This fudge icing is perfect for dipping or spreading over cookies for a chocolaty delicious finish that is stackable. Your cookie trays just got an upgrade!
If you want a delicious fudgy frosting on your cookies, but still want them to stack and store nicely, you are in the right place! This icing comes together quickly, has big chocolate flavor, and it sets solid.
It is the perfect topping for so many cookies and treats. Leftovers are also great drizzled over ice cream for a hot fudge sauce!
We were trying to figure out something fun we could pass out at Little Dude’s birthday parade this year. We love making fun treats for our friends and family.
This year it seems extra important to have a sweet spot in your day. Plus we wanted to thank everyone who made the effort to make his day special despite the trying times.
We have a tradition of getting him a donut for breakfast on his birthday. We meet my dad at the donut shop and get the day kicked off right.
So it seemed like a fun idea to pay homage to that tradition and make donut shaped cookies. The perfect topping for donuts, be they real or the cookie variety, is chocolate icing and fun sprinkles.
Luckily I knew just how to do that. We had donut and donut hole cookies at our Easter open house in 2016.
It’s been a while since I shared them. Plus Little Dude and I made a video of making and using the icing this time.
Email Me The Link
I'll email this post to you, so you can easily find it later. Plus you’ll get new recipes from me every week!
So I thought I’d share the icing recipe again. It is the same fudge that we dip our pecan crescent cookies in, but we only dunked the top for these donuts instead of dipping the whole cookie.
The flavor is so good and it makes for fun donut cookies. I can’t wait to hear how you decide to use it!
Tips and tricks
For the biggest chocolate flavor use semisweet or dark chocolate chips. But feel free to experiment with your favorite type of chips.
For Little Dude’s birthday cookies we used his favorite, milk chocolate chips. The color was lighter and the flavor more mild, but he was a super happy camper.
If you want your frosting super smooth, sift the powdered sugar into the pan. Sometimes small lumps of powdered sugar form otherwise.
For the crescent cookies we usually submerge the cookies entirely and then place them on wax paper to set. For chocolate covered cherry cookies I tend to just spread a bit of icing on the center of the cookies.
For these donuts I have spread the frosting over the top, but the fastest way is to just dunk the face of the cookie. You can ice an entire batch of sugar cookies in no time!
Chocolate Fudge Icing for Stackable Cookies
Ingredients
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- ½ cup whole milk
- 3 cups sifted powdered sugar
Instructions
- In a double boiler melt chocolate chips, butter and milk stirring frequently until the mixture is melted.1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, 3 Tablespoons butter, ½ cup whole milk
- Whisk in the powdered sugar until completely incorporated and smooth.3 cups sifted powdered sugar
- While keeping the frosting warm, spread over cookies. Add sprinkles if desired and place on wax paper in a single layer until completely set. Then stack and store in airtight containers.
Video
Email Me The Link
I’ll email this post to you, so you can easily find it later. Plus you’ll get new recipes from me every week!
Did you try this recipe?
Don’t forget to leave a rating below and make sure to follow on Pinterest and Instagram for more!
Get social!
Recipes in your inbox
This recipe is excellent – I have made it many times, in varying quantities, and drizzled it on a variety of homemade baked goods, including shortbread, chocolate cherry blossoms, and scones. I often take baked treats when I travel to visit family and the icing always holds up well without smearing.
It does tend to harden relatively quickly so it’s essential to keep it warm if you’re making a large quantity.
I’m planning on substitute cream cheese chips and/or cinnamon chips for the chocolate when I next make cinnamon roll scones and am eager to see and taste the result!
Oooh, trying cream cheese or cinnamon chips would be fun! Keeping it a good temperature is definitely key to having it go well. I am so glad that you like it!
This recipe worked wonderfully! I found it after an icing recipe from a cookbook turned out bad (it was just melted chocolate and water and got super lumpy and gross). This recipe was soooooo much better. Thank you!!
I am so glad it worked for you! Chocolate and water is tricky. In the right proportions it can become something, but if everything’s not perfect you get a mess.
The way you include the ingredients and measures in the instructions is Wonderful! No more having to scroll up and down! I wish all recipes were written like this.
I am glad it is helpful!
Those look delicious! Any reason this recipe wouldn’t work with white chocolate chips (so it can be dyed different colors)? I’m not really a fan of icing, but naked sugar cookies are a bit boring and adding chocolate makes almost everything better!
It seems like that should work and sounds delicious. I can’t wait to hear how it goes.
@Carlee It worked great!! I modified the recipe slightly (melted the white chocolate chips/butter in the microwave on half power, added a splash of vanilla in with the milk, and then added a few drops of food coloring to thirds of it to get white, green, and red), but the icing turned out so delicious and pretty on our sugar cookies. Only minor issue was keeping it warm enough to spread while we were icing the cookies (easily solved by a few seconds in the microwave). Once set, the cookies stacked no problem, as advertised. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe! Happy holidays!
Yay! I am so glad it worked for you. I am trying it soon!
Can you freeze them after frosted? Or can you freeze the frosting? Thanks!
You can freeze the cookies after they are frosted. The only thing to watch for would be condensation which can form if the cold cookies are brought back to room temperature in a humid environment. If you defrost them in the refrigerator overnight, that should help reduce the risk.
Worked perfectly.
I am so glad to hear that!
Can this be colored with food coloring? I wanted to get a black color.
I don’t see why not, that should work great!
Can this be piped?
I haven’t tried it, but I wouldn’t think so. It more of a dipping or spreading consistency. I would try a chocolate buttercream or chocolate royal icing for piping.
Is the chocolate supposed to set on the cookie? Mine looks very loose. Should I refrigerate them? I halved the recipe; did that affect the texture and ability to set?
It should set, but may take a little time. A quick trip to the fridge should let you know if it is going to set or not. I can’t see how halving it should change it. If they aren’t setting you could always add a few Tablespoons more powdered sugar.