sugar: Sweetens and helps create those slightly crisp edges.
- Egg: Binds everything together and adds richness.
- Vanilla Extract: Enhances the chocolate flavor without overpowering it.
By the way, you can use this exact dough when making Halloween cookies, my reader-favorite homemade thin mint cookies, and holiday-perfect peppermint bark cookies. They also look great decorated as fireworks cookies or football cookies. This is a very versatile chocolate sugar cookie dough!
And if you’re looking for a drop-style chocolate cookie recipe, you’ll love these double chocolate chip cookies or these chocolate frosted cookies.
Success Tips for the Best Chocolate Sugar Cookies
There are a few tricks to making sure your chocolate sugar cookies hold their cookie-cutter shapes in the oven (rather than spreading into unrecognizable blobs):
- Roll out the dough BEFORE chilling. It’s much more effective to chill the cookie dough *after* rolling it out, just as you do when making regular sugar cookies or brown sugar cut-out cookies. Trying to roll out hard, chilled sugar cookie dough is frustrating and difficult. So, once you’ve mixed together your dough, divide it into 2 halves, and roll out each portion before chilling the rolled-out dough in the refrigerator.
- Another trick: Roll out the cookie dough directly on a silicone baking mat or parchment paper so you can easily transfer it to the refrigerator. If you don’t have enough room for 2 baking sheets in your refrigerator, stack the pieces of rolled-out dough on top of each other, with parchment in between.
- Roll evenly: Aim for about 1/4-inch thickness so they bake evenly and stay soft.
- My final trick: Instead of dusting your hands and work surface with flour like you usually do when handling/working with dough, use cocoa powder—an ingredient you need for the dough anyway! Flour is tasteless, so might as well use cocoa powder for extra chocolate flavor, right?
Natural Cocoa Powder or Dutch-Process?
Cocoa powder is the key ingredient in these chocolate sugar cookies. But which one should you use: natural cocoa powder or Dutch-process?
If you’re not sure about the difference between them and are interested, you can read more on my Dutch-process vs natural cocoa powder page. Though Dutch-process is typically what you would use when paired with baking powder, for this cookie recipe (and actually for these brownie cookies, too) it’s OK to use either Dutch-process or natural cocoa powder.
So choose whichever cocoa powder you like best! I typically use this brand of Dutch-process cocoa, or I also love Ghirardelli brand.
3 Cookie Icing Options
Once cooled, these cookies are your canvas! Because the cookies bake with a flat, smooth top, decorating is much easier and more professional-looking.
I have 3 cookie icing recipes, so you have several options to choose from, based on your skill level and decorating needs. Here are the basic differences:
1. Buttercream Frosting: I decorated the pictured chocolate sugar cookie hearts with cookie decorating buttercream, piped on with a Wilton 1A piping tip. Then I spread it around to flatten it out and added these sprinkles. This is a classic vanilla buttercream frosting that soft-sets on cookies after a few hours. In a nutshell:
- Only 5 ingredients
- Creamy + sweet
- Great for beginners
- Can decorate with piping tips or simply spread on cookies
- Can be tinted any color with gel food coloring
2. Royal Icing: I have a separate post for royal icing where you can find many FAQs, make-ahead instructions, and a video tutorial. This icing is ideal for intermediate or advanced cookie decorators. In a nutshell:
- Sturdy icing for piping sharp detail and fine designs
- Sets on the cookie in just 1–2 hours
- Dries firm but still soft, not a hard cement-like texture
- Make with an electric mixer
- Meringue powder eliminates the need for raw egg whites
- Can be flavored with your favorite flavor extract
- Can be tinted any color with gel food coloring
- Decorate with piping bags (reusable or disposable) and tips
3. Easy Glaze Icing: Another option is this easy cookie icing, which I typically use on these Christmas sugar cookies. This glaze-style icing is great for beginners and much easier to make than royal icing because you don’t need an electric mixer or the perfect icing consistency for success. It isn’t as sturdy as royal icing, though, so you won’t be able to pipe concise details. It also takes a good 24 hours to dry. In a nutshell:
- Easy to make with just a fork/whisk and bowl
- Just 5 basic ingredients
- Can decorate with piping tips or a squeeze bottle (good for beginners and young bakers)
- Can color with gel food coloring
- Sets on the cookie in 24 hours
For more decorating inspiration, here is my full tutorial (video included) on how to decorate sugar cookies.
And if you’re not into piping tips, you can just dunk the tops of the chocolate sugar cookies into icing like when making mini animal cracker cookies. A fun option if you’re baking with kids!
Not much! This recipe is designed to hold its shape, especially when the dough is properly chilled.
Yes! Chill it for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.
Absolutely. Freeze for up to 3 months, then thaw in the refrigerator before rolling. See How to Freeze Cookie Dough for more info.
Recommended Tools for Cut-Out Cookies
Before I leave you with the recipe, let me suggest some useful chocolate sugar cookie tools. These are the exact products I use and trust in my own kitchen:
- Electric Mixer (handheld or stand mixer)
- Baking Sheets
- Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper Sheets
- Rolling Pin or Adjustable Rolling Pin
- Cookie Cutters: I like Ann Clark brand cookie cutters (not working with this brand; just a genuine fan!), such as these heart-shaped cookie cutters
- Piping Tips/Squeeze Bottle: If you’re using royal icing, I recommend Wilton Piping Tip #4 for outlining and flooding. If you’re using this glaze cookie icing, use a simple squeeze bottle to decorate. And if you choose this cookie decorating buttercream (pictured!), use any piping tip. I used Wilton 1A in the pictured cookies.
- Piping Bag: If you’re using a piping tip, you need a disposable piping bag or a reusable piping bag.
- Couplers: Couplers are handy if you have multiple colors of icing and only 1 tip, and need to move the tip to other bags of icing.
For even more recommendations, here is a detailed list of cookie decorating supplies.
Chocolate Sugar Cookie Supplies
11-Piece Cookie Cutter Set
Cut-Out Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- Prep Time: 2 hours
- Cook Time: 12 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 30 minutes (plus icing setting time)
- Yield: 18 3-inch cookies
- Category: Cookies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
These are soft, thick chocolate sugar cookies with lightly crisp edges and rich cocoa flavor. This easy cut-out cookie dough rolls out smoothly, holds its shape, and bakes with a flat surface perfect for decorating with icing or buttercream. Chilling is the most important step, so don’t skip it. The number of cookies this recipe yields depends on the size of the cookie cutter you use. If you’d like to make dozens of cookies for a large crowd, double the recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 and 1/2 cups (188g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 3/4 cup (62g) unsweetened natural or dutch process cocoa powder, plus more as needed for rolling and work surface
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp; 170g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For Decorating
- Royal Icing, Glaze Icing, or Cookie Buttercream (buttercream is pictured)
- Assorted sprinkles (these sprinkles are pictured)
Instructions
- Make the cookies: Whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl using a handheld or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low until combined. Dough will be soft. If the dough seems too soft and sticky for rolling, add 1 more Tablespoon of flour.
- Roll the dough: Divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Dust 2 large pieces of parchment paper or 2 silicone baking mats with cocoa powder or flour. Place a dough half on each. With a rolling pin lightly dusted with cocoa powder or flour, roll the dough out to about 1/4-inch thickness. Use more cocoa powder/flour if the dough seems too sticky. The rolled-out dough can be any shape, as long as it is evenly 1/4-inch thick.
- Chill the dough: Lightly dust one of the rolled-out doughs with cocoa powder or flour. Place a piece of parchment on top. (This prevents sticking.) Place the 2nd rolled-out dough on top. Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours and up to 2 days.
- Preheat oven & shape cookies: Once chilled, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C). Line 2-3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Carefully remove the top dough piece from the refrigerator. Using cookie cutters, cut the dough into shapes. Re-roll the remaining dough, using more cocoa powder or flour to lightly dust your work surface and rolling pin, and continue cutting the dough until all is used. Work quickly so the dough doesn’t become too warm or soft. If it does, stop what you’re doing and place any unused dough back in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to stiffen up again. Repeat cutting into shapes with 2nd half of dough. (Note: It doesn’t seem like a lot of dough, but you get a lot of cookies from the dough scraps you re-roll.)
- Bake & cool: Arrange shaped cookies on baking sheets 3 inches apart. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until edges are set. If your oven has hot spots, rotate the baking sheet halfway through bake time. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.
- Make icing or buttercream: Prepare the royal icing, cookie glaze icing, or cookie decorating buttercream, and decorate the cooled cookies however you’d like. I decorated the pictured chocolate sugar cookie hearts with cookie decorating buttercream, piped on with a Wilton 1A piping tip. Then I spread it around to flatten it out, and topped with these sprinkles. This is a classic vanilla buttercream frosting that soft-sets on cookies after a few hours.
- Enjoy cookies right away or wait until the frosting/icing sets to serve them. Once the icing has set, these cookies are great for gifting or for sending. Plain or decorated cookies stay soft for about 5 days when covered tightly at room temperature. For longer storage, cover and refrigerate for up to 10 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Plain or decorated sugar cookies freeze well up to 3 months. Wait for the icing/buttercream to set completely before layering between sheets of parchment paper in a freezer-friendly container. To thaw, thaw in the refrigerator or at room temperature. You can also freeze the cookie dough for up to 3 months before rolling it out. Prepare the dough through step 3, divide in half, flatten both halves into a disk as we do with pie crust, wrap each in plastic wrap, then freeze. To thaw, thaw the disks in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature for about 1 hour. Roll out the dough as directed in step 4, then chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour before cutting into shapes and baking.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand Mixer) | Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mat or Parchment Paper | Rolling Pin or this Adjustable Rolling Pin | Heart-Shaped Cookie Cutter | Cooling Rack | Naturally-Colored Sprinkles
- Room Temperature: Room temperature butter is essential. If the dough is too sticky, your butter may have been too soft. Room temperature butter is actually cool to the touch. Room temperature egg is preferred so it’s quickly and evenly mixed into the cookie dough.
- Icing or Buttercream: Use royal icing, cookie glaze icing, or cookie buttercream (what I used). See post above to read about the differences.
- Be sure to check out my top 5 cookie baking success tips AND these are my 10 must-have cookie baking tools.
Reader Comments and Reviews
My cookies came out perfectly, and my husband and kids raved about them! They’re amazing, taste like a brownie, roll out beautifully and bake up just right. I followed the suggestion of a previous commenter, and cut them out before chilling them. I put them in the freezer on the baking sheet for about 15 minutes before baking them and they didn’t spread at all in the oven. I frosted some, but left others plain…I honestly prefer them that way. Yum! Thanks so much for such a delicious cookie recipe!
I was literally afraid to try these but the reviews were so good I gave it a whirl. I did not refrigerate the dough and they still came out like a DREAM! I am SO excited to have an easy chocolate cut out cookie recipe to use forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is the second time I made these cookies (first time was for Halloween). Followed the directions for rolling and chilling, and the dough was easy to work with. I used my new rolling pin with the disks to get the even thickness—worked perfectly! Because I had leftover royal icing when I made half the recipe, I cut it to one-third and it was the perfect amount. It was late so I didn’t pipe then flood but spread the icing and used sprinkles or a toothpick dipped in gel colors to make designs. So mine were not as pretty as Sally’s, but my grandkids will be thrilled nonetheless!
Made these chocolate sugar cookies today. Wow what a treat! They came out perfect! Your recipes help me be the best baker I can be. Thanks again for another great recipe!
My kids have labeled these Brownie Cookies because they taste like the perfect combination of a cut out and a brownie. They were so easy to make and very sturdy like your gingerbready cookie recipe. We used the easy glaze and just did a quick drizzle over the top. This is a great addition to my cut out cookie rotation.
I made this recipe and the cookies tasted chalkie (not good) and were dry. What brand of cocoa powder do you use?
Hi Nancy! Cocoa powder can be a very bitter ingredient depending on the brand. We like using Hershey’s natural cocoa powder in this cookie recipe. Also make sure to spoon and level (or use a kitchen scale) to measure your dry ingredients to avoid packing too much in.
I’ve tried your regular sugar cookie recipe and they turned out great, I like the idea of the chocolate sugar cookies for more flavor but was wanting to also add raspberry. Would I be able to add the amount that you did for the raspberry sugar cookie recipe or would the dry ingredients need to be adjusted so the dough is not to dry?
Hi Justin, the ingredients would need to be adjusted since the raspberry powder works as a day ingredient. Let us know what you try!
These are perfect cookies. I used butter cream frosting on them this time but in the past, I just used sprinkles. They taste great without either though. Great chocolate flavor.
This tastes amazing!! Followed everything to a T… another perfect recipe. Won’t even try another chocolate sugar cookie recipe.
This was my daughter’s and my first time attempting cookie cutter cookies! We did these and the gingerbread cookies. Your instructions and detail was just what we needed both sets of cookies turned out great lookin and delicious! Best of all we had so much fun making them! Definitely a new family tradition!!!
No need to make a sticky mess on the counter with cocoa powder. After chilling, cut dough in two sections. Place one half between two pieces of wax paper and roll out. I smooth the top of dough with a fondant smoother. Freeze about 10 minutes, remove top layer of wax paper then cut out. Keeps the rolling pin clean and cookie cutters easier to wash off. Cookies won’t lose shape while baking. Chocolate lovers sugar cookies.
These are delicious and have a perfect crumb/texture – not crumbly or too soft either. I used Hershey’s Special Dark Dutched cocoa and the chocolate flavor is amazing. We used Halloween-themed cutters and they held their shape beautifully, no spread at all. I agree that chilling the rolled-out dough before cutting and baking is key.
What does it mean to “Rotate” mid bake?
Hi Genesis, by rotate you can simply rotate the pan 180-degrees. This is so if your oven has certain hot spots, all of the cookies will be evenly baked.
Can I use self raising flour with this recipe – I do not like the taste of baking powder….. ♀️
Any recipes I’ve tried from your site have been very good so I’m using this one today – except I’m pairing it with your white sugar cookie and putting them together to make pinwheels. Fingers crossed that they pair well and raise evenly in baking. I’m hoping to get the grand-kiddies munch of approval!
These are awesome. I like using this recipe for Halloween cut out cookies every year.
I have made these three times now and they are really good. In SA we don’t get all purpose flour- used 1 1/2 cups cake flour which is 210 g.
Loved the tip of rolling out before refrigerating. Works really well.
Only problem is you cant stop eating them.
I had a really difficult time with this dough. I’ve never done chocolate ones before, just regular sugar cookies. The dough tasted great, it was just hard to work with. Very sticky, I followed the instructions and weighed all my ingredients. I had to add flour in and douse my cutter in flour and even then I had trouble.
Same here! I’ve made this recipe and the regular sugar cookies several times now, and for some reason I had sooooo much trouble with the dough this time—especially the plain sugar cookie dough. I don’t know if it was the type of butter I used, the egg, what…?! Not giving up. They still turned out delicious.
I had the same issue with the regular sugar cookies but I did see she say in that recipe to add flour until the consistency seems right. I added quite a bit more flour and it came out amazing. I think it might be the butter, it might be more sticky and hard to work with if it’s a hot day and the butter is softer.
These cookies were a big hit! The recipe is definitely a keeper! No spreading, and they taste delicious 🙂 I baked mine for 12 minutes and they were perfect! (They were a bit under-baked for my taste after 10 minutes…but I make my cookies thicker)
If I roll them out to 3/8 inch thickness (green disk on rolling pin), how long do you think they will need to bake? I have to make them thicker to survive intact while being shipped to the grandkids in Alaska. Thanks in advance
Hi Robyn! We’re not exactly sure how long they’ll take, so keep an eye on them in the oven. They’ll be done when lightly brown on the edges. Happy baking!
They’re chocolate…… they’re already brown
It’s definitely harder to tell when chocolate sugar cookies are done baking. They’ll likely only need an extra minute or so. Let us know how they go!
Hi Robyn
Did you narrow down the time for 3/8”? I probably won’t receive an answer before I try, but I thought I would ask anyway.
I don’t have the room to chill them rolled out in a baking sheet. Is there another way to chill them?
Hi Awar, you can chill the dough, roll it out, cut the cookie shapes, then chill the cookies again before baking. Rolling out the chilled dough may be a little difficult. Let us know how it goes!
I live for chocolate so I was very excited to try these but mine lost their shape…what did I do wrong? I really did follow the recipe to the letter and I’m no novice at biscuit making. My bunnies grew in size to monsters! I have tried lots of bakes from this site and they have been reliably delicious!
Hi Sarah, thank you so much for giving these cookies a try! How long did you let the dough chill for? Chilling longer is almost always the answer to prevent spreading. These cookie baking tips may help as well.
Sally strikes again! Chocolate roll-out cookies will be my new go-to when decorating cookies for birthdays and holidays. Plain sugar cookies are just too plain! I mixed the royal icing with mint extract, sine chocolate mint is one of my favorite flavor pairings.
A couple of tips:
Definitely chill the dough– not once, but twice. Chill the dough on the baking sheet after you roll it out, and then put the baking sheet back in the fridge for ~10 minutes after you’ve cut the cookies out, just before you pop it in the oven. Chilling the cut-outs is crucial, I have found, to perfectly flat cookie shapes so you can decorate them easier!
I also suggest using Sally’s “easy royal icing” recipe with the merengue powder (yum) but I highly prefer to put the royal icing in squeeze bottles instead of piping bags. I have 6 bottles with the squeeze tips cut to various sizes so I have many options for flooding and borders/writing.
Also, that royal icing recipe that she links to was enough for me to decorate about standard size cookies and then some.
Well, the texture and flavor were so absolutely off putting, that I decided that I will never make these again. I actually threw them away. I would not recommend this recipe.
These cookies taste delicious, but we baked them at the recommended 10 minutes and they are quite hard.
Baked these cookies for Valentine’s Day
Beautiful recipe. I have two sizes of heart shaped cookie cutters.
They cut easily and their shape was maintained after baking
Followed the directions.
A definite keeper. Everyone really enjoyed it.
I did not use icing. Just topped the cookie with a few grains of course sugar prior to baking.
Thank you very much
Wow. Only just rolled out the dough but dang that dough is delicious! Can’t wait to include these cookies in my galentine’s day drop offs!
These cookies are delicious! We like the way the dark chocolate balances the royal icing (which was also your recipe and worked out great). I have not ever chilled the rolled dough before cutting out cookies but will always do this method- no spreading, my bears looked like bears. Have never used royal icing to make “artsy” cookies and I am so pleased how they turned out. Thanks for all the tips!
Would this recipe be ok for making sandwich cookies?
Like some sort of homemade Oreo?
Thank you
Hi Trish, You could certainly try it. Or use our recipe for Homemade Oreos!
I have a question before making it would it be possible to use mini chocolate chips in it to add an extra boasting about of chocolate? Thanks
Again, thank you, this recipe is absolutely perfect and what a fun option to the traditional flavor of cut outs! The only thing I do different is after mixing the dough I cut my cookies out (it’s easier for me when the dough is soft) then I chill them. LOVE and so does everyone else! 8500ft no recipe changes 10-11 minutes depending on thickness