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Christmas just wouldn’t be the same without Christmas chocolate sugar cookies! Whether you enjoy homemade cookies and buttercream dip with a glass of milk on Christmas Eve or you prefer to snack on them on Christmas morning, they’re a real crowd pleaser. These sugar cookie dippers also go down well (and disappear fast!) at any Christmas party.
Cocoa powder sugar cookies boast lots of chocolate appeal and they’re chewy and soft. They’re already good but add a Christmas cookie dip and they’re just amazing!
Also consider making struffoli honey balls, Italian fig cookies, chocolate covered Oreos or Puerto Rican eggless coquito for the holiday season!
Kids love these but so do the grownups so double up if you’re expecting to feed a crowd. You don’t want to run out of holiday dunkaroo cookies before everyone’s tried one!
Ingredients for Sugar Cookie Dippers
You need butter, sugar, egg, flour, and baking soda for the cookies, plus vanilla, cocoa powder and sprinkles for flavour. The icing is made with butter, vanilla, icing sugar, milk, and more sprinkles!
I use both white and brown sugar in my holiday Dunkaroo cookies for more depth of flavour. I also use unsweetened cocoa in Christmas chocolate sugar cookies since they’re sweet enough already with the white and brown sugar.
How to Make Them
You’ll be everyone’s favourite person at the Christmas party if you show up with cocoa powder sugar cookies and a Christmas cookie dip!
The first thing you need to do to make sugar cookie dippers is mix the flour with the baking soda and cocoa powder. Cream the sugar with butter, then add the vanilla and egg. Now you can mix the flour mixture into the egg mixture.
Roll the sugar cookie dippers dough into a ball and chill it for at least an hour. This makes the dough easier to handle and also stops the cocoa powder sugar cookies spreading out as they bake. So this isn’t a step to skip!
Roll out the dough and cut out the Christmas chocolate sugar cookies then bake them in the oven. As you’d imagine, these smell incredible when they’re baking!
How to Make a Christmas Cookie Dip
This cookies and buttercream dip pairs perfectly with the cookies. But instead of frosting the cookies with the icing (like in a lot of other recipes) it’s served as a dip. You’re going to want to serve the cookies and buttercream dip as soon as possible, after smelling the cookies baking in the oven. So start making it while they’re baking.
Combine icing sugar with butter then add in vanilla and milk. Stop adding milk when you think the consistency is right. It shouldn’t be so thick it’s hard to scoop up but also not too thin it drips off the cookies when you dip them! Finally stir in some sprinkles.
Of course you can serve one without the other. If you want to make Christmas chocolate sugar cookies but not necessarily the Christmas cookie dip, that’s fine. Maybe you want to add a regular frosting on top. The cookies and buttercream dip also go well with other kinds of cookies, so you can try it with anything from Nilla wafers to Oreos or shortbread cookies.
This recipe makes anywhere between 30 and 40 Christmas chocolate sugar cookies. I usually get 3 dozen when I make them. And that’s probably enough for any Christmas party!
How to Store These
If you don’t end up eating all of these on the same day, they will keep for a while. They will keep for up to a couple of weeks in an airtight container. Keep them on the kitchen counter or (if you can’t stop nibbling them when you spot them!) in the pantry. Keep them away from sunlight and heat and make sure your cookie jar (if you’re using one) is airtight.
When sugar cookies are exposed to the air, they harden. This is why you have to keep the cookies in an airtight container or Ziploc bag. Every time you open that container or bag you’re letting in more air! You can extend their life even more by wrapping each one individually in plastic wrap. However, I’d say if you plan to eat them all within a week, skip this time-consuming step.
Another option is to freeze them for up to 6 months. That’s right – you can prepare your holiday dunkaroo cookies in June!
If you like these sugar cookie dippers, you might also like Fig Christmas Cookies, Chocolate Roll Cookies or Kolachy Cookies.
Christmas Chocolate Sugar Cookies and Buttercream Dip
Christmas chocolate sugar cookies with buttercream dip
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 Cup unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 Cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 Cup brown sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 3/4 Cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 Cup cocoa powder
- 1 Teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 Cup sprinkles, of choice
Icing
- 1/2 Cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 Teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 Cup icing sugar
- 1 Tablespoon milk
- 1/2 Cup sprinkles, of choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or place parchment paper on two baking sheets.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, and baking soda. Set aside.
- With an electric mixer, cream butter, white and brown sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture gradually and mix until well combined.
- Form dough into a ball, cover with Saran Wrap, and refrigerate 1-2 hours, until easy to handle.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into 1/8 inch thickness. Cut out dough with desired cookie cutters. Place on baking sheets and bake 8-10 minutes. Cool 4-5 minutes before moving to cooling racks. Let cool completely before dipping in icing.
- To make icing, mix together icing sugar and butter until smooth and. Add vanilla. Add milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency is reached. Mix in sprinkles.
- Add icing to a small serving bowl and serve with cookies on the side.
Nutrition
These cocoa powder sugar cookies are perfect for a Christmas party, for a treat on Christmas Eve or any other time. They’re unusual because the frosting is actually a dip, which makes these Christmas chocolate sugar cookies even more special!
If you are looking for other holiday ideas, you might like this Easy Homemade Italian Struffoli Christmas Honey Balls.
Bella Bucchiotti
Bella Bucchiotti is a Canadian-based syndicated food, travel, and lifestyle writer, photographer, and creator at xoxoBella. She founded xoxoBella in 2015, where she shares her love for food, dogs, sustainability, fitness, crafts, outdoor adventures, travel, and philanthropy to encourage others to run the extra mile, try new recipes, visit unfamiliar places, and stand for a cause. Bella creates stress-free and family-friendly recipes for weeknight dinners and festive feasts.
Your pictures show you adding sprinkles to the dough, but the instructions do not say that. We add them & how much?
hi! The recipe botes a 1/2 cup sprinkles for the icing and has them added in step 6 🙂
I saw them added to the frosting but I was asking about adding them to the dough as pictured. It’s ok, I figured it out! Thanks for replying!🎅🏼
You had me at chocolate! These sound great!
This is such a fun treat for the holidays! I love that it is all made from scratch too.
I love how this time of year starts the season of eating all the treats! This one sounds perfect.
I need to try these out. I don’t even care if it’s not Christmas yet!
I am saving this recipe. These are so cute.