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
Hi! This is my favorite cookie recipe, curious if you can freeze the dough?
Hi Jen, yes! Follow the instructions in this post on how to freeze cookie dough.
I usually make your vanilla sugar cookie recipe which I LOVE! I normally use fondant on the top. I have had a request for chocolate cookies and wondering if fondant would taste ok on the chocolate cookie base? Thanks so much.
Hi Blythe, yes, that will work just fine here!
Hi! I just found your recipe and am going to try it this weekend. Quick question – I made some chocolate sugar cut out cookies using another recipe I found. They came out dry tasting ( definitely did not overbake), grainy texture, and kind of like cocoa powder. Is this normal for a chocolate sugar cookie? Does the cocoa powder overwhelm the buttery softness I get in my regular sugar cookie recipe? Thank you!
Hi Roberta, it’s hard to speak to other recipes we haven’t tried ourselves, but our recipe produces nice, soft chocolate sugar cookies. We hope you enjoy them!
I loved this recipe. I shy away from cut outs because most are not CHOCOLATE! This was a very welcome addition at the holidays this year. I made your recipe for double chocolate cookies and chocolate crinkle cookies as well. I noticed that these other two had half brown and half white sugar. what do you think about trying this with your Chocolate sugar cookies? Too much spread? Thanks for another great recipe!!
Hi Catherine! Using brown sugar may add too much moisture to our chocolate sugar cookies recipe. So glad you loved these!
PS. I did not chill and I rolled the dough into a log and sliced half moons and baked immediately. Delicious. One of the best recipes I’ve ever tasted.
This recipe is FABULOUS. I BAKED IT TONITE AND ITS TAKING ALL MY SELF CONTROL NOT TO EAT EVERY COOKIE. I FROSTED WITH BUTTERCREAM AND MMMMMMMMM. ITS THE BEST.
The instructions state to roll the dough to 1/4” thick and that the yield is about 24 cookies 3 to 4 inches. Based on the amount of dough produced, it looks like 1/4” thickness could yield maybe 8 cookies of that size. Should the thickness be more like 1/8” or am I misunderstanding something?
Hi Meredith! You can re-roll the scraps.
This was an amazing recipe! I needed something to bake for Christmas, and while doing research I stumbled upon these. I made them by hand as I don’t have a stand mixer and baked most of them for a slightly shorter time (10 minutes at 175 Celsius) and they turned out absolutely wonderful. The cocoa flavour turned out quite intense despite already using a little bit less than the recipe called for, so I’ll probably use even less next time (because I will absolutely be making them again!). Overall a great recipe, was definitely a success!
Do you think these would make good cookie cups? I want to make chocolate cups filled with chocolate ganache.
Hi Ella, yes, we think this would work. We would still chill the dough before shaping into cookie cups. Let us know how they turn out!
Great recipe! I usually don’t make cut out cookies but I needed a recipe so I could use my new cookie stamp. This worked great and they came out beautifully. This is the only site for baking recipes I use! Thank you.
Can I sub butter for half the amount of buttermilk? I researched a bit, and it is the only substitute that I have on hand. Would that be ok?
Hi Addie, we haven’t tried that. Do you have solid coconut oil?
I have used this recipe more than once, and it never disappoints! I received some new cookie stamps last year for christmas, and I’d like to use them for these cookies this year. Do you think these cookies will show the design left by the stamp after baking?
Hi Sonia, cookie stamps typically hold their shape well in these sugar cookies so we can’t see why they wouldn’t work with these chocolate sugar cookies. You may want to chill the stamped shapes for at least 1 hour before baking so they hold the stamped shape better. Please do let us know how they turn out if you give them a try!
This is my family’s new favorite chocolate cookie!!! So yummy and cut out nicely! So glad I found this recipe. Thank you!!
Both my family and recipients of these delicious cookies have sung their praise when in need of a chocolate fix!
Used for roll out cookies with cookie presses that retain their shape well.
I have some halloween cookie stamps that I would love to use and I have been trying to find a chocolate cookie recipe to use with them. Do you think this recipe would work and hold the design?
Hi Ally, cookie stamps typically hold their shape well in these sugar cookies so we can’t see why they wouldn’t work with these chocolate sugar cookies. You may want to chill the stamped shapes for at least 1 hour before baking so they hold the stamped shape better. Please do let us know how they turn out if you give them a try!
Here’s a question about alternative cocoa–my daughter has been experimenting with black cocoa at her place, and with Halloween around the corner, I would like to try black cocoa. Does it affect the easy handling of this cookie dough or make the cookie more crumbly? I absolutely love your Easy Sugar Cookie recipe and it has become a favorite! Can’t wait to try these too!
Hi Becky, Provided it’s unsweetened, it’s probably fine to use in this recipe. Enjoy!
Hi Sally. Do we need to use icing? Can they just be “naked” or with a drizzle of candy melts?
Hi Dim, you can certainly leave off the icing if you wish. Enjoy!
Glad I found this on google .
Hi Sally ! I have never baked anything other thank slice and bake until my friend forced me into a zoom cookie class over Covid. I had never even heard of Royal icing !
Anyway fast forward to now and I’m actually mailing cookies out to friends and family mostly because of you ! Your recipes make sense and are foolproof if you follow the directions 😉
Question : I find the chocolate sugar cookies to break pretty easily after baking. They don’t really ship well. Am I doing something wrong ?
Thanks so much
Happy holidays !
Jill
Hi Jill, we’re thrilled to hear that you’re having such success with our cookie recipes! They are a softer cookie, but perhaps they are slightly underbaked which is causing them to break. You can try an additional minute or two in the oven next time, or even try a smaller cookie cutter (sometimes larger cookies break more easily). Hope this helps!
Hello Sally! I’m planning on baking mini (2 inch) cookies with this recipe and wanted to know how long will they take to bake? I know with your other sugar cookie recipe it’s easier to tell by the browning of the edges but this is my first time trying out chocolate.
Hi Aimee, we’re unsure of the exact bake time, but it will be a bit less. Keep a close eye on them and when the edges start to look set, they should be done. You could try baking a few single cookies first to determine the best bake time. Hope you enjoy these!
How long can i store the dough
Hi Ree, you can refrigerate the dough for at least 1-2 hours and up to 2 days.
Hi, will this turn soft or hard.? This is my first time trying… but i like softer cookies
Hi Ree, these are soft cookies with slightly crisp edges.
Oh thats great, tyank you
how long can i leave these cookies in room temp
Hi Ree, 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.
great, easy to follow recipe. Love that when they maintain their shape when you put them straight from the freezer into the oven. I also like that they kinda give the gingerbread cookie look without the gingerbread cookie taste that my kids decided they don’t actually like
Have you added Peppermint extract to make chocolate mint cookies? If so, how much do you suggest?
Hi Linda, you can try adding 1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract.
Hello
I love this recipe, I make it for all sorts of festives (ie Christmas, Easter) and the kids eat them while decorating them : )
I wanted to know though, will this recipe work to construct a gingerbread house. I am trying to create a chocolate version of the house.
Look forward to hearing back
Maggie…
Hi Maggie, this dough should work great for a chocolate gingerbread house!
Wondering if these would work with coconut oil in place of the butter? I need to do a dairy-free cutout cookie at Christmastime this year. Or maybe you have another recipe on your site you’d recommend? Thanks so much! I’ve never gone wrong with a Sally recipe!
Hi Jess, We haven’t personally tried it, but solid coconut oil should work. Of course the flavor will be different. You can browse all of our dairy free recipes if you wish!
Yummy. My favorite cut out cookie recipe so far. Really does remind me of brownies.
These are easy to roll. I used the Special Dark cocoa as you suggested and they taste wonderful. They have a rich brownie flavor, but with a dryer mouth feel for those of us who don’t care for a wet fudgy center. I cut them into “gingerbread” men and piped on white icing to make skeletons for Halloween.
These cookies are AMAZING! I made this dough and your regular sugar cookie dough. But the chocolate was my favorite. I find the regular sugar cookie with royal icing just too sweet. But the royal icing on these chocolate cookies are delicious! I had a bit of trouble getting this dough off the parchment paper after chilling for two days. Next time I will let them sit at room temperature a bit longer before I try to get them loose. But other than that – no issues. I chilled after shaping with cookie cutters. I added some Princess Cake emulsion to the royal icing. They taste just like a brownie – just in a cookie form. I baked for 9-10 minutes depending on the size of the cookie. Utterly scrumptious!
Could these be used as a drop cookie? Or is there another recipe for chocolate sugar cookies?
Hi Lauryn! We recommend using this recipe for chocolate drop cookies – you can leave out the chips if desired. Enjoy!
Can I double this recipe?
Hi Jennifer, yes, you definitely can! Just make sure your mixer is big enough to hold double the dough.
I’ve never left a comment for a recipe but just had to share my experience! I’ve never had any luck with rolling out cookies or cutting them. This is the first recipe I’ve used that’s seemingly Allison-friendly! I volunteered to do cookie decorating for my first graders classroom and kind of forgot I was way out of my league. Whoops! I was very happy with how these turned out and it’s given me a new outlook on rolling and cutting cookies!
So glad they turned out for you, Allie!