Best Chocolate Cutout Cookies Recipes

BEST EVER CHOCOLATE CUTOUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; set aside. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg. Gradually stir in the sifted ingredients to form a soft dough. Divide dough into 2 pieces, flatten and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Dough is sticky so be sure to add more flour to the rolling surface as needed. Place cookies 1 1/2 inches apart onto cookie sheets.
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

CHOCOLATE CUTOUT COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Beat in eggs and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually beat into creamed mixture., Divide dough in half. Shape each into a disk; cover. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until firm enough to roll., Preheat oven to 350°. On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with floured 3-in. cookie cutters. Place 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets., Bake 10-12 minutes or until set. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., In a large bowl, combine confectioners' sugar, water, meringue powder and cream of tartar; beat on low speed just until blended. Beat on high until stiff peaks form, 1-2 minutes. Keep unused icing covered at all times with a damp cloth. If necessary, beat again on high speed to restore texture., Using pastry bags and small round tips, decorate cookies as desired. Let stand at room temperature until frosting is dry and firm., Freeze option: Freeze cookies, layered between waxed paper, in freezer containers. To use, thaw before serving.

DARK-CHOCOLATE CUTOUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Whisk together flour, cocoa powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat together butter and sugar with a mixer until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Reduce speed to low, and gradually add flour mixture. Divide dough in half. Form each half into a disk, and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm but still pliable, about 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Working with 1 disk of dough at a time, roll out to 1/4-inch thickness on lightly floured parchment. Brush off excess flour, transfer dough on parchment to a baking sheet, and freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters, rerolling scraps as needed. Transfer cookies to parchment-lined baking sheets, and freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Bake until crisp, 12 to 14 minutes, rotating once and firmly rapping baking sheet halfway through baking to flatten any bubbles in cookies. Let cookies cool completely on baking sheets set on wire racks.
• Place icing in a pastry bag fitted with a small plain round tip (Ateco #0, 1, or 2). Pipe outlines and details on cookies. Immediately sprinkle with sanding sugar, and tap off excess. Let set completely, uncovered, at room temperature, at least 4 hours or (ideally) overnight.

RICH CHOCOLATE CUTOUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into a large bowl.
• With an electric mixer on medium, beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. 3-4 minute.
• Beat in whole egg, yolk, and vanilla.
• Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture in three additions.
• Shape dough into 2 disks, wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate until cold and firm, about 2 hrs (or up to 1 day).
• Preheat oven to 375°F Remove 1 disk from refrigerator, and let stand until room temperature.
• Lightly dust two large sheets of parchment with cocoa powder, and roll out disk of dough between sheets to a 1/4 inch thickness.
• Transfer to a baking sheet, and freeze until very firm, about 15 minutes.
• Remove top parchment sheet, use cookie cutters to cut out shapes.
• Remove excess dough and space cookies evenly. Re-freeze until firm.
• Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until firm, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool completely.

CHOCOLATE-RASPBERRY CUTOUT COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, yolk and vanilla. Combine the flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder and cinnamon; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well., Divide dough in half. Shape each portion into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic; refrigerate for 1 hour., On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 3-in. heart-shaped cookie cutter. Place 1 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Repeat with remaining dough., Bake at 375° for 6-8 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool for 1 minute before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely., For frosting, press raspberries through a sieve; discard seeds. In a large bowl, cream butter, confectioners' sugar and raspberry puree until smooth and creamy. Frost and decorate cookies as desired with dragees. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

VEGAN CUTOUT CHOCOLATE COOKIES

Steps:

• In large bowl, mix powdered sugar, buttery sticks, almond milk and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon until blended. Stir in flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Divide dough in half; shape each into flattened round. Wrap in plastic wrap. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour or until firm.
• Heat oven to 375°F. On generously floured surface, roll each half of dough 3/16 inch thick. Cut into assorted shapes with 2 1/2-inch cookie cutters. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
• Bake 7 to 8 minutes or until cookies are set. Cool on cookie sheet 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 30 minutes.
• In small microwavable bowl, microwave semisweet chocolate chips and 1/4 teaspoon of the shortening uncovered on High about 60 seconds, stirring after 30 seconds, until melted and smooth. Spoon chocolate into small resealable food-storage plastic bag. Repeat with the white vanilla baking chips and remaining shortening.
• Cut off tiny corner of each bag. Squeeze bags to drizzle over cookies. Decorate with sprinkles, if desired. Let stand about 1 hour or until set. Store between sheets of waxed paper in airtight container.

CHOCOLATE TANGERINE CUTOUT COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F
• Melt 1/4 cup butter in a microwave-safe bowl.
• Heat in 30-second intervals until melted.
• Add cocoa powder and tangerine oil; mix until smooth and cool.
• Cream together remaining 1 cup butter and sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
• Add cocoa mixture; mix well.
• Add egg yolks, vanilla and zest until combined.
• Gradually add flour, scraping down sides of bowl, as necessary, until combined.
• Divide dough in two and place each piece on large sheet of plastic wrap.
• Flatten into 1/2-inch thick discs, wrap and refrigerate until firm enough to roll out, about 30 to 45 minutes.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness and cut into desired shapes.
• Place shapes on parchment-lined baking sheets; bake 10 to 12 minutes until firm and edges are beginning to brown.
• Remove to a cooling rack; cool completely.
• Meanwhile, in bowl of electric mixer, on low speed beat together powdered sugar, egg white powder, juices, zest and tangerine oil until moistened.
• Beat 2 to 3 minutes more on high speed.
• Adjust with more juice or powdered sugar to desired consistency; add food coloring, if desired.
• Frost cookies and decorate with sugars, as desired.
• When frosting is set, store cookies at room temperature in an airtight container, separating layers with wax paper for up to 1 week.