Chocolate Chip Cut Out Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cut Out Cookies are a fun twist to making chocolate chip sugar cookies using cookie cutters. Roll out the dough into shapes then eat them as is or decorate with vanilla buttercream and sprinkles.

One question I hate getting is “What is your favorite food?”

One – I’m not good at thinking on the spot and two – there is so much good food out there, how can you possibly answer with a favorite?!

However, if you’d ask me what my favorite cookie is, I’d immediate answer small batch chocolate chip cookies.

Funny because I’m usually attracted to fun flavors, not boring classics. I may not always choose classicvanilla cupcakes, but don’t mess with my chocolate chip cookie.

Sometimes I make an easy recipe like chocolate chip snowball cookies or my chocolate chip cheese ball.

Other times I go all out and make these Chocolate Chip Cut Out Cookies.

It’s not often I make a cookie recipe for cookie cutters. I actually have a good collection of cookie cutters, including several dinosaur ones, but I normally don’t have the patience or skill for decorated cookies.

However, I love chocolate chip so much I can make an exception for these cut out chocolate chip cookies.

And yes, you CAN make shaped chocolate chip cookies cut out with this easy recipe!

Rather than cutting my chocolate chip cookie bars into shapes after baking, this dough is designed to be rolled and cut out rather than scooping.

There is no baking soda or baking powder so the cookies won’t rise. They’ll stay nice and flat for your shapes.

It’s like making chocolate chip sugar cookies!

The best part is you don’t NEED to decorate them. I love eating them plain as is, but you can also cut into shapes for holidays.

Stars for 4th of July. Hearts for Valentine’s Day. Circles with rainbow sprinkles for birthdays.

So many possibilities!

Ingredients For Chocolate Chip Cut Out Cookies

Here’s what you need for your chocolate chip sugar cookies:

• Butter: Gives flavor as well makes a tender dough
• Brown sugar: Chocolate chip cookie dough gets its signature flavor from using brown sugar.
• Granulated Sugar: Adding white sugar contributes to the cookie’s texture.
• Egg yolk: Yes, I know we hate having leftover egg whites. However, using a whole egg added too much liquid. Once you’re done baking, check out what to do with leftover egg whites.
• Vanilla: Flavors the dough
• Flour: Adds structure to your dough so you can roll and cut them out
• Salt: Seasons the cookie dough so it isn’t bland
• Mini chocolate chips: Regular-sized chocolate chips are too big for sugar cookies, so use mini semisweet chocolate chips.

How many cookies does this cut out recipe for cookies make?

It’s hard to give an exact yield for this cut out recipe for cookies due to the size of your cookie cutters, but I got about 12 large cookies.

Different sizes also means different baking times. Smaller cookies are done around 9 minutes while the larger cookies are done around 11 minutes.

Check your cookies at 9 minutes then remove any that are done baking while you finish the rest.

If you’re looking for small batch cut out cookies, you can cut out all the dough at once then freeze the shapes until ready to bake.

How To Make Cut Out Chocolate Chip Cookies

Making your cut out chocolate chip cookies is fun! Here’s how to make them:

1. Beat butter and both sugars until light and creamy.
2. Add egg yolk and vanilla until incorporated.
3. Gradually beat in flour and salt until a dough forms then add the mini chocolate chips.
4. Refrigerate dough for 1 hour.
5. Roll and cut dough into shapes as desired.
6. Bake at 350F for 9-11 minutes or until edges are golden brown.
7. Decorate as desired.

Store chocolate chip sugar cookies in airtight container at room temperature for up to 1-2 weeks. If your kitchen is warm, refrigerate so the chocolate and frosting doesn’t melt. Because frosting is fragile, do not stack them.

How do you roll out cookie dough without sticking?

Nothing is more frustrating than having your chocolate chip cookie dough stick to everything before you can bake them. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to cry!

The key to keep the dough from sticking is making sure it doesn’t get warm. One trick is to roll out the dough between two sheets of plastic wrap before you chill it.

First: it’s much easier to roll out room temperature dough than cold dough. If you’re rolling out cold dough, you have to wait for the dough to warm up. Warm dough = unhappy baker.

Second: Pre-rolling the dough means less time working with the dough.

The more time you spend on the dough, the more likely it’ll get warm and stick to everything. You’re working against the clock, so the faster you can cut out cookies, the better.

If your dough is ready to cut straight from the fridge, you’ll waste no time cutting out your cookies with ease.

How do you keep chocolate chip cut out cookies from spreading in the oven?

Ever cut out beautifully shaped chocolate chip cookies, only to have them turn into blobs after baking? That’s because they spread too much when baking, losing their distinctive shapes.

The key to keep your cookies from spreading is keeping the dough cold (notice the theme here?).

I highly recommend popping them into your freezer while your oven preheats, about 15-20 minutes.

By the time your oven is ready, they should be cold enough to prevent spreading.

How To Freeze Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

My cut out chocolate chip cookie recipe isn’t quite a small batch recipe as it makes 12 large cookies or a lot more smaller ones, but luckily you can freeze the dough.

There are two ways you can freeze the cookie dough:

1. Once you roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick, wrap it in plastic wrap then stick into a freezer bag. This method is useful for when you don’t have time to cut or don’t know what shape you want yet.
2. Cut out your shapes then freeze individually on a plastic wrap-lined tray for 1 hour or until firm. Once the shapes are firm, transfer them to a freezer bag and seal. This method is useful for when you want to grab and bake later without doing extra work.

When wrapped properly, cookie dough can be frozen for up to 9-12 months.

How To Decorate Chocolate Chip Cookies

As you can guess by the photos, I originally made these roll out chocolate chip cookies for 4th of July with a star cookie cutter and red, white, and blue sprinkles.

Then I updated the photos to show you can also make hearts for Valentine’s Day or circles for birthdays.

Baking for Christmas? Use Christmas cookies cutters then add them to your best Christmas cookie tray.

Now don’t get me wrong – these chocolate chip cookies are delicious without frosting, so sometimes I stop there and eat them as is.

However, if you want to get creative you can frost them with small batch buttercream frosting and decorate with sprinkles.

You can even take it one step further and pipe chocolate around the edges. Melt mini chocolate chips directly in a sandwich bag, push it all to one corner, then snip and pipe away.

While the chocolate is still hot, add sprinkles so they’ll stick. It’s best if you spread on buttercream before piping the chocolate.

More Cut Out Cookie Recipes

Looking for more cookie dough to roll out? Check out these other cut out cookie recipes:

• Small Batch Gingerbread Cookies
• Red Velvet Sugar Cookies

First published July 8, 2012