Cinnamon Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Chewy, rich chocolate sugar cookies with bold cinnamon spice rolled in cinnamon sugar to create a perfectly crinkly finish. With a crispy edge and gooey center, these cookies have that perfect cookie texture combined with a classic Mexican-chocolate flavor. They’re versatile enough to bake for any Cinco de Mayo party or any fall or holiday gathering!
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Have kids, they said. It’ll be fun, they said. And it is. It’s wonderful and rewarding and one of my favorite things I’ve ever done.
It’s also SOOOOO tiring. Especially when your kindergartener keeps bringing home colds, even though she goes to a small school and it’s supposed to be past cold season now. But here we are, 3/4 of our family—including the baby—hit with a nasty cold as we head into May.
In the last week I have twice now had only a few hours’ sleep, sleeping at least part of the night sitting up holding the baby (don’t worry, I had her in a wrap so she was secure). Last night was especially bad, as all that Zicam and vitamin C finally caved and I could feel the sickness starting as I tried to stay awake with Brooklyn.
It’s a good thing she’s cute and generally happy like 90% of the time.
She’s also five months old!!! These cookies were in honor of that birthday. They were a gamble, but the flavors really turned out well, with both the chocolate and cinnamon balancing out, and the overall texture was perfectly soft and chewy.
Why this recipe works
I went with the same basic ratio of ingredients as my Giant Double Chocolate Cookies, because they had such a perfect texture. Since I was rolling these in sugar and not adding chocolate chips, I reduced the flour and cornstarch a bit and reversed the amount of brown sugar and granulated, to create a soft cookie with a good chew that still doesn’t spread too much.
Adding cinnamon to the dough and sugar coating gives that warm, spicy flavor, making these equally perfect for a Cinco de Mayo party or a fall/holiday gathering. For an extra punch, you can add a bit of cayenne pepper for the ultimate Mexican chocolate flavor.
Key ingredients
Flour. Be sure to spoon then level your flour or you will have too much and will end up with dry, dense cookies.
Cocoa powder. Obviously, this is how the chocolate is “double.” Use unsweetened cocoa.
Baking soda. Be sure it is fresh—not open for longer than 6 months (it will lose potency after that, regardless of the listed expiration date).
Cornstarch. This is used to keep the cookies from spreading too much and thus baking up with hard, crunchy edges.
Ground cinnamon. Use a high quality cinnamon to ensure a brighter flavor.
Salt. I prefer sea salt in my cookies, but table salt works, too.
Unsalted butter. Use European style butter, as it has less water and is needed to make these have the perfect texture.
Brown sugar/sugar. Don’t be tempted to increase the sugar, as it turns to liquid when baking and will make the cookies go flat.
Eggs. Be sure your eggs are fresh and room temperature.
Vanilla. Use pure vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste).
How to make giant double chocolate cookies
1. Sift and whisk dry ingredients. Sifting is technically optional, but I think it helps prevent over mixing.
2. Beat butter and sugar. You want the sugar slightly dissolved and the mixture to be light and fluffy, so mix at least 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs and vanilla, one at a time. Beat until well-blended each time, about 30 seconds on medium.
4. Mix in dry ingredients. Mix on low until just barely combined.
5. Stir in chocolate chips. You can use up to 3 cups chocolate chips, but don’t use more, as the cookies will start to fall apart.
6. Chill, if desired. This is optional, and simply helps the cookies keep their rounded shape better during baking. You can also freeze them for 10 minutes after shaping and placing them on a cookie sheet.
7. Form into large balls. I like using a large cookie scoop so I can just place the dough onto my baking sheet, but you can use a spoon then roll it into a rough ball. You’ll want about 3 tablespoons worth of dough. Place cookies 2” apart on your prepared cookie sheet.
8. Bake. Bake until no longer matte in appearance and the edges begin to darken.
9. Let cool on pan then on cooling rack. You don’t want them to keep cooking once you take them out of the oven, so only keep them on the pan 5-10 minutes.
Enjoy!
Tips and FAQ’s for this recipe
Can I make these ahead of time?
Yes! The dough will last up to 3 days in the fridge or at least a couple months in the freezer, depending on how well-sealed they are. I like to scoop my dough out and shape it into a ball, place it on a cookie sheet and let it freeze for an hour, then place the frozen cookie dough balls into freezer safe bags. You’ll roll it in cinnamon sugar right before baking, and you can bake them right from the freezer. Be sure to label the dough with the date so you don’t keep them too long.
Do I have to use European butter?
Personally, I think it makes a huge difference. It’s creamier and has a very different consistency than sweet cream butter. Since you only have a few ingredients here, you want to make sure each one is of the highest quality. But don’t worry—you can often find it at places like Costco on sale!
Brown the butter for a sturdier, chewier cookie
While I did not brown the butter here, I usually brown the butter for all of my cookies. It removes some of the water from the butter, which in turn helps prevent the sugar from creating too much liquid while baking (because sugar turns to liquid when heated). Thus, you won’t have cookies that spread too much or become too thin in the oven. While I adjusted the recipe to account for this and these cookies won’t spread if made as written, they don’t last as long as browned butter cookies, which is why I always suggest browning the butter if you have the time. You can follow the directions here to brown the butter.
Spoon then level your flour
Don’t scoop your flour! I never knew this until I started blogging, but it seriously makes a big difference. You will end up with roughly 25% more flour than the recipe called for if you just doonk (official baking term right there) your measuring spoon into the flour container and scoop. Gently spoon your flour into your measuring cup then level it off with the back of a knife. Trust me! It makes a difference.
My tools
Here are my must-have tools I use for making these cookies. Affiliate links provided.
Mesh sieve (because sifting is KEY for a perfect shortbread cookie)
You might also like:
Dark Chocolate Orange Shortbread
Chocolate Chip Sprinkle Cookies
Giant Double Chocolate Cookies
Cinnamon Chocolate Sugar Cookies
- prep time: 5-10 minutes
- bake time: 10-12 minutes
- total time: 22 minutes
yields: about 36 cookies
Ingredients:
- 1 ¾ cups (238g) all-purpose flour*, spooned then leveled (see note)
- ¾ cup (64g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon (5g) baking soda
- 1 tablespoon (10g) cornstarch
- 1 to 1 ½ tablespoons (8-12g) ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon (6g) sea salt (reduce to ⅛ teaspoon if using salted butter)
- 1 cup (227g) unsalted European style butter**
- 1 cup (200g) brown sugar, packed
- ¾ cup (1500g) granulated sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 tablespoon (13g) pure vanilla extract
- to finish: ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon (8g) ground cinnamon
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 325F/165C and line a cookie sheet (or sheets) with parchment (or use a silicone mat to help reduce your carbon footprint!). Optionally, you can do this after chilling the cookies for 1 hour or up to 3 days.
- Whisk together your flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl, using a hand mixer), beat butter on high until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Add the brown sugar and orange-flavored granulated sugar and beat on high for at least 3 minutes, until it gets lighter and fluffier and the sugar starts to dissolve. Scrape the bowl as needed, at least once during this 3 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat on medium until well blended, about 30 seconds. Add the vanilla and beat on medium until blended.
- Add the flour mixture and beat on low until nearly combined. Don’t worry if there are some streaks of flour, as the next step takes care of that.
- Using a spatula or wooden spoon, stir in the chocolate chips. I like to add somewhere between 2-3 cups.
- Optionally, chill the dough. This creates a chewier yet sturdier cookie and is recommended but not necessary. Cover and chill the dough at least an hour or up to 2 days. I found that chilling overnight was perfect. If you’re in a rush, you could form them into balls and freeze them for 20 minutes.
- When ready to bake, mix together the ½ cup sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon.
- Use a spoon or cookie scoop to scoop about 1 ½ tablespoons of dough and form into a ball. Roll each ball in the cinnamon sugar then place on your prepared cookie sheet.
- Bake for 10-12 minutes, until the tops of the cookies are no longer shiny (or there’s just a tiny bit of shine around the chocolate chips).
- Let cool on the pan about 10 minutes, then either enjoy or remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Enjoy!
Store leftovers in an airtight container on the counter. Dough can be formed into balls and frozen in an airtight container up to 2 months. You can roll in cinnamon sugar then bake straight from freezer.
*Be sure to spoon then level the flour into your measuring cup OR weigh it to prevent packing it in and ending up with too much.
**European butter is best! It has less water and makes a better cookie, in my opinion.