Frosted Chocolate Cookies

5 from 1 vote

These Frosted Chocolate Cookies are utter decadence! They are soft and chewy eggless chocolate cookies that are topped with a luscious chocolate buttercream frosting. They are so simple to make, no mixer is needed for the cookie dough and with only 30 minutes of chill time, these easy chocolate cookies will be ready in an hour! Best yet, these frosted cookies are gluten free, nut free, eggless and can easily be made vegan! If you're a chocolate lover like I am, these double chocolate cookies are for you!

Prep Time15

Cook Time14

Chill Time30

Total Time1

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free, Vegan

Servings: large cookies

Calories: 351kcal

Author: Lee

Ingredients

For the Chocolate Cookies

1 ¼ cups multipurpose gluten free flour (I use a gluten free multipurpose flour with xanthan gum already in it)
½ cup cocoa powder (I use ¼ cup Natural Unsweetened and ¼ cup Dark)
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon kosher salt
2 rounded tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 3 tablespoons water
½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick, melted and cooled
1 ¼ cups light brown sugar , packed
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

6 tablespoons unsalted butter or vegan baking stick, room temperature
1 ¾ cups confectioners' sugar
½ cup cocoa powder (I use ¼ cup natural unsweetened and ¼ cup dark)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
¼ cup water , room temperature

For the Topping

¼ cup sprinkles if desired

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

For the Chocolate Cookies

Place the ½ cup unsalted butter or vegan baking stick in a heat safe bowl. Place a paper towel on top of the bowl so the butter doesn't splatter. Microwave in 11 second increments until just melted. Do not let it bubble or brown. Set aside to cool.
Do not microwave it too much. I prefer to microwave it until there is just a little bit of butter left unmelted and then I whisk it and the residual heat melts the rest of the butter.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the 1 ¼ cups multipurpose gluten free flour, ½ cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Set aside.
In a small bowl, using a spoon, mix together the 2 rounded tablespoons of cornstarch and the 3 tablespoons of water until thin and watery. It will be thick and tacky at first.
Into the cooled melted butter, combine the 1 ¼ cups light brown sugar, the cornstarch water and the 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract. Whisk until it is all fully emulsified and blended. It may appear chunky. That's normal.
Starting and ending with the flour mixture, whisk half the flour into the melted butter mixture. Then add the ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons milk and whisk to combine.
Add in the second half of the flour gently with a spatula. Do not over mix or the dough will become shiny and too sticky.
The dough will be very sticky. Add it to a freezer safe bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap and pop the entire bowl of dough in the freezer for 30 min.
When the dough is almost done chilling, preheat your oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Do not grease.
After 30 min, using a large cookie scoop, make 12 scoops with the dough. (I use a 2 ounce cookie scoop).
If the dough is sticking to the cookie scoop, wash the scoop half way through to get off any stuck on dough.
Flatten each scoop into a thick disc versus a ball. If you don't do this step, the cookies will remain in the ball shape when baking.
Place the dough balls about 3-4 inches apart on the parchment lined baking sheet. Bake the cookies at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 14-15 minutes.
I only bake 6-8 at a time. Pop the rest of the dough discs in the fridge while the first batch is baking.
Immediately reshape the cookies when they come out of the oven. Use a spatula to push them into a circle and let cool on the baking sheet for 5 min before transferring to a cooling rack.
If any cookies have puffed up, gently push them down with the back of a cookie spatula.
If you don't let them cool on the pan, the cookies will break apart into a giant mess when you try to lift them up.
Let the cookies cool completely before adding the buttercream, otherwise the frosting will turn into a liquid mess.

For the Chocoalte Buttercream Frosting

In a bowl, using a spatula, or in the bowl of an electric mixer, mix together the 6 tablespoons of butter, 1 ¾ cups of confectioners' sugar, ½ cup cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract.
Slowly add in the ¼ cup of water a little at a time until you get the desired consistency. The frosting should be smooth and creamy. You may not need all the water.
Using an icing spatula or a butter knife, frost the tops of the completely cooled cookies. Don't go all the way to the edge of the cookie. Make sure you can see the cookie on the edges.
If topping the cookies with sprinkles, add while the frosting is still wet, so the sprinkles stick.

Video

Notes

For smaller cookies: Use a small cookie scoop and bake at same temperature for 12 min. Make sure to keep dough in the fridge in-between baking the batches. Should make 24 cookies.

Vegan: Use a dairy-free gluten free flour, vegan sugar, vegan baking sticks and a non-dairy milk.

All Purpose Flour: I cannot test this due to celiac disease, but use 1 ¼ packed cups of flour (210 grams), ½ packed cup cocoa powder (58 grams) and 3 tablespoons of milk.

Storing: Keep extra cookies in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days in a single layer. Do not stack.

Freezing: Wrap dough discs in plastic wrap and then pop it in a zip top bag. Freeze for up to 30 days.

Nutrition: The info below is a generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.

Nutrition