Calling all chocolate lovers! These soft and thick chocolate sugar cookies are so easy to make—the dough comes together in less than 10 minutes with no special equipment required.
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🍪 Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s perfect for chocolate lovers! As a huge chocolate enthusiast myself, I knew I had to make a super rich, chocolatey cookie. So, I added half a cup of cocoa powder in the dough. 🤗
- The texture is amazing—thick, moist, and super soft!
- You won’t need any special equipment. Simply mix everything in one bowl with a silicone spatula, then scoop, and bake.
Looking for more easy cookie recipes? Try out my tiny chocolate chip cookies!
Ingredients
To make the best chocolate sugar cookie recipe, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- I used Ghirardelli’s unsweetened 100% cocoa powder. It’s so rich and indulgent—my go cocoa powder!
- Melted unsalted butter makes the cookie dough really easy to mix by hand.
- I like to use a mix of brown sugar and granulated sugar to create the perfect balance of flavor and chew.
- Adding in both baking powder and baking soda gives us the exact texture and rise we’re aiming for!
- You can use either vanilla extract or vanilla paste (1:1) in this recipe.
- The table salt can be swapped out with fine sea salt (1:1).
Looking for a basic sugar cookie recipe? Try out my cute bunny sugar cookies!
For the full list of ingredients and measurements, see the recipe card below.
💡 Baking Tips
- Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
- For rounder cookies, place a large circular cutter or mug on top of a freshly baked, warm cookie. Move it around in a circular motion until your cookie is perfectly round! This step is totally optional and purely for plating purposes! 🙂
How to Make Soft Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Step 1: Mix melted butter and cocoa powder.
Step 2: Stir in egg and vanilla until smooth.
Step 3: Mix in dry ingredients until no dry spots remain. Use a cookie scoop (2-3 tablespoon capacity) to gather dough, then roll into granulated sugar. Place cookie dough balls on lined baking sheet about 3 inches apart.
Step 4: Bake at 325°F/162°C for 10-13 minutes or until the edges are set and lightly golden. Remove from the oven let cookies sit on baking tray for at least 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to fully cool.
For full instructions, see the recipe card below.
Me: Sooo how are the cookies?
Boyfriend: *pretending to fall over with his hand out at me ✋🏼* Please stop talking. I’m focusing.
Yeah. He loved them. Hahahah!
Chocolate Sugar Cookie Recipe FAQs
I like to use Ghirardelli’s unsweetened 100% cocoa powder. It’s very rich in flavor and high quality.
Yes, although it wouldn’t be a sugar cookie anymore!
You can add around ½-1 cup of mix-ins, like white/milk/dark chocolate chips, crushed pretzels, etc.
They can last at room temperature in an airtight container for up 5 days. See my storage instructions on how to freeze them.
Storage
- Room temperature: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing instructions: Store cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
- Reheating instructions: Allow frozen cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 15 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals. You can also freeze dough balls. Roll into sugar and bake as usual, just add 2-3 more minutes!
❤️ More Sugar Cookie Recipes
Did you try this recipe?
Please leave a review & share it with me on Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok, or Pinterest!
Thank you so much! -Bianca ❤️
📖 Recipe & Video
Chocolate Sugar Cookies
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Equipment
- 1 small bowl or plate for rolling dough in sugar
- 1 medium mixing bowl for dry ingredients
- 1 large mixing bowl for mixing dough
- 1 Medium cookie scoop 2-3 tablespoon capacity
- Parchment Paper
Ingredients
Dry ingredients:
- 1 ¼ cups (156.25 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (2 g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (3 g) table salt or fine sea salt
Wet ingredients:
- ½ cup (113.5 g) unsalted butter melted and cooled
- ½ cup (48 g) cocoa powder
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ¼ cup (55 g) brown sugar packed; light or dark
- 1 (1) egg room temperature
- 1 tablespoon (13 g) vanilla extract or paste
For rolling:
- 4 tablespoons (48 g) granulated sugar
Instructions
For the cookie dough:
- In a large bowl, use silicone spatula to mix melted ½ cup unsalted butter and ½ cup cocoa powder until combined.
- Mix in ½ cup granulated sugar and ¼ cup brown sugar until smooth.
- Stir in 1 egg and 1 tablespoon vanilla until fully combined.
- Add in all of the dry ingredients: 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, and ½ teaspoon table salt. Mix until no dry spots remain.
Scoop & bake cookies:
- Preheat oven to 325°F/162°C and line two baking trays with parchment paper.
- In a small bowl or plate, add 4 tablespoons granulated sugar for rolling the dough.
- Use cookie dough scoop to gather dough (2-3 tablespoons). Roll into granulated sugar and place on lined baking tray, spacing cookies about 3-4 inches apart.
- Bake for 9-11 minutes, or until edges are set and middles are mostly cooked. Cool cookies on pan for 5 minutes, then transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!TIP: For rounder cookies, place a large circular cutter or mug on top of a freshly baked, warm cookie. Move it around in a circular motion until your cookie is perfectly round! This step is totally optional and purely for plating purposes! 🙂
Notes
- Weigh your ingredients! One of my favorite kitchen tools is a kitchen scale because it’s more accurate than measuring by volume. If you use cups, spoon the flour in gently, then level it with a knife or spatula.
- Room temperature: Store cooled cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.
- Freezing instructions: Store cooled cookies in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.
- Reheating instructions: Allow frozen cookies to thaw at room temperature for about 10 minutes. Or, reheat in the microwave at 10-second intervals.
(I am the author of the recipe)
Super happy with how this recipe came out. The PERFECT amount of chocolate and sweetness, with moist and soft textures!