Chocolate Chip Sugar Cookies with Salted Mocha Icing

One of my favorite traditions around the holidays is to make and decorate sugar cookies with my kids. We make an entire morning or afternoon of it, and we always have an absolute blast!

The girls make a giant mess, and I am usually trying to stifle my control freak in the kitchen personality so they can just let loose and have fun! When the chance came along to join a chocolate challenge on Instagram, I jumped at the chance. I wanted to do something a little different, and thought of those sugar cookies from the holidays. I decided to try them out with a little swap of whole wheat flour to make them just a bit healthier, and I added in dark chocolate. The result = amazing!

These cookies are kind of a cross between a traditional chocolate chip cookie and a soft, chewy sugar cookie. So so good! I added a little coffee and cocoa powder to the traditional royal icing to make it a bit more rich. Top it all off with a pinch of coarse sea salt and oh my goodness!

So, what goes into these delicious cookies???

• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

• 1 ½ cups sugar

• 2 eggs

• 1 TBSP vanilla extract

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

• ½ cup whole wheat flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• ¾ tsp coarse Kosher salt

• ¾ cup dark chocolate chunks, chopped(you may use dark chocolate chips, but the chunks I find offer a better texture)

For the icing:

• 2 cups powdered sugar

• ¼ cup cocoa powder (I prefer dark cocoa powder)

• 4-6 TBSP brewed coffee, cooled to room temperature

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• Pinch of coarse sea salt, plus more for garnish

And to make these delicious chocolate chip sugar cookies:

Mix the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until creamy and smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and turn the mixer on medium speed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each addition. Add the vanilla, and mix just until combined.

Scrape down the bowl, ensuring that the butter mixture is well mixed. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl stir together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, and dark chocolate. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, and turn the mixer on low speed. Mix until just combined.

Chill the dough. Place the dough in between two pieces of parchment paper. Roll into a ¼ inch thick disk and place in the freezer for at least 2 hours. Remove the dough from the freezer and let sit at room temperature for 10-15 minutes.

Cut the cookies into shapes. While the dough is thawing, preheat the oven to 350°F. Once the dough has thawed slightly, cut into desired shapes, using a 2-3 inch cookie cutter. Place the cookie dough cutouts on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and place in the freezer for 5 minutes.

Re-roll the dough and freeze for 10-15 minutes. Remove from the freezer and cut out shapes with remaining dough. Place the dough in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Immediately after removing the cut out cookie dough from the freezer, place in the oven. Bake for 10-12 minutes, turning halfway through baking.

Once cookies are removed from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Make the icing. While cookies are cooling, make the icing. In a small bowl, whisk together powdered sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Add vanilla and 2 TBSP of coffee. Begin whisking, adding coffee 1 TBSP at a time, until the icing is the desired consistency (I prefer the icing to be like very thick honey). Decorate cookies as desired. Once iced, sprinkle cookies with a bit more sea salt.

Enjoy! And if you love these cookies, please let me know in the comments section! I would love to connect on Instagram @sugarandsalt_co!