Great recipe for chocolate cut-out cookies with cocoa. The cookies become an eye-catcher by the colorful sugar decoration. Especially great for baking with kids!
Taste and Occasion
Unusual Christmas creations are lovely, yes. But especially at this traditional time of the year, simple chocolate cut-out cookies are obligatory, right? My easy recipe for chocolate cookies with cocoa is also perfect for baking with the whole family.
Kids especially love decorating chocolate cookies with colorful sprinkles, nonpareils, icing, and more. By the way, I have just as much fun doing it 😉 .
Ingredients
The recipe I present to you in this post is really uncomplicated. You can call it a dark alternative to the classic, light cut-out cookies. The dough - kneaded dough or shortbread - is prepared in a flash. After a cooling period, it can be rolled out and cut out directly. Bake. And that's it. By the way, Grandma's chocolate cookies should actually be called chocolate cookies with cocoa. Because couverture comes at most on top. The only step where a good tip can be helpful is "fixing" the sugar decoration. I'll tell you in the following what options you have for this.
Maybe some of you know this phenomenon when baking cookies with children: First, they are with tremendous enthusiasm, then the adults have to roll out and cut out everything alone 😉 . When decorating, the little helpers are back again. The easiest (and most boring) is to dust the quickly made chocolate chip cookies with powdered sugar for cutting. Or brush them with chocolate glaze or icing.
How to make the Chocolate Cut-Out Cookies
Let's start: First of all, put the flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, and vanilla in a bowl. Now, add the cold butter in flakes and the egg and knead everything into a smooth dough. Form the dough into two large balls and refrigerate in plastic wrap for at least an hour.
Then, heat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Remove the first ball of dough from the refrigerator, let it come to room temperature briefly, and roll it out between sheets of plastic wrap or on a floured baking mat. Cut out about 25 cookies and place them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on size and thickness. Do the same with the second portion of dough. Knead dough scraps together, chill again briefly and then roll out.
In the end, allow cookies to cool completely, remove them from the baking sheet, and decorate as desired.
Top Tip
It's best to decorate the chocolate cut-out cookies with sprinkles as invisibly as possible. I mean that you do not immediately see how they are attached. For this purpose, you can use colorless food glue, preferably from a tube. With these, you make dots on the chocolate cookies. After that, our little helpers always overload grandma's chocolate cut-out cookies with masses of colorful decorations 😉 …
Recipe Card
Chocolate Cut-Out Cookies
Ingredients
For the dough
- 220 grams (1 ⅘ cups) all-purpose flour
- 40 grams (½ cup) baking cocoa
- 100 grams (½ cup) sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 160 grams (⅗ cup) butter, cold
- 1 egg, medium
- ½ teaspoon vanilla paste, optional
Decoration options
- icing
- chocolate coating
- food glue
- sugar decoration
Instructions
- Put the flour, cocoa, sugar, salt, and vanilla in a bowl. Add the cold butter in flakes and the egg and knead everything into a smooth dough. Form the dough into two large balls and refrigerate in plastic wrap for at least an hour.
- Heat the oven to 350°F/175°C. Remove the first ball of dough from the refrigerator, let it come to room temperature briefly, and roll it out between sheets of plastic wrap or on a floured baking mat.
- Cut out about 25 cookies and place them on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on size and thickness. Do the same with the second portion of dough. Knead dough scraps together, chill again briefly and then roll out.
- Allow cookies to cool completely. Remove from baking sheet and decorate as desired.
Notes
- For the decoration, you can use, for example: sifted powdered sugar, melted chocolate glaze for brushing, powdered sugar glaze made of sifted powdered sugar, and a minimum amount of milk.
- Then sprinkle the cookies with colored sugar balls.
- Alternatively, for an "invisible" decorating base, dab the cookies in a few places with food glue from a tube and then sprinkle them with sugar decorations.
Ingredient substitutions
Variations
Check out my other cookie recipes if you're in a Christmas baking mood right now. How about my vanilla crescents, the original cinnamon stars, or the German Christmas stollen?
About Kathrin & Jan
It's like a little miracle to me every time. Seemingly simple ingredients are made into something that can brighten up your life. Butter, sugar, eggs, and flour melt into an airy biscuit, a fine tart, a juicy cake, or a crispy biscuit. Baking simply makes you happy. Welcome and enjoy our blog!
Kathrin & Jan
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