Say hello to my favorite chocolate sugar cookie recipe! These cookies stay soft and tender for days, will hold their shape when baking, and of course bring a perfect chocolate flavor. A super quick recipe to make and even more fun to decorate!
Another great thing about this recipe is that you can choose to use natural unsweetened cocoa powder OR dark chocolate cocoa powder for a more intense flavor! You’ll notice in these pictures I have both varieties. The medium brown colored cookies are made using natural unsweetened cocoa. (See the “Cute AF” cookie below.) And the darker almost black colored cookies are made with dark chocolate cocoa powder. (See the “Cutie” cookie in the above photo.)
You can’t go wrong with either version of these chocolate sugar cookies!
I adapted this recipe off of my original sugar cookie recipe that I’ve been using for years! The secret to keeping them soft is using cream cheese in the dough. Trust me, it’s a game changer!
While these chocolate sugar cookies are perfect just on their own they also make a great canvas for decorations. Even though I haven’t quite honed my royal icing skills it’s still fun to play around with colors and phrases (or sprinkles!) when decorating. Remember, this part should be about having fun, not perfection!
I love seeing all the fun words and phrases people come up with for conversation hearts! Anything from the classic “love you” to the trendy “thank u, next”! And don’t feel like these should be Valentine’s Day focused either. Change up the colors and text to your liking. “Happy BDay”, “Boss Babe”, “Congrats” or words revolved around another holiday or event will work great! Get creative! And if you make these, be sure to tag me on Instagram so I can see!
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Conversation Heart Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- Prep Time: 1 hour, 30 min (includes chilling)
- Cook Time: 10 min
- Total Time: 1 hour, 40 min (includes chilling)
- Yield: 16–24 cookies, depending on size 1x
Description
My favorite cut-out chocolate sugar cookies! Stays soft for days and keeps their shape when baking! A perfect canvas for icing and decorating. Can be made with regular cocoa powder or dark chocolate cocoa for a more intense flavor.
Ingredients
Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder (natural unsweetened or dark chocolate)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
Extras
- Royal Icing
- Gel food coloring
- Sprinkles
Instructions
Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together softened butter and cream cheese. Beat in sugar until fluffy. Next, mix in egg and vanilla extract until everything is well combined.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt.
- Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on low speed just until there are no more dry streaks and the dough clumps together.
- Divide the dough into two equal portions and form into a disk shape. Wrap each half in cling film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- On a floured surface, or between 2 pieces of parchment paper, roll out one disk of dough to 1/4 – 3/8 inch thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out desired shapes. Place on baking sheets, leaving space between each cookie. Repeat with second disk of dough.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, for cookies about 3 inches in size, until edges are set. Cookies should still be a little soft. (Adjust baking time +/- 1 minute depending on size of cookie cutter used.)
- Let cool on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes before removing from pan and letting cool completely.
Decorating
- After cookies have completely cooled you can begin decorating. Make homemade royal icing or use store bought. Slowly add a few drops to a tsp of water at a time until it has reached a looser, more flowing consistency. When flooding the cookies, the icing should drizzle off a spoon when lifted up and settle smoothly back into the bowl after about 8-10 seconds.
- Use gel food coloring to color the icing as desired. Keep separate colors in different bowls and cover surface of icing with plastic wrap to prevent it from crusting.
- Place icing in a piping bag fitted with a small round tip (such as Wilton #2 or #3) and outline and fill the top of each cookie. Top with sprinkles while icing is still wet. Otherwise, let set for several hours or overnight before adding another layer of royal icing.
- To pipe on the letters, only bring the icing to about a medium peak consistency. You want it to flow out of a piping tip smoothly but not be too runny where the letters will blend together.
- Pipe on desired words or phrases using a smaller round piping tip (such as Wilton #1 or #2). Let dry for several hours before stacking cookies
[…] These are conversation heart chocolate sugar cookies that any beginner can also try to make and achieve some great results. Follow the recipe given here and get started. The ingredients that you need are unsalted butter, cream cheese softened, granulated sugar, vanilla extract, all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Tutorial […]