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Perfectly round and slightly crinkled chocolate cookies, shimmering with a coat of granulated sugar.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Name: Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 27 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 8 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter – softened to room temperature; 1 cup Granulated Sugar – 3/4 cup will be used in the batter and 1/4 cup will be used to coat the cookies before baking; 1 Egg – large; 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract; 1 cup All-Purpose Flour – spooned and leveled, see note *; 1/4 cup Cocoa Powder – I highly recommend using Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder if you can find it; 2 Tablespoons Cornstarch; 1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt; 3/4 teaspoon Baking Powder

Perfectly soft, tender, and rich chocolate sugar cookies rolled in granulated sugar that can be warm and in your hands in 30 minutes!

what to expect:

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 12 minutes | Total Time: 27 minutes

Yield: 12 cookies

This chocolate sugar cookie recipe is easy and a crowd pleaser. They come together quickly and result in the most perfectly soft and almost delicate chocolate cookies that are still strong enough to hold their structure – no one wants a floppy cookie.

First, let’s address the elephant in the room. These are not chocolate cut-out cookies. Those are a different beast and while they have their place and purpose, that’s not what these cookies are.

These chocolate sugar cookies are a drop-style cookie, which in this case means no need to chill or roll out the dough. Simply scoop with a cookie scoop, roll it in some granulated sugar and bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

What You’ll Find in This Post

Feel free to jump to what you need!

What You Will Need (Ingredients & Equipment)
What Type of Cocoa to Use
How to Make Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Can You Add Icing?

What You’ll Need

Ingredients for Chocolate Sugar Cookies

The recipe for these chocolate sugar cookies keeps the ingredients pretty simple! You’ll need the following:

Unsalted Butter: I prefer using unsalted butter in my recipes instead of salted butter so that I can control how salty the final result is. But if you only have unsalted butter on hand, they’ll still be good!
Granulated Sugar: there’s no brown sugar in this recipe, just granulated sugar to keep with sugar cookie tradition. It adds the perfect amount of sweetness.
A Large Egg: eggs add structure to the dough, helping hold everything together.
Vanilla Extract: you may not think vanilla extract is needed in chocolate cookies, but I think it helps heighten the flavor.
All-Purpose Flour: you probably already have this ingredient in your pantry! My go to is King Arthur’s Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (not sponsored), most grocery stores will have it on hand.
Cocoa Powder: I prefer to use Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder for this recipe, but you can use whatever you have on hand! I’ve tested it with normal cocoa powder too and they’re still just as good.
Cornstarch: this is the secret ingredient to getting these cookies so soft, so don’t skip it! The King Arthur Baking Company Essential Cookie Companion (this is an affiliate link with Bookshop.org) book talks about how using cornstarch in cookies can help lower the protein content of the dough, resulting in a more tender cookie.
Baking Powder: helps the cookies puff and give them that signature crackle on the top.
Kosher Salt: salt helps balance out the sweetness and heighten the flavor of the cookies.

Ingredients to be used in a recipe for chocolate sugar cookies: unsalted butter, a large egg, cornstarch, all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, baking powder, kosher salt, and granulated sugar.

Equipment

To make these chocolate sugar cookies, you’ll need a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, a spatula to scrape down the bowl as you go, a small mixing bowl and whisk for your dry ingredients, a small cookie scoop, a small bowl to roll the dough balls in sugar, and a baking tray lined with parchment paper. If you prefer it, you could use a silicone baking mat instead of the parchment paper.

What Type of Cocoa to Use for Chocolate Sugar Cookies?

Some people get fancy with duch-process cocoa powder and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that! But my favorite type of cocoa powder to use for these chocolate sugar cookies is Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa Powder (not sponsored), it gives such a rich and full chocolatey flavor that I just love. Not every store has it, but it’s worth taking a look in the baking aisle of your local grocery store and picking it up if you can find it! It’s also great in brownies.

I’ve also tested these cookies with normal, store-brand cocoa powder and they still turn out great. Use whatever you have!

How to Make Chocolate Sugar Cookies

These chocolate sugar cookies follow the basic creaming method:

Cream together the butter and sugar in a stand mixer.
Add the egg and vanilla extract.
Add your dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Roll the dough balls in granulated sugar.
Bake and enjoy!

Chocolate sugar cookie dough, rolled in a thin layer of granulated sugar and waiting on a lined baking tray before baking in the oven.

Can You Add Icing?

Absolutely! My only recommendation is that you forego rolling the dough in sugar before putting it on the baking sheet. If you’re adding the icing, they’re going to be too sweet if they’re also rolled in sugar. While I didn’t test an icing with these cookies, I feel like a butter cream, chocolate frosting, or even cream cheese frosting would be delicious.

They’d even be delicious decorated with some royal icing details.

Personally, I like them rolled in sugar because it shows off that crackly, crinkled top which I love and I don’t like to make icing very often lol

If you make these chocolate sugar cookies, let me know how they turned out by leaving a review! And if you love chocolate, check out some of my other chocolate recipes like my chocolate snacking cake, dark as night chocolate cookies, and basic bea brownies!