Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookies

These Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookies are super soft and chewy, studded with milk chocolate chunks, and frosted with a light and fluffy milk chocolate frosting. They are easy to make and they give you a bakery-worthy cookie that is addicting and satisfying without being too sweet.

I’m using black cocoa powder in this recipe because it gives the cookies that deep chocolate flavor that you expect from Oreos, and it tastes amazing paired up with milk chocolate chunks. I like to mix this cookie dough entirely by hand, and the results are seriously SO good. Let me show you how to make them!

How to Make Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Starting with the cookies themselves, this is an easy recipe to pull together but we are using a special ingredient here with the black cocoa powder. I love the bitterness that it gives the cookies here; it really helps balance everything with a sweet buttercream on top.

To start off, whisk together the melted butter, white sugar, and brown sugar in a large bowl. Working with melted butter here makes the dough really easy to mix together by hand. Then it’s time to stir in the egg and vanilla extract and again give everything a good whisk.

Then it’s time to add in the dry ingredients and stir again until you have a thick but soft dough. There should be no dry pockets of flour remaining here. I’m using black cocoa powder in these cookies because I think the flavor is amazing and offers a lot of great flavor balance here, but you can also use Dutch-processed cocoa powder and still end up with really lovely cookies.

Stir in the chopped milk chocolate chunks next. I love using a chopped up bar of chocolate because you can usually get a chocolate that you really love the taste of, plus it gives you lots of random sizes and shapes of chocolate running throughout. Then it’s time to scoop out the cookie dough onto a baking sheet and let it chill for at least an hour so the butter firms back up before baking.

Once the cookies are cooled, you can start working on the frosting. This is a really simple milk chocolate buttercream, and it comes together easily. I’m using melted milk chocolate here along with heavy cream to make everything light and silky smooth, and the frosting is on the sweet side which is why the bitterness in the black cocoa is such a lovely balance here!

Then simply frost the cooled cookies however you’d like, and optionally top them with some sprinkles. Hope you guys enjoy this one!

Tips & Tricks for Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Here are my tips and tricks for the perfect soft Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookies:

• Do I have to use black cocoa powder? I think the black cocoa powder really makes these cookies amazing, but you can also swap in Dutch-processed cocoa powder if needed here.
• Do I have to use chopped chocolate bars? You can easily swap in chocolate chips, but you may find that your cookies stay thicker when they bake and you won’t end up with so many pools of yummy chocolate. I prefer bars overall!
• Do I have to use milk chocolate? No, you can certainly swap in semi-sweet or dark chocolate if you’d like, but the cookies themselves are not super sweet so I think it’s a good balance to use milk chocolate here.
• Do I have to chill the dough? Yes, don’t skip this step or your cookies will spread too much and won’t be as soft after baking.
• Do I have to frost the cookies? You can certainly skip the frosting if you’d like here and enjoy the cookies plain- they are delicious either way.
• Be sure the cookies cool completely before frosting or the frosting will simply melt off of the cookies. It’s important to let the cookies to cool completely!
• My frosting seems too thick still, can I fix this? Yes, you can beat in another tablespoon of heavy cream to soften the frosting if needed here.
• I’m at about 5,000 ft. above sea level and I find that most people who live between about 3,000-7,000 ft. above sea level do not need to make any adjustments to my recipes.

Enjoy!

Print

Frosted Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Servings 15 cookies

Ingredients

For the cookies:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup black cocoa powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 3 oz chopped milk chocolate

For the frosting:

• 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tbs. heavy cream
• 3 oz melted cooled milk chocolate

Instructions

For the cookies:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt, and set aside.
2. In a medium microwave safe bowl, melt the butter in the microwave until completely liquid. Pour the melted butter into a large mixing bowl.
3. Stir in the vanilla extract, granulated sugar, and brown sugar until well combined. Then add in the egg, and again stir until the mixture is combined and the egg is no longer visibly showing any streaks. Add in the dry ingredients, and mix until you’ve got a thick dough formed. Then, finally add in the chopped chocolate.
4. On a small baking sheet or plate lined with parchment paper, scoop your cookie dough into about 2-tablespoonful-rounds. You should end up with 12-15 cookies in total. Cover the cookies in plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour, and up to 48 hours.
5. After chilling the dough, you can either transfer the dough to a freezer safe container and freeze for 3-4 months before baking, or you can bake them now! Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the cookie dough about 2 inches apart on your baking sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes, or until the cookies look puffed and set. Cool the cookies completely before frosting.

For the frosting:

1. In a medium bowl, beat together the softened butter, powdered sugar, and salt until well combined- it will be very thick at this stage, and it may even still be dry and crumbly in texture. Add in the vanilla extract and heavy cream and beat until well combined and everything is smooth.
2. Add in the melted chocolate and mix until you have a smooth, silky chocolate frosting. Frost your cookies as desired and enjoy! Store the cookies in an air tight container at room temperature for 5-7 days, or in the fridge for 7-10 days.

Nicole Hampton

Hello and welcome! My name is Nicole, and Dough-eyed is a food blog for people who want to bake for their family and friends in high-altitude areas. Think of me as a friendly voice there with you in the kitchen, here to give you confidence when you’re baking, and to help you with the struggles of baking at high-altitude. Come back every week for new recipes, tips, and advice on high-altitude baking!