Chocolate Sugar Cookies
These soft, chewy, and super chocolatey cookies come together easy and quick and last for days. They are begging to be dunked into a glass of milk for the absolute perfect afternoon treat.
Soft, chewy, and super chocolatey sugar cookies. These come together easy and quick and last for days. They are begging to be dunked into a glass of milk for the absolute perfect afternoon treat.
Crinkly Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Crinkly cookies > flat cookies. Always and forever. That’s my humble opinion. These cookies puff up in the oven and then crack. When you take them out, the collapse into big thin, soft rounds with gorgeous crinkles. But instead of getting crispy, they remain soft and chewy (even the edges!) after the cooling period and for days later.
This recipe took some fine-tuning. Remember back in December when we were all making spice cookies? I tested my spice molasses cookie recipe seven times before I got to exactly where I wanted to be. In the process, I had made them a couple times with cocoa – because I, as I am wont to do, aim to chocolateify (this is a word, it has to be) everything. And it was totally worth it because I got these!
How to get chewy chocolate sugar cookies
The secret to perfectly chewy is the use of egg yolks, if you have made any cookie on this site, chances are you’ve read me make a case for yolks. Yolks are full of good fats and are the main contributor to a chewy cookie.
Third, oat flour. Oat flour may sound like a fancy ingredient but it’s just finely ground oats. I’m a big fan of using oat flour in my baking; for two reasons: it tastes fabulous in everything from cookies to pancakes; and it also gives great texture.
Why are some of the cookies darker?
That’s the cocoa. For the darker ones I used some black cocoa, you guys already know I’m a fan of the stuff. In addition to adding a bit of drama to the cookie, it also deepens the flavor. But if you don’t have it, all dutch is just as perfect.
Notes & substitutions on making chocolate sugar cookies
- To ensure chewiness, don’t overbake these! Exactly 10 minutes at 350 for 1.5 tablespoons of dough per cookie. If you bake smaller or larger cookies adjust your bake time accordingly. When you take them out they should still be quite soft in the center. They will settle as they cool.
- If you use oragnic brown sugar, add an egg yolk. Organic brown absorbs more moisture so it needs two.
- Use a cookie scoop to portion the dough – this ensures they will all be the same size and bake the same. Here is the one I always use, for 1.5 tablespoon of dough per cookie.
- The darker version of the cookie was made by substituting 1/4 cup of the dutch cocoa with black cocoa. Black is deeper and more dramatic (tastes like oreos) in both looks and taste.
- If you wanted to go full oreo, make the cookie smaller and skip the rolling in sugar. Do however roll them between your palms to smooth out the top of the dough (this is so you can get those perfect cracks on top). Make a vanilla buttercream and sandwich the cookies.
- Store the cookies in an airtight container to maintain chewiness.
Recipe for Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- ¾ cup unsalted butter softened, 170g
- 1 ¼ cup brown sugar 250g
- 1 large egg plus 1 yolk
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup plus ¼ cup dutch process cocoa 65g
- 1 ⅔ cup oat flour or all purpose flour 220g
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- granulated sugar for rolling
Method
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
- Pour the sugar for rolling into a small bowl and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand-mixer or using a large bowl and a hand mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar, salt and vanilla together for 5-7 minutes until very light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and yolk and beat for another 2-3 minutes.
- In a bowl whisk together the oat flour, cocoa and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and beat until just combined.
- Drop the cookie dough into 1 ½ tablespoon rounds on the parchment paper, leaving a generous amount of space between them, don’t bake more than 9 per pan.
- Dip the dough mounds in the raw cane sugar rolling gently to cover the dough in sugar. Return to cookie sheet.
- Bake for exactly 10 minutes. When you remove them from the oven they will be puffy and cracked, as they cool they flatten.
- Store in an air-tight container, to avoid the cookies drying out and losing their chewiness.
Did you make this recipe?
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These are amazing! But like some other commenters here, mine barely flattened. I’m wondering if that, for some ovens, that 10 mins may be too long (oven temps can vary) and they become more cakey. Next time I will try baking for 8 mins to see if that helps!
Can I make this cookie dough a day ahead and refrigerate overnight? If so, do I need to increase the baking time since the dough will be cold?
It might be quite hard to scoop left in the fridge! I would prepare the dough, portion & scoop it onto a tray (and roll them in the sugar at this point) then freeze the tray for 10 mins. Transfer the dough balls to a ziplock bag or airtight container and freeze. Then you can bake from frozen, and yep add a couple of minutes to the baking time
These are my go-to cookies! First recipe I’ve used black cocoa for – and I’m hooked!!
This is a lovely cookie recipe, a wonderful treat. I baked a tray last night and baked a tray today.
Thank you so much for sharing this yum yum, it’s permanently apart of my baking rotation now. Happy snacking Sincerely, Trent ???
Great recipe!!
I cut the sugar in half and it was perfect for our taste. They didn’t really spread, flattened very slightly, which left them as delicious buttery biscuits that melt in the mouth.
These cookies are so good. The taste and texture are perfect. And they look so pretty with coarse sugar .I will definitely make these often.
It’s November 2022 and I has just made that absolutely fantastic chocolate cookies! I just add 200g sugar knowing that the original amount will be too much, add half white half oat flour and they are PERFECT. I will stay with that recipe! Bravo! I love them!
I’ve made these 3 or 4 times now. I always start with the intention to share, but I end up annoyed at my husband for even having a couple. They’re so damn good!
These are so good! I made them with Ghiradelli Majestic 22/24 dutched cocoa, and the flavor is mellow but divine. Lovely texture, soft and fluffy.
Loved these! SO easy and delicious, perfect texture and so fun! The batch was gone in less than 24 hours
the PERFECT cookie, I am obsessed with this recipe!!!!!!!! made it 3 times in a week and a half because I had to share with everyone I know!
These are my daughter’s favorite cookies! They are so rich and fudgey. I am very glad we found this recipe. We’ve had them as written, as well as topped them with cream cheese frosting instead of rolling them in sugar. No matter how we make them, they are a win. Thanks, Sam, for sharing another amazing dessert.
I love the idea of cream cheese frosting on these! Thank you for your review <3
Obsessed with these cookies! They remind me of Archway’s Dutch cocoa cookies we used to get at the store growing up (but ten times better cause they are homemade!!).
Curious if you have a trick to getting them to spread and flatten so much! Mine baked on the puffier side and didn’t spread/flatten as much as yours!
SO EASY! SO DELICIOUS!!! I used dutch chocolate, but now will go for the black as I can only imagine how good they would be! on one tray, i not only rolled the cookies (3) in sugar, but also topped them in flakey salt: DELISH!!! Thanks for a great recipe!!!
We absolutely love these cookies. I make them at least once a month. I sent them with my husband when he went backcountry skiing, and he said they were like a cup of cocoa. I’ve even made these with a butter alternative and gluten-free flour, and they are still amazing.
Bonne, that is exactly how I think of them ‘a cup of cocoa’ so happy you guys are both enjoying them !
These cookies are perfection. The chocolate flavor is fantastic and not too rich. They are light and fluffy and didn’t last long at my house! Will definitely be making them again!
Barbara, yay!! I always felt these cookies deserve a lot of love so I’m delighted that you feel the same way!
Just made these for the “Supper Bowl” and they were SO GOOD. You and I have the same cookie preferences, so I am so glad for your recipe and your blog. Thank you!
Amazing! This is my go to sugar cookie recipe. I’m not a big fan of regular sugar cookies but these are perfect brownie satisfaction in cookie form.
I used black cocoa from King Arthur Flour and these cookies are show-stoppers. Soft and chewy like the best sugar cookies but the chocolate brings them to a whole new level. Buttermilk by Sam has done it again and created another favorite recipe!
Hi Neilie! Thank you so much for the comment, it’s been awhile since anyone has made these! So happy to hear they worked out for you.
These are perfect. The flavor is incredible, they’re soft but chewy. Even friends who don’t like chocolate somehow fell in love with these. They are a staple in my baking rotation. Thank you Sam!!