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Chocolate Sugar Cookie Cutouts

These chocolate sugar cookie cutouts are the chocolate version of my viral Sugar Cookie Cutouts! I love making variations on these sugar cookies – the flavor possibilities are really endless. This chocolate version is made with cocoa powder and a little coffee mixed in. I promise you cannot taste the coffee! It just enhances that delicious chocolate flavor.

Why Choose Chocolate Sugar Cookie Cutouts?

Sugar cookies are already a classic, but adding cocoa to the mix gives them an extra layer of depth and richness. The chocolate flavor brings a delightful contrast to the typically sweet, buttery dough. If you’re a fan of chocolate but don’t want the heaviness of a full-on chocolate cookie, this is the perfect in-between. Plus, these cookies hold their shape beautifully, making them ideal for decorating with vibrant icing or sprinkles.

Recipe notes:

This recipe makes about 18 large sugar cookie cutouts, but can be easily doubled if you need more.
Use Room Temperature Ingredients: For a smooth dough that’s easy to work with, always use room-temperature butter and eggs. Cold butter can cause the dough to be crumbly and hard to roll out.
Different types of cocoa powder: There are three different kinds of cocoa powder – natural, dutch-processed, and black – and any one will work in this recipe. I used natural cocoa powder in this recipe, but dutch-processed would be delicious and provide and even more rich chocolate flavor.
Measure accurately: Be sure to accurately measure your flour by spooning and leveling it in your measuring cup. Packing your flour will result in adding too much and dry cookies.
Flour your work surface: While rolling out the dough, make sure to lightly flour your work surface, rolling pin, and cookie cutters. However, too much flour can dry out the dough and make the cookies too tough. Keep it light and dust off any excess.

Ingredients

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cups granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour, divided
1/4 cup strongly brewed black coffee

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a small bowl or cup, mix together the 1/4 cup of black coffee and 1/4 cup of the flour, set aside.
Cream together your butter and sugar in your electric mixer with the paddle attachment.
Once butter and sugar is light and fluffy, add in egg and coffee mixture. Mix until combined.
In a separate bowl, combine your baking powder, cocoa powder, and flour. Add your dry ingredients into your butter mixture, about 1 cup at a time. Mix until combined. Dough will be thick.
Once dough is completely combined, lightly dust a clean work surface with flour and roll out your dough. I like to work with about 1/4 of the dough at a time. If you work with too much at one time it will be difficult to roll out.
Roll dough to about 1/4-1/2 inch thickness and cut with desired cookie cutters
Transfer to baking sheet, and bake for 6-7 minutes, depending on oven and preference. I never bake mine longer than 7 minutes. If the edges are starting to turn brown you’ve baked a little too long, but the overall glossiness of the raw dough should be gone.
Cool completely before decorating. I recommend topping these with chocolate buttercream, classic buttercream, or even cream cheese frosting. Enjoy!

As always, if you give these a try please let me know what you think in the comments!