Halloween is only two days away, and while it’s one of my favorite holidays ever, I can’t say I’m doing anything too festive this year. Maybe getting married a couple months ago has filled my need for getting dressed up for awhile? Or possibly the looming arrival of Hurricaine Sandy has left me more worried about stocking up on food and water in case we get washed away… Lucky for me though, I bought the most adorable Halloween sprinkles on sale over the summer and I couldn’t possibly let the season go by without using them to make festive cookies for a holiday I love.
I thought a not-too-sweet chocolate sugar cookie topped with creamy, rich frosting would be the perfect clean slate for some festive sprinkles. These soft cookies were pillowy and full of dark chocolate flavor without being over-powering. With endless frosting color/sprinkle combos- this recipe is a great one to have around as a go-to holiday cookie. These would be so fun to fancy up for Christmas, Valentines Day, or really for no purpose at all.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder (dutch process/Valharona power highly recommended)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup light-brown sugar
- 9 Tbsp butter, softened (1 stick + 1 Tbsp)
- 2 Tbsp sour cream
- 1 large egg
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
- frosting:
- 12 tablespoons of butter, softened. (1 stick and a half)
- 4 cups of powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
- 1-2 tablespoons milk or cream
- gel food coloring(optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt, set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix together granulated sugar, brown sugar, butter and sour cream until light and fluffy about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the egg, egg yolk and vanilla and mix until well combined. Slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until incorporated (dough will be thick).
- Scoop 1-2 tablespoon sized portions of dough and form into balls. (depending on how big you want them.)
- Place dough-balls onto parchment-lined cookie sheets and evenly flatten to about 1/2 inch thick. (The cookies don't spread much so they can be relitavely close.)
- Bake in preheated oven 9 - 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
- Place softened butter in a large bowl and whip until creamy and pale. Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time until thick and smooth. Add in vanilla and milk or cream until frosting is dense and creamy. Add food coloring if using. Frost cookies using an offset spatula and top with sprinkles.
Notes
The frosting gets nice and stiff after sitting out for a little while, which also makes them relatively easy to pack or stack!
cookie recipe from: Cooking Classy
Yes! How funny was that? I did not expect to see that :)
Strawberry frosting sounds like a great adaptation!
Sounds like some great additions! Yum!
Hi Bee, not sure if Audra got back to you but I just made them and they are much too soft to shape. You are thinking off an “ice box” style of sugar cookie for shapinjg. America’s Test Kitchen has a good recipe for those.
http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/bake-it-better/2011/11/secrets-to-pinwheel-and-checkerboard-icebox-cookies/
Just made these to bring to friends for dinner! I halved the recipe and only got 8 cookies, but that will be enough. Hopefully…. they’re pretty good. I added espresso powder to the cookies and made the frosting with coconut oil and added toasted coconut on top. Yummmm coconut mocha in a cookie!
These look great. Can’t wait to make them. Also, I was watching the Mindy Project last night and recognized you and Natalie in the opening scenes. So cool!
I saw these today and set out to make them immediatly!this isnt the first time thats happened. Awsome my 7 yo nephew said. But i frosted them with strawberry buttercream that I had hanging around after making strawberry cupcakes with creamy lemon filling.
Ooo these remind me of the ones you can buy in the grocery store but without all the icky stuff. Love that!
Mmmm. These look so good. I love the contrast of the dark chocolate cookie and the soft orange frosting. It looks so pretty :)
I’d never heard of chocolate sugar cookies before! Could you shape them like Christmas cookies if you wanted to?
You know I’m game for anything involving frosting, especially when it’s on a cookie!