I’ve been wanting to make chocolate sugar cookies for awhile.
But not just any sugar cookies because I don’t even really like sugar cookies.
Sugar cookies are usually too crispy, crunchy, and dry. Those adjectives don’t belong with cookies.
These cookies are moist, soft, and chewy. And thick. So you can really sink your teeth into them.
And I didn’t want white-sugar sugar cookies. Way too boring.
So I made them dark in two ways. With dark cocoa powder and dark brown sugar.
If you don’t have dark cocoa powder and run into snags trying to find it like I did for over two years, order it to save time and a headache. Or use regular unsweetened natural cocoa powder. Your cookies just won’t be as dark.
I tested and wrote the recipe with dark brown sugar rather than light, and recommend it. If all you have is light brown sugar, you can make dark brown sugar by stirring in about 1 or 2 teaspoons of molasses into the 3/4 cup dark brown sugar. It’s not a perfect conversion, but it’ll work.
The recipe has a very short ingredients list and the batch size is small, only making about 15 cookies.
The dough comes together in no time. Make sure to chill it before baking so your cookies bake up thick. Baking with unchilled, warm dough will result in thinner, flatter cookies.
Although they’re thick, the cookies stay soft from using cornstarch. I have written about cornstarch so many times and why I love it. It’s my secret weapon for creating super soft cookies that stay soft, but not cakey.
They’re fudgy, rich, intensely chocolaty, and not overly sweet.
I try to judge a cookie overall by the quality of the dough. These aren’t loaded up with add-ins, candy, chocolate chips or chunks, or anything else. Just boldly chocolaty dough.
Cookies with Reese’s Pieces and M&M’s are destined to be good. It’s what you get when you strip that all away and focus on the dough, sans fillers. And these cookies deliver.
They’re the cookies I recommend for bad days, PMS days, or when the chocolate monster is calling your name and nothing else will do.
I imagine some people would like to wash these down with a big glass of milk or a cup of coffee. I recommend red wine, Homemade Baileys, or champagne. It’s a holiday week, after all.
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Dark Chocolate Dark Brown Sugar Cookies
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar, packed (I have not tried using light brown sugar)
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsweetened natural dark cocoa powder, I used Hershey’s Special Dark; regular cocoa powder or Dutch-processed may be substituted
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
Instructions
- To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter, sugar, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-creamed, light and fluffy, about 5 minutes (or use an electric hand mixer and beat for at least 7 minutes).
- Stop, scrape down the sides of the bowl, and add the remaining ingredients and mix on low speedy until just combined, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Using a medium 2-inch cookie scoop, form heaping 2-tablespoon mounds (I made 15). Place mounds on a large plate, flatten mounds slightly, cover with plasticwrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 5 days, before baking. Do not bake with warm dough because cookies will spread and bake thinner and flatter.
- Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat or spray with cooking spray and place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart although they don’t spread much. I bake 8 cookies per sheet.
- Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, or until edges have set and tops are just beginning to set. It’s hard to tell with dark cookies when they’re done, but do not bake longer than 10 minutes as cookies will firm up as they cool; baking longer causes cookies to set up too crunchy and crumbly. (The cookies shown in the photos were baked with dough that had been chilled overnight, allowed to come to room temp for 15 minutes, and were baked for 8 minutes, with trays rotated at the 4-minute mark). Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing and transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Cookies will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 1 week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, unbaked cookie dough can be stored airtight in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, so consider baking only as many cookies as desired and save the remaining dough to be baked in the future when desired.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Thanks for the 25 Buttery and Cheesy Recipes and Kerrygold Giveaway entries
What’s your favorite chocolate cookie recipe or dark chocolate recipe?
I’m OBSESSED with dark chocolate, and can’t wait to try these cookies!
Thanks for sharing!
Chocolate heaven!
Ok, I’m with you on the whole sugar cookie thing. Regular sugar cookies are boring, I want chocolate in my cookie. I’m just a chocolate kind of girl. These cookies look amazing girl, so rich and fudgey. I love that you used dark chocolate as well as dark brown sugar (you know how I love my dark brown sugar). I need to order myself some of that dark chocolate, so thanks for the link. I love the small batch size as well because cookies really only taste great the first day or two! xoxo, Jackie
Well and you have 2 kids, and they’re older, but my small family of 3 does not need any more than 12 – 18 cookies, at once, max! :)
Oh. My. Goodness. These look stellar. I bet they are so rich and moist with all that dark brown sugar. I made some similar cookies a couple of months ago and they were so black I decided they would make perfect “lumps of coal” for Christmas stockings! But tastier than coal, I’m pretty sure. :)
I love your idea…lumps of coal! :)
I hate sugar cookies for those exact reasons! I don’t know if I would even classify these as cookies because they look like fudgy and ridiculously tasty brownie bites! I need to make these asap!
Soft cookies are the best. They look delicious.
Chocolate sugar cookies are a thing?! Where have I been?! My husband refuses to eat sugar cookies, but I think I could convince him if I whipped up a batch of these.
The choco-holic in me is freaking out right now, Averie! These cookies are begging for a tall glass of milk!
Averie,
quick question: can I use a gluten-free flour to make these luscious chocolate cookies? do you happen to know?
I haven’t tried so your guess is as good as mine. LMK if you try.
Oh wow! I MUST try these. ASAP. My kinda of cookie. Chocolate and Dark and chewy and soft. Hell yes!! xx
I love the way you talk :)
You are the cookie Queen, lady! I’m with you, cookies should be soft and not crispy
I was lucky enough to have all of the ingredients in the house to make a batch of these cookies yesterday afternoon– they are everything you described them to be, Averie! So soft, chocolate-y without being too sweet…perfect, really. I only refrigerated the dough for 2.5 hours (there was an impatient fiance who kept asking when there would be cookies). Thanks for the terrific recipe :-)
That is so awesome that you made them again and that they turned out exactly as promised and described! And impatient fiance…lol. Love that. Didn’t know men got as impatient as we do for our chocolate fixes :) Thanks so much for making these & coming back to LMK!
I feel like there should be a tall, dark, and rich joke that should go with these cookies – because I would marry them if they were a dude. So gorgeous!! And they look so rich!!
LOL. Tall, dark, and handsome. I love it!
These cookies are anything but boring. Mmm!
All I need is a TALL glass of milk to go with these!
I’m not much of sugar cookies too, but I do love dark chocolate among all chocolates and these cookies look really good! Love the expression of “sink my teeth in cookies”. I never used that expression (or heard that) before but I can totally imagine!! :D
Never heard that one? Well yes, they’re super tooth-sinkable!