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These decadent Chocolate Sugar Cookies are supremely soft and chewy! They don’t need to be chilled before baking and they stay soft for days!
Looking for a classic sugar cookie recipe? Try my Soft & Chewy Sugar Cookies recipe.
This quick and easy cookie recipe is an adaptation of my Soft and Chewy Sugar Cookies. I wanted these cookies to have the same amazing texture with a chocolatey twist. So, I made a few tweaks to the recipe to bring you these fudgy and delicious chocolate cookies!
I made several changes to my classic sugar cookie recipe to create these chewy chocolate cookies. Here’s how I did it:
- Added some cocoa powder
- Reduced the amount of all-purpose flour to compensate for the cocoa.
- Reduced the amount of baking powder because baking soda is the way to go for chocolate treats. It gives a richer flavor and a better texture.
- Removed the brown sugar.
- Added an extra egg to make them ultra tender and chewy.
I didn’t want these to end up being really cakey and they turned out just right. Dense, not cakey, and chewy. I’m so totally in love with these chocolate cookies, it’s hard to stop eating them! They’re like a fudgy brownie in cookie form.
Recipe Ingredients
You won’t need any fancy ingredients to make these cookies. Here’s what goes into them:
- All-Purpose Flour
- Natural Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Baking Soda
- Baking Powder
- Salt
- Unsalted Butter: Bring your butter to room temperature. You should be able to make an imprint on the butter with your finger, but it shouldn’t be so warm that your finger slides through.
- Granulated Sugar
- Eggs
- Vanilla Extract
- Prepare for Baking: Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats and set them aside.
- Combine Dry Ingredients: Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl and set it aside.
- Cream Butter & Sugar: Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until the mixture is light in color and fluffy. You should be able to see the change in color happen and know it’s ready.
- Add Eggs & Vanilla: Add the eggs one at a time and mix until well combined after each addition. Then, add the vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
- Combine Wet & Dry Ingredients: Add the dry ingredients and mix until the dough is well combined. It will be thick. Do not over mix it. Once it’s well combined, use a rubber spatula to help it come together to form a more cohesive ball.
- Form Dough Balls: Create 1 1/2 tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough. Gently roll each one into a ball, then roll them in the additional sugar to coat, if desired. Set the balls on the baking sheet. Press down on the tops of the balls just a bit (I used the bottom of a glass to do this).
- Bake: Bake the cookies for 7-8 minutes. Don’t overbake them. The cookies will be a little puffy when you take them out of the oven, but they’ll fall a bit as they cool.
- Let Cool: Remove your cookies from the oven and allow them to cool on the baking sheets for 4-5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Measure Flour Accurately: The best way to measure your flour is by weighing it with a food scale. But if you don’t have one, give your flour a stir, then scoop it out with a measuring scoop and level it. Do not pack it into the measuring cup.
- Cream Butter & Sugar Well: Don’t stop creaming your butter and sugar until the mixture lightens in color. It should be nice and fluffy.
- Don’t Over-Mix: If you over-mix your dough, the cookies may end up tough. Once the dough is smooth, you’re good to start forming your cookies.
- Don’t Over-Bake: Don’t be tempted to leave your cookies in the oven for too long or they’ll be firm, rather than soft. They’ll be puffed up, but that’s okay – they’ll flatten out as they cool.
Store your chocolate sugar cookies in an airtight container or a sealed plastic bag with all the air squeezed out. They’ll last for 3-4 days at room temperature and about a week in the fridge. To make them last longer, you can store them in the freezer between layers of parchment paper for up to 3 months!
Double Chocolate Cookie Sandwiches
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Grandfather’s Favorite Iced Chocolate Cookies
Baileys Chocolate Cookies
Peppermint Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Watch How To Make Them
Print
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 8 minutes
- Total Time: 23 minutes
- Yield: 30
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Description
These decadent Chocolate Sugar Cookies are supremely soft and chewy! If you’re a fan of rich chocolate desserts, you have to give these cocoa cookies a try.
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups (228g) all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup (85g) natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup (224g) unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups (310g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup sugar (additional for rolling)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
- Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in a large mixer bowl on medium speed until light in color and fluffy. You should be able to see the change in color happen and know it’s ready.
- Add the eggs one at a time and mix until well combined after each addition.
- Add the vanilla extract and mix until well combined.
- Add the dry ingredients and mix until the dough is well combined. It will be thick. Do not over mix. Once it’s well combined, use a rubber spatula to help it come together to form a more cohesive ball.
- Create 1 1/2 tablespoon sized balls of cookie dough. Gently roll into a ball, then roll each ball in the additional sugar to coat. Set the balls on the baking sheet. Press down on the tops of the balls just a bit (I used the bottom of a glass)
- Bake cookies for 7-8 minutes. Don’t overbake. The cookies will be a little puffy when you take them out of the oven but will fall a bit as they cool.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on baking sheets for 4-5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Be sure to measure the flour accurately. The best way is by weight with a food scale, but if you don’t have one, give your flour a stir, then scoop it out with a measuring scoop. Do not pack it into the measuring cup.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 136
- Sugar: 11.7 g
- Sodium: 87.1 mg
- Fat: 6.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 18.6 g
- Protein: 1.7 g
- Cholesterol: 28.7 mg
These cookies are out of this world. I’ve made lot’s of things and this is definitely in the top of that list. If you are looking for a killer chocolate sugar cookie make these! You will not be sorry.
Thank you so much for this one 🙂
Will this recipe work for rolling out and using cookie cutters?
No, you’ll want a cut out cookie recipe. Unfortunately, I don’t have a chocolate one at the moment, but I’m working on it.
The best! Don’t try any other recipe…rave reviews from family and friends! I am starting to trust every recipe you make …tried several all excellent!!!
Best chocolate cookie ever!Husband devoured 😀
So glad to hear that!
These are fabulous cookies and we will make them over and over! So so good!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I want to make these cookies as part of my Christmas Cookies. They look really tasty. I also want to tell you that I love the way you have set up the recipes to print. All the best to you.
Awesome, thank you! I hope you enjoy the cookies!
Is it possible to prepare dough a head of time and bake them off when needed?
That should be fine.
Made them smaller and sandwiched them together with melted chocolate they were delicious
Glad you enjoyed them!
Can I use guittard Dutch process cocoa?
I haven’t tried it to say for sure how that would turn out.
Why does the recipe call for un-salted butter and then it calls for 1/2 tsp. of salt???
That’s pretty typical. Most recipes use unsalted butter and then add the amount of salt that they would like so that they can control the salt content. If you omitted the salt you would want to use salted butter.
Hi! This recipe looks great! Do you think this dough is good for decorating with an embossed rolling pin?
The dough spreads while baking, so it probably won’t hold the design really well. I’d try my cutout cookies or spritz cookies.
Baked these for my coworkers at Kohl’s along with your snickerdoodles. They LOVED both of them! Snickerdoodles were gone before the store closed for the night and these were almost gone as well! One of my coworkers said that this was one of the best cookies she’s ever had!
This recipe was absolutely delicious!! Thank you, so much!!
It came out beautiful…thanks so much for this recipe been following it for a while now.
I had a little trouble though. The cookies seem to have become so soft that they crumbled almost like they had been exposed to air, but it was just like 2hrs after baking just before I had them packed. Please help
If they were so soft that they were falling apart, did they need to bake a minute longer or so?
They were baked just enough to me..like I tasted them and they were really great
Do you think I could make the dough into balls, freeze then defrost to room temperature, roll in sugar and then bake? Need to do as much ahead as possible! Thanks.
That should be fine.
I just made these cookies! The picture was so enticing that I had to make them right away! They were so easy to make and they look just like the picture. They are delicious too! 😋
P.S. just found out I had to go dairy free so I used vegan butter sticks and I couldn’t even tell a difference.
So glad you enjoyed them!
Can I decorate these with royal icing and let them sit out to let the icing harden, or will the cookies dry out too much?
I would think it’d be ok.