Chocolate Sugar Cookies

All last week it was raining in Napa. It’s supposed to start up again this week and I’m definitely less than thrilled. I know we need it desperately, but all I want to do is stay snuggled up to Mr. Leon with a cup of coffee, some tasty treats, and a good book. Sort of like I did when I discovered I had leftover cookies from the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap! Lucky for me, dogs can’t have chocolate, so I got to keep them to myself.

Can’t this be breakfast everyday?

Yes, I participated in the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap again this year! Last year I made Caramel Apple Oatmeal Cookies, so this year I switched it up by making Chocolate Sugar Cookies from Handmade Charlotte. I found her recipe on Pinterest a while back and it sat on my Cookie to Try board, never being tried. What better time to try this easy recipe than a cookie swap?

One of the awesome perks of participating in the Food Bloggers Cookie Swap, aside from receiving 3 different types of cookies in the mail, is that the fabulous OXO sends participants special little gifts! Last year, OXO sent me some of their rubber spatulas as a perk for participating. I love their spatulas and use them all the time! Just look at that red one below? Swoon.

This year, OXO sent over some adorable cookie decorating tools, but I haven’t tried them out yet. Maybe I’ll make another batch of these cookies and roll them out to decorate? We’ll see how ambitious I am this season.

But back to these fabulous cookies! As you can see below, the dough is thick! This is perfect. But if it gets too sticky and isn’t firm, try adding equal parts cocoa and flour, then mixing to combine. By adding cocoa in addition to flour, you’ll firm up the dough and you won’t lose any of the chocolatey taste!

I really couldn’t believe how many cookies this recipe made. I was hoping to stretch the recipe to make 3 dozen, though the recipe said it only made 2 dozen, so I could use it for my blogger matches. After all was said and done, I had just over 5 dozen. So, obviously I had to taste test before sending them to my matches! Leon looked on longingly. Poor pup.

And then I brought some to work, too. My coworkers hate me right now.

Below is the recipe for Chocolate Sugar Cookies as I made it, which differs a bit from Charlotte’s (found here).

Ingre­di­ents

• 2 1/4 cups plus 1 Table­spoon all-purpose flour
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tea­spoon bak­ing soda
• ¾ tea­spoon salt
• 2 ½ sticks unsalted but­ter, room temperature
• 2 cups sugar, plus more for rolling (approximately 1/2 cup)
• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 1 Table­spoon vanilla

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper. Put ½ cup sugar in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl, set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and 2 cups sugar together until light and fluffy (about 4 minutes). Mix in eggs, one at a time, and vanilla until combined.
4. Gradually add in the flour mixture, beating on low until completely combined. (If you find your dough to be very sticky, stir in equal parts cocoa and flour until combined, starting with 1 heaping Tablespoon each. Continue until just slightly sticky to touch.)
5. Shape the cookie dough into 1″ balls (about the size of a gum ball) and rolling each ball in the set-aside sugar before placing 2″ apart on the parchment-lined pan. Bake for 11–13 minutes, until the edges have set and the centers are puffed and just starting to crackle. Remove from the oven and move the pan to a wire rack. Cool completely.

Makes approximately 5 dozen cookies. For fewer cookies, make the balls slightly larger.

I sent them out and patiently waited for my cookies from other bloggers to arrive. It was worth the wait! Here are the cookies I received from The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2014!

• Triple Chocolate Pumpkin Brownies from Anna at Anna Dishes – these were probably my favorite, despite the fact I don’t like pumpkin. Rich and fudgey, they had a mixed spice flavor that I loved (and Chef did too)!
• Chocolate Chocolate Chip Bacon Cookies from Shari at My Judy the Foodie – loved the idea of adding bacon to chocolate chocolate chip cookies!
• Green Tea Millionaire’s Shortbread from Miriam at Tales from the Crumb Tray – not really a fan of green tea-flavored anything, but the caramel and shortbread were amazing! I’m hoping to try this recipe–sans green tea– to recreate one of my favorite treats from my Paris trip!

I had fun making my cookies and keeping it secret from my matches! Even more fun was waiting to see which bloggers would be sending me cookies and opening each package with anticipation! I am excited to participate again next year!

As for these cookies, you’d better believe they will be added to my rotation of cookie recipes. Not only are they easy but they’re so good! I was telling Chef I’d like to try making them into sandwich cookies or ice cream cookies once it warms up. I may even make a batch of dough and freeze it in pre-shaped balls for whenever a cookie urge strikes!