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
Scale
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