Soft Chocolate Sugar Cookies (easy, no-chill recipe)
Soft, chewy Chocolate Sugar Cookies with crisp edges and a fudgy center. It's a rich and chocolatey no-chill recipe with simple ingredients.
Servings 15 medium cookies
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter at room temperature
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 1 tablespoon milk at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup sugar to roll the cookies, optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper or lightly grease them.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon baking powder and ½ teaspoon salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to cream 1 cup butter, softened, and gradually add 1 ½ cups sugar, mixing until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.
- Beat in the wet ingredients: 1 egg, 1 tablespoon milk, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract until well combined.
- Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Gradually add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing on low speed until just combined. Do it in 2 or 3 parts, but don't wait until it's fully incorporated to add the next part, so you don't overmix the dough.
- Roll about 1-inch dough balls and roll in sugar (optional). Place them 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheets. You can also drop spoonfuls of dough if preferred and omit the rolling.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the edges are set. The centers may look slightly underdone; this is normal for fudgy cookies. Smack the pan against the counter if you want chewier cookies, just after you take them out of the oven. They will deflate.
- Let cookies cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing carefully with a spatula and transferring them to the wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
You can bake the cookies right after mixing the dough or chill it first, for several hours or a day or two. The difference is in consistency and sometimes flavor. The chilled dough expands less and can have a more rounded flavor as the ingredients have time to meld together. In my experience, the difference is not that big, and I usually bake half and then chill the rest.
To roll or not to roll in sugar before baking? It's your choice. Rolling the cookie dough balls in granulated sugar creates a crunchy top and adds sweetness. If you don't, you'll still get slightly crackly cookies with a slightly more intense chocolate flavor. If in doubt, test both ways with a few cookies and decide before you bake the whole batch.
Double dose of chocolate: add about ½ cup of semisweet chocolate chips together with the last part of the flour.
