How do you keep cookies from spreading?

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.

Should you refrigerate this cookie dough before baking it?

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.

Black Cocoa Cookies

Up-close overhead image of black cookies, sitting on a sheet of white parchment paper and dusted with sanding sugar.

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These black cocoa cookies get their stunning black color and Oreo cookie taste from black cocoa powder! The intense chocolate flavor is amazing.

Author: Susan Gravatt
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 13 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 22 cookies 1x
Category: Dessert
Method: American

Ingredients

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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

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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

Find it online: https://susanbringsdessert.com/black-cocoa-cookies/