This recipe is a richer, chocolate version of my favorite, well-loved sugar cookie recipe. I’ve included notes on how to make them thicker for those of us who love our cookies soft, and thinner for thin & crispy fans. Be sure to check out the easy how-to video just below the recipe!
Chocolate Sugar Cookies
It’s officially (chocolate) sugar cookie season! I hope everyone had a wonderful, filling Thanksgiving surrounded by their favorite people. I also hope you are just as excited as I am about all of the Christmas baking and candy-making recipes that I have planned for the upcoming weeks. I’ve been working on so many holiday recipes, and I’m especially excited to be sharing today’s chocolate sugar cookies. Based off my faithful original sugar cookie recipe, this is a solid, reliable cookie base that won’t spread in the oven and delivers perfect cookies every time.
Many of the tips that I shared over in my original sugar cookie recipe still apply here, but I wanted to reiterate a few regarding the thickness of your sugar cookies.
How to Make Sugar Cookies Thinner and Crispier
This may sound pretty obvious, but to make your cookies thinner and crispier all you need to do is roll your dough thinner. I’ve found that about ⅛″ is a good thickness for thin cookies that have a nice, crisp texture when they’re finished baking. Keep in mind that very thin cookies will likely need to bake for less time in the oven, so keep an eye on them (you don’t want your edges to turn too dark or it means they’ve burned!).
How to Make Sugar Cookies Thicker and Softer
Even though I just shared my 100% addictive thin & crispy Maple Leaf Cookies, thick, soft cookies have always been my preference, especially when it comes to sugar cookies. For thicker cookies, I recommend rolling your dough about ¼″ thick. You also want to be sure that you don’t over-bake them in your oven, or they’ll be crisp when they cool. I’ve found that about 10-11 minutes is the sweet spot for my soft sugar cookies. Make sure you let your cookies cool completely before removing them from the cookie sheet as the thicker, softer cookies are a little fragile when warm and may break if you try to move them too soon.
Tips for Making Sugar Cookie Frosting
I’ve never been a fan of royal icing. I never cared for the taste and always thought it was a pain to make, so last year I perfected a simple (egg white-free) non-royal icing frosting. It makes for a smooth and shiny, easy to work with icing that is almost impossible to mess up. If you find that it’s too thick when you’ve mixed all of your ingredients together, you can simply add more milk (about a teaspoon at a time) until the proper consistency is reached. Conversely, if your frosting is too thin, you can add more powdered sugar until it’s thickened. I do recommend sifting your powdered sugar if you plan on piping your frosting. Sometimes powdered sugar has clumps in it that don’t break up when you’re mixing your ingredients together, and left unsifted these can clog your piping tips while you’re decorating. There are few things as frustrating as trying to pry a pocket of sugar out of your piping tip so you don’t have to dump out the whole bag and start over!
Enjoy! For a non-chocolate version, be sure to check out my classic sugar cookie recipe!
How to Make Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Be sure to check out my video at the bottom of the recipe! I actually filmed this video on how to make my original cookie recipe, but I do talk about how to make the cookies chocolate as well. I think it will still be helpful here as the technique is almost identical.
