Chocolate No-Spread Sugar Cookies

This recipe turned out amazing, and I’m so excited to share it with you! Batches and batches of experimentation – playing with flour and delicious cocoa powder amounts, some input from friends and family over the years and finally, the yummiest chocolate sugar cookie recipe!

This no spread recipe for soft, perfect chocolate sugar cookies has the most delicious balance of rich dark chocolate, butter and vanilla. They’re not very sweet on their own, so they’re perfect for icing with royal icing or buttercream frosting, without becoming overly sweet. These chocolate sugar cookies also hold their shape beautifully when they’re baked, which is exactly what you want from a perfect cutout cookie recipe

I have a few notes to share with you about baking cookies in general as well:

Notes:

• One of the reasons I experimented with this recipe so much, is that I wanted to find the best ratio of butter to flour etc., to create the perfect cut out cookie which holds its shape. This one definitely does, but no matter what recipe you use, these tips on how to prevent cookies from spreading are important to know.

• Use the best quality ingredients you can. The cocoa powder will make a big difference in the final taste of your cookies.

With the Holidays coming, you can definitely be guaranteed a great treat for every occasion!!

And don’t miss my Easy No Spread Sugar Cookies, as well as an easy recipe for royal icing.

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So what makes these cookies so perfect?

They don’t spread when they bake. This is key for a perfect cutout cookie recipe. Without the use of leavening in the chocolate sugar cookie dough (including baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar and even eggs), they don’t puff or spread, so your cookie cutter design is perfectly preserved.

These chocolate sugar cookies aren’t too sweet. A sugar cookie shouldn’t be all about the sugar. There needs to be a good balance of flavors, so that when you ice your cookies, they don’t end up tooth-achingly sweet. The cocoa powder adds bitterness, of course, so the cookies themselves are not overly sweet. If you like dark chocolate, they’re delicious on their own, or paired with royal icing or buttercream frosting.

They’re soft. This is a matter of personal preference, of course, but I love soft chocolate sugar cookies, and these deliver. They’re buttery and tender, with delicate flaky edges and a mouthfeel like soft chocolate shortbread.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

• All-Purpose Flour. Provides strength and structure to the sugar cookies.

• Unsweetened Cocoa Powder. Adds rich, dark chocolate flavor. I suggest using a good-quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder.

• Powdered Sugar. Sweetens the sugar cookies, while the fine texture of the powdered sugar makes them soft and tender.

• Salt. Coarse Kosher salt balances the sweetness and enhances the flavor of the chocolate.

• Unsalted Butter. Adds moisture, flavor and fat. When the cookies bake, the water evaporates from the butter and creates steam. The steam fills the cookie with little pockets of air which creates tiny flaky layers for tender, buttery chocolate sugar cookies.

• Vanilla Extract. Good-quality vanilla extract adds flavor, and enhances the richness of the cocoa powder.

• Milk. A splash of whole milk adds moisture to the chocolate sugar cookie dough and binds it together, without the use of an egg, which would make the cookies puff and spread.

Make and Chill the Dough.

• Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer or hand mixer on low to medium speed (Use a paddle attachment). Mix until thoroughly incorporated – for about one minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a plastic spatula and mix again for a few seconds more. Over mixing the butter and sugar in this step will cause too much air to be incorporated into the dough. If you’d like a light and fluffy cookie, that’s ideal, however the dough will spread more during baking; not ideal if you’d like the cookie to hold its shape.

• Add eggs slowly and mix. Scrape down the bowl with your spatula at least once and mix again.

• Add liquid vanilla extract. Stir briefly.

• Sift your dry ingredients together. (Flour, cocoa powder).

• Add all of the flour mixture to the bowl. Place a large tea towel or two small tea towels between the edge of the bowl and the electric mixer so that the flour won’t escape. Mix on low speed for 3o seconds. Remove the tea towel. Observe the dough mixing; when it clumps around the paddle attachment it’s ready. It’s also important at this stage not to over mix the dough.

  
  

• Roll the dough out between 2 large pieces of parchment paper or on a lightly floured surface about 5/8 thick. I use a measured rolling pin on a silicone mat.

• Cut cookie dough shapes place into the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour to chill on a cookie sheet with a silicone mat. They will then hold their shape better when baked.

• Preheat your oven to 350°F

• Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes or until the center of the cookie no longer looks wet. The baking time will depend on the size of your cookie.

• Let cookies cool about 10 to 15 minutes. Then move to a cooling rack and cool at room temperature and decorate.

What’s the best cocoa powder to use for chocolate cookies?

• Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder vs. Natural Cocoa Powder. Understanding the difference between types of cocoa powders is key to choosing one for your cookies, cakes and other baked goods. Dutch-processed cocoa powder is more mellow tasting, less bitter, and darker in color. Natural cocoa powder is stronger and more bitter.

• Personally, I don’t even keep natural cocoa powder on hand, and I only use Dutch-processed cocoa for all of my baking.

• Note that the flavor of the cocoa powder is very prominent in these cookies, so if you use a cheap cocoa powder that doesn’t have a good flavor, your baked cookies won’t taste good either.

How do I keep sugar cookies from spreading?

• Use cold butter. Many sugar cookie recipes use room temperature butter for making the dough, which then requires a long chill time for the dough. I use cold butter, which I cut in quickly and easily with a food processor, so the dough only needs a short time to chill and rest before you roll the dough and cut your cookies.

• Don’t use leavening. Leavening is the enemy of no spread sugar cookies, as it will cause them to puff, spread and lose their shape. You shouldn’t use leavening of any kind, including baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar and eggs.

• Keep the dough cool. Keeping your dough cool, and handling it as little as possible is key to no spread sugar cookies. After rolling the dough and cutting your cookies, you’ll also be chilling the cut cookies prior to baking, to ensure they don’t lose their shape in the oven.

• Bake the cookies on parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. You should never use non-stick baking spray or a baking sheet greased with butter when baking your sugar cookies. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (a silicone baking mat will do, too, although I prefer parchment paper), and your sugar cookies will not spread.

How thick should I roll cookie dough?

• For perfect sugar cookies, it’s best to roll your dough out to 5/8 inch thick. A 5/8 inch thickness is just right for a sugar cookie that’s thick and sturdy enough for decorating, as well as allows the cookie to bake evenly.

• When I make sandwich cookies, I will usually roll the dough out to about 1/4 inch thick, since two cookies will be sandwiched together with buttercream filling. Note that the cookies are quite delicate when they’re more thin, and this is far too thin for a standard sugar cookie.

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