Soft, buttery cocoa cookies decorated with royal icing.
These cookies sort of taste like hot chocolate to me since they are made with cocoa powder. I almost called them “Hot Chocolate Cookies” and thought about decorating them to look like mugs of steaming hot cocoa…but I really wanted to post the recipe and it’s July, so I reconsidered the hot chocolate concept. This keeps happening to me though … I’m coming up with all of these great fall and winter recipes that no one cares about in July and meanwhile I’m wasting all the great summer flavors. So sorry everyone but you’re getting chocolate cookies today!
These cookies are adapted from my absolute favorite Sugar Cookie recipe. I just substituted some cocoa for flour, added a little more baking powder, and sugar … and wham it’s a chocolate cookie! I love my Grandma’s sugar cookie recipe so much that I keep making new flavor combinations with it just so I can simultaneously make my favorite cookie and post a new recipe for y’all. That’s why I made those Lemon Almond Sugar Cookies, which were amazing by the way. And I also have another version to post later this fall.
The added crunchy texture of the icing on top goes perfectly with the soft cookie. And the icing makes these cookies so lively and happy. The contrast of the pale blue and white icing against the chocolate cookie is fun, and the decorations are so simple … just draw zig zags, loopidy loops, lines, and dots. Simple yet whimsical! 
I used a fluted biscuit cutter for the ones above and a flower shape for the ones below. Any generic type of shape would work for this design!
These would also be great in the winter … did I mention they taste like hot chocolate? … you could cut them out with a snowflake cookie cutter and then decorate with white icing and sanding sugar!
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup cocoa powder (natural unsweetened)
- 1½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup salted butter, softened
- 1⅓ cup granulated sugar
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅓ cup milk
- 2 cups (215g) powdered sugar
- 1½ Tablespoons (15g) meringue powder
- 3-4 Tablespoons (45-60g) warm water
- Food coloring
- Sift flour and cocoa powder together.
- Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, cream the butter until it is smooth.
- Add sugar gradually.
- Mix in egg yolks and vanilla and blend well.
- Add dry ingredients gradually to wet ingredients alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
- Form dough into two balls, flatten into discs, and wrap in plastic wrap.
- Chill for at least 1 hour in refrigerator or until firm.
- Preheat oven to 350°F degrees.
- Flour a clean, dry surface and a rolling pin very well.
- Roll dough out on a well floured surface to ¼ inch thickness.
- Cut with cookie cutters and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake for 7-8 minutes.
- Cool on the pan for 1-2 minutes and then carefully remove them to a wire rack.
- With an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, beat the powdered sugar, meringue powder, and water together on high until smooth and shiny, about 3 minutes. If you pull the whisk attachment out of the icing, it should be thick enough that the dripping icing does not immediately meld into the icing in the bowl but not so thick that it is a frosting consistency. If it is too thin, add some more powdered sugar. If it is too thick, add a little water.
- Put some of the icing in another bowl (you can use a paper bowl so you can throw it away later) and mix in food coloring (I used 3 or 4 drops of blue and 1 drop of green).
- Using a piping bag with a Wilton #2 tip, pipe designs onto the cookies.
- Let the icing dry for 1-2 hours before stacking the cookies.
Decorating is awesome! How did you do it?
Thanks! It’s just royal icing and some freehand decorating!
Those are just beautiful! Great job with the decorating. I will be trying that recipe!
Thanks Deb! Let me know how they turn out!