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Black cocoa chocolate cookies are chewy inside and crispy outside, and made with black cocoa powder for rich, intense chocolate flavor similar to Oreo cookies. They’re easy to make in just 30 minutes!
I love coming up with a fun new Halloween recipe every year. This year I decided to make a gruesome yet luscious cherry cheesecake dip, and I knew I needed something special for dipping. (Side Note: If you’re a fan of Black Forest desserts or the chocolate cherry flavor combination in general, you’re going to love it! But first, let’s talk about these cookies, which are delicious in their own right.)
Black cocoa powder gives them their beautifully deep color and distinctive Oreo cookie flavor. They’re sweetened with brown sugar, and use a blend of butter and oil for the perfect combination of chewy inside and crispy outside. Their texture is almost a cross between crispy shortbread cookies and chewy sugar cookies. (But if soft, chewy chocolate cookies are more your thing, check out my cobweb Halloween cookies made with black cocoa powder!)
Ways to Enjoy These Cookies
These cookies are bite-sized (think: Nilla Wafers sized) and not too sweet. They’re good for a ton of different things:
- Snacking on along with a hot cup of coffee or an icy glass of milk.
- Sandwiching two of them together with a dollop of 5-minute vanilla buttercream for a homemade take on Oreos.
- Dipping into your favorite sweet dessert dip.
- Coarsely crumbling and sprinkling on top of yogurt, oatmeal, pudding, frozen yogurt, ice cream, etc.
- Finely crumbling, mixing with melted butter, and making into pie crust (along the lines of Oreo cookie crust!).
- For Halloween, on a spooky dessert board, as part of a dessert buffet, or along with a sweet Halloween dip.
- Or for Christmas, as a gag “lump of coal” cookie! If you go this route, I recommend rolling the cookie dough balls in black sanding sugar before baking and not flattening the cookies.
Black Cocoa Chocolate Cookies Ingredients
Breaking It Down
Ingredients Explained
In this section I explain the ingredients and give substitution ideas where applicable. For the full recipe (including the ingredient amounts), see the recipe card below.
- Butter – Here we use melted unsalted butter, which adds richness and helps create a chewy texture.
- Avocado oil – Just a little bit of oil makes these cookies deliciously crispy outside. Or instead of avocado oil, you can use light olive oil or vegetable oil.
- Light brown sugar – For sweet flavor of with rich notes of molasses.
- Pure vanilla extract – Adds depth of flavor and pulls out the notes of chocolate.
- Instant espresso powder – This is optional, and you can use decaf if you like. Just a little bit of espresso powder enhances the nuanced flavor of the chocolate.
- All-purpose flour – The base of this cookie dough.
- Black cocoa powder – The star of the show! Black cocoa powder is what gives these cookies their deep, dark color. It also creates an Oreo-cookie flavor.
- Baking powder – The leavening agent that helps create the right texture.
- Salt – To season the dough and enhance the flavor of everything else.
Instructions
To prep, preheat the oven to 350F. Line a large baking tray with a piece of parchment paper. Measure out all the ingredients you’ll need.
- Make the dough. Add the butter, oil, brown sugar, vanilla, and instant espresso powder to a medium bowl. Use a handheld electric mixer to beat until well-combined. Add the flour, black cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt, and beat until it’s well-combined and forms small crumbles.
- Work the dough with your hands. After that, work the dough with your hands a bit to help it come together (watch the recipe video to see this in action). TIP: The dough will be dry and crumbly, but should stick together when you squeeze it. If not, you can add 1/2 teaspoon water at a time until it does.
- Roll the cookie dough into balls. Use a 1-teaspoon measuring scoop to measure out the cookie dough, and then roll it into a ball between the palms of your hands (it helps to squeeze it as you roll). Arrange the cookie dough balls on the prepared baking tray spaced evenly apart.
- Bake and flatten. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the cookie tray from the oven, and immediately use a glass to press each cookie flat. Return the cookies to the oven to bake for 2 minutes more. Remove the cookie tray from the oven, and immediately use a glass to press each cookie flat again. Cool and enjoy!
Storage
After cooling, store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
My Best Tips For Black Cocoa Chocolate Cookies
- For sparkly, shimmery cookies and a touch more sweetness, you can roll the cookie dough balls in sanding sugar after you roll them into balls.
- The dough will be dry and crumbly, but should stick together when you squeeze it. If not, you can add 1/2 teaspoon water at a time until it does.
- I like to keep these cookies small with 1 teaspoon of dough per cookie. That way, they’re great for snacking or dipping purposes! If you prefer larger cookies, you can use 2 teaspoons of dough for each cookie and increase the baking time as needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Unlike natural cocoa powder, black cocoa powder is Dutch-processed. Through Dutch processing, black cocoa powder is treated with an alkaline solution, which reduces its acidity. This creates a smoother, more one-dimensional cocoa flavor. If you’ve ever had Oreo cookies, you know exactly what black cocoa tastes like. Black cocoa powder is what creates the deep, dark color of these cookies without the need for any added food dye or coloring!
Yes! If you want perfect circles (or other shapes), chill the dough, then roll it out on a lightly floured surface and use a cookie cutter to stamp out the cookies.
More Spooky Sweet Halloween Treat Recipes
- Cobweb Halloween Cookies
- Black Cocoa Cake (aka Black Velvet Cake)
- Poison Apples (Black Caramel Candy Apples)
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Black Cocoa Chocolate Cookies Recipe
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Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 2 teaspoons avocado oil or light olive oil or vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar lightly packed
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon instant espresso powder use decaf if you like
- 6 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons black cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Prep. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a large baking tray with a piece of parchment paper.
- Make the dough. Add the butter, oil, brown sugar, vanilla, and instant espresso powder to a medium bowl. Use a handheld electric mixer to beat until well-combined. Add the flour, black cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt, and beat until it's well-combined and forms small crumbles. After that, work the dough with your hands a bit to help it come together (watch the recipe video to see this in action). TIP: The dough will be dry and crumbly, but should stick together when you squeeze it. If not, you can add 1/2 teaspoon water at a time until it does.
- Roll the cookie dough into balls. Use a 1-teaspoon measuring scoop to measure out the cookie dough, and then roll it into a ball between the palms of your hands (it helps to squeeze it as you roll). Arrange the cookie dough balls on the prepared baking tray spaced evenly apart.
- First bake and then flatten. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the cookie tray from the oven, and immediately use a glass to press each cookie flat.
- Second bake and then flatten. Return the cookies to the oven to bake for 2 minutes more. Remove the cookie tray from the oven, and immediately use a glass to press each cookie flat again. Cool and enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Recipe Yield and Serving Size: This recipe makes about 20 1-teaspoon-sized cookies. Each serving is 4 cookies, for a total of 5 servings.
- Storage: After cooling, store these cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Sweetness Level: As-is, these cookies are not overly sweet (think Oreo cookies without the cream filling). That’s because I like to serve them with a sweet dip! However, for a pretty sparkle and a touch more sweetness, you can roll the cookie dough balls in sanding sugar (or regular granulated white sugar) after you roll them into balls.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximate.
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I’m the writer, recipe developer, photographer, and food stylist behind this blog. I love finding the human connection through something we all do every day: eat! Food is a common ground that we can all relate to, and our tables tell a story. It’s my goal to inspire you to get in the kitchen, try something new, and find a favorite you didn’t know you had.
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