Chocolate Sugar Cookies (Cut Outs)

A stack of two Christmas tree chocolate cut out cookies.

These Chocolate Sugar Cookies take my Sugar Cookie Cut Out to a new chocolatey level. They are thick and soft, and hold their shape so beautifully, with nice crisp and clean edges making them perfect for decorating.

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Cookies, cut out sugar cookies, Sugar Cookies

Prep Time: 12

Cook Time: 8

Chilling Time: 30

Total Time: 50

Servings: cookies

Calories: 125kcal

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter (slightly softened)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cup all purpose flour (spooned and leveled or weighed)
6 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl (the bowl of a stand mixer), or with a hand mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. 1 cup unsalted butter , 1 cup granulated sugar
Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until combined, scraping the edges and side of the bowl as needed. 1 large egg, 2 tsp vanilla extract
Add in the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt and mix until combined and you have a nice soft dough. (It will look crumbly at first then will start to come together). 2 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 6 TBS unsweetened cocoa powder, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt
Roll the cookie dough out on a lightly floured counter top to be 1/4 inch thick.
Cover the dough with parchment paper on top and bottom and place it in the fridge for 1 hour.
Remove from the fridge and cut the cookies out into desired shapes.
Place the cookies onto a lined cookie sheet about 1 inch apart.
Place the cookie sheet in the fridge to chill for another 15 minutes.
While chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Continue rolling and cutting out additional cookies, pressing the scraps of dough together as needed.
Place one pan of cookies into the oven at a time and bake for 7 to 8 minutes, for 2 to 3 inch cookies, or until the tops of the cookies are no longer shiny, and the cookies look set.
Remove the pan from the oven and let the cookies sit on the cookie sheet for at least 5 minutes to chill.
Transfer the cookies to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Enjoy unfrosted, or frost and decorate as desired.

Notes

Chilling - You can bake these cookies straight after making the dough, but your edges might be a little less crisp. Since its a minimal chilling process already, I usually just chill them, but if you're in a hurry you can skip that step. They'll still taste and look beautiful.

Watch Closely - The cookies bake in just a few minutes, so you want to watch the last minute or two of baking time to keep them from baking too long in the oven. The tops of the cookies will look just set when you remove them from the oven for a soft cookie.

Crisp Cookies - The cookies are soft as is, but if you prefer a crisp sugar cookie you can bake them for about 1 extra minute. Watch closely because you still want your cookies to be light in color, they only need a little extra time to crisp up a bit.

Re-Roll the Scraps - You can scoop up and squish the cookie dough scraps back together and roll them back out into a flat surface to make even more cookies. This will keep you from wasting any dough, unless you want to sneak a bite and eat some before baking ;)

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