Chocolate Sugar Cookies

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These Chocolate Sugar Cookies have a perfectly light and crisp sugar coating with a buttery and soft cocoa center.  They’re wonderfully chewy, so darn easy to make, and a crowd-pleaser for any occasion!  Enjoy them straight up, with a cup of coffee or tea, or even for ice cream sandwiches!

The smooth and rich cocoa really pops from the balance of the molasses, vanilla, and salt.  They taste a bit like the melding of a brownie and a sugar cookie!  Best of all, there’s very little prep involved and no dough chilling required.

While I love to make them during wintertime and as a cozy holiday cookie, they are super versatile, and an excellent choice any time a chocolate craving hits!

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RECIPE NOTES:

Parchment Paper: Parchment paper is a must for both easy cleanup as well as the ability to cleanly lift the finished cookies from the baking sheets!

Sifting The Dry Ingredients: Sometimes cocoa can get lumpy.  For this reason, I love sifting the combined dry ingredients into the wet ingredients for a super smooth dough without risking overmixing it.

Cookie Dough Texture: The dough should feel light and fluffy when rolling the balls!

Cookie Size: This recipe makes 21 medium-sized cookies.  I like to roll out all of the dough balls before beginning to roll them in the sugar to ensure that they are even (roughly 1.5 – 2 inches each in size).

Bake Time: I find 10 minutes to be the perfect bake time for these cookies!  If you change up the size, be sure to adjust your bake time accordingly!

Batches: The size of your baking sheets will determine how many batches of cookies go into the oven overall.  (Try approx. 6 cookies per baking sheet to start/allow plenty of space.)  I personally like to do 1 sheet at a time, both so that I can use the middle rack of the oven, and also to have more flexibility to adjust subsequent batches if needed.  If you prefer to bake 2 sheets at a time, do whatever you find to be the most convenient!

Storage: These cookies can be stored airtight at room temperature.

INGREDIENT NOTES:

All-Purpose Flour: All-purpose flour is the best neutral flour to use!  (Measuring Tip:  I always like to measure my flour by scooping it into the measuring cup with a spoon, to keep it from getting overly packed, then leveling it out on top with the spoon at the end!)

Dutch-process Cocoa Powder: Dutch-process cocoa powder gives these cookies a super smooth flavor (compared to natural cocoa).  You can find my favorite option within the ingredient list below!

Baking Soda: Baking soda helps the cookies rise.

Salt: Like in most cookies, a small amount of salt is needed to help the dough properly develop.  In these cookies, it’s also very important for taste!  (I use sea salt, ground fine/medium)

Unsalted Butter: The unsalted butter gives these cookies a decadent, buttery taste and texture!

Dark Brown Sugar: The dark brown sugar adds tons of moisture and flavor!

Cane Sugar: The cane sugar is used both in the dough as well as to roll the cookies in before baking.  It’s my preferred/tested type of granulated sugar to use!

Unsulphured Molasses: The molasses adds extra moisture and flavor to the cookies, complementing the cocoa perfectly!  Sulphured molasses is made from more unripe sugarcane that has been treated with sulfur dioxide as a preservative, whereas unsulphured molasses comes from ripe sugarcane with no added sulfur.  (This makes for a sweeter taste with fewer chemical notes!)

Egg: Be sure to use a room temperature egg for it to blend seamlessly into the cookie dough.

Vanilla Extract: The vanilla really helps to enhance the cocoa flavor!

Kitchen Equipment:

• Baking Sheets

• Parchment Paper

• Bowls (2 Large, 1 Small)

• A Hand Mixer

• A Sifter

• A Cooling Rack

Servings: 21 Medium Cookies

Ingredients: 

• 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour 
• 1/2 Cup Dutch-process Cocoa Powder
• 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 Teaspoon Salt (I use sea salt, ground fine/medium)
• 1 Cup Unsalted Butter, softened
• 1 Cup Dark Brown Sugar, packed
• 1/2 Cup Cane Sugar, plus ⅓ cup extra for rolling!
• 1 Tablespoon Unsulphured Molasses
• 1 Egg, room temperature
• 2 Teaspoons Vanilla Extract

Directions:

PREP

Let the egg and butter come to room temperature

BAKE

Preheat the oven to 350º

Line the baking sheet(s) with parchment paper, and set aside

In a large bowl, gently stir together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt until the majority of lumps are gone, and set aside

In a second large bowl, finish softening the butter in the microwave (if needed)

Beat the butter, brown sugar, 1/2 Cup cane sugar, and molasses together for about 2 minutes with a hand mixer, or until fluffy

Beat in the egg and vanilla

Sift about half of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, beat together, then the other half, taking care not to overmix (If needed, use a spoon to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl until all the dry ingredients are gone…The dough will be soft/fluffy)

Gently roll the dough into 21 even dough balls

Add the 1/3 Cup of extra cane sugar into a small bowl

Generously roll the dough balls in sugar, placing them with plenty of room between them on the prepared baking sheet(s)

Bake each batch for 10 minutes on the middle rack of the oven (Cookies will be puffed up with a nice subtle crackled texture…To the touch, firm on the outside, soft on the inside)

Let the cookies fully cool on the pan before transferring off (They will flatten a bit as they cool)

Repeat until all the dough has been used up (There may be a little sugar left over, but that’s ok)

Once fully cool, enjoy!

[Store cookies airtight at room temperature.]