These chocolate butter cookies are the cocoa-kissed version of my classic homemade butter cookies. They’re every bit as soft and buttery, and absolutely melt in your mouth. Use a large piping tip to pipe the dough into swirly designs. They’re delicious and beautiful plain, but feel free to jazz them up with sprinkles, a dip in melted chocolate, or a cherry in the center for a festive touch!
One reader, Morgan, commented: “This was a new Christmas cookie for my family and we all LOVED it! It is now a must-have on every Christmas cookie plate. ★★★★★“
One reader, Paula, commented: “These are really tasty and fun to make. I used a Wilton 8B tip and when they were baked and cooled, I half-dipped them in Ghirardelli dark chocolate melting wafers. Very good and will make again! ★★★★★“
Like a good superhero movie, you don’t have to know much about the original butter cookies recipe to enjoy this standalone sequel: chocolate butter cookies. 😉 This darker (but not in a villainous way!) version is just as buttery and melt-in-your-mouth soft, but with the addition of incredible chocolate flavor.
These Chocolate Butter Cookies Are:
- Buttery, chocolatey flavor, like chocolate sugar cookies
- Melt-in-your-mouth soft like snowball cookies
- Piped with a piping tip like chocolate swirled meringue cookies
- A 1-bowl cookie recipe
- Ready to be an extra festive dessert with a melted chocolate dip, cherries, and/or sprinkles
This cookie dough comes together easily with only 9 ingredients. You need an electric mixer for the dough, plus a piping bag and large piping tip (I use this one) to pipe the cookie dough.
Ingredients in Chocolate Butter Cookies
This is a 1-bowl cookie recipe. The dough is similar to my spritz cookies, but with a little milk to make it pipe-able.
- Butter: Can’t make chocolate butter cookies without it! Make sure it’s properly softened to room temperature before beginning.
- Sugar: Like many cookie recipes including these shortbread cookies, creamed butter and sugar is the base of today’s dough. If you’re interested, here is my detailed tutorial on how to cream butter and sugar.
- Egg: 1 egg adds structure and binds everything together.
- Vanilla Extract: Even chocolate needs vanilla!
- All-Purpose Flour: All-purpose flour provides the structure.
- Cocoa Powder: Our *Dark Knight* hero that turns butter cookies into chocolate butter cookies. Because there’s no leavening occurring in these cookies, you can use either natural OR Dutch-process cocoa powder here. (Read more about the difference between natural and Dutch-process cocoa powder if interested.)
- Salt: By offsetting the sugar, salt adds flavor.
- Milk: We need just enough milk (any kind) to slightly thin out this cookie dough so it can squeeze through the piping tip. You’ll warm up the milk and dissolve the espresso powder in it before adding the mixture to the dough.
- Espresso Powder: This is the same magic ingredient we use for chocolate cake. The cookies don’t taste like coffee; rather, the espresso powder enhances the chocolate flavor. You can find espresso powder in the coffee aisle at the grocery store or online.
FAQ: Should I Line the Cookie Sheet? Some swear by using an unlined, bare baking sheet to bake butter cookies, but I’ve tested these chocolate butter cookies both with and without lining, and there was no noticeable difference. (I use silicone baking mats for all my cookies and these are no different.) If you choose not to line the pan, don’t grease it either. The cookies will spread, as all cookies do, but they should maintain some of their piped shape.
How to Pipe Butter Cookies
I find it’s easiest to stick with simple designs like a swirl, or even just a line.
SUCCESS TIP: The dough is very thick and stiff, so the first few cookies you pipe will be the hardest. Don’t give up! It gets easier as you go along, as you handle the piping bag and the dough becomes more malleable.
SUCCESS TIP: Start small. Begin by placing just a little bit of dough in the piping bag so you can determine if it’s creamy enough to pipe. If it’s too thick, it’s impossible to pipe, and you’ll have to put the dough back in the bowl and add a little more milk. Doing a test with a small amount of dough is a lot easier than filling the whole piping bag and then having to transfer it all back out again!
Best Piping Tips to Use
The cookie dough is thick, so it’s imperative to use a large piping tip with about a 1/2-inch opening. (That’s big!) The smaller the size, the harder it will be to pipe. I highly recommend an open star piping tip, but I actually use Ateco 849 which is a closed star tip. The opening is so large that it still works wonderfully!
The popular Wilton 1M works too, but you may need to add more milk to the cookie dough to thin it out because this piping tip is smaller. Remember, the more milk you add, the longer you need to chill the shaped cookies, or else they will over-spread in the oven.
Don’t forget your piping bags, too! (Disposable or Reusable)
By the way, these piping tips and a set of bags would be a great holiday gift for any baker. I always include them in my Holiday Gifts for Bakers guide!
Another Success Tip: Chill the Shaped Cookies Before Baking
Whatever design you pipe, I highly recommend chilling the piped cookies on the baking sheet for an hour before baking. Without this chill time, the cookies will lose their piped shape. We need the dough to be soft enough to pipe, but then that soft dough would spread way too much in the oven, so we need to chill the cookies before baking to firm them up a bit.
I promise it’s worth it.
Refrigerate the shaped cookies for at least 1 hour, and up to 1 day. (If chilling for longer than 1 hour, cover them.) If you need to speed things along, you can start chilling them in the refrigerator for 20 minutes; at that point they will be solid enough that you can pick them up and transfer them to a smaller plate (if freezer space is an issue) and freeze them for another 20–30 minutes.
Some Decorating Options
- Sprinkle with coarse sugar or festive sprinkles before baking.
- Place a maraschino cherry in the center of each cookie before baking.
- Dollop 1/2 teaspoon raspberry (or other flavor) jam into the center before baking.
- Dip cooled cookies in melted chocolate, add sprinkles, and let set.
- Dip cooled cookies in melted white chocolate, add crushed candy canes, and let set.
The refrigerator will help set the chocolate dip quickly.
Sally’s Cookie Palooza
This recipe is part of my annual cookie countdown called Sally’s Cookie Palooza. It’s the biggest, most delicious event of the year! Browse dozens of cookie recipes over on the Sally’s Cookie Palooza page including:
- Candy Cane Kiss Cookies
- Easy Cookie Icing
- Lemon Crinkles
- Gingerbread Cookie Bars
- Apricot Cream Cheese Thumbprints
and here are 75+ Christmas cookies with all my best success guides & tips.
Piped Chocolate Butter Cookies
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 14 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes
- Yield: 30 cookies
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
You need just 9 basic ingredients and a large piping tip to make these melt-in-your-mouth chocolate butter cookies. There’s no leavening, so the texture is similar to shortbread cookies. Review recipe Notes before beginning, and I strongly recommend chilling the piped cookies for at least 20–30 minutes before baking.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (16 Tbsp; 226g) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 3/4 cup (150g) granulated sugar
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups (250g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1/3 cup (27g) natural or dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 Tablespoons (30ml) milk, warm
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder*
Optional Toppings
- 4 ounces (113g) semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped*
- maraschino cherries
- sprinkles or coarse sugar
Instructions
- Read through the recipe and recipe Notes before beginning. Make room in your refrigerator for a baking sheet so the shaped cookies can chill for 20–30 minutes. Without chilling, the piped cookies will overspread. If you chill the dough prior to shaping, the dough will be too cold/stiff to pipe.
- Line 2–3 large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats, or leave unlined. If unlined, do not grease the pan.
- In a large bowl, using a handheld mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-high speed until very soft and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add granulated sugar to the butter, and beat together on medium-high speed until smooth and creamed, another 2 minutes. (Here’s a helpful tutorial if you need guidance on how to cream butter and sugar.) Add the egg and vanilla, and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.
- On low speed, beat in the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Turn up to high speed and beat until completely combined.
- Warm the milk to about 150°F (66°C)—about 20 seconds in the microwave—then mix in the espresso powder until it dissolves. Add the warm espresso-milk mixture to the dough, and beat on medium speed. You want a dough that’s creamy and pipe-able (but still thick), so you may need another 1/2 Tablespoon of milk. (Tip: The more milk you add, the more the cookies will spread, so chilling in step 7 is imperative. I recommend keeping the amount of milk small and using a large enough piping tip, like the ones I suggest in the post above.)
- Add your large piping tip to the piping bag. Spoon a little bit of dough into the piping bag and pipe a 1- to 2-inch swirl or line on the prepared baking sheet. The reason I suggest only a little bit of dough to start is because the dough may still be too thick to pipe. If it’s too thick, transfer that dough back to the mixing bowl and add another 1/2 Tablespoon of milk. If the dough is creamy enough to pipe, continue piping the dough in 1- to 2-inch swirls or lines, 3 inches apart on the baking sheet. If desired, place a maraschino cherry in the center of the swirl or sprinkle the dough with sprinkles and/or coarse sugar. (Tip: Since the dough is very thick and stiff, so the first few cookies you pipe will be the hardest. Don’t give up! It gets easier as you go along, as you handle the piping bag and the dough becomes more malleable.)
- Transfer the baking sheet to the refrigerator and chill the shaped cookies for 20–30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F (177°C).
- Bake the chilled cookies for 12–15 minutes or until the edges seem set. The cookies will spread like all cookies do, but not completely lose their shape, especially if you refrigerated the shaped cookies. If the cookies are smaller, they will take closer to 12 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
- Optional Chocolate: You can melt the chocolate in a double boiler or the microwave. If using the microwave: place the chopped chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Melt in 20-second increments in the microwave, stirring after each increment until completely melted and smooth. Dip the cookies in chocolate and top with sprinkles, if desired. Allow the chocolate to set completely at room temperature for about 1 hour or in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Once set, you can stack, store, transport, and gift the cookies.
- Cookies with chocolate or cherries stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for 4 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Cookies without chocolate or cherries stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: You can chill the shaped cookies on the baking sheet in the refrigerator for up to 1 day before baking. If chilling for longer than 30 minutes, cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Sometimes I pipe all the swirls close together on 1 baking sheet, then refrigerate. (Since my refrigerator can’t fit 2–3 baking sheets at once.) After chilling, the shaped dough is cold, so you can use a flat spatula to pick up the cold shaped dough and arrange on 2–3 baking sheets to bake. You can also freeze the un-baked shaped dough for up to 3 months. Bake the frozen shaped dough (no need to thaw) for an extra minute or two. Baked cookies, with or without chocolate/cherries/sprinkles, freeze well for up to 3 months.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Baking Sheets | Silicone Baking Mats or Parchment Paper | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Piping Bag (Reusable or Disposable) | Large Piping Tip (such as Ateco 849 (pictured), Wilton 8B, Ateco 826, or Ateco 827) | Cooling Rack | Double Boiler (optional for melting chocolate)
- Espresso Powder: This deepens the chocolate flavor—the cookies don’t taste like coffee. I usually find espresso powder in the grocery store coffee aisle, or you can order it online. If you can’t find it, you can use instant coffee powder instead. Make sure to dissolve it in the warm milk before adding to the dough.
- No Piping Tip & Using a Cookie Press: This recipe is similar to my spritz cookies where I use a cookie press. If you don’t have a large piping tip and/or you want to use a cookie press, you can use this dough to make chocolate spritz cookies. Skip the milk, and add the espresso powder when you add the flour. If you don’t have a cookie press or large piping tip, snip a 1/2 inch corner off the end of a plastic bag and pipe lines/flat swirls.
- Can I Roll Out This Dough & Use Cookie Cutters? No, this cookie dough is not ideal for rolling out; the cookies will not hold shape. Instead, try these chocolate sugar cookies.
- Optional Melted Chocolate: You can melt semi-sweet, dark, milk, or white chocolate to dip these cookies in. For the best results, use a pure “baking chocolate” bar, found in the baking aisle. I like Baker’s and Ghirardelli brands. Do not use chocolate chips, as they contain stabilizers preventing them from melting into the proper consistency. After you melt it, if the chocolate is too thick for dipping, stir in 1 teaspoon of vegetable/canola oil to help thin it out.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Very disappointed in the Chocolate butter cookies…they really have no flavor..certainly cannot taste the chocolate..should increase the coco to at least 1/2 c. On a good note, followed the instructions and they look perfect.
Can you form these in logs for slice and bake cookies?
Hi Elaine! We haven’t tried it, but our chocolate sugar cookies dough may be a better choice.
These sound wonderful. I bought espresso powder but so far I am not impressed. The stuff goes hard as a rock. It still takes up space in the cupboard since it wasn’t cheap. How do you use it when it is hard? I will try this recipe without the espresso rock.
Hi, I want to do these for my Christmas cookie boxes but am trying to plan ahead. Do these cookies lose their crunch when frozen ?
Hi Emilie, these cookies freeze very well, but we would wait to dip in chocolate until after freezing/thawing.
This is a lovely recipe (like all your other recipes)! Can this be made without eggs? I would like to make these for an elderly aunt who is allergic to eggs but loves chocolate cookies.
Hi Sudipta, we haven’t tested an egg-free version of this cookie, but let us know if you give anything a try.
Hi, Sally! I LOVE your blog and every recipe I have tried is delicious and a family favorite. I am having the hardest time with this recipe (and the homemade butter cookie one as well). My cookies spread into pancakes! I refrigerate them for an hour just like you say in the instructions and no luck. I have tried each recipe twice and I cannot figure out what I am doing wrong. It seems I am having the opposite problem that most people would have – maybe my dough is TOO soft? Any advice? They are SO pretty and tasty and I would love to be able to make them successfully! Thanks a ton!
Hi Dina, we’re happy to help! While spreading is inevitable with all cookies, they shouldn’t completely lose their shape. If you decide to try the recipe again, you may want to reduce the milk to only 1 Tablespoon. Make sure the butter you are using is cool at room temperature and not overly soft. Bake only 1 sheet at a time and try freezing the piped/shaped cookies for 1 hour, then transferring them to a room temperature baking sheet. Hope this helps for next time!
I had the same issue. Cannot figure out why they spread out so much. I weighed everything out instead of measuring. Froze them for 30 minutes. Baked one sheet at a time. Maybe because I didn’t let the espresso milk cool down enough before I added it?
Can I use a cookie press instead of a piping bad with this recipe?
See recipe Notes!
I loved it!! perfect for milk dunking!!
This was a new Christmas cookie for my family and we all LOVED it! It is now a must have on every Christmas cookie plate.
I’d really prefer a video for this recipe.
Hi Ella! I didn’t have the chance to film a video for these, but you can expect one at some point. Thanks for the request!
I have tried your spritz cookie recipe with my daughter. We really love it and would like to try this recipe with the cookie press. If I use a cookie press for this recipe, do I still need to chill the shaped cookies before baking?
Hi Linda! See recipe Notes for details on using this dough in a cookie press.
These are really tasty and fun to make. I used a Wilton 8B tip and when they were baked and cooled, I half dipped in Ghirardelli dark chocolate melting wafers. Very good and will make again!
This was such a fun recipe to make and eat! I love the flavor and texture! Everyone should try this recipe! I signed up for the cookie palooza and saw this recipe in my inbox and knew i had to try it! I am so glad that i did!
These cookies are absolutely delicious! Once I had the dough soft enough to pipe, I went a little rogue with the designs. I was able to pipe not just swirls, but also sticks, hearts, and even the first letters of family members names. Baking time had to be adjusted, but all of the cookies came out perfect!
This was a really great recipe! Really loved the flavor. I accidentally did too much espressso flavor but it turned out fine and I think the coffee flavor made it better. I did not have too much trouble with the piping but it did take a while.
Hi Meg, I’m glad you enjoyed these. Thanks for reporting back!
Oh noo I think i somehow forgot the sugar!!! They taste bland i froze half the cookies before baking, do you have any suggestions as the best way to save them/incorporate sugar and the batch i baked?
This recipe wouldn’t really go through the piping tip even though I used the same one as you and they kinda looked like poop.
Thanks for reporting back, Claire. You have to press the dough out with a good amount of arm muscle.
Before I begin these, Why is flour crossed through on the ingredient list?
Ingredients become crossed off when clicked—this is a handy feature for readers to mark which ingredients they’ve already used. Simply click it again and the cross-out will be removed. Hope this helps!
I had to add several tablespoons of milk and to make it pipeable and then they turned out kind of bland
Looks amazing! Could I sub milk and espresso powder for 2 tbsp of actual espresso coffee? I find the store bought powder tastes kinda stale.
I’m sure that would be fine!
Great flavor. But I had a hard time with this recipe. I think I used too small of piping tip. I did half with the cherry and half dipped in bakers chocolate with salt and sprinkles, and they came out so cute!!! They held their shape perfectly with the chilling instructions. I love that they are both crunchy and buttery.
Can these be made into a log, regrant cut?
Hi Julie, I haven’t personally tested it but I can’t see why not. I do know, however, this chocolate sugar cookie dough works wonderfully when rolled into 2 logs and sliced after chilling.
I am glad you posted that Sally! I was hoping that it might work!
Love thus recipe, will be making them..thanks
Hi,
Will almond milk be ok? And what happens if you skip the milk/espresso powder entirely?
Yes, you can use almond milk. Do not skip the milk; the dough won’t be thin enough/soft enough to pipe.
Could the dough be used in a cookie press, like a spritz cookie?
Yes—skip the milk, and add the espresso powder when you add the flour.
Is there something I could substitute for expresso powder or could it just be omitted?
See recipe Notes!
Would using black cocoa make these too dark, do you think?
Hi AH, since there is no leavening in these cookies, you can use either natural or Dutch-process cocoa here. So, black cocoa should work just fine, if you enjoy a darker chocolate flavor. Let us know if you try it!
I tried it — they looked great…until I baked them! Then they collapsed into a puddle. Not sure what went wrong — I weighed the ingredients, didn’t add more than the primal amount of milk (2 T), and chilled them for three hours before baking. They held their shape as I picked the chilled swirls up by hand and placed them on the baking sheets, but once they hit the oven, Wicked Witch time!
I love your cookie recipes! I was wondering, can you make 1/2 chocolate and 1/2 vanilla with this recipe? I assume I would just need to 1/2 the cocoa and expresso powder? Thanks!
I can’t see why not! The dough is pretty much the regular version, only with some cocoa powder swapped in.
I’m sorry to ask about substitutions but I’m a dairy free breastfeeding mama this year. I love baking Christmas cookies but am hesitant about substituting vegan butter. Do you think it would work in this recipe? Or any of your others from the recent days? Thanks 🙂
Hi Elizabeth, no need to apologize! My team and I are glad to help. I don’t think this recipe is the best for making that substitution, since butter is the main ingredient. You may have better luck subbing in vegan butter in these chocolate sugar cookies, these flourless monster cookies (you can try coconut oil instead of butter), or these chocolate ginger cookies. I also have a growing section of naturally dairy free recipes here if you want to browse.
Actually, I think it’s worth a try with dairy free so long as it’s the block of butter that is supposed to be used 1 to 1. We have those here and they soften just like butter, taste almost the exact same, and perform the same. I’ve done even buttercream icing with them and no one noticed the difference! The only difference is they can melt to liquid at a lower temp than butter so sometimes when piping icing I have to pop it in the fridge to solidify again a bit but then it’s back to perfect. I doubt it’ll happen with the dough as it’ll be much quicker and it’s not just butter and sugar, but we’ll see. I actually can’t use regular butter here because unfortunately they feed the cows palm oil and it causes the butter to not soften at room temperature and is harder to work with as microwaving is tricky for only softening butter with my microwave. It’s also way more expensive ($7 per pound block here) I’ll be doing this recipe with dairy free butter and gluten free flour tomorrow so I can let you know how it goes in a new comment response.
Update, I made the cookies and dairy free did not mess with it at all! I used vegan butter and vegan milk (oat specifically). I had no problem piping and it completely kept it’s form during baking. Now the gluten free part did go how I suspected it might; without being able to use half oil half butter and without baking powder, it turned out dense and a bit dry. Definitely not bad at all though, just not the same as gluten.
I don’t have piping bags. Can I just use a cookie scoop and refrigerate?
Hi Mar, if you don’t have piping bags, you can use a large zip-top bag and cut off the tip. I don’t recommend using this dough for drop/rolled cookies. You can try my chocolate sugar cookies, or these double chocolate cookies instead.
I love your cookies can I do chocolate butter cookies and just roll them into balls and then bake them
Hi Sharon, we don’t recommend using this dough for drop/rolled cookies. You can try these double chocolate cookies instead.
Can this dough be rolled out and used with cookie cutters?
Hi Linda, no, it’s not ideal for that. Instead, try my chocolate sugar cookies.
Could you use this recipe to make spritz cookies?
Yes. See recipe Note.