These chocolate cookies have a deep dark color, great chocolate flavor and are perfect for rolling out and cutting into shapes. Your decorated cookie game just went to the next level!
Cut out cookies are always fun to bake and decorate for parties and holidays. Those cookies don’t have to be limited to sugar cookies though.
These rich chocolate cookies are made with dark cocoa powder to make them taste great and give them that deep dark color. They really make a stunning addition to your dessert table and they are sure to be a hit with everyone you share them with.
Luckily the dough is quick to whip up and easy to work with, so this recipe will quickly become a new favorite.
Little Dude and I love decorating cookies together. We always make a day of it during the holiday season and usually find an excuse to break out the royal icing and supplies at least one or two more times throughout the year.
This year we were lucky enough to have the whole week off for Christmas, so we had plenty of time to bake and decorate together. We whipped up a batch of our favorite sugar cookies, but knew we wanted to do at least one more flavor of cookie while we were at it.
If you are going to bake and decorate, you might as well go all out! In the past we have done batches of peanut butter cut out cookies or gingerbread cookies as both are delicious and fun to decorate.
But it is always fun to try something new, so we thought chocolate would be fun this year. Luckily I had just picked up some black cocoa powder at a local specialty grocery store and I knew that would make super fun cookies.
It really gave the cookies a great chocolate flavor and a pretty dark black color. A dutched or dark chocolate cocoa powder would also give it a nice deep dark color.
If you don’t have either, don’t despair. Regular baking cocoa powder would work as well, the color just won’t be quite as dark.
We love the texture of our sugar cookies so much and the dough is really easy to work with, so I started with that recipe as a base and adjusted it to include the cocoa powder. It worked out well and the texture of the dough was perfect.
Once you get it chilled it isn’t too hard to roll, but it also isn’t overly sticky. It’s just right!
Tips for perfect chocolate cut out cookies:
Don’t skip the chill time. That makes the dough so much easier to work with.
We like to make the dough a day in advance and roll and bake them the following day to spread out the work and give the dough plenty of time to chill. You can make the dough several days in advance if you’d like, that would really give the flavors time to develop.
We used a mixture of flour and cocoa powder to dust our countertop and rolling pin to cut down on the white dust on the cookies. You can use all of one or the other if you prefer.
Cut the dough into quarters and put the remaining dough back into the refrigerator while you work with one piece. Roll the dough out as evenly as possible and cut the cookies as close together as possible.
The fewer times you rework the dough and roll it back out, the more tender your cookies will be. So making the most out of each sheet of dough not only saves work but makes better treats in the end.
Cool your cookies on the baking tray for four to five minutes before moving them to a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled you can stack them to freeze for later or decorate them as desired.
What kind of cocoa powder should I use in these cookies?
I used black cocoa powder for these cookies, but you could use dutch cocoa powder, dark cocoa powder or even standard baking cocoa powder. They will all be delicious, just with varying shades of chocolate color.
If you want to try different flavors of tasty cookies, be sure to check out the collection of our favorite cut out cookies. There are tons of different varieties to make alongside your sugar cookies.
Dark Chocolate Cut Out Cookies
Ingredients
- 1½ cups butter softened
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4 cups all purpose flour plus extra for dusting surfaces
- 1 cup black cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.1½ cups butter, 2 cups granulated sugar
- Add eggs and vanilla, mixing until completely incorporated.4 large eggs, 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- Stir in flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt until just incorporated.4 cups all purpose flour plus extra for dusting surfaces, 1 cup black cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt
- Form into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for at least one hour but up to several days.
- When ready to bake, preheat oven to 400°F.
- Cut dough into quarters and work with one part at a time. Return remaining dough to refrigerator until ready to use.
- Dust your surface with flour, cocoa powder or a mix of the two. Roll dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into shapes and place on baking pan.
- Bake 6-8 minutes. Cool on pan for 4-5 minutes then move to wire rack to cool completely.
- Cookies should be stored in airtight container on the counter for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Judy
Saturday 4th of February 2023
Can I mix dark chocolate chips into the dough? And, Can I substitute Splenda for the sugar?
Carlee
Sunday 5th of February 2023
I haven't tried Splenda, but it should be fine if you normally substitute it in cookies with success. The chocolate chips should technically work, but it would make it hard to roll out evenly and cut into intricate shapes.
Nikki
Thursday 8th of December 2022
These turned out really good even though I forgot the salt. 🤦🏻‍♀️ I made snowflake cutouts and cookie decorating icing. I did have my oven on 350 for 9 minutes and they were perfect. I bet they’re perfection with salt lol.
Andrea Nine
Monday 4th of January 2021
I just love these! I never would’ve thought about making a dark chocolate version but look how amazing they are! I really want to try these! Happy new year my friend!
Carlee
Saturday 9th of January 2021
Thank you so much. They are really tasty and super fun to decorate too.