Can a cookie be sexy? 🤔 I’ll let you make that call, but if there is such a thing, these black cocoa cookies would easily top that list. Soft and chewy with an intense chocolate flavor, they're made with the same cocoa powder in Oreos. And if you’re leery of food coloring, set those worries aside. These dark chocolate cookies are all natural, thanks to beautiful black cocoa powder!
Jump to:
- 📋 Key Ingredients
- Best Results: Baking in Grams
- No-Chill Dough for these Black Cookies
- 📖 Prep and Baking Instructions
- 💡 Pro Tip for Perfectly Round Cookies
- ❓ Recipe FAQ and Troubleshooting
- Storing these Black Cocoa Cookies
- Recipe Variations
- Tips for the Best Dark Cocoa Cookies
- More Fall Recipes
- Black Cocoa Cookies
The black color of these cookies makes them perfect for Halloween parties and events. But I would gladly eat these treats any time of year.
They join the running list of recipes on my site using black cocoa powder. From black frosting to a black velvet cupcake recipe and this black cocoa cake, I really cannot get enough of this dark color in baked goods!
And for the fellow Oreo-obsessed people out there (🙋🏻♀️), you'll appreciate these coffee Oreo cookies and Funfetti Oreo cookies.
Last but not least, you should know about my chocolate cookies and cream cookies. They also use black cocoa powder, as well as chopped Oreos and white chocolate!
📋 Key Ingredients
The recipe card contains all the steps and ingredients, but below are a few key items that bring flavor and color to this recipe.
- Black cocoa powder - It's a deeply rich, almost charcoal-colored cocoa that’s responsible for the signature hue and flavor of an Oreo cookie. Unlike natural cocoa powder, which can have a slightly acidic and bitter taste, this dark cocoa powder is heavily alkalized, a process that neutralizes its acidity and results in a smoother, milder flavor. This makes it perfect for creating intensely dark and chocolatey desserts without the sharpness that can accompany regular cocoa powders.
- Pure vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste – You don’t need expensive vanilla extract for good flavor. So the extract from your local grocery store is perfectly fine for this recipe. I never taste much difference between pricier extracts and more basic ones.
- Dark or light brown sugar – This recipe calls for a touch of brown sugar in addition to granulated or white sugar. While both sugars are in important here, the darker one adds more moisture to the dough, resulting in a deliciously soft and chewy inside.
- Melted butter - Melting butter gives us a really nice and tender cookie texture.
Best Results: Baking in Grams
If you’re not already, use a kitchen scale for accuracy in baking.
While I include cups and grams in my recipe cards, weighing your ingredients and writing or following a recipe using a standard metric like grams ensures consistency.
I highly recommend investing $30 or less in a kitchen scale.
No-Chill Dough for these Black Cookies
Some cookie recipes call for resting your cookie dough before baking it for best results.
Here, though, you don’t need to chill or rest the dough ahead of baking these cookies.
You can learn more about the merits of resting your dough in this post from Bon Appétit. The bottom line is that if a recipe does ask you to rest your dough, do it.
📖 Prep and Baking Instructions
After melting your butter, let it cool for about 10 minutes while you preheat your oven to 350°F and dive into the steps here.
Step 1: Cream Butter, Sugars, and Vanilla. Using a paddle attachment and the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl and hand mixer, cream melted unsalted butter, vanilla extract, and sugars together in your bowl for 3-4 minutes.
Step 2: Incorporate Dry Ingredients and Eggs. Stop the hand or electric mixer. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl before adding kosher salt (half as much if using table salt), baking powder, and baking soda as well as half of your eggs, cocoa powder, and flour.
Step 3: Finish Mixing the Dough. Mix for about 45 seconds on medium speed before mixer to add the remaining egg and flour, beating again for 30 seconds. If you plan to use chocolate chips, now is the time to add those.
Step 4: Shape the Dough. With an ice cream or cookie scoop and your hand, form each round ball of dough. It should be about ⅔ the size of a golf ball. Roll in sanding sugar or sprinkles at this point if you plan to use them.
Step 5: Arrange on Baking Sheet. Place each dough ball onto an ungreased aluminum cookie sheet (no pieces of parchment paper or silicone mats needed), with about 2 inches between them.
Step 6: Bake Cookies. Bake in preheated oven for 13-14 minutes, at which point the edges of the cookies will be done baking. Leave them on the baking sheet 10 or so minutes outside of the oven, or until they're firm enough to handle. Place cookies on a wire rack to cool, and then serve or store.
💡 Pro Tip for Perfectly Round Cookies
As soon as your black cocoa cookies exit the oven, you can also help shape and round them if you'd like.
Use a cookie cutter or even the open side of a glass that's slightly bigger than the cookies to gently slide them into a more circular shape.
❓ Recipe FAQ and Troubleshooting
Cookies can spread if the dough is too moist, without enough dry ingredients to hold it together. It can also spread due to an excessive amount of baking soda.
If you follow the steps in this recipe, though, you won’t have that issue.
In general, adding a bit of baking powder or flour to a cookie’s dough can help prevent them from spreading as much.
If a recipe calls for a chilled sugar cookie, meaning you need to refrigerate the dough before baking it, do it! That step is not part of this recipe, though.
Storing these Black Cocoa Cookies
Room temperature - These black cocoa cookies will stay fresh at room temperature (around 70°F) for about 3 days.
Refrigerating - Instead of refrigerating them between servings, I'd recommend freezing them. Bring them out in small quantities at a time if you plan to share them over the course of more than 3 days.
Freezing - They also freeze well for up to three months in an airtight container.
I add wax or parchment paper between the layers as I stack them.
To enjoy, let them come to room temperature before serving. You may also gently warm them for a few seconds on low speed in the microwave.
Recipe Variations
These can be perfect Halloween cookies for the fall, but there are so many ways to play around with them.
Once you've turned your dough into balls, you can roll them in:
- Halloween sprinkles
- Sanding sugar (look how pretty and sparkly this makes them - this sugar coating is my favorite way to dress them up!)
Alternatively, after you've mixed your flour into your large bowl and before you form your dough balls, add ¾ cup of chocolate chips to your bowl. This will give you an extra chocolate flavor.
You could also turn these into cookie sandwiches. The chocolate cookies would pair well with almond frosting between them. You'd end up with 10-12 medium-sized cookie sandwiches.
Chocolate and raspberry are also companionable flavors (see my raspberry chocolate Bundt cake for proof). Raspberry cream cheese frosting could be a fun option, as would blueberry cream cheese frosting.
Bottom line: There are lots of ways to use this versatile cookie! And plain is so good, too!
Want a similar cookie with a twist? Check out these pink sugar cookies or brown butter sugar cookies. They all have nice, chewy insides.
Tips for the Best Dark Cocoa Cookies
Below are some general tips to keep in mind when baking this cookie recipe and any recipe, really:
- Periodically check the freshness of your leavening agents. Mix a pinch of baking powder with hot water to see if it reacts. For baking soda, you can mix a pinch of it with a few drops of something acidic, like vinegar or lemon juice. If your leavening agents have no reaction (i.e. you see no fizzing or bubbling), it means they also won’t help your ingredients rise during the baking process.
- Before diving into the recipe, clear your workspace and set out all your ingredients in front of you. This will make it less likely that you’ll forget to leave something important out of your mixing bowl!
More Fall Recipes
Black Cocoa Cookies
These black cocoa cookies get their stunning black color and Oreo cookie taste from black cocoa powder! The intense chocolate flavor is amazing.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 13 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 22 cookies 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: American
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 12 T (170 grams) unsalted butter, melted (yields about 160 grams)
- 1 cup (200 grams) white sugar
- ¼ cup (50 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 2 large cold eggs (straight from the fridge)
- 1 cup (100 grams) black cocoa powder
- 2 cups (240 grams) all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- Optional:
- White sanding or sparkling sugar for rolling the cookie dough balls before baking; for a fall twist, orange, black and white Halloween nonpareils also look great on these, rolled right before baking
- You can also add ½ cup (around 100 grams) of mini chocolate chips to the dough for an even more chocolaty cookie
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
- After letting butter cool for 10 minutes, cream it in your mixing bowl along with vanilla extract and sugars together for 2 minutes.
- Stop the mixer and add salt, baking powder, and baking soda as well as half of your eggs, black cocoa powder, and flour. Mix for about 45 seconds on medium speed before stopping the mixer to add the remaining egg, black cocoa powder, and flour, beating again for 30 seconds. If you want to mix in chocolate chips, now is the time to add them to your bowl and incorporate them into your dough.
- Scoop small (⅔ the size of a golf ball) round portions of your cookie dough onto ungreased aluminum baking sheets, with about 2 inches between each of them. Roll in sanding or sparkling sugar, sprinkles, or Halloween nonpareils at this step if you plan to use them.
- Bake for 13-14 minutes.
- Transfer them to cooling racks after they’ve sat on the baking sheets 10 or so minutes outside of the oven and are firm enough to handle.
Notes
These nutritional values are approximate and can vary based on specific ingredient brands and measurements.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cookie
- Calories: 157 kcal
- Sugar: 12.9 g
- Sodium: 146.7 mg
- Fat: 8 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 3.1 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 19.4 g
- Fiber: 1.6 g
- Protein: 2.1 g
- Cholesterol: 23.4 mg
Rachel Carmichael
What brand of black cocoa do you recommend?
Susan Gravatt
Hi Rachel! I have typically used Wincrest's black cocoa powder, which I order online and really like.
And while I haven't personally used it yet, I've also heard great things about the black cocoa powder from King Arthur. Hope that helps!