Christmas baking time is here for me, and I’m ready to share a new recipe, chocolaty goodness combined with classic roll out sugar cookies – chocolate chip cut out cookies.
A combination of these chocolate chip cookies and my go-to sugar cookie recipe, they’re easy to make, and the dough or baked cookies can easily be frozen as is.
Delicious without the royal icing too, I’ve opted to keep these ones plain. You could freeze them and decorate a little closer to Christmas time or you can also decorate them early and freeze the iced cookies.
The key to these cookies keeping their shape lies not only in the combination of ingredients (exact measurement in baking is important) and omission of the leavening agent (i.e. baking powder), but in some crucial points in the process. You can find a whole post dedicated to cookies keeping their shape here.
Notes
- Use mini chocolate chips for this recipe. You could chop up larger chocolate chips, but I find they make the dough look messier. Just fine if you like more chocolate streaks in your dough though! It ends up looking more marbled because of the chocolate “crumbs”.
- I used semi-sweet mini chocolate chips because that’s all I could find, but I’m pretty sure I’d love milk chocolate chips even more in this recipe. Please let me know if you find mini milk chocolate chips somewhere!
- In case you missed it, these cookies will be frozen to keep them as fresh as possible for Christmas time. Find a post on freezing cookies here.
- Here’s my digital download complete guide to cut-out cookies, including tips, tricks and a video on making sugar cookies.
- If you’re baking a little closer to Christmas than I am, here’s a post for you on the shelf life of cookies.
Such a simple recipe to make and the perfect palette for sweet cookie designs – have fun making them too!
xo,
Marian
Chocolate Chip Cut Out Cookie Recipe
Chocolate Chip Cookie Cut Out Cookie Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup granulated sugar (7 oz or 198 g)
- 1 cup brown sugar, not packed (5.4 oz or 152 g)
- 2 cups salted butter, room temperature (1 lb or 454 g)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (1 lb 9 oz or 698 g)
- 1 1/2 cups mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer on low speed, using the paddle attachment. Mix until incorporated – for about 30 seconds. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a plastic spatula and mix again for a few seconds more. Over mixing the butter and sugar in this step will cause too much air to be incorporated into the dough. If you'd like a light and fluffy cookie, that's ideal, however the dough will spread more during baking; not ideal if you'd like the cookie to hold its shape.
- Add eggs and vanilla extract slowly and mix. Scrape down the bowl with your spatula if needed and mix again.
- Add all of the flour to the bowl. Place a large tea towel between the edge of the bowl and the electric mixer so that the flour won't escape. Mix on low speed for 30 seconds. Remove the tea towel and observe the dough mixing; when it starts to come together add the mini chocolate chips and mix until the dough clumps around the paddle attachment. The dough should peel away from the sides of the mixer and clump around the paddle attachment. You can also test the dough by pinching it between your thumb and index finger. If it’s soft but not sticky, it’s just right. If it’s too sticky when you pinch it between your fingers, add flour, ¼ cup at a time, and mix until you’re happy with the texture. There are various reasons why a dough can be too dry or too sticky, ranging from humidity in the environment, to what kind of flour you use, the fat content of the butter etc., however, there are ways to fix the issues if you run into them. Already mentioned, add flour if your dough is too sticky, and if it’s too dry, make sure you’ve mixed it as best as you can first, and if it’s still too dry, add a little water or milk until your dough comes together.
- Roll the dough out between 2 large pieces of parchment paper. Place on a baking sheet and into the fridge or freezer for a minimum of 1 hour.
- Cut out cookie shapes. Place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Re-roll scraps and repeat. If your dough gets too soft to work with, place in the fridge or freezer periodically to firm up again.
- Once all cut out, put cookie dough shapes back into the fridge or freezer for 10 minutes to 1 hour to chill again. They will then hold their shape better when baked.
- Preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C.
- Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes or until the edges become golden brown. The baking time will depend on the size of your cookie.
- Let cookies cool to room temperature and decorate if you like! If you’re new to decorating cookies, here is a cookie decorating tutorial with everything you’ll need to know to begin!
Notes
Makes approximately 35 medium-sized cookies
Thanks for sharing! And thank you for tightening up your printable recipe… saves paper. This will be a great alternative to your sugar cookie recipe
Hi Lori,
Thanks, I tried! 😀
Hi Marian,
Thank you for sharing this great recipe! Love the cookie cutters you used! I have to make them too!
Have a wonderful day and baking season!
ML
Thanks Maria, I hope you like this one!
Looking forward to trying this recipe! I have been on the hunt for mini chips in other flavors – I even suggested it to Nestle! I did have success last week at the Annapolis Amish Market – mini white, mint, peanut butter & butterscotch!
Hi Michelle,
Oh, nice alternatives! I was thinking of suggesting milk chocolate minis to Nestle too! 😀
Do you know the weight of the brown sugar? I like to weigh brown sugar because there is such a big variation among us for “packed”, “not packed” etc. 🙂
Hi Renee,
Yes (just went and measured how I would do it), and it’s 54 ounces or 152 grams. Will go add to the recipe.
Can you put gram weights on remainder of ingredients?
😀 Done! I don’t have the mini chocolate chips to check the measurements though. 😀
Did you use royal icing on top? If so, what flavor ? Vanilla? I’m tempted to substitute the vanilla for mint
Hi Raven,
Yes, I would use royal icing on top, and sounds like a great idea, royal icing with mint flavoring!
Gracias Marian por compartir tus deliciosas recetas , quiero probar esta ya se ven hermosas y deliciosas esas galletitas jejejejeje
Gracias Yenny! 😀
Hi Marian,
Could I pls have the weight of the eggs that you use? From where I come from, our large eggs are way bigger than yours.
Thanks!
Angela
Hi Angela,
Yes, each egg weighs 2 oz, so 4 oz for 2 eggs.
Do you think these will come out just as fine with a hand mixer if you don’t have a stand mixer?
Dear Marian,
these cookies look like the perfect go to roll-out sugar cookies. Their shape is flawless!
I bet the dough tastes amazing too 😀
Thank you for sharing all your tips and tricks.
Love,
niner
Thank you SO much for this recipe!! My daughter and I used this to make PB chocolate chip cut out cookies for Santa tonight and it worked perfectly! We did end up using full size chips and used both semi-sweet chocolate and Reese’s PB chips. I also added in a package of vanilla pudding mix and about 1/4c of pure maple syrup. The shapes held and the taste is amazing! We will definitely hold on to this recipe! Thank you again!!
Hi Kelly Anne, I’m so glad that you like the recipe and those adds sound delicious! Merry Christmas!
These were a disaster! The cookies were very dry and very bland. I was so disappointed.
Hi Wendie,
I’m sorry to hear that. They are a variation of my sugar cookie, with chocolate chips added, and I’ve received many compliments on those. If cookies are dry, it could mean they were baked too long.
are these crisp and crunchy or soft
Hi Stacey,
It depends how long you bake them. The longer you bake them the crispier they get and vice versa. Enjoy!
Hi! Will it work to half everything in this recipe? Thanks.
Yes, it will Becky, happy baking!
Is there a way to make this egg free?
How long will the dough last in the freezer?
Hi Emily, 3-6 months.
My cookies really spread. I might not have had enough flour. I’m going to try to let it all thaw and put back in the mixer and add flour. It’s worth a try.
Hi Kristin,
Here are some tips on how to prevent cookies from spreading; https://sweetopia.net/2011/04/top-8-tips-on-preventing-cookies-from-spreading/
Hope all went well!
We make chocolate chip cookies every year at Christmas because everyone loves them but they never feel “Christmasy”. Can’t wait to try these! Thank you!
That’s wonderful Arlene! Thanks for sharing!
Your recipe does not say what thickness to roll out the cookies. I am guessing a 1/4″. Fingers crossed that is correct. Perhaps you could add that information for beginners.
Hi Bobbi,
Here is a post for you:
https://sweetopia.net/2013/11/how-thick-or-thin-do-you-roll-your-cookie-dough-how-do-you-make-the-dough-even/
Have fun! xo
I ended up rolling mine out to 1/4″ and cooking in my oven for about 6 minutes, they turned out fabulous! Thank you so much, I look forward to trying some of your other recipes. I will never dread cutout cookies again.
Yay, yay!! Thanks for sharing Bobbi!
Do I freeze them unbaked or baked?
You can freeze them at either stage Debi. xo