Simple chocolate cutout cookies with a great texture! These rich, chocolate flavoured cookies are so easy to make and can be cut out into any shape! These are the perfect chocolate cookies, made for dunking into milk or coffee.

Chocolate cutout cookies on a white background.

Simple chocolate cutout cookies with a wonderful texture.

I am in love with with cookie cutters. My love may border on an obsession. I have baskets full of cookie cutters that I have collected over the years and every holiday, and every theme, seems to be covered. I have got Halloween themed cookie cutters in the shape of skulls and skeletons. I have a collection of musical instrument cookie cutters purchased in order to gift my daughters’ music teachers something sweet. And of course I have heart shaped cookie cutters, perfect for making cookies for my loves on Valentine’s Day.

The most frequently used cookie cutters however might be those that represent Christmas. My gingerbread people, candy canes, bells and snowflakes are well worn, as are my Christmas tree cookie cutters, used to make these chocolate cutout cookies. The truth is however, if you have a great cookie recipe like this one, any cookie cutter is going to be perfect!

Why I love this recipe

The texture of these cookies is perfect! Firm on the outside but still pretty soft on the inside. They hold up really well to being dunked in a cup of tea or a glass of milk, but they are also perfect just as they are!

The flavour is amazing! Just sweet enough, and the combination of vanilla and almond extract makes these cookies fragrant and delicious.

They are so much fun to make, and gifting or offering someone cutout cookies is really sending the message that you care about them! You care enough to take the extra step to make a cookie that they have to take time to prepare. These cookies are so special for that!

Key ingredients

If you are a baker, or have a pretty well stocked refrigerator and panty, chances are you have everything you need to make these cookies. There is nothing complicated required!

Flour I use all-purpose flour in this recipe. It is perfect for baking!

Cocoa powder I use unsweetened cocoa powder for these cookies. I usually use dutch-processed cocoa powder, but for these cookies you can use either dutch-process or natural cocoa powder.

Baking powder The cookies will rise a little bit, so the baking powder is key!

Butter I use unsalted butter that I have softened at room temperature, to make it easier to work with.

Brown sugar I like to add brown sugar to this cookie recipe. It adds a nice caramel flavour.

White sugar Added sweetness but with a mild flavour to help balance out the sweetness and flavour of these cookies.

Eggs I use large eggs in all my baking, including here!

Vanilla extract I use pure vanilla extract. It is more expensive than artificial vanilla flavouring, but definitely worth it.

Almond extract I like to add almond extract to these cookies as well. Such a beautiful aroma and flavour.

Salt Always salt, even in sweet recipes! It helps highlight all the other flavours so well!

How to make

Making these chocolate cutout cookies is pretty simple, but it does require some planning. The dough needs to chill in the oven for at least an hour, and

Step 1
In a medium size bowl whisk together all the dry ingredients and set aside.

Step 2
In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugars for about 3 minutes. Add in the eggs, extracts and continue to beat for another 5 minutes at medium speed.

Step 3
With the mixer speed set to low, add in the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.

Step 4
Transfer your dough to a large sheet of plastic wrap and knead it until it forms a ball. Flatten your ball to a disc that is about 1 inch thick. Cover the dough entirely with plastic wrap and then place in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Step 5
Preheat oven to 350 °F.

Step 6
Roll out your dough between two sheets of plastic wrap or on a lightly floured surface until it is ¼ inch thick. This is easier to do if you portion out your dough so that you are only dealing with a little at a time. Use your cookie cutters to create shapes and transfer the cookies to a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Step 7
Bake in the middle rack of your oven for 9 to 11 minutes or until the edges are firm. You will notice that the centers of the cookies still appear soft; this is normal.

Step 8
Allow the cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

Recipe substitutions

As mentioned in the list of ingredients, for the cocoa powder you can use either Dutch-processed or natural cocoa powder. The two are not always interchangeable in recipes, but for these chocolate cutout cookies, either is fine.

If you don’t have almond extract, consider using orange extract. The combination of chocolate and orange flavour is amazing! You can also just skip the second extract and simply add the vanilla, which is more common.

Baking tips

Making these chocolate cutout cookies, or any cutout cookies for that matter, requires a bit of planning. You almost always need to chill the dough, and making cookie cutouts takes more time than simply dolloping dough on a cookie sheet, the way you would for example when making white chocolate and cranberry cookies. Still, they are most definitely worth the effort!

An easy way to roll out dough for cutout cookies:

Most recipes suggest that you roll portions of dough on a lightly floured surface, with a lightly floured rolling pin. This works, but I prefer another method. I place a portion of dough on a flat, clean piece of plastic wrap. I then cover the dough with another clean piece of plastic wrap and roll the dough that way. When it has reached the desired thickness, I remove the top plastic wrap and cutout my cookies. Then, I gather the remaining dough, and repeat. This way is less messy and ensures that I don’t end up adding too much extra flour.

How to bake chocolate cutout cookies

I bake these cookies on parchment lined baking sheets in the middle rack of my oven for 9 – 11 minutes. They should be baked until the edges and bottoms are slightly browned. The center of the cookies may still appear soft – that’s fine. They will firm up as they cool. The final cookies should not be rock hard, as will be the case if you over bake them.

How to serve

These cookies are the perfect cookie to dunk into some hot chocolate or Greek coffee! They would also be amazing with a mug of warmed milk, prepare the way my parents always did when I was little.

Frequently asked questions

How long do I have to chill the dough for these chocolate cutout cookies?

The dough, once shaped into a ball, needs to be wrapped really well in plastic wrap and kept in the refrigerator for at least an hour. We like to flatten our ball of dough a little bit before placing it into the fridge, making a disc that is an inch or so thick. This helps with the chilling process. You can also chill your dough for longer, which is a great idea if you are planning ahead. We have made these cookies with dough we have chilled for up to two days, but it should be fine for up to three days as well.

Anything you like! If it is February, then you might want to make heart shaped cookie cutters. If you are baking these for Christmas, then Christmas themed cookie cutters make sense. I like to use a variety of cookie cutters and try to maximize the number of cookies I can make each time I roll out the dough. That often means using cookie cutters of various shapes, even within the same theme.

How to keep them fresh

You can keep the chocolate cutout cookies fresh in a well sealed container at room temperature for up to a week. Otherwise, keep your cookies fresh by keeping them in the refrigerator, or even freezing them.

Can I decorate my chocolate cutout cookies?

Of course you can. You will see that I have not – I like the simple flavour of the plain cookies (also, I had no time!). You can choose to dust your cookies with icing sugar (simple and pretty) or you can use icing to decorate your cookies. You can also add sprinkles or small candies before baking them. Anything you like would work – the cookie is your canvas!

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