Perfect High Altitude Chocolate Sugar Cookies (No Spread Recipe)

My no spread recipe for soft, perfect high altitude chocolate sugar cookies has the most delicious balance of rich dark chocolate, butter and vanilla. They’re not very sweet on their own, so they’re perfect for icing with royal icing or buttercream frosting, without becoming cloyingly sweet. These chocolate sugar cookies also hold their shape beautifully when they’re baked, which is exactly what you want from a perfect cutout cookie recipe.

And don’t miss my perfect vanilla sugar cookies, as well as an easy recipe for royal icing.

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So what makes these cookies so perfect?

They don’t spread when they bake. This is key for a perfect cutout cookie recipe. Without the use of leavening in the chocolate sugar cookie dough (including baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar and even eggs), they don’t puff or spread, so your cookie cutter design is perfectly preserved.

These chocolate sugar cookies aren’t too sweet. A sugar cookie shouldn’t be all about the sugar. There needs to be a good balance of flavors, so that when you ice your cookies, they don’t end up tooth-achingly sweet. The cocoa powder adds bitterness, of course, so the cookies themselves are not overly sweet. If you like dark chocolate, they’re delicious on their own, or paired with royal icing or buttercream frosting.

They’re soft. This is a matter of personal preference, of course, but I love soft chocolate sugar cookies, and these deliver. They’re buttery and tender, with delicate flaky edges and a mouthfeel like soft chocolate shortbread.

See the recipe card at the end of the post for the full ingredients list and instructions.

Ingredients

• All-Purpose Flour. Provides strength and structure to the sugar cookies.
• Unsweetened Cocoa Powder. Adds rich, dark chocolate flavor. I suggest using a good-quality Dutch-processed cocoa powder.
• Powdered Sugar. Sweetens the sugar cookies, while the fine texture of the powdered sugar makes them soft and tender.
• Salt. Coarse Kosher salt balances the sweetness and enhances the flavor of the chocolate.
• Unsalted Butter. Adds moisture, flavor and fat. When the cookies bake, the water evaporates from the butter and creates steam. The steam fills the cookie with little pockets of air which creates tiny flaky layers for tender, buttery chocolate sugar cookies.
• Vanilla Extract. Good-quality vanilla extract adds flavor, and enhances the richness of the cocoa powder.
• Milk. A splash of whole milk adds moisture to the chocolate sugar cookie dough and binds it together, without the use of an egg, which would make the cookies puff and spread.

Instructions

Make and Chill the Dough.

• In your food processor, pulse the flour, cocoa powder, powdered sugar and salt until combined. With the processor running, drop in the pieces of butter, one at at time, pulsing a few times until the butter is evenly distributed, and the dough is moistened and crumbly. Add the vanilla and the milk, then process until the dough starts to stick together.

• Dump the dough out onto a clean counter and use your hands to finish bringing the dough together, kneading in any stray dry ingredients.  The dough should be soft, smooth and supple.
• Shape the dough into a flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with sheets of parchment paper.

Roll the Dough, Cut and Chill the Cookies.

• On a clean work surface lightly dusted with cocoa powder, place the disk of dough, and dust the top of the dough with cocoa powder, too. Roll out to an even thickness of about 1/4 inch thick. Use any size/shape cookie cutters to cut as many cookies as you can, placing the cut cookies 2 inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheets. Gather up the scraps of dough, roll them out again, and continue cutting as many cookies as you can.
• Place the baking sheets with the cut cookies in the refrigerator and chill for 1 hour – chilling the cut cookies helps to ensure they don’t spread and hold their shape perfectly while baking.

Bake the Cookies.

• Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake the chilled cookies on the center oven rack for about 11 1/2 – 12 minutes. With chocolate cookies, it’s impossible for their color to be an indicator of doneness. But you shouldn’t see any appearance of raw or wet dough, and you should see tiny flaky layers around the edges.
• Cool the cookies for 5 minutes on the pan, then very gently transfer them to a cooling rack to cool completely. Sugar cookies are delicate when warm, so handle with care.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the best cocoa powder to use for chocolate cookies?

• Dutch-Processed Cocoa Powder vs. Natural Cocoa Powder. Understanding the difference between types of cocoa powders is key to choosing one for your cookies, cakes and other baked goods. Dutch-processed cocoa powder is more mellow tasting, less bitter, and darker in color. Natural cocoa powder is stronger and more bitter. I get into this subject in a bit more depth in my favorite chocolate cake recipe, so be sure to give that a read.
• Personally, I don’t even keep natural cocoa powder on hand, and I only use Dutch-processed cocoa for all of my baking. I used Hershey’s Special Dark for years, but not so much in the last year or so since they changed the formula. Mostly I will use Rodelle or Drost Dutch-processed cocoa powders for my baking.
• Note that the flavor of the cocoa powder is very prominent in these cookies, so if you use a cheap cocoa powder that doesn’t have a good flavor, your baked cookies won’t taste good either.

How do I keep sugar cookies from spreading?

• Use cold butter. Many sugar cookie recipes use room temperature butter for making the dough, which then requires a long chill time for the dough. I use cold butter, which I cut in quickly and easily with a food processor, so the dough only needs a short time to chill and rest before you roll the dough and cut your cookies.
• Don’t use leavening. Leavening is the enemy of no spread sugar cookies, as it will cause them to puff, spread and lose their shape. You shouldn’t use leavening of any kind, including baking soda, baking powder, cream of tartar and eggs.
• Keep the dough cool. Keeping your dough cool, and handling it as little as possible is key to no spread sugar cookies. After rolling the dough and cutting your cookies, you’ll also be chilling the cut cookies prior to baking, to ensure they don’t lose their shape in the oven.
• Bake the cookies on parchment paper. You should never use non-stick baking spray or a baking sheet greased with butter when baking your sugar cookies. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (a Silpat baking mat will do, too, although I prefer parchment paper), and your sugar cookies will not spread.

How thick should I roll cookie dough?

• For perfect sugar cookies, it’s best to roll your dough out to 1/4 inch thick. A 1/4 inch thickness is just right for a sugar cookie that’s thick and sturdy enough for decorating, as well as allows the cookie to bake evenly.
• When I make sandwich cookies, I will usually roll the dough out to about 1/8 inch thick, since two cookies will be sandwiched together with buttercream filling. Note that the cookies are quite delicate when they’re this thin, and this is far too thin for a standard sugar cookie.

Can I make the dough ahead of time?

• To make the dough in advance, wrap the disks of dough in plastic wrap, label them, and refrigerate for up to 5 days, or freeze for 3-6 months.
• Frozen dough should be thawed overnight in the refrigerator. Then take the dough out of the fridge about 1 hour before you’re ready to roll out the dough. It should still be cool to the touch when you roll it out, but pliable enough to roll without too much difficulty.

Can I make the dough if I don’t have a food processor?

• Sugar cookie dough is fast and easy to make with a food processor. But if you don’t have a food processor, you’ll need a large bowl and a pastry cutter.
• In the bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, powdered sugar and salt. Scatter with the cold butter pieces and use the pastry cutter to cut the butter in until very finely cut and evenly distributed.
• Drizzle with the vanilla and milk, then use your hands to work the liquid into the dry ingredients until it forms into a soft dough.

How should I store these cookies?

• The baked cookies should be cooled completely then stored in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
• If you won’t be frosting and decorating them immediately, freeze the cookies in an airtight container for 3-6 months.

What’s the best way to decorate sugar cookies?

• Buttercream Frosting. Buttercream icing or frosting is one of my favorite ways to decorate sugar cookies, such as on these pumpkin sugar cookies. You can spread it on with an icing spatula, or pipe beautiful buttercream flowers, ruffles and swirls. Since the surface of buttercream crusts over while staying soft underneath, buttercream frosted sugar cookies need to be stored in a single layer, and cannot be stacked for storage.
• Royal Icing. With royal icing, you have unlimited options for beautifully decorated sugar cookies, regardless of your skill level. My basic royal icing recipe is easy to use, and perfect for flooding sugar cookies with a smooth, pretty finish.
• Sparkling Sugar. Sugar cookies look gorgeous with decorated with coarse sparkling sugar. Simply brush the unbaked, cut cookies with egg white, then dip them in sparkling sugar (or even sprinkles). Bake as instructed. See more of this technique on these almond sugar cookie Christmas trees.
• Powdered Sugar. A simple dusting of powdered sugar, such as on these snowflake cookies, is perfectly lovely.

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