I have been trying to find a chocolate cookie recipe that tastes great while still standing up to royal icing. This proved to be more of a challenge than I expected. Finding a recipe that tasted good was no problem, but many of the recipes I tried were not as sturdy as what I was looking for.
As a last resort I decided to try to make my tried and true sugar cookie recipe into a chocolate cookie. Surprisingly, it worked really well! It has a very good chocolate flavor and it is easy to decorate. Keep in mind that the quality of your cocoa powder is going to dictate the flavor of this cookie. Try different brands to see which one you like best. My favorite is Hershey’s Dark Cocoa, but Hershey’s classic cocoa is also a great alternative. Make sure your cocoa powder is fresh, this will also influence the quality of your finished product. If you would like to try my royal icing recipe here is the link.
I hope you will give this recipe a try and let me know what you think.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, slightly softened
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla **
- 3 - 3 1/2 cups flour***
- 1 cup good quality cocoa powder
Instructions
- Mix butter and granulated sugar until thoroughly blended. You don't need to "cream" your butter and sugar. The more you mix your dough at each stage the more your cookies will spread while being baked. Add eggs and extracts. Mix well. Add flour and cocoa, mix until just combined. Do not over mix your dough. Separate the dough into 2 or 3 balls, flatten and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. The dough can also be frozen at this point. Defrost it in the refrigerator. The dough will keep for a few days, in the refrigerator.
- Take one piece of dough out and let it sit on the counter for a few minutes. The dough will be very hard, but it softens quickly. Working with one section of dough at a time, roll the dough on a floured surface, to about 1/4″ thickness, and cut into desired shapes. Less is more when it comes to flouring your pastry cloth. The more flour you incorporate into the rolled dough, the tougher your cookies will be.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes. All ovens are different so keep an eye on your cookies the first time you make them to determine the best time for your oven.
- **You may add any other flavoring you may like but don’t eliminate the vanilla. Some great additions would be 2 tsp. espresso coffee powder, 1 tsp. peppermint extract, 1 tsp. orange extract or 1 tsp. almond extract. Be aware of nut allergies if you choose to use pure almond extract.
- *** In dry, winter months start with less flour. If the dough is too soft add the remaining flour.
Powered by Zip Recipes
https://sugarcoatednanagrams.com/2017/02/16/chocolate-sugar-cookies/