Happy St. Patrick’s Day! This is a chocolate version of my mother’s sugar cookies. The nutmeg adds an unexpected depth to the flavor. They stay slightly soft when cooled and are not overly sweet, so they work well with the powdered sugar (confectioners sugar) icing.

Chocolate Sugar Cookies with Nutmeg

Chocolate Sugar Cookies with Nutmeg
 
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This is a chocolate version of my mother’s sugar cookies. The nutmeg adds an unexpected depth to the flavor. They stay slightly soft when cooled and are not overly sweet, so they work well with the powdered sugar icing.
Author:
Recipe type: Cookies
Serves: 30-36
Ingredients
Cookie Ingredients
  • 2¼ cups flour
  • 1½ tsp. baking powder
  • ½ cup butter, room temperature
  • 3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled (not chips, but chocolate squares)
  • ¼ cup cocoa powder (plus more for rolling out cookies)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 tsp. cream or milk
  • ½ tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
Icing Ingredients
  • 2 cups powdered sugar (confectioners sugar), sifted
  • 2 Tbsp. milk
Instructions
Cookie Instructions
  1. Combine the flour, baking powder, cocoa, and nutmeg
  2. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
  3. Add the eggs, cream, and melted chocolate. Beat well.
  4. Add the flour mixture, about ⅓ of it at a time. Beat after each addition of the flour, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula to make sure the flour is completely incorporated.
  5. Form the dough into a disk and wrap it with plastic wrap. Chill for the dough for 20-30 minutes.
  6. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it warm up enough to roll it out. If you don’t want to bake all the cookies at once, cut off part of the dough to use and refrigerate or freeze the remaining dough for another day.
  7. Roll the dough into a sheet about ¼ inch thick. Sprinkle the work surface with cocoa instead of flour to prevent the dough from sticking. This will ensure the cookies stay a nice chocolate color when baked. Using a cookie cutter, cut cookies into the desired shapes. Dust the cocoa powder off the top of the cookies before baking to prevent dark spots on the finished cookies.
  8. Use a spatula to transfer the cookies to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
  9. Chill cookies on baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before baking.
  10. When you are ready to bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  11. Bake the cookies 7-10 minutes.
  12. Using a spatula, transfer the cookies to a cooling rack and let them cool.
Icing Instructions
  1. Sift powdered sugar to remove lumps. Then measure 2 cups.
  2. Add 2 Tbsps. Milk
  3. Stir until smooth.
  4. Divide into separate bowls if using two or more colors. Stir in food coloring gel, as desired.
  5. Decorate cookies. I like to use small icing bottles with narrow tips.