A variation of a classic sugar cookie recipe, giving it a chocolate twist.

This recipe is joining my favorites list for sure.

I’m a fan of sugar cookies.

The trouble is, my partner isn’t. A lot of sugar cookie recipes are, he says, “bland and boring.” So, I don’t make them as often as I want to. It’s tricky, because a lot of sugar cookie recipes make a ton of cookies, and if he doesn’t like them, then a lot of them get stale long before I finish them off.

Friends and family among you probably know that I’m always on the lookout for new recipes to try. Around Christmas last year, I was lamenting in one of my Discord servers that I hadn’t yet found a sugar cookie that both I and my partner liked.

Enter Ria. Ria is a new friend, and she came through with this recipe she’s been making for years. Well, not THIS recipe. Hers are vanilla sugar cookies. I find them delightful! They’re tasty, not too heavy, soft but with a bit of crispness, and they’re great for sprinkles, icing, or whatever else you want to put on top.

Partner? “Meh.” So hard to please! But, I know how to do it. Who doesn’t love adding a little chocolate to the mix?

So, that’s exactly what I did. I took the original sugar cookie recipe, added some chocolate to it, and pruned it down to 1/4th of the original amounts. The results? Well, let’s just say he’s eaten half of every batch I’ve made, so I’d say they’re a hit.

Cookies of all shapes and sizes (that I have cutters for)

Modifications

As I said, the original recipe was both plain sugar cookies and much larger than my recipe below. The recipe below is chocolate, and it gets that chocolate from the addition of cocoa powder. If you want, you can replace the cocoa powder with flour on a 1:1 basis, and you’ll have the vanilla cookies.

You can, as well, simply double (or quadruple) the recipe. It still mixes up the same, you don’t have to worry about proportions, it’ll just take longer to roll out, shape, and bake a large batch.

You can also do some experimentation. I’ve done a few things, and they’ve all worked out nicely:

Add cinnamon but not chocolate, for cinnamon cookies.
Add a bit of orange extract, for choco-orange cookies.
Top the cookies with a homemade icing (or your favorite store-bought brand.)

It’s a really flexible base recipe! In fact, if any of you make this, and make any changes to it, let me know in the comments. Send me a picture!

5 from 1 vote

ChocoRia Sugar Cookies

Chocolate sugar cookies that aren't too heavy, and are dead simple to make.

Servings 12 Cookies

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 9

Total Time 24

Equipment

Cookie Cutters
Rolling Pin
Silicone Baking Mat
Baking Sheet

Ingredients

10 Tbsp Flour
2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
¼ Cup Butter Softened
¼ Cup Sugar
¼ Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Tbsp Egg Lightly beaten
⅛ Tsp Salt
¼ Tsp Baking Powder
½ Tsp Cinnamon

Instructions

Cream together the butter and sugar.
Add the egg and vanilla and mix together.
Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Sift together, into the wet mixture.
Mix together. I use a fork to stir and combine until it's crumbly, then use my hands to knead it into a dough ball.
Lightly flour a surface and, using a rolling pin, roll the dough flat. Aim for about ¼" thick.
Cut out your shapes. Roll the excess back into a ball, roll it flat again, and repeat, until all dough has been shaped as you like it.
(Optional) If you want to add sprinkles, lightly brush the cookies with a bit of water and add the sprinkles. This will make sure they adhere to the cookies.
Bake for about 9 minutes at 350° They won't look entirely done when you pull them out, but once you let them cool, they'll harden into a slightly crisp, soft cookie.