Description
These Chocolate Cut Out Cookies are easy to make, delicious and they don’t spread in the oven! They are thick and tender and perfect for holiday decorating. Plus, you’ll love my method for mess-free rolling and cutting!
Ingredients
Cookies
- 2 cups (260g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup (85g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp (8g) cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup (224g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups (259g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
For Decorating
Instructions
- Combine the flour, cocoa powder, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium-sized bowl and set aside.
- Add the butter and sugar to a large mixer bowl and beat on medium speed for 2-3 minutes, until well creamed. You should notice that it gets lighter in color and creamier in texture.
- Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix just until the dough is well combined. Dough will be thick. It may seem a little crumbly at first, but it’ll come together. Don’t over mix. You can help it finish coming together by hand with a spatula, or even using your hands. It may seem too dry, but it’ll come together to form a nice ball.
- Refrigerate cookie dough for at least an hour or up to 3 days. You don’t have to refrigerate the cookie dough, but the cookies turn out a little nicer and more tender if you do.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a cookie sheet with a silicone baking mat.
- Bring the cookie dough back to room temperature so it’s easier to work with and divide the cookie dough into two equal parts. Roll each part out to about 1/4 an inch thickness between two pieces of parchment paper.
- Transfer the parchment-lined cookie dough onto a cookie sheet and place it in the freezer for about 5 minutes. Remove cookie dough from freezer, peel off the top layer of parchment paper and immediately cut into shapes. Transfer cookies to cookie sheet. You can pop them back in the freezer for a few minutes, if you’d like. The colder they are, the less they spread.
- Bake immediately, while cookie dough is still very cold, for 8-12 minutes or the cookies look done.
- Remove them from the oven. If they spread a touch more than you want them to, use a butter knife or something similar to gently press the sides in a touch. If you do this while they are still warm, it works beautifully.
- Allow the cookies to cool for 3-5 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack to finish cooling.
- Continue rolling the dough, cutting out cookies and baking them until you’ve used all the cookie dough.
- When you’re ready to decorate the cookies, you can use regular buttercream, an easy sugar cookie icing or royal icing.
Notes
- Number of cookies: The number of cookies you’ll get depends on the size of your cookie cutters and how thick you roll them out. My cookie cutters are roughly 3 1/2 inches.
- Storage. You can store these cutout chocolate cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks. They last best and longest if they are frosted.
- Freezing. You can freeze these cookies frosted or unfrosted. Place them in a freezer safe container with parchment paper separating the layers. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge before using. Keep in mind that colors from icing and sprinkles could bleed when the cookies are thawed, due to condensation.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 171
- Sugar: 11.5 g
- Sodium: 86.9 mg
- Fat: 9.1 g
- Carbohydrates: 22.2 g
- Protein: 2.1 g
- Cholesterol: 30.6 mg
